Dielle Designs

Despicable Halloween

2011-11-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

It all started with Sydney. When we watched Despicable Me, everyone kept saying how much Sydney was like Edith. So I told her I'd make her a hat if she wanted to be Edith for Halloween. Then I got the idea for a Minion hat for Spencer and it just steamrolled from there. The hardest to convince was Trey. He didn't want to be nerdy Vector. But we finally sold him on it.

Then the costumes had to come together. As I said, it started with Sydney's hat.
Minion... But I actually finished Spencer's Minion hat first. I didn't use a pattern, just made it up as I went, taking the goggles out a couple times until I was happy with how they looked. I found a yellow shirt (don't mind the butterfly) that's actually Sabrina's size but we rolled up the sleeves, to help him appear slightly more twinkie-like.
Edith... The funny thing about Sydney's costume is that I actually did everything in duplicate for her... so even after Halloween, she and Sabrina can dress like the twins they are (Sabrina's hat is almost done). I sewed the skirts from cord I just happened to have, because I have a fabric stash the size of Rhode Island.
Gru... I knit a scarf for Gru, er, Adam... who can do a spot on imitation of Gru talking about Kyle, his dog. We bought some skinny black jeans for him (and tucked a pillow up behind his shoulders under his shirt and jacket). And the day of Halloween, we buzzed his head. He wasn't quite up for going completely bald. Not a method actor, my son.
Agnes... Sabrina was the easy one. We found a striped shirt and some overalls. I bought some black hairspray from Walmart and put a red bow in her hair. We do have a red scrunchy like in the movie, but it somehow went missing. Her hair actually stuck straight up at first, just like in the movie, but ended up flopping over.
Edith... The most spendy, thanks to those pesky Chuck T's. I think the thought of getting herself a pair of red Chuck T's was actually the selling point of joining the DM cast for Sage. I sewed her a skirt that a drafted following a tutorial from the wonderful Ikat Bag. But I actually ironed down and then topstitched both the inside and outside folds of each pleat. I figured that way she could more easily iron it for wearing after trick or treating. No point in sending her to the loony bin young, since I know first-hand that ironing pleats can make you a crazy person. We found her a jacket at Goodwill, and the glasses were reading glasses from the dollar store that we popped the lenses out of.
Vector... Isn't he vastly cuter than the real guy? And he's not nearly so obnoxious! I sewed him that groovy yellow/orange outfit (from a couple different Ottobre patterns) that may never get worn again. C'est la vie. He had the fanny pack, all ready to go with a first aid kit. And we got his amazingly groovy glasses at the dollar store, too. And since we were surprisingly short of piranhas at our house, he crafted his own mini-shark gun.

I think this is the most fun I've had putting together Halloween costumes in ages.

A little ketchup... er, catch up

2011-10-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when it used to be spelled Catsup? Ok, word nerd that I am I had to go look it up. It started as ketchup, got screwed up by Jonathan Swift and others and has since sort of come back to being ketchup. And want to know something else weird? It didn't start out being tomato based. "It was more usual to base the condiment on mushrooms, or sometimes walnuts." Ew! Mushroom ketchup. Ew!

Ok, all that from me just being silly. But on to my main point.

I like doing the zentangle challenges, but don't always do them when she posts them. And even if I do, I don't necessarily get them scanned. So here are a few...

This is actually this last week's challenge #41. I don't totally love it, but actually like it more than I thought I would. I did it yesterday while my children and I gathered around the computer in the dining room to watch General Conference. I love General Conference weekend twice/year! And it sounds a little funny, but sitting doing the challenge helps keep my mind from wandering, or from focusing on irrelevant things about how someone is dressed or what the flowers look like or whatever. Thanks Diva!This is from challenge 38 a few weeks ago, one I did then but didn't get scanned. It's one of my very favorites that I've done!And here's another I had in my little notebook that I rather like.
And just in case someone wondered, I have those quilt tops I was moaning a little about almost done. And I have Sydney's Edith hat for Halloween almost finished (it was the other thing I worked on during Conference yesterday). Now I just have to wrap those up and do Adam's Gru scarf and I can get back to dolls without any guilt. Yay!!!

Challenged, and it worked

2011-08-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

I think the Zentangle thing is getting my brain going in more creative ways. I've felt sort of "off my game" so to speak, in the creating business lately. Partly because my hands have been a bit out of whack... first the thumb on my right hand, then this week my left thumb went all haywire. Plus, I have these quilts hanging over my head that I need to get going on. I'm doing a swap with our wonderful piano teacher... I'll sew 2 quilts for her, and she's taught my kids' piano lessons all summer. With Girl's Camp thrown into the mix last month, I was just overwhelmed. And like all good procrastinator's, I just didn't do anything. But the little bit of tangling seems to have gotten my brain back to normal, and I'm just raring to go on so many things. I've got the quilts going (though with still lots to do on them) and I'm excited to get back to my darling dollies!!!

Anyway, here's my take on The Diva's Challenge #35. I didn't have good paper handy, so I did it on a post-it note. Not my favorite, but it's ok.

Inspired by Zenspirations

2011-08-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

After popping my challenge piece for Challenge #34 on my blog this week, I went tangle-surfing and came across a video of Joanne Fink, doing the most wonderful tangle-esque monograms. Oh my goodness!

I have secretly dreamed of being a calligrapher for most of my life. I literally have pages of calligraphy letters I wrote when I was probably 10 or 11 (ok, yeah, I'm a packrat), with some of those inexpensive calligraphy markers. I have fountain pens and a number of books on calligraphy and I've given it a go so many times, but never with enough practice to actually get good at it... plus, I'm much better at learning from someone showing me, than from a book when it comes to hands-on activities.

So anyway, Joanne's little video was fabulous! Not quite calligraphy, but elegant and funky and fun all wrapped together, and there she is showing it to me... perfect! And though I've just started playing with the Zentangle thing, I think I'm not too bad at it. So I got out some paper... one of those extra little squares I had cut on Tuesday. My name starts with a D, so that seemed the logical place to start. My first one isn't perfect, and there are a couple spots that I'm critical of. But like a little pimple on your nose, I'm hoping no one else will notice if I don't actually point it out. Overall, I'm happy with it. Want to see?
Well, that was fun! But why stop there? So I decided to get a little more adventurous and do an entire word. THIS time I'm in love with it. Which is exactly the word I did...

Tangled... not the movie

2011-08-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

I've been a long-time doodler. Case in point...
Those silly things came from a variety of notebooks covering maybe 4 years (up to about 20 years ago). For at least 5 years, I carried a steno notebook or little journal with me almost everywhere I went. It started with a collaged journal made for me by my wonderfully talented friend, Vicki. I was already a pretty great journaler, and fairly prolific doodler, but that notebook led to me making maybe a dozen more, which were my journals and doodling pads for years. Not great doodles, mind you, just something to keep my mind from wandering during boring college lectures, various church meetings and such. But I had a family, lapsed some in my journaling (doing most of it now on the computer), and rarely found time or reason to sit and doodle.

Then recently I stumbled on Zentagle. Or was it Mom that did and told me about it? At first I thought it looked fun, but a little pretentious. Only on little specifically sized squares? Names for the "tangles?" Copyright? But it reminded me that I actually used to really like doing that kind of thing. And I've done some doodly drawing in the last few years for my scrapbook designs... but mostly in Photoshop. I started reading their website, checked out a couple books, glanced through them, rolled my eyes just a little, and didn't do any doodling. I was still hung up on it being too scripted.

But then Mom and Dad came for a lovely week-long visit. She brought notebooks for me and the children, to do a quilting unit study she found. But the first activity was to get inspiration from the Zentangle books and fill our notebook covers with our names and lines... all shapes and sizes of lines. I was hooked! Here's mine. I spent a few lovely hours doing it and was totally surprised at how relaxed I felt. I started to get the "zen" part of Zentangle.

So I checked out their blog, found a few other blogs and today I found a challenge. A challenge! I love scrapbooking challenges, and do them fairly regularly. A tangle challenge? Right up my alley! So I got some drawing paper and cut it into a 3.5" square.... well, 6 of them actually. I'll be needing some more, I'm sure. I got out my Micron pen (it's what they recommend, and actually I really have loved those pens for a very long time), and I went for it. Challenge #34, it turns out. Lovely! 20+ minutes of calm, even with the kids bustling around me getting lunch, chattering about what they'd been doing and asking for this, that and the other.

I don't think I'll be sticking this in an art gallery anytime soon. But somehow taking a few minutes to make deliberate strokes on a little, tiny square, put me in a lovely frame of mind... even to deal with a very whiny 5 year old who had to get a filling at the dentist today and apparently left all her smiles behind with the laughing gas. Ok, maybe I'm hooked.

Poppy

2011-06-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

The cool, summer morning woke us with a few glistening rays of sunshine peeking and shimmering through the drizzling rain. We hoped for a warm day at the park, but Mother Nature finally made up her mind and settled on wet. Still, that didn't keep Poppy from wanting to go play. The flowers look just a little prettier with the sparkle from rain. And after all, if you have a lovely summer sweater and hat to wear there's just no reason not to go on a nature walk.

Now Poppy is on Etsy, ready to come to a new home.

And I had fun creating the patterns for her little dress and bloomers. I'm working on putting together the pattern and a tutorial for making them that I'll post on here in the next couple of days. I thought it would be fun to share it, since I have benefited from so many wonderful doll creators and knitting designers who shared their wealth of knowledge. So keep a watch out.

Ow, my achin' thumb

2011-05-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know what happened, but I did something awful to my thumb a couple of weeks ago. Fred said it was all the knitting doll clothes. It started by jamming my thumb a few months ago, but something (maybe the knitting) really did a number on it about 2 weeks ago and I was almost in tears it hurt so much. I ended up buying a thumb brace... I hadn't even known such a thing existed until I went looking for something to help. And resting it for a week or so did the trick. It still hurts if I bump it wrong, but at least I can use my hand. The bad thing was that it was my right thumb and I'm right handed. What a pain in the, well, thumb.

But the good thing is that I'm functioning like a reasonably normal person now, and have a couple of dollies, a number of sweaters and quite a few sets of clothing in various stages of completion. Last night when I was working on doll heads, one slipped off my lap and bounced across the carpet. I boomed in my best doomsday, catastrophic sounding voice, "Heads will roll!!!" Fred burst out laughing... turns out he was just about to say the same thing.

Here are a couple of disembodied heads waiting patiently (well really, what choice do they have) for torsos, arms, and the works.

