A little Fun for you!

Today (Well Sunday since it's technically Monday now.) is my Daddoo's birthday. So in honor of the big guy I'm giving out my Fun mini kit. You may have seen it in the DBD shop for a whole week last fall as part of their MMM so check your files before you grab it. I would have been on sooner but I just got done with my homework and uploaded it to school. (Well technically I still have to finish one assignment but it's not due until tomorrow, so I'll get it done I'm sure...I hope.) So join me in wishing Emma's favorite Pawpaw a very happy, if stightly belated, birthday! Also I wanted to mention 2 wonderful books that have been read at our house lately. First is a wonderful historical romance written by first time author Joanna Waugh called Blind Fortune. Oh I couldn't stop reading this baby! And Joanna was so evil, she kept emailing me excerpts for me to read before it came out this past Friday. Check it out: Next is a book that Emma has been having me read over, and over, and over again. If you have a little girl I'm sure you've heard of and probably read Fancy Nancy. (Or as Emma calls it, Fancy Fancy.) Emma just loves her! There's even a little game on their site where she loves to chase and catch the butterflies, so cute. But my favorite part is on the days she decides she has to dress up before she can read the book. (If you've seen the photos of her running around the house naked, well in panties, you'll know why this is wonderful!) Credits: Flergs Easter freebie- Sunshine Sweets and Crumpled Butterflies pack Font- Chopin Script And here's my little gifty in celebration of Daddoo, just for Fun! download Fun (Leave a birthday wish for my Daddoo please!) I hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful birthday for my daddy! Happy Scrapping y'all! P.S. Dadoo, I found the envelope now I don't know where she put the card. She's a magician, I'm telling you!

Hello my name is...

...Crazy. That's right my name is Crazy. As in crazy busy. I have these new classes this week and they are crazy hard so far and I have some scrap stuff I need to just finish to go into the shop already. I'm also slated to work on some collab stuff next month so I need to get them done and out of the way. Shew, I feel like the candle is lit at both ends. Then there's the Emster and hubby to deal with too. And I have some church committee meetings this week and next that weren't on my calendar. So if I slack this week on the blog I hope you'll all forgive me. I'm glad you all liked the baseball template! And hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Emma is doing fabulously at swimming BTW, she has all her little friends from school and church in her class this session and they're having so much fun. If I get the photos uploaded I'll show you some on Friday. I'll hopefully catch you all soon! Kimberly has a nice add-on for her Green Goddess kit. Krista has a Fabulous kit on her blog!!! Princess Pam has added lots more to her ABC kits! (Hi Pam!) Chriscrap has an adorable kit called Bon Voyage for you. Yin has a gorgeous template up for grabs. Kim B. has a Whoa Baby mini kit on her blog and asks you to leave some love for Jazzy! Two cool CU overlays HERE. (Can't find the name, my French is rusty.) Nathy made Gabs this killer mini for her b-day, so fun! Remember to leave some love! Happy Scrapping!

Take me out to the ball game!

