Get a L.O.A.D.

Have you heard…Big Picture Scrapbooking is hosting Lain Eihmann’s LOAD {Layout a day} event. This is sure to be lots of fun. 31 days of inspiring challenges and the chance to win 31 fabulous prizes, all for FREE! Yep, that’s right the month long event is totally FREE. Play, have fun, get your scrapping done and win some goodies.

You can get all the info here and sign-up. The fun starts tomorrow Jan 1st. You can register until Jan 15th. Everyone is welcome to play {digital, hybrid, traditional}. Take a peek at all these fabulous prizes too!

And as added plus, Lain is donating $1 for each registered participant to Books for Kids. How great is that!

Creating Keepsakes 2007 Reader’s Choice Winners

The year is almost over, crazy. Thought it might be a good time to look at the best scrap products from the Creating Keepsakes 2007 Readers Choice Awards {PDF download}. This is from the March 2007 issue. See which scrapbook products, their readers, voted tops.

This is a very handy list!

Friday Freebie - Christmas downloads

Stomach flu and all…here’s today’s Friday Freebie! Some more Christmas freebies to help you scrap your holiday photos.

Christine Smith Digital Designs has made some fantastic and very real-looking embellishments. Be sure to download these awesome stars to add a nice 3d look to your layouts.

Misty Cato Designs has a Christmas gift waiting for you. Get this holiday paper pack and elements.

Wow! I love these vintage looking stamps by Katie Pertiet of Designer Digitals.

Over at the SweetMade blog they have another yummy freebie for you. Get this elegant, velvety freebie from their Royal Garden collection. It’s perfect for the holidays.

How about adding a paper piecing snowman to your project? Paper piecing is so easy and customizable. Here’s a great article on how to get started. For some fun snowman patterns look here and find another one here.

How was your Chistmas?

Ours did not go as we had imagined it would. Nika came down with the stomach flu around 3am on Christmas eve. I got it the next day and then Vlad got sick too. We all still have the flu, it’s a really bad one. The only person we got to see during the holiday was Nika’s doctor. We saw the doc on Christmas eve and again the day after Christmas. Poor Nika got really dehydrated as she could not keep anything down. We had to start giving her Pedialyte by syringe to help hydrate her. Since the stomach flu is contagious we didn’t get to spend the holiday with our families. We’re still waiting to reschedule getting together with everyone.

Nika is doing better but still not eating. I have a bit more energy and Vlad is the one who is taking care of us despite having the flu too. He’s so great! It’s been really hard watching little Nika be so sick. This is our 1st illness with her.

What a bummer on her 1st Christmas. We’re also missing out on the annual company party {today} that Vlad’s dad puts on. We did open stockings and presents at home on Christmas morning, but it was very quick as Nika had no energy. She got a little excited for a couple Elmo toys and then needed a nap.

I sure can’t wait for all of us to be healthy and rid of this flu. I can’t recall being this out of commission for any sickness in the last 10 years. ~ Cathy

{The Sheg} 2007 Christmas card

I just finished our e-Christmas card. Thought you all might enjoy checking it out. Vlad took these pics of Nika on Friday and they turned out so cute! It’s going to be a fun Christmas.

I made these with ScrapBlog, you can view the online version here {it has music}. Once the card loads, be sure to click the {play slideshow} button in the top right to start the card and see all the efftects.

Merry Christmas…I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

XOOXO ~ Cathy

Friday Freebie - Christmas freebies & holiday projects

Hello it’s Friday Freebie day and nearly Christmas! Here’s a bunch of Christmas downloads for you and some great gift projects too.

This might be one of my favorite downloads of all time! I will be using this one a lot. The ScrapJacked blog has these fabulous holiday tags and journaling spots to download. These will work great for other occasions too.

The Shabby Princess has some very generous freebie kits for you. Get Holiday Magic here, love this one! Pick up the 2006 Seasonal Sampler, you get 2 holiday kits and a bonus Valentines kit with this one.

Go to the Shutterfly Holiday Blog and get this cute holiday mini kit by Katie Pertiet.

Sugarplum Paperie has some Joy for you and a star! Check out their Sparkleboard $1 goodies too.

Looking for some last minute projects? Check out Lain Eihmann’s Christmas Countdown projects. She has some really great ideas that are easy to do and inexpensive to make. I really like project #6 {The Little Things} mini album. I already made a bunch inspired from this project and they make great gifts.

Over at the SweetMade site, they have a HUGE new collection called {Sprinkle}. Get the Sprinkle freebie here, it’s very elegant with candy-like colors and gold.

ScrapHead has really festive embellishments up for grabs.

• Schoolgirl’s Snowflakes
• Sparkle Christmas Frames
• I love these Sparkly Trees

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and a very merry holiday!

RAG Men’s Style - swanky & hip

I have to give a shout-out to my friend Serenity and RAG Men’s Style. Serenity is my stylist {for those of you who are always asking who does my hair} and she is also the co-owner of RAG Men’s Style in Bellevue, Washington. They opened in August of this year and also just launched their website which was designed by my honey, Vlad.

RAG Men’s Style is an exclusive men’s store that caters to the the guys who want to wear unique, sophisticated and elegant clothing. They carry all the swanky designers such as Duncan Quinn, est. 1887, Jeffrey West Shoes, J. Lindeberg, Stitch’s, and True Religion. And I have to tell you…they have the coolest umbrellas for men I’ve ever seen!

It’s worth a visit, Evening Magazine viewers voted RAG Men’s Style the “Hippest Boutique” in Western Washington for 2007. Check out the site and stop by the store!

Oh, and back to the hair. Yes, she {Serenity} is the BEST stylist! She’s been making my hair look fabulous for years. She works at Obadiah Salon just upstairs from RAG Men’s Style.

