Zoo!

We went to the zoo this weekend and I took a gazillion pictures! Seriously, I only brought 1 memory card because I didn't want to take too many pictures, but I still filled it up and came home with 402 pics!! How am I ever going to scrap them all?!? ;) Anyway, we had lots of fun and were super lucky with the weather too: it was cloudy, so we enjoyed the cool air and only very few people were there!
I already did 2 pages but I can show only this one for now:

Credits:
Kicking up the Leaves kit and little seeds kit by Gina Marie Huff
Fonts: JH Cristina and JH Cristina Doodly by Jeni Hopewell Designs

(the order in which I'm scrapping these is completely random so bear with me! ;) Hopefully some day I'll have filled in all the gaps!)

Weeks 31-33

I'm slowly catching up on my Project 365. I'm now 2 weeks behind and hope to catch up this week, although I have lots of other pages to scrap with new kits coming out, so we'll see how it goes! :)
In the meantime, here's 3 weeks' worth of pages:

Credits:
Hodge Podge 14 by Gina Marie Huff
Photo stamps from Project 365 #2 by Sugarplum Paperie
Alphabetical by Britt-ish Designs
Font: Note this, JH Cristina Doodly by Jeni Hopewell Designs

Credits:
Kicking up the Leaves (kit and little seeds kit) by Gina Marie Huff
Photo stamps from Project 365 #2 by Sugarplum Paperie
Coloured In alpha by Kaye Winiecki
Felty Alpha by [wm] squared designs
Font: Note this

Credits:
Kicking up the Leaves little seeds kit by Gina Marie Huff
Photo stamps from Project 365 #2 and All Inked Up alpha by Sugarplum Paperie
Brown Town alpha by Britt-ish Designs
Font: Note this

Birthday Girl

Yesterday, August 28, I turned 28! Here's my first birthday page for this year:

Credits:

Background, border and flowers from Blooming Doodles by Amy Sumrall

Candle numbers and cake from Party On! by Miss Tiina

White paper from Cottage Garden and Coloured In alpha by Kaye Winiecki

Font: SS Whimsy

Let me also show off a little bookmark I did the other day:

Credits:

Rawr by Amy Sumrall

Amy' New Store and a Blog Train!

I'm so excited about Amy's new products and her move to the LilyPad that I don't even know where to start to show off all her goodies! ;) She has 4 NEW products for sale, plus some of her most popular products are back in the store as well. Check out her new store at the LilyPad here! All her store has a special opening sale!

The first new product is Nutty, it's such a darling kit!


Here's a card I made for my dad's birthday next week, I'm sure he'll love it! ;)


That squirrel is just too cute!! I also repeated the greeting on the inside of the card:


Then there's a crazy kit with the funniest doodles ever, Cat and Mouse (and one annoying little bee):


Amy also has a collab with Amy Wolff, First Day:


and finally, the gorgeous kit we are featuring in this blog train, Blooming Doodles:


Amy's fabulous CT created some pretty cool wordart and element clusters for you, so without any further ado, here's one from me:


Thanks for the interest, this freebie is no longer available.

I'm the first step in the blog train, but there's many more steps so make sure you ride the train till the end! :D Your next stop is Julie's blog!
And in case you get lost, here's the complete blog train list! ;)

Cristina: http://cristinascrap.blogspot.com <--- YOU ARE HERE Julie: http://mycrazylifeasamomandawife.blogspot.com/
Tara: http://thewildmountainthyme.blogspot.com/
Sally: www.rainbowskydesigns.wordpress.com
Jennifer: http://neverendingfairytale.com/scraps
Brandy: http://luckisforlosers.blogspot.com/
Holly: http://scrappinlilmoments.blogspot.com
Nicole: http://crop-a-holic.blogspot.com
Heather: http://createdbyheather.blogspot.com
Tina: http://www.theflohrs.blogspot.com
Laura: www.simply-scraps.net
Tracy: http://tracykosofsky.blogspot.com
Sylvia: http://sylviascraps.blogspot.com
Crystal: http://crystallongbrake.blogspot.com
Bryn: http://www.scraptacularscraptacular.blogspot.com

Now isn't that a huge blog train or what?!? ;)
Keep in mind, we are all in different time zones so if one of us has not posted yet, be sure to check back later!