Sailing away in a shoe box

2011-05-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the Priority Mail Shoe boxes? I didn't realize there was such a size. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. Someone bought Lily! Yippee! You can't see it, but I'm doing a happy dance right now... or more of a happy fanny wiggle, since I'm sitting in an office chair. Today I went to send her to sunny CA where her new family is and wasn't sure what box to put her in. I didn't really want to pay for one of the large Priority boxes, but wasn't going to smash her into one of the boxes that's only 3 1/2 inches deep. Owie nose! I asked the postmaster if I could try various boxes to see what would work best and he showed me this perfect one. Well, it's slightly shorter than she is, so she is hugging her knees a little. But overall, I think she'll be quite comfortable on her trip. She's in a sweet little drawstring bag I made (which happens to match her cute, ruffly pants), so that will keep her cozy, too. I'm sad though, because I meant to take a picture of her bon voyage at the Post Office, but then I totally spaced it. Imagine that.

So just in case you haven't seen these groovy boxes, just perfect for a lovely new dolly, here's a pic. Not nearly as cute as Lily in her darling pink bag but maybe it'll help you out when you're looking for just the right box. Oh, and it was just $7.95 to send (if you don't get insurance and tracking like I did). Bonus!

Lily

2011-05-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Can I introduce you to my newest little Darling? I'm so thrilled with the sweet personality that this newest little one seems to have. She is absolutely charming everyone she meets! She had great fun at her photo shoot with Princess Sydney. Now I must explain that I'm not the greatest photographer in the world, but we did luck into some very pretty sunlight streaming through the trees and I think their photos turned out just lovely.

I've put Lily on Etsy, in case you're interested in welcoming her to your house for tea parties and sleepovers.A couple of closeups...
And her cute dress and pants...
I knit her sweater and crocheted her cloche and shoes of matching wool, and sewed her little cotton dress, pants and undies (not shown, for modesty :) ).

And I love how my new Etsy banner turned out, so I thought I'd show it off, too...

Dolly siblings

2011-04-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Spencer was so cute loving on my first doll, I just had to make him one of his own. I finished "baby" (that's as original a name as he has come up with... not bad for only 23 months old, I guess) last week, but for awhile all he had was a hat. I figured some modesty was in order, so today I sewed him some clothes. What a pain in the patooty! Serging and doing a coverstitch (on my regular sewing machine) in those skinny little arms surely tested my patience. And while I was mumbling under my breath about how tiny they were, it turned out to be big and baggy on Baby. Oh well, it's his style, I guess, and goes with the baggy jeans I made him. Baby's hat is sewn on, which seemed like the best idea for Spencer. I really love his hair peeking out from under it.

It's really cute to see Spencer hugging and kissing his doll, making Daddy hug the doll and pointing out various body parts (but no, it's not anatomically correct, haha).

Since he had his first photo shoot today, I figured he needed some with his "big sister." So here's the two of them together...
And a closeup of the two cuties...She just didn't want to look at the camera.

I'm in love

2011-03-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile coming on. And honestly, you might think I was a bit old for this kind of love affair. I stumbled onto Waldorf dolls years ago, thinking they were darling but not putting much more thought into it. About a year ago, I found them again and fell madly in love. I started following doll makers on FB, hearting them on Etsy and reading everything I could find about making them. Supplies aren't exactly inexpensive, though. They're made with all natural supplies, lovely cotton skin, beautiful wool inside, wonderful wool yarn for hair. I bought a book a couple of months ago, Making Waldorf Dolls, and read through it a couple of times.

My favorite dolls are the larger limbed ones. Each doll maker does them a little differently, but they have similar aspects to them. Sage has latched onto my new little obsession and wanted to make one, too. So we decided to make this part of her schooling... feed the obsession, learn some skills, win-win situation. We bought enough for both of us to make dolls, and a little left over. I thought I might want to make more than one (yeah, I was right). I've been working on this little darling on and off for a couple of weeks. I've taken it slow, wanting to get it right. I also made a few mistakes and took things out. And when I was at the kids swim lessons or my fingers were tired from tiny needles, I'd grab my knitting needles and have made 3 or 4 doll sweaters.

***Little aside here, wool yarn is NOT cheap. I found some fun stuff on clearance at fabric.com, but needed more. Have I mentioned that this might be turning into a slight obsession? So I went to Goodwill and found 4 or 5 wool sweaters which I've been taking apart. Bonus! The day I went all sweaters were 50% off. So I paid about $15 for probably $200 worth of yarn or more. It is a bit of a sneezy, eye-itching job to take them apart, but I figure it's well worth my time.***

As I've been working on her, Spencer has fallen in love, too. He hugs her and kisses her, it's pretty adorable. He's not as thrilled with her now that she has long hair, though. I'm thinking I need to make him a little boy version. And Sabrina is completely smitten with my sweet dolly, she carried her around all day yesterday.

I finally finished her. She's not perfect, I'm not exactly thrilled with her neck and her arms are a little on the long side. But then again, she has personality and she gives really good hugs. She has a sweet little sweater I knit mostly from this sweet pattern, and a frilly little skirt I just made up. She could use a blouse under the sweater and maybe some undies and shoes. But I couldn't wait to take her on a little photo shoot! After all that, you wanna see? I know you do! Here you go...

Tada! (She does still need a name. Any suggestions? Fred calls her Hippy Baby because she has pink hair.)And in case you wondered, dolly #2 is well underway... with a head made, face embroidered, and arms, belly and legs sewn and stuffed. Now I just need to put it together and decide if it'll be a boy or girl baby.

I'm awesome, Leah says so!

2011-03-02T11:24:00.001-08:00

After I decided to quit designing, I was looking forward to being on Inspiration Lane's site CT. But Jen decided to close up shop suddenly, and I suddenly had no digi "home" so to speak. I started doing challenges at Catscrap and SugarHill Co. (a fairly new-to-me shop with some fabulous designers). Then a couple of weeks ago I was super excited to see that Leah Riordan was designing there and was forming a new CT. She took a break from designing and is back again. I have liked her designs forever! This cute LO I did 4 years ago was with a super cute kit from her (don't laugh at my shadowing or anything, it was FOUR years ago)...

So anyway, OF COURSE I applied to her call. And YIPPEE, she picked me!!! One of the basic requirements, in addition to that normal stuff of scrapping pages with her fabulous designs, is to daily recite the mantra, I am awesome. So there, one thing to check off on my daily to-do list. I'm awesome, Leah says so.

Here's my first LO with her rockin' , new kit Rockabilly,

about my equally awesome sweetheart...

Yay for challenges!

2011-02-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

I'm having a ball with scrapbooking again! But sometimes it helps to have an incentive. When I was on a CT or two, I'd have the kits or templates to push me to scrap. I don't have that right now, so I'm playing with challenges from a couple of sites. I discovered a fun shop I wasn't really familiar with, Sugarhill Co. and they have some fun challenges and a great point system where you can earn $ to their shop. Plus, they had a Valentine's scavenger hunt with a great kit, that I was able to use to get started... then of course I bought a couple of darling kits, too. I also really like the challenges and wonderful designers at Catscrap. A couple of LOs I posted before were from those challenges. Here's the couple I've done most recently...

I'm scrapping, I'm really scrapping

2011-02-12T00:37:00.002-08:00

It's working. One of the benefits of choosing to not design anymore was that I could scrap more. I often wouldn't do any scrapping because I was either designing or feeling guilty about not designing. So I really didn't get very much done. Since deciding to quit designing, I've not only had more time, but I've felt the freedom to spend the time on scrapbooking. Want to see? Here are some I've done in the last 6 weeks... (click for credits)

I'm scrapping, I'm really scrapping

2011-02-12T00:37:00.001-08:00

Retiring young

2011-01-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

You're only as old as you feel, but in the designing world, I guess I feel kind of old. I've been designing scrapbook supplies for 4 years now. Much less than some, but longer than so many. I have loved so much of designing. When it all comes together, there is just so much satisfaction for me. Still, I'm feeling like it's time to go a different way. Soooooo, I'm putting my entire shop on sale for the month of January. Everything is 25-66% or more off!!! And if you want an even better deal, you can buy my whole shop for just $25. It's a steal of a deal, a $145 value!!!

I'm staying on at Inspiration Lane as part of their site CT, and continuing to run the quote challenge each month. That will help me get back to scrapping all the photos that have been piling up. And I'm excited about heading in new directions, doing more sewing and pattern design, maybe designing fabric. Thanks so much to everyone who's supported me and loved my designs!

Making Applesauce

2010-10-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Guess from the title, what my newest kit was inspired by? Just in case, here are a few pics to show you...

So 80+ jars later, here's my newest kit:

Isn't it fun???

Check back next week. As part of Trick or Treating at IL, I'll have a freebie that goes with the kit that you'll be able to hunt for and find (along with treats from a lot of the other designers).

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true!

2010-09-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

I can't see a "bicycle built for two" without thinking of this song.
And the response verse of this old song has always made me laugh.
I'm not sure why, but I've thought it was funny since I was a little girl.

Harry, Harry, here is your answer true.
I won't marry such as the likes of you.
It won't be a stylish marriage
And I shall have a carriage.
You won't find me upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two.

Silly, I know.

Daisies are my favorite flower though, hands down.
And after coming round a corner on the way to town and finding the most beautiful sight of daisies almost as far as my eyes could see, I stopped for LOTS of photos and started on this kit. I hope you love it as much as I do. (Notice the bicycle?)

Here are the fun papers...

And the little alpha (part of the kit, or like the papers, also available individually)...

And a few LOs to spark your imagination...

Fly Away & Bumbershoot &Into the Woods

2010-08-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

But I probably wouldn't fly away into the woods on a bumbershoot.

It's abundantly clear that I'm a horrible blogger. But I really have started a number of posts since April and either something came up, or blogger glitched and I got frustrated.

So here are a few things that I've done since April...
Bumbershoot (another word for umbrella) came about because we had a rainy spring that seemed to last forever, and I needed something to cheer myself up. I especially love the frog, I just had so much fun drawing him!

The papers...

And a little inspiration...

Fly Away started as a mini kit for Inspiration Lane's daily download. But I loved the colors and decided to make it a full kit...

The papers...

And a fewLOs done with it...

I also re-released Spangled, one of my favorite kits. I went through it with a fine-toothed comb for quality control, took out a few dated elements and papers that weren't up to par and added some new, great ones. I hope you love it as much as I do...

The papers...

And the best-selling alpha...

A little inspiration...

And now the sneak peek, and a special code for you...
This is "Into the Woods," inspired by our recent family reunion. I am absolutely in love with it! It releases on Saturday at Inspiration Lane.

The papers...

Another peek at the papers...