So it's summer and that means baseball! (Also softball and t-ball.) I've never been a big fan of baseball. Don't get me wrong, I loved the fun of going to an A's or Giants game with my Daddoo, or even the local AA/AAA (Depending on the year) with friends or family. But I didn't follow any teams or really care who won the World Series. (Except for the Battle of the Bay in 1989 when it was A's vs Giants. I mean you couldn't live in the San Fran area and not get involved in that one.) Here in my little NC town we have a local summer collegiate team, everyone is trying to get us to go see a game but seriously I'm not interested and Emma won't sit still through one. Then they mention the playground. Why would I spend money to take my daughter to a playground at a ball park? I just don't get that. Mind you I'm all for a softball game at a BBQ, just remember I throw like a girl. But with all this ball playing in mind, and the fact that my friend who's daughter plays softball and little one is in t-ball asked for it, I made you a lovely Jumpstart template for today's freebie. I hope you all enjoy it! download Jumpstarts blog No. 28 And for those of you looking for the perfect kit to use Christina has a gorgeous mini kit called 7th Inning Stretch for just $2 in the Sophia Sarducci Shoppe: I hope to be back during quiet time with a bigger freebie list but here's a few to start you off! Kim B. has a Softly Sweet brag book QP & coordinating brag QP on Beth's blog too! Manu has a CU Hearts overlay on her blog. Denise has her Mango Tango MK part up. (Full list of all 24 Mango Tango MK minis HERE.) Bethany has some new word art up. Maria has some cluster frames. Meghan has a fabulous template that's Over the Rainbow! WenchdGrafix has a Muted paper pack on her blog. Remember to leave some love for these wonderful designers! And speaking of love, I want to give a big shout out to my favorite Romance author Shelley Monro! She's such a doll, she's sending me a pressie! Oh the suspense of waiting for it will kill me! She's coming to the US in Aug and I'm sad I don't live in Cali/San Fran anymore so I could meet her in person :( Oh and FYI Emma is out of school Aug 2-11, but I'm not. So I have afeeling I will be spending what little time I get on the computer on school work. I may go insane, we'll see. Happy Scrapping everyone!

Hi there kiddos!

Well sometimes I hate when my hubby is off work. He had a 4 day weekend (Sat-Tues) and while it means he's more willing to do family stuff, like go to the zoo, he also hogs the computer. So in the past 3 days I've had almost no computer time. Sigh. I only had half an hour yesterday until everyone went to bed (Can you say after 11 pm?). Well it's mine now, MINE! I've been looking into vacation options for both this year and next. This fall on my break from school we're planning to visit my folks in California, so I've been playing with dates. Then next fall (2009) we're considering a Disney World/Disney Cruise week of fun. I like the combo packages because they're really affordable. I mean for our family of 3 it looks like about $5000 including air, hotel, park hopper pass, cruise and ground transport everywhere. That's pretty sweet. We'd have to cover food while at the park and souvenirs, but if we're frugal we could do it. If my hubby likes the plan (we've been discussing the possibility for about a year now) I drew up we'll even share it with friends and family so they can book to join us either at the park, cruise or both. I think it'll be fun! I just hope the food is good on the cruise. Last cruise I took with hubby he said it was worse than what we got aboard the Roosevelt, and that's saying something. (Sad part was I kind-of agreed. Except the fresh fruit. and even that wasn't stellar.) Ok, so that was my last few days. How was everyone's weekends? Any more ideas about the DPS templates or what freebie you want on Friday? I have an idea for a template but you all could still vote for a mini kit, element pack or paper pack. Now then let me say I have always admired the digital scrap community and it's willingness to help and give away freebies. I never thought I'd find a group as wonderful, funny and kind as you all. And well I was wrong. I'm pleased to say the online/e-book romance community is just as fun and giveaway happy as we are. They are evil though just like us. Instead of giving out a sampler or add-on to a kit, they give you excerpts of books, free short stories and a million online contests to win free books. Evil I tell you. And since I couldn't write my way out of a wet paper bag it's not like scrapping where I can make my own, I have to read/buy these books because they're wonderful. There goes all my mad money! *Also 2 big slaes of note right now. DigiByDesign has their Mid-Month Madness $0.98 sale on right now, 121 products all under a buck each, and all good stuff (3- $2 grab bags as well!). Specifically check out Manu's killer CU products! I really like these 3 but she has some cool overlays and others as well! (Previews are clickable.) And Divine Digitals has Christmas in July with 33 Grab Bags (personal and commercial) for various prices (I see from $2-6). And some of them are even revealed at the Strictly Reveal blog. Okay now let's go find some freebies! Rina has a pretty Just For Fun bragbook QP up. Janna has a template on her blog. Kristin has a lovely photo frame cluster from her Fresh Cut kit. Mrs. Miles has a slew of cool QPs with her Peppermint and Polka Dots kit. Kim B.'s CT has a cluster frame and a QP for you with her new Softly Sweet kit. (Gorgeous kit BTW!) Flergs has her part of the Mango Tango MK up for grabs. (Click HERE for all the MK links, 24 designers.) Farheen has a pretty QP on her blog. JenJen Designs has a daily DL kit called Backyard Cookout and all 3 parts are still up! Jill has a fabulous sampler of her new Gotta Grab Its for you. Princess Pam of course has lots of new ABC goodies for us! Polkadot Pixels has a set of Sk8er Papers up for grabs. Heidi has a cute Fireworks mini. Yin has a neat-o DPS template. Tracey has a Camping Kids sampler, too cute! Trish has a sweet template on her blog. Retrodiva has a gorgeous Film Star collection up for grabs. Cen has her Paper Machine Paper Pack #2 up. Leslie has a cute set of Date It Tags. Angela has a Jurassic Art sampler for you. Doreen has some all purpose desktop QPs up for grabs. Maria has a Beach Blanket freebie up. RetroDiva has another one called Pursuit of Happiness for you. Seebee's Freebies has a cool CIJ frame/tag. (List of other CIJ freebies on her blog too!) Bethany has a darling beaded word art about Fmaily Happiness. Joy has a cute Home word art (coordinates with Bethany's) and if you scroll down an Independence Day mini. Remember to leave these wonderful designers a little love when you DL. ("Love" is also know as praise, thanks and/or gratitude for all their hard work and generosity.) Happy Scrapping, and stop back Friday for your freebie!