New.. Sort Of!

There are 3 new kits in Mari's store and although they aren't new releases (they're just being put back into her store) it's worth checking them out because they're gorgeous! It's 3 collabs with Sarah Jones and they're just so pretty!

Winelands:


Cool Cool Summer:


and my personal favorite, Cupcakes:


I haven't played with this kit yet, but I sure will soon because it's just too cute! ;)
As all new releases, these kits are 20% off today only, so make sure you take advantage of this offer!

Feeling Creative

OK, so last week I applied for a spot on the DigiChick's CT. Because I love the place, I'm pretty active there, and really wanted to be part of the team.
But on Monday I found out I was not picked and I felt sooooooooo bummed.. I know I'm not the best scrapper out there, but it really would have meant a lot to be picked, because I really feel part of the community there. I realize the competition must have been fierce, but that certainly does not sweeten the rejection.
Anyway, that evening I bought a couple of lovely bits 'n pieces by Kaye Winiecki and used them right away to make a page. This page just came together in no time, and I love it.

Credits:
Cottage Garden and Coloured In alpha by Kaye Winiecki
Font: Bank Gothic

And today, this page was featured in the Gallery Standouts blog!!!!!! It's my first ever GSO (I hope it's not the last! LOL) and I'm just content now! :D I feel like a grown up scrapper. :) I know I shouldn't care about praises much, and in a sense I don't because I'm just happy with how I scrap, but boy, does it feel good to see my page there! ;)

Time Flies

Today the first year students are facing the last day of the dreadful 3-day exam I faced last year: I feel like this year has flown by so fast!

Anyway, I have a couple projects from the weekend that I haven't shown yet. First off, a little hybrid project that made my husband very happy.
He loves to taste wine so when I saw this little blue notebook for sale, I knew I had to pretty it up for him to write his tasting notes. :) I made a label to cover the embossed writing "journal":


I also made a 2-sided bookmark with the 100 point wine rating system. I'm so happy that he's using it and loves it! :)


Of course, I had just the right kit for this project, a collab by Juno Designs and Julie Marie Designs, The Good Life:


The colors of this kit are gorgeous and went perfectly with the blue notebook. Plus, the grape and bottle elements were just what I needed to characterize the notebook!

I also have a page to share, done for the Everyday Magic challenge. We had to scrap about our favorite little place to eat (not the fancy place for special occasions), so I just had to go with Red Lobster! :) DH and I go pretty often, and when my parents come to visit it's a set date! ;)

Credits:
Lob-STAH by Plum Dumpling Designs
Plastickle Me alpha and Minnie alpha by Britt-ish Designs
Font: JH Cristina - Designs by Jeni Hopewell

I also have some Project 365 pages to share, but since I'm not caught up yet I guess I'll show them all together when I do catch up. Hopefully, by the end of the week - although I do have a busy week scheduled, with little or no scrapping time..!

The Last $2 Tuesday!

It's Tuesday and this means $2 Tuesday at the DigiChick.. but only for this Tuesday: this is the very last $2 Tuesday, so go check out Mari's store now!!
She has 12 gorgeous products for sale, and you'll never get this great deal again!