And finally, the code for you... DielleIs39. Yep, I'm not just saying that to hide my age, I really am turning that old this month. So that code is good for, you guessed it, 39% off everything in my store, through the month of August. I hope you find something you really love, to scrap your art and memories! Enjoy!!!

Flittery steps... er, I mean Flittery and First Steps

2010-04-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have a new kit out, called Flittery. See those fabulous, painted butterflies? Sage painted them. Then I scanned them in and based the kit around them. I love how it turned out!!! You can get it in individual paper, element and alpha packs, or as a combined kit (to save $!). Oh, and check out a few great layouts created with it. And today, in honor of the fact that my baby boy took his very first steps yesterday, I'm handing out a coupon code for 30% off (use it on anything in my store). Code is FlitterySteps, good through Monday.

And my cutie...

Coming soon...

2010-02-18T15:20:00.001-08:00

Become a fan of mine on Facebook, and you could win it before it's even out in stores. I'll randomly pick a winner, this weekend.

Out for a Drive

2010-02-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

Do you have a zillion photos of road trips, go kart races or your children's Hotwheels? Bright and playful, here's the perfect kit for you! I actually released this last week, but that same day one of my 4 year olds dumped water on my router, screwing things up with my ability to get online. So it's a tad delayed. Since I didn't post about it in time to get it at the new release price, here's a coupon code to pick it up for 40% off. DriveAway40 Grab it quick, the code is good until Saturday night.

And the included alpha:

Here are a few layouts done with it. Aren't they fun?

A quilt-a-long

2010-01-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

I decided to join Vicki's quilt-a-long. I bought some fabric (a jelly roll and some fat quarters) on black Friday that I'd been trying do figure out how I wanted to use. When I saw her Simple Squares quilt-a-long, it seemed perfect. Vicki's fabulous! She's a super talented mom of 3, who sews, quilts and knits beautifully. Oh, and we've been friends for about forever. We met in college and have stayed good friends across years and miles. If you like to sew, check out her blog, with tons of inspiration and some nice tutorials, too. Here are my fabrics (I think there are a couple missing in this photo)...

and my 1st three blocks...

A winner, and a CT ending

2010-01-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

First off, by very scientific method of letting my son pick a paper out of a bowl, jenn33199 won my little give-away. It was fun to read about everyone's good things happening recently! Thanks for playing along. Jenn, drop me an email (dielledl AT gmail DOT com) or leave a comment with your email address and let me know which of the kits/packs you wanted and I'll send you a download link.

Now on to sadder things (but a good deal for template lovers), Sine is quitting designing. I've been on her CT for about a year and a half or more. I love her templates, they're playful and fun. And using templates makes my scrapping so much faster. Plus, being on a CT and having a monthly scrapping requirement has been really good for keeping me scrapping when I could otherwise put it on the back burner with designing and other stuff. So I'm just sad all around. But the benefit to all of you is that EVERYTHING in her shop is just $1. And she's even brought back her older, retired stuff. So check it out! Click on the graphic above to go to her shop.

So I was reading my blog...

2010-01-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

My daughter Sage is so incredibly creative. She's always making up wonderful drawings, crocheting this or that, etc. So she decided she wanted a blog to show off to friends and family. I helped her set it all up, then she was looking through my blog to see how I've done stuff and get ideas. Watching her reading my blog, I realized I haven't posted about most of the recent scrapbook designs I've created. I think I'm just out of the habit of things, creating less than I was before Spencer was born. So here are a few things, for those who've been wondering what I was up to design-wise... (click in the previews to go to them in the store)

ETA: I'm turning this into a give-away. Leave a message telling me what's the best thing that's happened to you this week and I'll randomly pick one to get the kit/pack of their choice from this blog post.

Kickin' Around, a playful soccer (football for those not in the US) kit I created to show off my cutie Adam's soccer photos.

Here are the papers...

And the start of my Live Wire series... a fun, new series of wire bits of this and that. These are actually my most recent creations, and I have at least 3 more sets coming. The date elements are only available in Club Click right now, at Inspiration Lane. What a deal that is. For just $5, you get 10 exclusive products from 5 IL designers. It's like a giant grab bag, only you get to see what's in it. Half the things are available on the 1st of the month and the rest by the 20th. Plus you also get the current Daily Download kit, all at once. For an even better deal, you can subscribe for 3 months for just $12.

Coming in an IL storewide grab bag this weekend (sh, don't tell I told), is the set of coordinating frames. These will be for sale on their own next week. Isn't Spencer a doll in that Santa hat?

Driving down the freeway I saw a billboard that looked nothing like these Date Jumbles, but somehow it sparked the idea of them. I remember the moment, but for the life of me I can't remember the billboard.

And I think I posted about one of these sets, but I have a series of Painted Papers that I just love...

Cleaning the beast

2010-01-05T16:30:00.000-08:00

My sewing room is so unbelievably chaotic. It's never been great, because when we first moved in I didn't have much of any decent storage. So random plastic tubs morphed into piles and spills and avalanches of fabric. Add to that having a houseful of wonderful kiddos, and I'm in and out to get projects done, and don't spend time on straightening any of it. But this last year Fred bought and put in some great wall cabinets and shelves. I love it! Still, the mess was overwhelming, and I didn't quite know where to start.

Recently, I came across an online quilt festival from last autumn. And as I've been admiring the hundreds of amazing creations, I've seriously caught the quilting bug. I'm determined to figure out machine quilting (after some serious crashing and burning with my previous tries), and I'm going to make a few bigger quilts. Trey saw a Whirlygiggle quilt over my shoulder and said how cool he thought it was. So that's up for his birthday. And I'm totally in love with strip quilts, especially this stunning kaleidascope style with the white borders through each block. I'm going to make one for my bed. I imagine that it will be quilted in straight lines with the walking foot on, because I can't quite wrap my mind around stippling something that large without a long arm.

And my carseat cover inventory is quite low, so I need to start sewing together a bunch of the ones I've got all cut out.

BUT, the disaster in my sewing room has been totally daunting. Getting anything sewn for Christmas was a major undertaking because of it. So today I dove in. Sorry, I'm not taking a before photo. I'm too embarrassed. But when it's all nice, hopefully in the next couple days, I'll post the after pic so you can oooh and aaah!

So there are my new year's resolutions. No losing weight, getting rich or other silly things. It's all about sewing for me. Though as an aside I have lost 6-7 lbs in the last 2 months by doing nothing other than switching to always eating meals from a small plate. I'd read that it was a good way to help keep from over eating. Amazingly, It's really working. I still sometimes have 2nds if it's really good or I'm super hungry, but most of the time when my plate is clean, I'm comfortably full so I quit. Hooray for me!

Quickest clothing I've ever sewn!

2010-01-03T15:19:00.000-08:00

I bought this tiered denim skirt last year and have hardly worn it. It was just too long, dusting the tops of my toes. Back in my svelter days, that look was ok. Now, it's horrid. So last Sunday, I ran upstairs before church and serged off the bottom ruffle/tier. Then quickly folded over & sewed that serged edge and the skirt was perfect. Please ignore the fact that I'm desperately in need of a pedicure...

No, that's not what the title is about.

So yesterday, I was up there to iron shirts before my children's piano recital (Sage, Trey and Adam were all amazing, btw!!!) and saw that ruffle just lying in a heap on my tracing/cutting table. I pulled out some cute fabric and hollered for Sabrina. I held it up to her to find a decent length, snipped and tore a strip. Then I wrapped it around for a measurement (using that word very loosely, because I didn't really measure anything), snipped and tore crosswise to make a rectangle. Then I did the same for Sydney (though twins, they're vastly different sizes). Because I'd serged the ruffle off above the seam, it was still nicely gathered. I pinned to a rectangle and serged it together just above that previously sewn hem, cutting it off in the process to remove bulk. Flipped it and topstitched. Serged the top edge and side seam, folded over a casing and quickly ran elastic through. Tada! Two skirts made in less than 20 minutes. They wore them last night and again today to church.

The funny part was after getting dressed in the matching skirts and matching white tops, they were standing together admiring their new skirts. Sydney pointed down at them and said, "Look Mom, we're twins!" LOL!

New photos of my gorgeous kiddos

2009-11-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I had some professional photos taken of my children. I blew them up in black and white and have them each in a simple black frame, all in a row in a hallway. I love them and people comment on them all the time. But alas, my children are growing up. And there are now 6 of them, instead of 5. So I need to find a matching frame for Spencer. And I took some new photos of them. It's rained for weeks. But we finally had some decent weather the other day. I hauled them all out, in about 50 degree weather, sans coats. Oh, the horrid things we do for our children, for the sake of photography. My mom sort of scolded me when I told her. But she cried when she saw the photos. And it was only for about 15 minutes. So I guess it was all worth it. I love them, but what do you think?

Business is building!

2009-11-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

It may not seem like a lot, but I've had 3 sales off Etsy, then sold a few more around town. My dentist ordered one, for instance. And I made business cards and have gotten more confident in talking about my business. I'm not good at self-promotion. Even with my digi designs, it's a weakness of mine. With my carseat covers, it helps to have my super cutie, Spencer. He's an icebreaker. People stop to talk to me all the time because of him, then comment on his carseat cover. "Thanks," I say now. "I make and sell them." It's usually enough of an opening for people to ask me more about them, and sometimes enough to give them a business card. This lousy weather is in my favor, too. They see how cozy he is even though it's a rainy, blustery day. With any luck, this will help business to really blossom soon. Here's my latest one (identical to the one I have on Spencer). And I have 4 more in various stages of progress... red, bright orange, and 2 pink.

Huge Sale at Digital Freebies!!!

2009-10-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

The store is 55% off just about everything right now. It's a fabulous time to snag some great deals, so check it out... HERE

Blog train with a great Christmas idea

2009-10-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

I love cookbooks and it's so fun to create new little ones for Christmas Gifts. The last couple of years, I've used bragbooks to create little presents for stocking stuffers. Here's a chance to get some great recipe cards, fun new recipes, and a lovely kit to boot!

Download has now expired, sorry.

Audra's Little Scraps: http://audraslittlescraps.blogspot.com
Busy Mama Designs: http://somuchtoscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Designs by : http://scrappingwithangel.blogspot.com
Designs: http://diellesdarlings.blogspot.com/ YOU ARE HERE!
Digital Compilations by Cinda: http://blog.digitalcompilations.com
Digital Designs by Lisa: http://www.digitaldesignsbylisa.blogspot.com/
Moore: http://eyeletsscrapsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Mazy: http://www.Scrapwarrior.com/blog
Cardall: http://meredithcardall.blogspot.com
Robin Willson: http://robin-giftsyoucanfeelgoodabout.blogspot.com
Scrap Quest: www.scrapquest.com
Sweet Tomato Designs: http://sweettomatodesigns.blogspot.com
TMA Designs: http://themathematiciansassistant.com
Wilro&co Designs: http://willrownco.blogspot.com/

Hangin' Art ... & Giveaway

2009-09-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Warmth of emotion, dramatic movement, intense color... these are things that draw me to impressionism. I wanted to be able to bring the masters into my scrapbook pages and created these pendants to do just that. Hang them from wires, cluster them with your photos, add a little jewelry to your layouts.

