MSS CU Blog Train-Hop-Skip-Jump

I gotta say, I am thrilled to death when the team at MSS throws a shindig! And this time is no different. Someone got a great idea to have a mid-month blog hop just for fun, and they made it even more fun becasue we are doing all commercial use items. Now who doesn't love it when you get a whole set of design tools for free from some great designers???

This is my part of the Blog Train. You get 2 denim textures, one is wrinkled, and two patterned overlays. This is a great chance for you to sample some of my products. I love commercial use products because they are really versatile. I am a designer, but I am a scrapbooker too, and I love that I can make my own papers and elements to personalize a kit.

Download my overlays here.

No here are some more links to the designers in the blog hop. If one is not posted yet, go to the next and check back later in the day. We are all on different time zones. We have people all over the world, I love it :)

MSS Blog

C.W. Picket and Company

Darhena Designs

EAL Designs

GF Designz

Jacque

Ladybug Pages

Lucie B Designs

Pillowgirl's Scraps

Sir Scrapalot

SKrapper Digitals

Vickie Dunn

I wanna tell you also, we have got some incredible new products in the store at MSS right now. You have heard about my grab bag, but have you heard about Sir Scrapalot's Doodle Bag? Or Ladybug's new kits with a bit of fantasy to them? Or heck I will come back with some cute previews to show you. I am super impressed with the stuff they've put up this week. It looks like the New Year really brought out some great stuff!

I am running late for a date, but I will be back with more good stuff to show ya and share.

8 Box Overload: CU Freebies

Hey everyone!

I have been busier than can be, suddenly feeling a rush of creative energy with the new year upon us. I've got some kits coming out this week that I just love, and I just released my 8 Box Special. That's a big pile of boxes that's sittin in my office. It's made up of all the items I have been saving up to put in a grab bag, I started by putting a set in a box, then moving on to another box. I ended up with 8 boxes, and by gum, I can't seeeeee.

I will sell individually in my store for over $20. While they are in these big boxes in my office, you get the whole lot for $4.00, so you can save a bundle on this bundle eh.

And... wouldn't you know, under the boxes in a little stash in the corner, I had these three cuties tucked away. I want them outta my office too, so I am offering them for free in my store at MSS for a very limited time. Click here to get the CU freebie. It's totally free, and totally unique by me. No credit required, etc.

Now go on folks, get out and design and scrap. It's a new year, time for new goals and new fun.
(Don't forget to come play with us at MSS, we have the Design a Kit challenge underway!)

Lots of Buzz, and TWO freebies!

Hey everyone!

I hope you are off to a great start with the new year. I know I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin contest.

I have been enjoying some family time, hubby has had a major chunk of time off work with the holidays and he finally goes back tomorrow. I can't wait for the excitement to finally die down lol. I do love to have him home, but I love to have him go to work too. It sure changes up the routine when he is home. It's really hard to find time to scrap lol.

But, I have been designing still. In fact, I have been working on a few really different projects in addition to the Live in Color collection I am still focusing on.

One>>> A very good friend of mine, Trish, has been wanting to start up her own web site offering a really cool thing to digital scrapbookers. She created a site, http://www.digiscrapdiscounts.com/ is the url. The site is a place for designers like me, or maybe you, to post ads in a gallery. The idea is that if we all post our sales ads, discounts, specials, coupons, etc. there, a digital scrapbooker could go look at the ads all at once, kinda like browsing a newspaper for coupons. I think it is a great idea. I subscribe to a lot of yahoo lists, but I really like the idea of going and seeing all the actual ads in one place. I am a visual person, so seeing the ads makes a difference for me.

So as part of her starting that site, I have been working with her to also offer a gift on her site that gives scrapbookers a taste of my designs for free. This is the result:

You wanna go get it for free? Just go to Digiscrap Discounts and click on Gifts.

Now a shout out to my fellow designer friends: She's giving away 100 memberships for free to designers. You can share your ads for free. All you have to do is go to the site, Click on View the Ads, and sign up for the gallery and send her an email on her site to let her know you are a designer wanting to share ads. It's free. It's advertising. And we all need some more of that.

Two>>> Acrylics. Oh I love Acrylics. I love taking a acrylic element and adding it at the last minute to a layout lol. I love using them for neutral elements on just about any layout. I love that I can combine them with any kit under the sun. I love that I can put them on top of a picture and still see the picture through them. OK you get the point.