New Custom Font Service

Happy Monday everyone! Like every week, it's Manic Monday, so you might want to check out the special deals at ScrapMatters! ;)

I have something to show you that I'm really excited about: Jeni Hopewell has started a new custom font service. This means you can turn your handwriting into a font!!!! There's an exclusive option


and a non-exclusive option, the latter meaning that your font can be put for sale in the shop for others to use:


And let me tell you, the price is an absolute deal!!
I made 2 fonts and they are both in the shop. The first is with my handwriting:


and the other is a fancier font:


It's so COOL to have my very own font! ;)
Here's a page I made for the Roadmap to Scrap challenge using both fonts:

Credits:
Wave-a-licious template pack by Fluffy Bunny Feet Designs
Bon Voyage and Bon Voyage Date Labels by Mira Designs
Bunches of Flowers (recolored) by Britt-ish Designs
Buttons from Countryside Harmony by Scrapmuss Designs
Fonts: JH Cristina and JH Cristina Doodly - Designs by Jeni Hopewell

These were the instructions:

1. Pick a template
2. Choose your pictures. I want you to focus on one person and crop your pictures so that they are totally on display.
3. Now for papers. Pick soft colors for your LO. Any number is fine
4. I want to see lots of flowers - and I mean lots at least 10 flowers and three different ones on your LO.
5. Stitch something down
6. Add some buttons
7. Use a creative date element
8. I want you to use word art for your title and use it more than once - blend it and change it however you want.

She's back!!!!!!!

Yessssssssssss!!! Bree is back to designing!!!!! She's taken a break over the past few months because she opened up a very nice store, Digiridoo Scraps, which has also a great forum, with friendly people, fun challenges and great tutorials! It's really a nice, drama free place and I recommend you check it out!
Now that the new place is up and running, she's back into designing and has 2 gorgeous new products!

First off, Basic Instincts, a kit that's packed with all those basic elements you always need when making a page - you'll be using this kit over and over again! Plus, the neutral colors work great for any theme - and they're great for recoloring too.


There's also a super fun glitter pack, Glitterazzi vol. 1, which comes with great recoloring instructions!


I played with both and made this pretty little page, I really love how it came together!

Credits:
Basic Instincts and Glitterazzi vol 1 by Scrap'it Designs by Brianna Cox
Font: Pea Olson

Welcome back, Bree!! ;)

Noel

Well, it's not Christmas yet, but Mari's new vintage Christmas kit, Noel, made me want to pull out some pictures from last year and finally get them scrapped! :)

The kit is absolutely gorgeous and so rich! I love all the gold elements!

I played with it already and got 2 pages done:

Credits:

Noel by Mari Koegelenberg Creations

Font: 1942 Report

I'm so happy to finally get more pages done from last year! It was such a special time and I wanted to preserve that feeling.

Credits:

Noel and Alpha Stamped vol. 2 (from the August Grab Bag) by Mari Koegelenberg Creations

Font: SS Whimsy

I'm sure I'll use it again because I'm absolutely in love with this kit!

Reminiscing..

I started scrapping pictures from this weekend. Actually, I didn't take that many pictures (it was so hot! And the weather was hazy so the light was really bad.. But I like the ones I took!) so I think I'll be doing only a couple more pages.
Anyway, I did this for the Grand Theft LO at ScrapMatters, lifting none other than the fabulous Erica Zane! ;)

Lift of so silly... by Erica Zane

Credits:
Enjoy the Moment by Sahlin Studio
Date Stamped and Alphabetical by Britt-ish Designs
Font: Pea Olson

On a personal note, exactly one year ago I was sitting through Day 2 of the preliminary exam.. I was a bit disappointed about how I did on Day 1, and was afraid about Day 3 coming up.. but mostly, I just couldn't wait to be done with it all!
Well, as you all know, I did even better than expected on the exam, ending up at the top of the class.. So what could have been a dreadful memory is actually a sweet one. But, as I see the students who are about to face their exam (theirs is next week), I sympathize and wish for them to get over with it quickly!

$2 Tuesday!

It's that time of the week again... $2 Tuesday!! ;)
Mari has quite a few goodies in store here, check them out here!