These all feature Imressionist art, but I love learning about artists of all kinds. So leave a comment telling me who your favorite artist is, regardless of their style, and I'll pick a random poster to get my new element pack for free!

Burp!

2009-09-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

For the last few days I've been feeling like I might be getting an ear infection. I just had lots of fluid in my ears that was really bugging me. On the way home from taking Adam to soccer practice, I was telling him that every time I sneezed, coughed or burped, my ear hurt. "Burp!?! I never heard a girl burp before!" It wasn't that my ear was really hurting that he noticed, but that Mom, a girl, would actually burp. Luckily, laughing didn't hurt my ear!

Spencer is getting to be so much fun! At 3 months old, babies just seem to come alive. He smiles, giggles, "talks" back when you talk to him, has discovered the toys on the end of his feet (otherwise known as toes) and has the greatest dimples! Oh, and he's rolling! He first did it a few days ago. We'd fallen asleep in the recliner and when I woke up to go to bed, I needed to use the bathroom. I laid him on his back on a blanket on the floor. When I came back out, he was on his tummy. In just about 4 days, he's totally gotten the hang of the rolling thing. He goes both front to back and back to front and rolls both directions. And suddenly he's a lot happier baby. I've seen this with all of my children. Right before they're going to meet some developmental milestone, they tend to get kind of cranky. Like they know they should be able to do something, but can't quite manage it... so it ticks them off. Now it's so much fun to play with him!

I don't have a picture of him rolling over, but I do have one with the darling dimples. So here's his smile, to make you smile...

Hangin' out on Facebook... and Etsy

2009-09-05T13:56:00.001-07:00

So I decided to join the 21st century and create a fan page on FB for my designs. I've put up a few pictures of my latest scrapbook designs. Come be a fan and get a 50% coupon off my designs. I also have pictures of the carseat covers I've got for sale on Etsy.

Oh, I guess I never posted about that. When my son Adam was a baby, my wonderful mother-in-law made him a carseat cover. It was brilliant! Made of fleece and flannel, it was cozy and warm, which was wonderful for a baby born in November. But better than that, I no longer had to wrestle with keeping a blanket over him in the wind, rain and snow. And a bonus was that it was an extra barrier to keep random strangers from touching my cutie. Shortly after that I borrowed her pattern and started making them for friends. Immediately people started telling me I should sell them. I've used them with 3 more children, making a light one of chambray and flannel for Spencer who was just born in May. Through the years, I've sold a few, when someone commissioned one. But now after years of making these carseat covers, I've opened up an Etsy shop to sell them. They're a little different than that first one Margie made me, but based on that pattern. For summer babies or ones in warmer climates, I also make them of lighter fabrics. And I have some other great items in progress that I'll be putting in, soon. So check it out...

Paint it! challenge

2009-08-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's all about paint! Paint the town red, paint your nails, or painted ponies. Create a layout with paint.

As part of the FaithSisters birthday bash, I'm hosting a challenge all about paint.

I've got a free paper pack in the store that you can use for the challenge... or even grab if you're not up to the challenge. It's only free for this week, so snag it now. Oh, I'd sure appreciate a thankyou, if you do.
And check out the other challenges. There are 14 in all, all due by Sunday night to be eligible for prizes. But each one has at least one associated freebie with it. Lots of great stuff!!!

Big sale at Faith Sisters

2009-08-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

This week, as part of the month-long birthday celebration at FaithSisters, all kits over $1 are half off! Here are a few of my favorite kits, in case you're looking for something fun...

Smiling in his sleep

2009-07-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the recliner, scrapping pages of this weekend's family reunion (great, amazing fun and photos!!!), with Spencer on my lap. I was nursing him, but now he's sleeping, dreaming of something wonderful I imagine. His face keeps blossoming into the sweetest, albeit fleeting, smiles. I couldn't capture the smiles, complete with the cutest dimple ever. But here's a photo of my sleeping angel...

Birthday bash & blog train (now expired)!

2009-07-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

With new baby, family visiting, a family reunion and our baby's , I didn't have a lot of design time recently. But I did create paper pack for the blog train, and love how the soft colors blend together...

TheThe blog train is now over. The different portions are all being packaged together as bonus kits, now available at FaithSisters.

Life in shades of grey

2009-07-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

I took Sabrina to Children's hospital today for a current diagnosis. I knew she had nystagmus (which is involuntary eye movement, where the eyes dance but move together not in random ways), is super sensitive to light (basically blind in the sunlight), and had very poor vision. But I needed specifics to get help from the state Assoc. of the Blind. We saw the head of Opthalmology at Children's Hospital. We still have another test we have to go back for to confirm his diagnosis, but he firmly believes she has Achromatopsia. If that's the case, it means her cones don't work at all and she sees the world in shades of grey. Now I know that things could be a lot worse. She could be completely blind, instead of just legally blind (20/200 up close and 20/400 in her far vision). Or she could be dying or something. But it makes me cry to think that she'll never see a color. I love color. I love sewing, design and photography. All the way home I was noticing the wild flowers, the shades of green in the forests and the beautiful blue sky. She'll never see any of that. I've been thinking of simple things like trying to wear matching clothes, or plug in the cords from the DVD player to the TV. On top of that she'll never drive. I'm sad for her!

She did really well through it all, better than I kind of expected. Spencer screamed through most of it, though. Sabrina and I talked a lot about going to the Dr. and how he was going to be very nice and she needed to cooperate, etc. She was shy, but ok, with the nurses. They asked questions and did an initial eye test. It's the dumbest test, for non-readers. It's totally stylized, like stencils, with some things I'd be very surprised for most children to know. The telephone is a style of phone I haven't actually seen in probably 15-20 years or more. Everything is disjointed, literally the fingers on the hand aren't even attached. It's probably a universal chart, because they've used it in every eye clinic we've been to. But it's idiotic. (here: http://www.pediatric-ophthalmology.com/images/sub/eyegraphics/childrensEyeChart.gif ). Some, like the phone, she had no idea what it was. The house and hand she got. The man on a horse she kept saying was a dog, even when it was a really large picture. Whenever it was one she didn't know, or couldn't see, she'd say, "I can't member." She said it in an embarassed voice and I felt so bad for her!

When Dr. Weiss came in, she got very withdrawn, and then super upset when he shined a bright light in her eyes to look at her retinas. I put Spencer down (and let him scream) so I could hold her and let her feel more comfortable. She calmed down a little. Then the nurse came back in and put drops in her eyes to dilate them... which totally freaked her out. Then we went to a waiting room and sat for about 1/2 an hour to give the drops time to work. She calmed down and we talked about how nice the Dr. had really been, and that he only wanted to help her. I got her to promise to smile at him! When we went back to see him, she was shy, but totally cooperative, and then loosened up and really smiled at him.

One thing she is happy about is that he said she shouldn't wear her glasses anymore ($400 down the drain... but now I don't feel so bad about that big scratch on one of the lenses). He said that the blurriness caused by her farsightedness and astigmatism, is actually less than the blurriness from her nystagmus. And somehow, by the effort of trying to see through the farsightedness and astigmatism, the eyes kind of dampen the nystagmus. I'm planning on doing my own test with her though, to see if she really sees better with them or without them.

So now I need to contact the Assoc. for the Blind, since we do know her acuity... whether the colorblindness turns out to be acurate or not. I've wondered for awhile if she was colorblind. She doesn't know any colors, and is very hit and miss on matching colors. What I think actually happens is that she matches the value, so if there are 2 yellows, they're obviously not the same as a darker red. However, if you show her one blue and ask her to find something that's a different value or hue of blue, she's lost. Even today in the Dr.'s office, I had her in a little skirt with big splotches of bright colors. She had on a green top that matched the green in her skirt. I asked her to find the same color as her shirt on her skirt and she kept pointing to patches of yellow.

So I stress about what life will be like for her. How she'll get around when she's a mom with 3 or 4 kids and can't drive. How she'll always have to cope with being basically blind in the sunshine, and never really enjoy a beautiful summer day. I'm crying for my sweet, sweet girlie who will never see colors. But then I remembered how much I love old movies, even if they're black and white... sometimes more when they are. And I'm happy that she loves to play outside at dusk and loves that time with her brothers and sisters, when she's so much more free. I know that she doesn't see anything differently today than she did a few days ago, I just understand it in a different way. And I feel humbled once again that I was prompted before she was even born, to homeschool my family. And I know she's a smartie and we'll make it work.

Welcome sweet one!

2009-05-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sweet Spencer is here. It's amazing how even though he is my largest baby, he seems so very tiny now. He's precious and wonderful. And in the words of my sweet husband, "It's unfair to the rest of the world that we have such beautiful children!" LOL! He's really amazing though, I could just sit and stare at him for ages. It's a good thing Fred is home this week, giving me lots of "stargazing" time.

This is a short post, but here are the objects of my affection:

The kids all came to the hospital and were arguing over who got to hold him. Finally Fred said, "He's ours, he'll come home with Mom and we get to keep him forever!" Here's Sage and little Spencer (looking a little elfish, with his ears poking out from his hospital cap)...

Trey and Spencer...

Adam and Spencer...

Sydney and Spencer...

Sabrina and Spencer...

And a darling shot I took yesterday of Sabrina and Spencer loving their little brother...

One benefit of a late baby...

2009-05-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to have little Spencer on the outside, in my arms. Everyone keeps telling me how pleasant and happy I am, even though he's overdue. I think it helps that I knew he would be. Or I thought he would be, at least. With my other kiddos coming late, I figured I just cook them long, and have always counted on that. But, I'm ready. And luckily, I'm about done. Unless something goes crazy and happens tonight filling up the maternity ward tomorrow (or I happen to go into labor in the next 12 hours or so), I'm going in tomorrow morning to be induced. With any luck, they'll only need to break my water. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'd like to avoid the pitocin if possible.

But back to the point of this post. There are benefits to being late. You get more time to finish projects! I have a baby book about 1/3 of the way scrapped, using Janet Phillips' Nine Months and Counting templates. I'd link you up, but she's not selling anymore that I can tell. I got a new kit all finished and in the shops, Pinch Hitter... full of fun and interesting elements and papers for scrapping those Little League photos, or the vintage photos you have kicking around from when you were a kid, playing America's favorite pastime. And just a few minutes ago I finished a cover for over Spencer's carseat. It's a modified version of this KwikSew pattern.