I set out to make a set of amazing acrylic elements. I wanted it to be big and I wanted it to be one that had enough elements that I could use them on several layouts and not duplicate. I wanted frames, I wanted pretty much a dream element pack lol. So, I set out to make a bunch. And I ended up with over 50. And more to come.

Here's Acrylic Madness, a set of new acrylic elements that I created. What do ya think? Want a sample? You got it! Download the sample shown below here.

And on a final note: I purchased a new domain name today. My blog will be moving soon. I will let you know where, but please be advised, I am planning some big things. You can still find me at My Scrap Shop, of course.

The Color Green, freebie, and new products

While working on the Live in Color series, I am gathering lots of color todbits to share. I have been focusing on Green the past few days.

The color green is associated with nature, peace, and money.

Green is often used in decorating for its calming effect. For example, guests waiting to appear on television programs often wait in a “green room” to relax.

Green is thought to relieve stress and help heal. Those who have a green work environment experience fewer stomachaches.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

The color green for me is also associated with olives, as in the olives in my favorite drink, the classic martini.

As part of my Live in Color series, I am creating several booster packs in the various colors and combinations of them. Today I want to show you the new Green package I made in honor of the almighty Martini. And you can get this free Martini paper here at MSS. It's absolutely free, I promise. Just go grab it and use it if you are a martini fan like me!

New Products in my store at MSS:

New Challenges and Prizes at MSS:

A new round of challenges started at MSS yesterday. You can get some gorgeous kits just for particpating in some of our fun challenges, like the template challenge. Click here to get a good look at our prizes.

New Designers at MSS

Did you know we have new designers at MSS? Come see what they brought to our scrap tables and welcome them aboard!

Sales at MSS:

• A little bird tells me that you can save 75% off of Sir Scrapalot's designs. That's HUGE. He has some awesome kits, great doodles, fantastic CU. You can't go wrong at that price.
• EAL is having a grand opening sale, come check out a new designer at MSS and save 30%
• Pillowgirl, that's me, has her whole store at 40% for the holidays. Happy New Year, it's almost all over!
  

Sources:

About.com

Color Wheel Pro

Live in Color

I recently started reading a lot about color theory, our emotions and how they are affected by color, and so on. It's really always been an interest to me, the psychology of colors. I think as an artist, there is often a reason I choose the colors I do. I also think as scrapbookers, we choose certain colors on some of our layouts because they convey an emotion too.

Anyhow, all this Color Theory thinking inspired me to create a series called Live in Color. This collection is made up of 16 colors (plus the occasional white or black) and I will be creating several smaller kits and sets of elements or papers in this series.

Just this week, I released 6 packs of Live in Color products. Over the next while, you will see many more as I have several projects started in this color scheme. I also plan to share some Color Theory with you here on my blog, so you might see how colors impact you from day to day too :)

I hope you enjoy the project. If you don't, you will still find my normal stuff on the blog too.

Here's a link to the whole line of Live in Color products that I am offering at MSS exclusively. And watch the blog, there's a freebie coming out shortly that ties into this whole series.

CU Grab Bag

I still love a good grab bag. In fact, I have a little grab bag fund that I keep just so I can shop for them. Every time I buy one, it is like a little gift to myself. One of those little splurges. Call me nuts.

This one has 9 products in it. 2 of them are overlay packs. The rest are a mix of good tools for a designer. One is a layer style, one I have been mentioning for quite a while...

This bag is special because I worked with my friend Peppermint Patty again on it. I love what we can create when we work together on an idea.

Now a question for you... do you love grab bags? I mean, what aspect of buying a grab bag is such a good part? Is it the bargain of 9 products for $4.50, or is it the surprise aspect? Do you enjoy having them revealed and sneaking a peek before you buy them? Or do you totally want to be surprised?

Home for Christmas

Hey everyone! I am prepping for tomorrow's big feast, are you? My whole house is clean, but we aren't hosting the event hehe. We will be going to my mom's house to fill our bellies with my family. What I love the best: Free food with no clean-up. I am just as bad as any poor student visiting their mom's house for food lol.

The Thanksgiving holiday means a few things for us scrapbookers.

1) Big sales for Black Friday

2) Lots of new holiday scrapbooking kits, resources, and gift ideas. I LOVE IT.

Well, at MSS we have gone all out to make sure you get what you want and what you need this holiday.

1) MSS is on sale. 60% off our store! Come get it folks! This means you can get some great products at a huge savings. Might I suggest my Holiday CU Grab Bag that is normally $3? This sale takes that price way down to only... (drum roll) $1.20. That is INSANE.