Let me show you my favorites! There's her latest kit, Sweetie Pie:


and the gorgeous, summery Happiness:


and finally, the sweetest kit ever, Hooty Toot:


As usual, these amazing deals are available today only, so go off and shop! ;)

My Story Matters

Keep scrolling for the ScrapMatters blog train! ;)
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I really cannot understand how the weekend flew by so fast! It was a good weekend, albeit too hot. Today is going to be the hottest day so far and I'm not looking forward to it! :-S
I did get quite a few pages scrapped, but there's only one I can show today.
I scrapped this for my favorite challenge ever, the My Story Matters challenge at ScrapMatters. I'm proud to say I've done them all, and this is #15. However, this was a tough one. We had to scrap about something we were proud of when we were in middle school/high school. And I really didn't know what to scrap!! There's nothing I was really super proud of.. so I ended up scrapping about playing the flute.

Credits:
So This Is Love by Sahlin Studio
Fill In The Blank by Erica Zane
Fonts: SS Whimsy and 1942 Report

I took the picture on Saturday after spending the day in the heat: I was worn out and the picture turned out super crappy.. and I was way too tired to take a better one. ;) So I played around with the overlay/soft light modes, and ended up loving the texture! :)
Check out this gorgeous pack by Erica, Fill in the Blank:


I know for sure I'll be using it over and over!!

It's a Call!!

Keep scrolling for the ScrapMatters blog train! :)
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I remember last year, after the celebrations for ScrapMatters' 1st birthday, applying for the CT call. I even created this blog appositely. Well, you know how things went: I wasn't chosen, but I kept blogging (too much, maybe? ;) ) and spending a lot of time at SM, and 2 months ago I finally made it in the hybrid CT. ;) A dream come true!
So it's with particular fondness that I announce that it's now time for a new CT call at ScrapMatters:


I can truly say it's a fantastic team to be part of, so if you love SM even a tiny bit, give it a try!

Now a brief update on me: I haven't been scrapping this week (crazy week!) and I'm itching now!!! ;)
I celebrated 10 years with DH yesterday.. :D
And I'm so glad the weekend is near!

50% Moving Sale at Amy Sumrall's Store!

Keep scrolling for the ScrapMatters blog train! :)
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Amy Sumrall is leaving the DigiChick and she's having an incredible 50% sale!!

All her products are at half price, and some of them will be retired when she moves to the new store, so don't hesitate to grab all the goodies you want!
And let me tell you, a 50% sale is not something that comes along every day!


As for where's she's moving to... Unfortunately I cannot spill the beans quite yet, but let me say this: it's a super EXCITING place! ;)
So while you're waiting for the move, check out the beautiful kits Amy has for sale!

$2 Tuesday

Keep scrolling for the ScrapMatters blog train! :)
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It's Tuesday, and this means there are some great $2 deals in Mari's store!
This week there are 4 adorable kits, a calendar template and a template set for sale! Check them out here!

Vote!!

If you're here for the blog train, keep scrolling! ;)
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The submissions for the final round of the Battle of the CTs are in, and it's time to vote!!

For this round, we had to lift 2 of our team members. I lifted Holly's gorgeous Charming and Bryn's Orange for the title placement, and here's my page:

Credits:
Rawr by our dearest Amy Sumrall
Fonts: Pea Aimee, Traveling Typewriter

So now please go VOTE for the Big Pimpins (before Tuesday 8/11 at midnight EST)! Just click, select Big Pimpins and vote! NO registration needed!

Manic Monday!

(keep scrolling for the BLOG TRAIN)
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Happy Monday everyone! I hope you enjoyed the party for ScrapMatters'2nd birthday this weekend! If you're anything like me, even though the weekend was filled with fun games and a great sale, you've been left wanting more.. and you won't be disappointed!
Starting today, Mondays are going to be a very special day at ScrapMatters, with a great sale on selected products and huge deals!


Go check it out! There's a special Manic Monday section in the store!

I also have to share a page I did for the Everyday Magic challenge at SM. Taking pictures has become so natural to me, I really love to capture my memories with my camera!

Credits:
Enjoy the Moment and Snipettes: Enjoy the Moment by Sahlin Studio
Iconology: Everyday by Plum Dumpling Designs
Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, Revista

I really love how this page came together!

It's a Blog Train!!