I had actually made one a couple of weeks ago, the first I'd ever done with a woven fabric on the outside. Usually I make them with fleece out and flannel in. But since I'm having a May baby, that just seemed WAY too hot. It turned out really fun and funky, out of a fine cord that had a distinctly Joseph's coat-of-many-colors feel. And I never took a picture because, um, well, I just never got around to it... figuring I had plenty of time. But then there was a baby shower for a gal at church and when I didn't get hers finished in time (long story, but it involved ripping off a toenail... OUCH!), I gave her mine. So today, finally, I finished up that one for Spencer. It's much more tame, in a chambray and flannel. But still cute and great for summer. I considered not making one, since it would be summer for most of the time he's tiny, but having had them for 3 of my other 5 kids, I decided it was a necessity. It's so much easier to keep the rain off, and let's face it, even though it's late May, this is the Pacific Northwet, I mean west. They stay on, when it's a little windy or a baby starts kicking, unlike the most well-placed blanket, and... ***drumroll, please*** they keep random strangers from touching your precious child! Woohoo

Ok, so I've rambled on enough. Here are some photos of my new kit and the carseat cover. Enjoy!

Pinch Hitter, available at both DigitalFreebies and FaithSisters. 30% off at DF until Monday.
Full kit...

Papers...

Alpha...

Carseat cover closed...

and open...

Totally Fun Blog Train... it's for the birds!

2009-04-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

***The links have expired, and the massive mega kit is now available at Faith Sisters for free with purchase.***

This is the first time I've been part of a blog train, so hopefully I'm doing this right! All the Faith Sisters designers put together this amazing collab kit, For the Birds. Hop around to each blog listed below, to pick up the various parts.

4 Shades of Blue: http://4shadesofbluedesigns.blogspot.com/
Adriana Hollenbeck: http://adriscreations.blogspot.com/
AEDesigns: www.aedigitaldesigns.com
Albums to Remember: http://albumstoremember.blogspot.com
AnaFlor: http://anaflordesign.blogspot.com
Audra's Little Scraps: http://audraslittlescraps.blogspot.com
Camie Designs: http://camiedesigns.blogspot.com
Chelly Scraps: http://chelsant.blogspot.com/
Designs: http://www.scrapnfun.de/
Cre8tvlyYrs by Gina: http://www.cre8tvlyyrs.blogspot.com/
Designs: http://diellesdarlings.blogspot.com/
Digiscrapalicious: http://digiscrapalicious.blogspot.com/
Designs By : http://scrappingwithangel.blogspot.com
Digital Compilations by Cinda: http://blog.digitalcompilations.com/
Digital Designs by Lisa: http:/digitaldesignsbylisa.blogspot.com/
Dragonfly Beach Designs: http://alumnaanimi.blogspot.com/
Lindqvist Designs: http://everything-eva.blogspot.com/
Eyelets Scraps Designs: http://eyeletsscrapsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Glayce Cavalcante: http://glaycecavalcante.blogspot.com
Designs: http://juliemariedesigns.com/blog
JZDesigns: http://jbzwick.blogspot.com
Kreative : http://thekreativekarma.blogspot.com
Lifesong Kreations: http://lifesongkreations.com
Makes It: http://www.merchimakesit.blogspot.com
Cardall: http://meredithcardall.blogspot.com
Batton: http://www.blog.mellowbutterfly.com/
Monique Drost: http://moniquedrost.blogspot.com/
Robin: http://robin-giftsyoucanfeelgoodabout.blogspot.com/
Morgan Designs: http://sarahmorgandesigns.blogspot.com/
Scrap Quest: http://www.scrapquest.com/
ScrapWarrior: http://www.scrapwarrior.com/blog/
Simply : http://www.simplysusangodfrey.blogspot.com
Sweet Tomato Designs: http://sweettomatodesigns.blogspot.com/
TMA Designs: http://themathematiciansassistant.com
Willro&co: http://willrownco.blogspot.com/

LAST STOP! http://www.faithsisters.com

Oh, and make sure to check out all the fun stuff happening at FaithSisters for NSD!

Adorable (if I say so my self) and saved me a bundle!

2009-04-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

I had Sydney and Sabrina a little over 3 years ago, so have 2 carseats that are still perfectly good. But they were pretty girly. I just couldn't justify spending $80 on another one for this baby. So I bought some cute fabric, grabbed a seamripper to take apart one of the old covers for a pattern, and... let it sit. HA! I'm such a procrastinator. It's been sitting there, waiting and waiting for me for a couple of weeks.

I'm just 37 weeks along today, and all of my other children have come quite late. But Tuesday, I started having very regular, and uncomfortable contractions. 3-5 minutes apart and very crampy feeling. I had had a pretty full day, out and about with our homeschool co-op, playday at the park and then grocery shopping. But I came home and put my legs up pretty much all evening. Then about 10:30, I realized how uncomfortable I was (normal braxton-hicks for me are just a tight squeeze, not crampy), and that it was happening very regularly. I'd also had my insides rumbling and not feeling well... as had my DH, so we think it might be something we ate. So that could have contributed to it all. I went to bed and made sure to lay on my left side. Slowly they relaxed and I finally fell asleep. But the contractions weren't the thing most keeping me awake, it was the thought of everything I still have to do. I've had it in my head that I'd be having this baby sometime the end of May, so I'm not totally prepared. I have clothes and diapers and all the basic necessities... but no bassinet/crib set up. I needed to recover that darn carseat, maybe buy a new stroller, get a swing, clean out the part of our bedroom we've been using as storage, to make room for the co-sleeper, then actually find the bassinet portion of it, figure out who's keeping the other kids while we go to the hospital, etc. AUGH!!!

So still no baby, thank goodness. But I finally got my act together and got the cover made. And I LOVE IT!!! I'm so happy with how it turned out. I forgot to take a picture of it before I ripped the first cover apart, so I'll show you a picture of my cute Sabrina on her 1st Independence Day...

And here's the new carseat, all ready for the new baby boy soon (but hopefully not TOO soon) to join our family...

Yo ho Mateys! TallShips and a freebie...

2009-04-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

Yo ho mateys! This kit be perfect for all your high seas adventures photos, Caribbean dreams layouts, or just for some ol' pirate fun. Full of texture and depth, this kit has so much more than what you can see in the preview... I just couldn't fit it all in! But find a complete list of everything here. This week it's on sale for 30% off at Digital Freebies. You can also find it in my shop at FaithSisters.

Here's the full kit...

Find just the elements right here.

The papers...

The alpha...

And a few fabulous CT LOs using the kit.
By Jenn...

by Bohunka25...

And another by her

And one by me...

Ok, and finally here's the freebie sampler. Click the image to go to the download...

Easter sewing

2009-04-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

I got to work plenty early on these dresses... but still ended up madly sewing Friday morning before leaving to drive the four hours to my folks' house for Easter weekend. I actually had the little girlies' dresses done, but was working on finishing up Sage's. All the dresses started as Ottobre patterns (from the summer '05 issue) but morphed into twirly dresses. Afterall, even almost-eleven year olds need a good twirly dress every now and then.

Here are the original patterns, so you can kind of see the changes I made:

Sydney's went together beautifully, no problems at all...

Sabrina's, not so much. I guess that's what you get when you stay up til 1am sewing. I mixed up the measurements for the bottom two tiers. When I sewed on that middle green one, I was thinking that it was a lot fuller gathers than Sydney's had been, but it didn't register why. So after serging and topstitching it all, I had to pick it out, UGH! Still after all that work, it ended up fine.

Sage's dress gave me a few minor headaches, just because while I sew well, actually fitting dresses is a skill I'm still working on. I had to modify a few things to get the fit right. But I actually love it and so does she. The zipper went in like a breeze, and she just looks fabulous in it.
BACK:

Twirly front:

And all three girls together...

Suddenly obsessed...

2009-04-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

...with craft blogs. It started with a visit to my midwife last month. Waiting to be called back, I picked up a copy of Mothering Magazine. An article highlighting some fabulous craft blogs caught my eye and after I was called back, but still waiting for my midwife, I swiped a sticky note from her desk and started quickly writing down blog addresses. My very cool midwife walked in at that moment and after she asked what I was doing, told me to just take the mag home... she'd trust me to bring it back. **Note to self... you forgot to return it this week, make sure you stick it in the van so you have it to return the next time**

I came home with the magazine and spent hours that night and the next pouring through craft blogs, which lead me to gorgeous etsy shops, natural parenting and creative homeschooling blogs, and back in circles to the craft blogs. It started with SouleMama, where I (think I) found Angry Chicken, which led me to the Camp Creek Blog and on and on. I bookmarked dozens of projects, emailed them to myself so I wouldn't forget, sent some I knew she'd appreciate to my mom, etc. And now I've added some to my sidebar. It's more for me, so I remember to check them out, than for anyone else. But just in case you have a crafty side, you might want to see what fun things there are. Careful though, you might end up snagged, caught, locked in this craft blog obsession!

PS, a side effect of my obsession is putting an unbelievable number of books on hold at the library. Knitting, farming, crafting, sewing, teaching children, creating with the wonder of life... you name it, I've got it on hold. All thanks to these fabulous bloggers. It's a good thing books come from all over 5 counties and are sometimes checked out by other people... so they trickle in, or I'd never be able to carry all the stacks home.

PPS, Check out the Feed Your Soul Free Art Project that I just discovered, where some great artists have put pieces of art that you are free to download, print and hang in your home. Isn't that cool???

For my sweet baby to be...

2009-03-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

In no way related to scrapbooking, but I just want to show off the baby quilt I just finished. I started with adorable Debbie Mumm and other quilting fabrics, and a rough plan. I purposely didn't wash any of them (or the cotton batting) because I wanted it to shrink after it was quilted, giving it sort of an old-fashioned handmade look that I love. I'll show you what I mean in a minute. The piecing and quilting was all done on my machine, but the binding... miles and miles of binding...

was handmade out of the same flannel that I used for the back, and then handsewn to the quilt. And I have the holes in my fingers to prove it.

Here's the quilt finished, but not washed...

And after it's washed.

I don't know if you can really see the difference, though it's very obvious when you hold it. Here's a closeup...

I don't know, maybe it's knowing this will be my last baby that's doing it, but I'm just having such a great time creating things for this little guy. I have one sweater almost finished... just need to sew the arms on, and another one about 1/2 knit. Good thing I still have another month and a half. All this other stuff is definitely cutting into my designing. Oh well, the cycles we go through, I guess. Now if only we could agree on his name!