2)Maybe you are looking for some huge Christmas kits to work with your cards, tags, even wrapping small items. Well, I have recently been involved in some pretty big collaborations! I recently showed you my collaboration with Peppermint Patty, Tis the Season. Well... Sir Scrapalot and I have just finished a big new collaboration kit called Home for Christmas too. It was added to our store tonight here. And since MSS is on sale for 60% off starting at midnight, these kits are on sale too!
And of course I have a freebie for you to celebrate the holidays and to kick off our new collaboration kit hitting the store. Download it here on 4shared. It's got a few papers and elements straight out of the Home for Christmas Kit by Sir Scrapalot and me. He has a little freebie too, so you will wanna stop by his blog tomorrow and grab it (I beat him to the punch and got mine up early hehe)

And if you like premade Christmas cards, Sir Scrapalot has put a few in the store using our kit as well. You can snag those here.

I also updated the Inspiration series on MSS's blog today. If you want to add a little inspiration in your life and your scraps, there are exercises there that can help you recognize some of the blessings in your life and help you get your scrap mojo heading in that direction.

Santa's Got a Brand New Bag, Freebie too, and it's CU!

Happy holidays. I think I have had a little too much egg nog already and our Christmas Tree isn't even up.

Thanksgiving week, who knew it would sneak up so fast! This is the week I prep my house for Christmas. On Friday, the tree goes up. Wow, it's here!

I also am on the hunt for a Diamond Castle for Maia, but am waiting til this Friday to go buy it, in hopes of some killer black Friday deal. I doubt it will happen but I can't help but LOVE the idea of shopping like all the maniacs that day.

Anyhow, I have been in a Christmas mood this weekend. So much that I got a few new products in the store at MSS and I also got a freebie for you!

Guess what, a lot of folks have told me that I better make a Holiday Grab Bag or I would get a lump of coal this Christmas. I want scrap supplies lol. And new pajamas. So I got my grab bag done lol. I don't want coal.

If you want Christmas goodies galore, for commercial use, go here!

And of course, I had a little left over so I thought I better give away a freebie to get on the Extra Specially Good Girl list.

Download it here

Tis the Season

Happpppy Friday! I sincerely hope you are having a wonderful week and that your weekend is also going to be a great one. I know that today is a good day because it starts with the letter F. I love every day of the week that starts with the letter F.

Wow, the holidays are fast approaching. I finally went and did a layaway for Christmas this week. I tend to put my shopping off and then in a mad dash, buy whatever looks easiest to wrap. I won't lie. Except when it comes to my kid. Man, she is spoiled lol. Don't tell her, but she's got a whole bunch of Barbie and My Little Pony coming for Christmas. I am still trying to find the Diamond Castle though, it's sold out everywhere and I hate to have it shipped with where we live.

In the design world, I have been working on a collab kit with my dear friend Pappermint Patty. She's not a regular designer, although she can design, so it was a lot of fun working with her. It really put a fresh spin on things, and was a ton of fun. And we came up with a GLORIOUS, MAGNIFICENT, HUMONGOUS Christmas kit called Tis the Season.

Tis the Season has 25 papers, 70+ elements, and is one of those where you want to just reach up and touch it... lots of rich texture in it.

And we even saved a freebie for you :)

Grab this little add-on freebie here. And if you make a layout using this kit, you might just find one heckuva gift coming your way, of course you have gotta share it with me. (Your layout that is)

I've Gotta Share

Happy Thursday to you!

It's a big big big week for me this week, and hopefully a good one for you! MSS turns ONE YEAR OLD this weekend on Saturday. I can't believe time has gone by so quickly. Plus, with the holidays coming up, I am feeling all new inspiration and lovin' the late nights hehe.

I've got a lot to show you, and then I will tell you a little more details as I go.

I love the holidays. If you know my track record, you know that during the holidays I really kick my designing into high gear. I think Christmas time is one of the most scrappable times of the year and I try to make it fun and easy for anyone I know by offering some great kits and freebies all through the season. To start off, I have just added a few new things to my store at My Scrap Shop.

The Be Merry kit is my first Christmas kit of the year. It matches my Be kit, which I released in the store in October. You could literally put the two kits together and have one humongous kit. In Be Merry, I use a lot of worn and shabbier papers, some gorgeous felt, a little glitter and glitz, and I feel it really captures the spirit of Christmas in my home. We do everything simple but with a touch of "excess" when it comes to Christmas. So yes, it's a great time for glitter hehe.