Welcome to my blog! I hope you're enjoying all the fun celebrations at ScrapMatters. Make sure you check out the special forum section to know about all the games and speed scraps that are going on over the weekend!

I don't know about you, but I really love the new collab kit, A Perfect Picnic. Hands down, my favorite summer activity is BBQing :D and I have many pictures to scrap - this is the perfect kit!

I have a 12x12 quick page for you, I hope you like it! I love to read comments so do write me something if you download! :)


Thanks for the interest, this freebie is no longer available.

The next stop of the blog train is Amber's blog.
You should have gotten here from Kari's blog, but if for any reason you get lost, check out the ScrapMatters blog!

Let the Celebrations Begin!!

The Birthday Weekend is finally here and there's many fun activities planned at ScrapMatters!
I'll try to list them all here, but I'm bound to forget a few (there's too many!! ;) ) so just check out the special forum section for all the latest news.

First of all, there's a 30% sale on personal use products, a 10% off commercial products, and a 20% off physical products (yes, those gorgeous Kaisercraft albums you've been eyeing!!)! It doesn't get any better than this so take advantage of this huge sale!

There's a NEW fabulous collab kit by the ScrapMatters design team, and it's free if you spend at least $15!!


And using this collab, we got a blog train ready for you, full with goodies (QPs, element clusters, wordart)!!!! The blog train starts tomorrow morning (Saturday, 9AM EST) from Andrea's blog and yes, one of the stops will be right here! :D

There's another free with purchase package, and it's a great one! If you spend $20 or more, you'll get this incredible party pack for free!


Next, there's a speed scrap marathon :) and you want to check out the partecipation prizes for all these speed scraps - they're all just gorgeous! I hope you can make a few speed scraps!


What party would it be without a chat?? There's a chat tomorrow (1PM EST) and lots of gift cards will be given away!!


Then there's a TON of fun games planned: a comment game (sign up here and check out the fab partecipation prize!), a bingo (actually, there's 2 rounds of that, starting tomorrow morning! Go get your card ready here!), an Eye Spy game, a Name that Kit game:


So much fun! And so many chances to win some gift cards, too!
To make sure you don't miss out on all the fun activities planned, check out the forum!

Have a good weekend and I hope you enjoy the celebrations! I know I will! :)

New Kits and New Pages!

Jill of Juno Designs has a new kit out and it's the cutest kit ever!!!!!!


And it works out just perfectly that when DH came home last Friday after being gone all week, he brought home a delicious chocolate cake:

Credits:
Dessert by Juno Designs

Pure heaven! ;)

There's lots of new gorgeous kits out today at ScrapMatters; here's the one I picked up, by ScrapMuss Designs:


It's such a romantic kit! I wanted to scrap pictures of DH and me, but didn't have any (those are always the first to get scrapped! ;) ) so last night we took some pictures. And since there was no special occasion, I just scrapped a page about a normal evening at our house. ;)
I did this for the Roadmap to Scrap challenge at SM, and these were the instructions:

1. Use a template with an ODD number of photos.
2. Include at least 2 patterned papers.
3. Please use at least 3 out of the 5 following items: buttons, ribbons, staples, frames, journal strips or tags.
4. Show me some shapes that aren't squares, rectangles or circles.
5. Add something blue to your page.
6. Place something on your page that's obviously upside down. It could be a photo, an element, anything, just be sure we can tell it's not in it's original and upright position.
7. Use an alpha and a font for your title.
8. Now select everything on your page except the background paper, and shrink it at least 10%.

Credits:
Inspired by Aly Templates by Britt-ish Designs
Countryside Harmony by Scrapmuss Designs
Family Ties by Jeni Hopewell
Fonts: Pea Olson, My Own Topher

I have another page to show off, for the Grand Theft LO challenge:

Lift of Cooling Off by jam1el33
Credits:
Secret Sage by Erica Zane
Font: Traveling Typewriter

I'm not so sure I like the selective coloring on the pic.. I don't know, I just never seem to like b/w picture as much as I like the color version!