A day at the zoo!

I haven't scrapped yet (hubby is still off today and tomorrow) but here's some of my favorite photos from our day trip to see "Da ANIMALS!" according to Emma. The interesting thing is when you ask her what her favorite part is it changes. On the trip home she said the otters and seals swimming, when we were getting ready for bed it was the flamingos and yesterday it was the elephants. Now she just says all the animals, let's go back. We had lots of fun and Emma was a trooper walking the whole day. I didn't take too many photos because I was having too much fun. First we saw some lions. Then we sat on one. Next a gorilla staying cool in the shade. Here's a pretty pink flamingo, probably not as bright as the ones in Daddoo's front yard. Taking a break for ice cream. On the carosel midway through the park. Trecking down the BIG hill. Looking at the prarie for some buffalo. There's some really quick otters in this tank, much faster than my poor digital camera. Looking at the aligators, they're so cool! Our last stop was to see the elephants. (They were far away.)Now we're sitting on one. Must have one photo with mommy to prove she was here too. So that was our trip to the zoo. Long day but lots of fun. On the up side I got lots of ideas for finishing off my tropical kit- woohoo! Thank you to those who left suggestions for the kit or the DPS templates. But no one cares what kind of freebie I make you all? Ok, guess I'll have to wing it. I'll try to get on tomorrow with some freebie tips but I need to go finish dinner right now. TTYL! Happy Scrapping Everyone!

Going to the Zoo!

Ok, I've been totally MIA this week. Yes, I suck. But that contest took forever, I hope I win! And it's the last week of classes for this session, BIG papers are due. Plus hubby is off and we wanted to go to the zoo this weekend (aka Sat.), so I needed to get everything done ahead of time. I almost made it but I still need to finish up one of the assignments but the other 3 are done and turned in. Also if you read Daddoo's comment you'll know I came close to killing Emma this week (Not really but she sure did make her mommy mad!). It seemed to be an every other day thing too. One super wonderful day with her than a horrible day. Hopefully if the pattern holds true tomorrow will be a good day since today wasn't so great. Sigh. To off balance my slacker-ness this past week, I'm off school next week and plan to spend quality time scrapping. I have a set of DPS templates I need to package up and put into the shop. Speaking of which, what would you prefer? 4- 12x24 templates or 8- 12x12? I like the 12x24 so you could really have a DPS and things can "stretch" across the fold but you'd be the ones buying/using so what's your opinion? I also plan to make you all a special something for a freebie next week. Don't know what yet so if you have any ideas or requests feel free to shout them out. (That means leave a comment.) Oh and any ideas for papers on my tropical kit? (Remember I made a desktop QP from it like 2 months ago?) I have a ton of elements but ideas for papers are just baffling me, I only have 2 sp far which is why it hasn't made it into the shop yet. Sad, I know. Okay off to bed because it's way late or early depending on where you live, but regardless it's past my bed time. Happy Scrapping!