Playful Bits and freebie

2009-03-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

I love magnetic poetry pieces. I've had them on my fridge off and on for more than a decade, and even have a journal with a metal cover and little magnetic pieces for when inspiration strikes. So I decided to make my own digital, slightly grungy version. But the truth is, they've been in various stages of completion for months, or maybe a year. There are so many, that I just didn't want to cut them all apart, LOL. I finally bit the bullet and did it, and here you have Poetry Bits. Over 380 of them, to be exact. There are oodles and oodles of the most common words we use, and lots of prefixes and suffixes to create even more words. You can pick them up at DigitalFreebies or FaithSisters, and they're on sale at DF for just $2.80 this week, instead of the normal (and still super reasonable price of $4).

Oh, and I have a little freebie out this week at Digital Freebies. Click the preview to go grab it...

And I had a ball playing with one of my older kits: Inquisitive, a great template from Sine, and the Poetry Bits (click for all the credits)...

trying again

2009-03-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

This is post #2 about these kits, because I'm trying a new way of publishing to my blog. The last try obviously didn't work. This one looks like it's going to be successful, YAY!

Feeling warm and springy? Or just wishing to? As part of the Digital
Freebies club kit for march, here's my New Bloom kit. Partnered with
Simple Girl Designs, you can get both kits to scrap those beautiful
spring or girly photos, for just $5. I've also created an add-on kit,
that I think I might love more than the original, if that's possible.
And a coordinating QP album, made from both of my new kits!

Click on the preview to go to the club and see/buy both mine and
Simple Girl's kits together...

For a burst of spring, even when winter's hanging on...

2009-03-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

We had more snow this weekend. It's been the craziest winter here!
Normally we get just a dusting at best, but we were swamped with it in
December and have gotten it so many more times than normal. But today
is sunny and makes me feel vibrant and full of life. How about you?
Feeling warm and springy? Or just wishing to? As part of the Digital
Freebies club kit for march, here's my New Bloom kit. Partnered with
Simple Girl Designs, you can get both kits to scrap those beautiful
spring or girly photos, for just $5. I've also created an add-on kit,
that I think I might love more than the original, if that's possible.
And a coordinating QP album, made from both of my new kits! (click on
the image to go to them in the store)
[url=http://digitalfreebies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=5333][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i163/Dielledl/Scrapbooking/Dielle_NewBloom_AO_Prev.jpg[/IMG][/url]
Click on the preview to go to the club and see/buy both mine and
Simple Girl's kits together...
[url=http://digitalfreebies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=5332][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i163/Dielledl/Scrapbooking/Dielle_NewBloom_Prev.jpg[/IMG][/url]
[url=http://digitalfreebies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=5340][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i163/Dielledl/Scrapbooking/Dielle_NewBloom_QP_Prev.jpg[/IMG][/url]

Now I'm scrapping it!

2009-02-21T19:12:00.001-08:00

Our trip was fabulous! I literally took more than a thousand photos and now I'm scrapping them. We went to Disneyland and California Adventure, to the beach, to Medieval Times, to visit family and friends and put a few thousand miles on our van. The kids were great and we had a wonderful 2 weeks!!! Oh, I also got the amazing chance to meet the wonderful Marieta, from my CT. We had lunch, sitting and talking in a small cafe and it felt like we'd known each other forever. How cool is that?!?

I've decided to scrap the photos and put them in a bound book. I've only ever printed LOs and put them in an album. I thought it would be great to do a few of the books and give one to my FIL, who went with us, one to my husband's aunt and uncle who provided the timeshare for us to stay in, and of course one for our family. Here are the first of my LOs, done in no particular order, other than Disneyland seemed like a fun place to start... (as always, click them to read journaling and see credits)

The girlies were such troopers about it all!Pluto, what a cutie he was!Sage and Adam in bumper cars...
Kiddos riding the spinning ladybug ride (like teacups) without Mom!!!

ADSR, Music Recital & Disney

2009-01-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Man, I've been a blog slacker! I've actually been scrapping (thanks mostly to the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race), and my mojo came back to finish up my Music Recital kit. Now I'm trying to wrap things up for our family trip to California. Can you say 75 degrees?!?!? Woohoo!!!

I've really enjoyed the ADSR this time. It's always fun, but these challenges have been perfect for me, so far. Here are some of my recent LOs. I won't post them all, because I've done 8 so far but have obviously not posted any of them. (Clicking on any of them will take you to a larger image and credits.)

This is my most recent and one of my favorites. We had to lift another scrapper whose gallery we love. Amanda1201 has just amazing LOs, quite a few of which are in my faves. So I lifted one of hers.

This was a kind of hard one, we had to lift a LO of our ADSR partner, flip it, & rotate 45 degrees as our sketch. So most of the LOs were at funky angles. But I think it works ok for the energy of this LO!
This challenge required that we download a minikit and use every single piece of it. NOT my style of kit, or colors, but I'm actually quite pleased with how this turned out. I recolored some of the papers and elements, used some as repeating elements instead of their intended purpose, and cut others up into something different.
And my homage to Disney, LOL! Can you tell what's on my mind? The challenge was basically to have a layout with no photos, and it had to include 3 separate frames. It hasn't happened yet, but it won't be too much longer!!!
OK, and last but not least, my new kit. I really love how it turned out, especially after weeks and weeks of not really creating anything new. It will be so perfect for all my children's recitals, and exactly right to showcase my daughter recently winning an award in an arts competition this week for an original piano piece she wrote.

Full kit (clicking will take you to the item at Digital Freebies):
Paper Pack:
Just the elements:
It's also available at Faithsisters.com

Well, I'm not completely packed, so better run! Wish me luck spending 3 days on my feet at Disney, when I'm 6 months pregnant! (DH says he'll rent me a wheelchair if I need, LOL)

Holy Wordle, Batman!

2008-12-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, totally addicting!!! I've spent over an hour typing in words, playing with the fonts, colorschemes, etc. I've even figured out how I might use them in some of my designs (which their TOU says is ok). This one is from plugging in the url from my blog here.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the more times a word is used (or more that you type it in, if you're just entering a bunch of words), the larger that one is, in comparison to other words used less often. I guess I use the word "just" a little too often, LOL. If you start and can't stop, I guess you'll just have to blame me. Sorry! Here's the website, enter at your own risk... http://www.wordle.net/

Early holidays!

2008-11-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

My sweet DH is remodeling my parent's kitchen. He's been working on it for a few weekends, and took off all of this week to finish it up for Thanksgiving. So we left Friday and drove here and will be here for a week. So much fun! We usually just stay for 2-3 days. And today my brother, his wife and his baby all came. We haven't seen them since the summer, as they live on the other side of the country. What a great time!

I put my Thanksgiving kit up last post. Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but here's my Christmas kit. I usually really like whatever kit I've just finished, but this is far and away my favorite kit I've made. Must be the glitter, LOL. I'm a sparkly kind of girl!

It's available in individual paper and element packs, or as a full kit (to save money). Oh, and the element pack has the alpha included, which matches the advent calendar. Pick it up in my FaithSisters shop, or if you click on the pics, they'll take you to DigitalFreebies.

2008-11-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking on this blog more than usual the last couple months. But it's with good reason. Want to see?

That little kidney bean is our baby #6. Hooray! We're very excited!!! It's still to early to tell if it's a boy or girl, but early enough to sap my energy and make me nauseated... hence the slacking.

I have managed to put a few kits together, I just haven't gotten them posted on here. So let me show you my most recent, my new A Thankful Heart kit. It's the club kit, along with a coordinating one by Jennifer Schmitt, at DigitalFreebies (get them both for just $5). I love these colors, so rich and warm and inviting!

Here are just the papers, though they're not for sale alone, yet.
I also did a coordinating add-on, quickpage album and alpha, all on sale 30% off this week. And you can find Jennifer's coordinating add-on and album here.

Free bone marrow registry

2008-09-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

This isn't the normal scrap-related post, but I think it's important enough to post about in the hopes it will touch someone's life....

Now, through Sept. 22nd, Nascar is paying the $52 registration fee to sign up to be a bone marrow donor. You can register at a track near you, or online. I just did it online. The site is secure and the questions are basically what you'd be asked when donating blood, so you do need to be in relatively good health. Then they send you a registration kit to take swabs from inside your cheek, that you'll send back in. It's such a worthy cause, I thought I'd pass it on.

The site: http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Events/NASCAR/index.html

I just registered online and hope you will, too.

Yay! Exciting news! I'm part of a new shop...

2008-09-11T00:48:00.000-07:00

... well, new to me. FaithSisters.com is a lovely site with a focus on scrapping your testimony of Jesus Christ. The kits, LOs and topics are not all Christ-oriented, but it's a beautiful, friendly site and I'm enjoying it immensely.

I've put a few new things in both FaithSisters and DigitalFreebies, and a fun new kit that's out in FaithSisters and will be in DigitalFreebies on Tuesday. Wanna see? Of course you do!

A little boy who refused to grow up, a little girl willing to tell him fairytales and tuck him in at night, and the power of fairy dust and happy thoughts. My children and I are having such fun listening to the classic story as we jet around from lessons to practices and back again. Here's what's come of it...The Papers ... I normally put 12 papers in a kit, but I had so much fun with this I just kept going. And you know what, I even took some out and will probably make an add-on of them.

The coordinating alpha (included in the kit)
This is a fun little element pack with slightly crinkled paper arrows and journaling-on-path
Fun, little snippets of handmade paper to journal on, use for blocking or layering and just to add a little extra to your layouts!

I crack myself up!

2008-07-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

This layout has made me chuckle all day, everytime I look at it or think about it. The photo is from months ago when I happened to catch my kids hanging poor Bob the Builder from the upstairs landing, pulling him up and down like a yo-yo. Today, I was scrapping with the new mini-kit I just made for the Teacher's Pet design challenge at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns. I always start with the photo(s), and create the LO around it. This time I created the LO, and went digging through photos to find one that worked. When I did I laughed out loud because it was so perfect... and just added the thought bubble to the birdie. The kids all laughed and loved it, too. So I figure it's a keeper!

If you want to pick up the kit (and all the other amazing submissions), make sure to sign up for the newsletter to get the password that will unzip them all. Here's mine...