Coupon codes for A Cherry On Top Scrapbook Shop

Calling all scrapers…there is still time to have a package delivered by Christmas from A Cherry On Top Scrapbook Shop. I’m loving these new felt embellishments and the chipboard tag pad they got in from K & Company’s {Urban Rapsody} product line. Here’s some great coupon codes for you too!

December 40% off One Item
Promotional Code: DEC2525X77
Expires: December 31, 2007

Save $5 shipping* on orders of $50 or more
Promo Code: AC1156982
Expires: December 31, 2007

Save 25% on single sheets of Bazzill Cardstock
Promotional Code: BAZZ7225
Expires: December 31, 2007

Save $10 shipping on your next order shipped UPS 2nd Day or Overnight
Promotional Code: 473524ECBE0FB
Expires: December 31, 2007

Last day for UPS 2 Day Delivery: order by Thursday, 12/20, noon EST
Last day for UPS 1 Day Delivery: order by Friday, 12/21, noon EST

Happy Shopping! A Cherry On Top Scrapbook Shop

Good find - baby food recipes & baby food blogs!

Nika has been a good eater and ready to move on to the stage 3 baby food. She isn’t liking any of the selections for stage 3 jarred foods though. We’ve been feeding Earth’s Best. We’re going to try making our own baby food. I got this cute mini Cuisinart to grind and puree the food and love it! I found some great recipes that you can download from Wholesome Baby Food. Here’s a sampling of the recipes I downloaded and the site has a bunch more.

• Fruit Recipes for Baby (PDF)
• Veggie Recipes for Baby (PDF)
• Meat Recipes for Baby (PDF)

There are also some helpful article downloads. Some interesting ones include proper freezing of prepared food, a collection of birthday cake recipes for baby’s 1st cake, there’s also a food diary and weekly menu schedule you can download.

They also have Baby Food Blogs! It’s nice to read how others are coping with feeding challenges and finding out what works and doesn’t. Baby Food Blogs…love it! Ha.

XOOXO ~ Cathy

Show & Tell - mini journals

I’ve got a few more presents done for the holidays. Here’s the mini journals I made. These are so easy and fun to make.

I purchased a bunch of the mini journals from the office supply store. Used {My Minds Eye} and {Sweetwater} paper to cover. I traced the album onto the back of the paper and cut out. Then I sanded the album front and back. Covered the album in Modge Podge and applied the paper. I used book binding tape for the seam. For the journal with multiple colored flowers I found this really cool printed packaging tape to use for the spine cover. Next, I trimmed off any excess paper or tape that was hanging over the edges. I used my Sizzix Big Shot to make the flower and star embellishments. Used glue dots to adhere the embellishments. Added some ribbon and that’s it!

Super quick and easy to do. I’m able to get one of these done during Nika’s nap!

Random acts of kindness

Have I mentioned how incredibly nice and wonderful all the crafty scrap people are that I’ve met {both online and in person}?

I have to send a BIG thank you to Lisa. What a generous and giving person she is. She had a post on her blog about unloading a bunch of her scrapbooking supplies. I’ve seen these type of giveaways on many scrapbooking blogs and they are often referred to as “Random Acts of Kindness” or {RAK}. I left a comment to the post and got a reply that some goodies would be coming my way. Who doesn’t love getting goodies in the mail?

Got my package today and look what she sent! I know there was a ton of people who posted comments and Lisa was so gracious and tried to send packages to as many people as she could. I just love how great the scraping community is, everyone I have come in contact with has been so helpful, kind, supportive and just super friendly!

** Thank You Lisa **

** Important child vaccine recall **

Merck announced that it is voluntarily recalling 1 million doses of two common childhood vaccines, routinely given to children under 5. Here’s everything you need to know about the recall.

Here’s a link to the CDC site with more details.

Friday Freebie - unique collage templates

Hello and happy Friday Freebie day! I was at my local craft store yesterday and picked up a magazine called {The Stampers’ Sampler}. I’m not a huge stamper, though I do have a small collection of stamps and inks to play around with. What struck me about the cover of this magazine was the sampling of collages on the cover. I haven’t dabbled in collage yet, but have been making a bunch of mini journals that incorporate different materials. I wound up buying the mag as it had a lot of inspiring ideas for my mini journals. What’s this have to do with the Friday Freebie? Once I got home and really dug into the mag I see there is a monthly feature called {Tempting Template}. I checked out their site and YES, they are tempting and very unique. Lots of cool ideas a collage artist or scraper would love. There are many templates for the traditional card maker or paper crafter too. Check out what these tempting templates are all about. Shown in the images are the circle card, dress maker, and pocket card templates.

Get the Friday Freebie

Mini albums made with Starbuck’s stuff

Check out these creative mini albums made from Starbuck’s coffee sleeves, gift cards, and even a Tazo Tea Tag.

BrendaW in the Two Peas member gallery has an adorable Starbuck’s sleeve album. She even got Starbuck’s stickers to use as embellishments!

Over on the Fishbowl blog there is a cool altered Starbuck’s gift card album. This one is great! I really like all the fabulous designs that Starbuck’s comes out with for their seasonal gift cards. This is a really fun idea for those used up gift cards.

Lain Eihmann is so clever, check out the Starbuck’s mini tag album she made from a Tazo Tea Tag. She has great instructions and photos detailing how to make one.

Fiskars TV posted a tutorial on how to make the oh so popular Starbuck’s sleeve album. Check out how easy it is.

My sweet obsession

Here’s my current sweet obsession. It’s probably a good thing this is a seasonal candy. Not that I really need a special holiday or event to indulge in treats, Ha! It’s a tad pricey, but worth every bite…I mean it’s worth the price. You get a lot of it too. I’m lovin all these food and confections that Williams Sonoma has during the holidays.