Hi-di-ho there campers!

Well it's the last week of class. I'm off next week so I'll have plenty of time for you all. We've been hit with lots of thunder storms this week so Emma and I have been exploring the wonderful world of board games. What free time I've been on the computer has been spent trying to win a contest. My favorite author Shelly Munro (Love this woman!) pointed me in the direction of AuthorIsland.com that's giving away two Kindles! Whoo-hoo I said. One of my biggest problems with e-books is having to sit at the computer to read them (I so need a laptop, but I digress.) and here they're giving away 2 e-book readers for free! It's well worth the try. And they're evil about it to because you have to answer these questions correctly about the various authors and you get glimpses of all their books and now my wish list has tripled! Darn them! Good thing they're also doing a book a day drawing as well as win a autographed book a week for a year contest. But alas I'm only half way through the question list and it's already taken me close to 3 hours! (You have to read experts of their of their books to find a lot of the answers, truly evil.) My wish list might be longer but a lot of them are into the whole vampire type romance/erotic novels that just don't interest me. Which is odd because I like sci-fi/fantasy romance best but not vampires... who knew. So that's my reason for being MIA. It's not a great one but it's the truth and that's what matters most. I hope you all had wonderful holiday weekends! Or just a great weekend if you don't live in the US. Well maybe I'll try back tomorrow for a list, but I make no promises. Happy Scrapping Campers!

Independence Day!

I'm a few hours early but Happy 4th of July! I'm off to bed but here's a little deal for you all this weekend in celebration of American Independence. Get my new kit America the Beautiful for 10% off with the code: USAbeauty10 (Case sensitive, so best to just copy and paste.) And you can still grab your sampler off the Sophia Blog too! Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday weekend! Happy Scrapping!

Mid-week

Things are going well this week so far. I got an A on that super evil group project from last week, and this week's project is going much smoother so far (mostly because I'm not leader- lol!) Emma is sad there's no swim lessons this week but she's been bringing her new Barbie doll that she has named Ester, yes she picked it- I have witnesses, to the pool for free play the days we've gone. Ester is a swim suit Barbie that has a pink pedicure and horrendously big pink sunglasses, Emma takes her everywhere with her. She was a gift from "Grandma Ann" at church for being such a good girl during VBS. "Grandma Ann" has adopted Emma and I because we have the same last name and we were both sick of being asked if we were family so she finally just started saying yes. Just so you know I won't be posting on Friday. Emma is off from school and Will is off from work so we're going to be busy doing stuff for the holiday. Aaron recently had his nerd score on his blog so I went to see how nerdy I was: And yep I'm 87% nerdy. Go ahead and click to see how nerdy you are too. Here's a quick Freebie list for you all: Barb has a few Canada Day goodies and a proudly USA/Canada flag blog banners for you. Kim B. has a lovely Add-on for her DSO color challenge this month. Lori made a super neat Liberty hybrid banner. Derek has a slew of Patriotic papers on his blog just in time for the 4th. Scroll down to grab them all. Courtney has a neat Stars and Stripes mini and a template on her blog. Ksharonk has a sweet QP from her Softly kit up, but only for 24 hours. Jenni has an adorable mini called Splash on her blog. Haynay has a Bright and bold paper pack called Circles for you. Redju made a killer American kit!! And if you make a LO with it you could win her CU glitter styles too! Beth made a pretty QP with her forthcoming kit. Shazbutt has a neat template on her blog. Kristin has another great template for everyone! Jasmin-Olya has a cool set of Rope Flowers. Jillann made some yummy looking ice cream cones. There's a great template on the Scrap Matters blog. Pink Peacock Designs has an Oh Canada mini kit up for grabs. Remember to leave some love! Happy Scrapping!