Small town parade

2008-07-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, the only problem with a digital camera, especially one I love as much as mine, is that I take WAY TOO MANY photos!!! This morning we went to our local pioneer parade and I took 121 pictures. Seriously, do I need that many? But how do I choose which ones to get rid of. I think I'll start by taking out all the politicians. Seriously, 1/2 the parade was people who were campaigning for one thing or another. But I didn't really take many pics of them. Of course there was the mayor and a couple of pageant winners. There were alpaca (yes, alpaca), and cute kids walking their goats, the local grocery store (well, the store didn't actually come, just a giant shopping cart) and lots of fire trucks. We had oodles of vintage cars, scouts, motorcycles and the library even had a presence. Everyone was throwing candy (even the alpaca people) that the kids collected in buckets they were given at the beginning of the parade. We got more candy than on Halloween! But best of all, was Sage with the cheerleaders. What a cutie! And she did a great job! I was impressed by all the girls, especially given that they only had a couple hours of practice. So I don't think I can get rid of many photos... except for maybe a couple of blurry ones. That's ok, I also got some great photos and ideas for new scrapkits. So we'll just call it research and chalk the harddrive space up to a business expense, LOL. Here are a few photos (with local info blurred out)...

Nothing too exciting, just a small town waiting for the parade to start.I told you there were alpaca...Sage cheering...Sage squinting in the sun, but still looking cute...
My little ones w/ flags...
I know I keep busy with designing, but I don't scrap as much as I really want to when I don't have deadlines pushing me. I happened to see a great call for Designs by Sine and since I love templates and hers are fabulous, I thought it was the perfect fit for me. Hopefully she thinks I'm a fit for her, LOL. It's been a long time since I've been on anyone's CT (other than my own). Regardless, I love her templates and the 2 LOs I've created with them (click images for credits).This is a 2 page LO celebrating my baby brother graduating from Medical school!!!And lastly, one of my favorite LOs I've ever done. It just makes me grin and shows the joy and light that Adam brings to our family. Boy does he love his daddy!

I'm having a CT call!

2008-07-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yep, I decided it was time to expand a bit. My CT now are fabulous, FABULOUS gals, but there's not very many of them. So without further ado, here's the ad with all the gory details, LOL...

And since that shows up kind of small, I suppose it would be a good idea to retype it, even after all the fun of creating the ad :)

My terms are pretty easy...
* At least 2 LOs/month
* You can mix and match my kits
* Post at DST, Digital Freebies,
and another site of your choice
* Promote my designs when you have
the opportunity
* Be friendly and fun!

That’s it! If you’re interested, send
an email to dielledesigns@comcast.net.
Include a link to your best gallery, what
other CTs you’re on, and your favorite
kit of mine and why.

Deadline July 23rd

(Font used in call ad is DJB Sissy.)

Yellowstone!!!

2008-07-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I LOVED it!!! We went for a family reunion. I was so inspired by the gorgeous scenery, amazing animals and groovy geothermic activity. I seriously took over a thousand photos, which now I need to weed through, scrap and such. I mean really, how many pictures of bison do I need? On the drive there, early in the pre-dawn I was driving while everyone else slept. I got brainstorming and didn't want to wake anyone up, so I grabbed a pen and pad of paper and jotted down designing ideas while I drove. Ok, not the safest, I suppose. But it was 4:30 am and there was NO ONE else on the road in eastern Oregon. On the way back, my DH was driving and was so sweet to stop and let me take photos of things for scrapping and designing. He even suggested a number of things for kits! I've done a couple of LOs, have a few more in process and imagine that Yellowstone will keep me busy scrapping and designing for awhile.
Here's what I have finished so far (click the images for credits)...

Oh and on top of that, I released a kit right before I left that I never popped on here. So let me post that, too! It's the one I used for the first LO above. Comes in individual paper, element and alpha packs or as a full kit (save $!). Clicking images will take you to the items at Digital Freebies.

Thanks for checking it all out!!

I'm leaving DID!

2008-06-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

Man, it was a hard decision. One I've been mulling over for a few months, now. I really love DesignsInDigital. When I first started posting my LOs online, it was one of my very first galleries (that and ScrapHabit, before it went exclusive to Alma). It was ClikChicDesigns back then. I ended up being site CT and it was one of my first shops when I started designing. I actually started at both DID and DigiScrapDivas (no longer a store) at the same time. It's a small, fun group of gals and I've always enjoyed my time there. But it's time for me to move on, with my designing. For right now I'll be just at DigitalFreebies. I may pick up another store in the future if I find somewhere too good to pass up. We'll see. But for now, it's time to party with a sale!!! My entire DID shop is now 55% off, through the end of June. There are quite a few things that are retiring, so pick them up now! Thanks for all the support and fun I've had at DID!!!

I could use these colors forever!

2008-05-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, that's probably an exaggeration, but by the time I'm done with a kit I'm usually pretty tired of the colorscheme. This is one I'm still loving and using. I scrapped with it again today, and then made a QP out of my LO. It's my gift for you, my few ;) readers. Click the photo for credits and details, and HERE is a link for the download. I'd love a comment, if you choose to download. Thanks!

A freebie for you!

2008-05-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Free stuff 2 days in a row, does it get better? It's a little thing, but I think it turned out fun. Here's a May desktop for you. It comes in both regular screen and widescreen. Here's a picture of it widescreen w/ a photo dropped in. Everything (except the font used for the #s, which is DJB Liz by Darcy Baldwin) is from my Inquisitive Add-on kit. Click the preview to grab the desktop at 4shared.

The reason I've been sort of missing...

2008-04-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

My fabulous new Inquisitive sets. I am so thrilled with how these turned out. I'm not the speediest designer in the world, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist. So most of my time on the computer has been working on my newest bundle... The May Club kit at Digital Freebies, called Inquisitive, the girly add-on to it (also a full kit), a freebie bragbook (link will be in the DF newsletter), and a QP album. Whew, I'm done, and it should be going up in the store any minute... so here are previews. I love that these are a great set to scrap both boys and girls together! You don't have to choose between putting frilly stuff on boy pages or scrapping your girls all in blue, if you're wanting to scrap them both or make coordinating pages. Oh, and be sure to check out Melanie Ann's darling girly add-on (yes, we coordinated that!). Put them all together you have one amazing mega kit! So without further ado...

Kit:
Inquisitive Papers:

Inquisitive Alpha

The add-on...

Get this freebie now at Digital Freebies...

The QP Album, made from both Inquisitive and Inquisitive Add-on...
Now I can go back and finish up a few things that have been put on hold and are calling my name from my "in process" folder on the computer.

Get Wordy!

2008-04-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

I made a new set of Wordy frames, this time with a more boyish feel. This set is different too, because I made the inner portion of the frames separate from the outer portion. What this means is that you can mix and match and the files to download are smaller! Hooray! Also, I have a girlish set in the works that will be able to mix and match with this set, for oodles and oodles of options. Included are 7 outer frames and 8 inner ones, including the words: Boy, Boys, Bugs, Grin, Mud, Dirt, Play & Ride. AND, if you check out the DST Insider, there's a coupon code for 40% off my store at Designs In Digital through the end of April, so you can get these for a steal!

2008-04-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

... sort of. I've been working on the most fun kit! I can't get over how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It's going to be the May Club kit at Digital Freebies. I'm coordinating with Melanie of Melanie Ann Designs. She came up with the most fab, bright, happy boy colors and it has really sparked my imagination. I've got a bunch of hand drawn elements, great papers and I can't believe I have to wait for MAY to release it... which unfortunately means you have to wait until May, too. :( You'll love it though, totally worth the wait, I promise!

Ok, on to a few recent LOs (Yes, all for the ADSR!) ...

#8 was pretty easy. Our favorite trip w/ three black and white photos. I think those were the only requirements. They said you could also scrap a dream vacation, so that's what I chose to do.

#10 is my favorite LO from the race (and I actually quite like most of them). My favorite I've done in a long time. We had to use 50 elements from at least 10 designers. And scrap about our goals in life and how to get there. Normally I would have stopped at about 25 elements. In fact, right about then, I was thinking, "How on earth am I going to double how many things I have on here and not have it look ridiculous?" But I'm so pleased I pushed on and it turned out as beautifully as it did.
#9 was kind of a nebulous challenge. Altered art. That's it, no directions beside that. It was sure interesting to see some of the different ways people interpreted that! I used an action by Jenn (one of my fab CT members) for the photo, then blended it w/ some sheet music. Blended a bunch of things for the background and layered some things on. Not my normal style of LO, but I like how it turned out.

#11 required wings. That was the only requirement... wings. I think lots of people did those mystical type with wings on a baby or child and lots of sparkle. But that's not really me. So I went with the butterflies. Hey, it worked.
Ok, I might be the very last person to actually do the bonus LO. I think most people jumped on it a month ago. Oh well, if you haven't noticed already, procrastinating is one of the things I do best. But I work well under pressure!
Well, that's it. ADSR is done. Seems odd, since I've spent so much time on it for 6 weeks now. Oh, I didn't have to do #12. I just supplied the photo and journaling and Marieta scrapped it (she doesn't like journaling and I LOVE it, so this was the best option for us. Our odds are slim of winning the grand prize, but it was a fun time, the prizes along the way were wonderful and I'm truly happy with almost all of the LOs I created for the race. There are a couple (I'm not telling which ones) that I turned into QPs for me to use later with different photos and journaling, since they're not subjects I particularly cared for. But it was all a great adventure and I can't wait for the next one.

Recent LOs and great new QP album

2008-03-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post a couple of my recent ADSR LOs. So here goes...

ADSR#5 was a challenge to have a conversation with an inanimate object. I really struggled with what to do it about, but settled on the pacifier... well, I should admit that Marieta (my partner) gave me the idea. I ended up having to redo the LO a little, too, because I spaced on the part where it said it had to be 4 questions and answers. But the NDISB gals are fab and PMd me about it so I was able to change it and stay in the race.
ADSR #7 was a doozie of a challenge. I let Marieta choose which part of the challenge she wanted to do (after all, she did challege #6, so I didn't have to... it was one of the challenges just one partner had to complete) and she picked #1, so I did #2. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out, except for the photos. I didn't have any available (busted scanner), so I just put in 3 semi relevant ones to get it done. But I saved it as a QP of sorts, so I can change them out later.
And in design news... first of all, I just put this cute little Brag Book Album in my shop. It was a Friday Freebie at Digital Freebies a couple months ago. Still a pretty good deal at just $2.99...
And I created this fun QuickPage Album from my recent Lovelies kit. You can get it as an album of 8 pages, or in one of 4 sets of two (I posted a couple of them).

Thanks Mom!

2008-03-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I just finished my newest kit. And I have to admit I would never in a million years have chosen the colors on my own. They're not "me." They are however, my mom. She was browsing through the Designs in Digital shop one day and saw a kit by Honie, called Altered, and asked me if I'd make a kit in those colors. That's kind of funny, because she doesn't even scrap. But she really wanted me to, so I thought I'd give it a go. I PM'd Honie, to make sure she didn't mind if I lifted a color scheme off of her preview and she said, "no problem." Then I set to work. It wasn't easy going at first. The colors didn't "speak to me" like so many of the schemes I choose. But after deciding to use my mom's favorite things (angels, ladybugs and hearts), it started to come together. And you know what? I LOVE it!!! Seriously! While I never would have chosen these colors to scrap with, I'm so happy with how it turned out and have ideas for a number of LOs I want to do with it. Here are previews. It'll be in Digital Freebies, tomorrow. And Designs In Digital on Friday. And you can pick up the entire kit or just papers or elements.

Clarification...

2008-03-04T21:24:00.001-08:00

I did post the challenge #2 LO in time for the race deadlines, just hadn't posted it here.

BTW, anyone know if there's a way to edit blogger posts?

Just a little behind

2008-03-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

I'm glad that the ADSR challenge #3 is optional. I've done a few pages like that lately and just didn't feel up to doing another. I forgot to post our challenge #2 LO. It was one that we had to collaborate on and literally split up the scrapping space. Marieta scrapped the left side and I scrapped the right. Oh, and in case you can't tell from the LO, we're both moms to twins. Dumb Twin Q's

And the race is off!

2008-02-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

What a crazy scrapping weekend! Were you as glued to the computer as I was during the Trash2Treasure hunt? I had a ball doing it, and think I got everything but one. I ended up going through it from about three different places, and wasn't sure where I was at any given time. But it was fun.

Being a designer, I'm not eligible for the grand prize, but I thought I'd scrap with the goodies right away anyway. AND, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and scrap my first ADSR LO! The challenge was to use a template, use your favorite color on the layout, share with us a picture of your favorite person or animal to scrap about on your layout, and use your favorite element repeated at least 3 times. So I decided to scrap about Jesus Christ and used almost everything from the T2T hunt.

Just Sunday, our Sunday school teacher was talking about writing our own psalm. I'm not claiming to be that amazing of a writer, but this did give me an opportunity to write down and share my testimony.

Here's my LO:Credits here.

Wordy Frames

2008-02-21T03:19:00.000-08:00

I just think these frames are so much fun! I'm planning on making a couple more sets. You can find them at Designs In Digital right now, or at Digital Freebies next Tuesday.

If you have any ideas for words you think would be great to use in my next sets of Wordy Frames, please let me know. If I use your words, you just might get the next set they're included in ;).

Using the highly scientific method...

2008-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

of letting my children pick a number, JanMary won my Let's Face It! element pack. Thanks so much everyone for playing!!!

{Comment and win!}

2008-02-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Leave a little love on my new blog and I'll pick someone to give this element pack to. It's one I put out a few months ago, but still one of my favorites! Just make sure I have a link to your blog or your email so I can let you know you won!

Guess I'll put my blog to use!!!

2008-02-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Since it's looking so fabulous, I'm going to put it to good use. Here are a couple of my newest kits...

Backyard Explorer started as a minikit for a design contest I was in last year. Inspiration for it is sitting on top of my washing machine... all the treasures I take out of my son's pockets, almost daily. I reworked it, added all kinds of papers and elements and now it's for sale at both DesignsInDigital and DigitalFreebies.

And Sweet Affection is a playful, girly kit full of sparkle and shine that works for Valentine's day (today!) or all kinds of spring and feminine layouts.

Resurrecting my blog

2008-02-14T18:01:00.001-08:00

I've let this poor blog lie dormant for close to a year. I admit it, I'm blogging impaired. So finally I decided to own up to my insufficiencies and ask for help. That's always the first step, right? So I found help from the fabulous Liz Pike of Strawberry Wine Designs, who helped me with all the coding and such that was just boggling my brain. I used my recent Sweet Affection kit for my header and I am just pleased as punch with how it's turned out!!! What do you think?

End of the scrapping drought

2007-04-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

I hadn't scrapped a single thing in 2 weeks. Life's been a tad hectic with the new house getting finished and all. But I also was doing some designing, every "scrapping" moment I had. Finally got a couple LO's done and it feels great!
"Bike." Done for Lifts With a Twist and mostly ToniAnne stuff, credits are here.

"Yin & Yang Twins." Totally fun kit by Robyn Gough, and a few other goodies. Credits here.

Check these out!!!

2007-03-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

I'm so dang excited about this... I have created some totally amazing new elements that I called Picture Stix. I have this funky photo thing up on a shelf in my dining room. It has a bunch of wires of what look kind of like solder wire, with coils on the ends. You slide photos down in the coils, and have this random bouquet of pictures. So I was looking at it the other day (dust and all, LOL) and thought, "hey, that would be totally cool for my scrapbooks." I searched all over under everything I could think to call it and couldn't find anything close. So I made it. And well, I'm pretty proud of how great they turned out. Whad'ya think??? Oh, they're available at 1HourScrap.com and even on sale right now, for the first couple weeks. Great deal, so run right over, ok?
I gave them to a few of the gals over at twinstuff.com, and they came up with some really great LOs, too! I'll hunt down the links and post pics here later.

I also created what I think is just a lovely spring kit called Bloom (the paper in the above preview is from it, too). It's got lots of texture and detail in the papers and elements. And a really fun, coordinating alpha (maybe my favorite part of the kit!). Here are some previews:It's also at 1HourScrap!

I'm attempting to post

2007-03-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, everytime I'd try to add a new post here, Netscape would just close on me. No warning at all. Grrr! Well, we updated our antivirus and such and other iffy things that were going on with the computer seem to have solved, so maybe this issue has, too. I have some exciting things to post about, but for now let me just put up my most recent LO, using ToniAnne's totally groovy Metal Linky-do's:

Soar
Credits can be found at DST.

Now, let's see if this actually works, LOL.

Apparently, I'm bubbly

2007-02-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here's my most recent LO. I had fun doing it, and my goofy husband made me laugh. Gotta love a man who thinks you're sexy no matter how screwy your hair is or that you're up to your elbows in dirty diapers! The conversation went something like this:

Hey, remember that digidare thing I've told you about?

Yeah.

Well, this week the challenge is to scrap about me. But I have to do it with one word that you would use to describe me. So... what one word would you use for me?

Just one? How about _______?

What?!? I can't use THAT on the digidare!

Well, you asked, and I told you the first word that comes to mind because you're so sexy!

Come on, please?

Ok, how about... Bubbly?

Bubbly???

Yes, you're outgoing, and fun and a real people person. You're a total complement to me in that way, because I'm not those things. So we make a good pair.

HOURS LATER:
How about "Kind, intelligent, beautiful, mother, wonderful?"

What? Oh, you mean the one word to describe me?

Yeah, I've been thinking about it all evening at work.... Well, when I wasn't actually working. There are so many wonderful words to describe you. I don't know if I can pick just one.

But I need just one.

I don't think I should have to pick just one, but if I do, I still think you're bubbly. And it's something I really love about you.
Here you can find the credits.

RAK'd

2007-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

If you happen to read my blog (rather unlikely, but possible as I do have a few comments), you can see that I'm not a great blogger by any stretch. But when I was looking at the challenges at digiscrapshak, I found this one for a blogging entry on being RAK'd. I remember the first time I even heard the term Random Act of Kindness. I read an article probably 15+ years ago about "Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty" and was so touched by it that I photocopied it and gave it to friends and family. Now the term is common, but I still love it.

I had a friend treat me to a RAK recently. She's one of those people who always brings a smile to my face. She thinks of others before herself, but is also a joy to be around because she doesn't seem put upon for it. My DH and I were having company over for dinner. It was people I didn't really know (the wife works with my DH--I'd met her but not her DH or baby), which made me more anxious about it than I would normally have been. That same day, there was a baby shower for my SIL, which I obviously couldn't skip out on. So even though my house wasn't as tidy as I wanted, I went to the shower. As I was leaving a little early, I mentioned to my friend why I had to go. 20 minutes after I got home, she called to tell me that she was on her way over to help me finish cleaning. She showed up, grabbed a broom and set to work. We had a great time visiting while we worked and I felt so loved by her sweet act of service. She makes me want to be a better person. What better kind of friend or RAK is there?

If you want to see the preview...

2007-01-19T17:48:00.000-08:00

...you'll have to go here. I don't know why, but for some reason blogger isn't letting me upload a photo. The window comes up for it, but won't let me actually insert it. The download links are at the bottom of the previous post.

Here it is!

2007-01-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, it was a day longer than I thought to get it all the way I wanted. But here it is. I have to say for my very first kit, I'm pretty proud of it. I love the papers so much that I used them to make the cutest blog header with a Toni Berman template, though I can't seem to figure out how to get it up there. AUGH! Anyway, please enjoy this kit. I'm totally open to CC! Please leave me a comment of some kind if you download it! (Over 60 people downloaded my template, but only one left a msg). Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!

Download papers here
and elements here

I've caught the bug

2007-01-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

I know I'm going to be like the million and third one out there, but I have totally caught the digi-designing bug. It's not about trying to sell them, but it's just so much fun to create these things. I'm working right now on a preview for a little kit I've put together, that I'm going to be giving away. Hopefully someone will actually want to use it. How fun would that be?!? It'll be here either tonight or tomorrow, I hope.

Sometimes I love DIP, other times I want to...

2007-01-11T01:49:00.000-08:00

poke it in the nose. It's a thing I say to my kids when I'm frustrated and feel like spanking, but don't want to go there. So anyway, worked up this LO and when I was done, DIP copped an attitude and wouldn't save. AUGH! So frustrating. I tried everything, nothing doing. It had saved part way through, but WAY back. Oh well, at least it was in my head so I just had to recreate it, not design the entire thing. Here it is... (and yeah, I left the dishwasher open--imagine, getting sidetracked with 13 month old twins, haha)

I'm hooked on the dares

2007-01-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

I'm totally hooked on the digidares. I think I've done every single one. I loved them before, but when I got picked as LOTW a few weeks ago, and then took 2nd place in the month of November, knew I was addicted! This is my latest:

All of the credits can be seen here.

A free DIP template

2007-01-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

For the last Digidare I made the LO below. Yes, like everyone else in the digiscrapping world, it was time for a 2006 year in review.

Well, I got quite a few compliments on it, and some people saying they'd like to lift it. So I thought I'd turn it into a template. Since I made the original in DIP, that was easy. I may go into PSE and re-do it, but that'd be quite a lot more work. Right now, I think the only way it might work for you if you don't have DIP, is to use the magic wand for all the parts (and redo all the text yourselves). Yeah, pain in the you-know-what. Sorry!

Download here

Ok, I caved

2007-01-02T18:40:00.000-08:00

And set up a blog. We'll see how this thing works out.