I couldn't resist saving some of my favorite pieces of the kit as layered element templates for you. This Piece on Earth set includes a Angel, Tree, and Stocking for you to make your own. You can add paper, color, style, etc. to really personalize these.
A 50 cent special! the Tea Party set is part of the Be series, and includes a little Tea pot and cup, plus a shade tree to sip it under. It also includes a few papers for you to scrap with that have the grungy, worn, torn, and folded look to them. This item is 50 cents at MSS for one week only.

OK I have more to share but am thinking I ought to split it into another post to keep things straight. Plus, my coffee cup is empty! I will be back with more to show and probably a freebie to boot!

In case you are reading this before my next post though, I want to remind you to come chat with us tonight at 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific... at http://www.myscrapshop.com/chat. It's a big night tonight!

Friday, Freebie, 50 cent items, etc.

Friday, Friday, Friday... I'm so glad Friday is here.

And now it is almost over.

I love Fridays because they are a good day for me to take an afternoon nap. That sounds bad, but I am a BIG FAN of the afternoon nap. And on Fridays, I don't have to clean house while Maia takes hers (because that's what weekends are for, catching up on the cleaning I skipped on Friday) so I get a good snooze in the afternoon.

What silly thing do you do on your favorite day of the week that makes it Your Favorite Day??? And do you scrap it? I don't think I will scrap my naps lol.

It's new release time at My Scrap Shop. Every Friday, all the new releases are 20% off. This week at MSS it is like Christmas came in, swooped over low, and shot little magic Christmas dust everywhere in our New Release bin lol. That and the CU Fairy always comes to MSS with a few packages for sale.

I just introduced a new series at MSS this week... it is called CU Small Bytes. Each week I will choose a few CU items to put up in the store in smaller packages, sometimes even as singles. These Small Bytes will be priced at way low prices. This week they are 50 cents a piece. See the previews below, and click on them if you would like to add them to your cart at MSS for 50 cents. They won't be 50 cents for long, so grab them before I rotate a new set in.



This time of year, it's time for the short sleeves to go in the back of the closet and the long sleeves and flannel shirts to come out. Well, for the menfolk anyway. This set of papers is inspired by the shirts that were in my dad's closet. He had a set of colors that were pretty much his "norm" and these papers are reminiscent of his winter wardrobe. I hope you enjoy them, they are free. Click here to download them!

Be... a Freebie hehe

Hi everyone. I am blogging at the end of a wonderful weekend.

It was Digital Scrapbooking Day yesterday, and I got to shop at my favorite stores at some serious knockout prices. You know I love sales. I love to have them, and I love to find them. I love to shop them. I will shop them in a box, I will shop them with a box. Even when we change our CLOCKS! (A reminder to you, the clock is ticking... the sale at MSS will still go on until Monday night at midnight, so those of you who missed most of the DSD festivities, well, we're still having them at MSS. We really know how to throw a LONG party hehe. That's right, still 60% off our store!)

I also got to see some fantastic new beginnings at MSS. The new challenges are ON! I love challenges. Seriously they are another great excuse to scrap and I usually do my best work when I am inspired by a challenge. If you love a good challenge too, you really ought to come to MSS and play with us. It's a low pressure, high fun, easygoing atmosphere. We don't care if this is your first layout, your millionth, etc. It doesnt' have to be all professional looking. It just has to be the result of you being inspired by a challenge. I love that kind of atmosphere.

Now I also have had a lot of fun with the Be kit we gave away as challenge prizes last week. It's available also in my store, and during the DSD sale is it CHEEEEEAP. I decided to add on to the kit, and will keep adding on because I so love this color scheme and the theme of the kit. So here is a freebie for you, it coordinates with the Be kit at MSS.

Download it here

And while you are here, I want to tell you this... MSS is almost a year old. Can you believe it? In 2 weeks from today, we will have been online for a whole year. What a lot of memories we have all shared!

Come play with us, plus $2 for you

If you haven't visited this week, you are missing out on some really great challenges. Our Challenge Coordinators have a great kit for your for playing along, and are working their tails off to inspire you to get off your duff and scrap!

Come see the new challenges at http://www.myscrapshop.com/forum. You can get a great kit for just joining up and playing along. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Also, I have a coupon for you to my store. I have a serious case of the Mondays and could really use a little bit of a pick me up, so I thought, why not share a pick me up with you? Spend $2 at my store today ON ME. No strings attached, and I have my retirement sale on for it's last day today only. I decided to extend it for your coupon shopping :)

Just enter the coupon code Pillow24U on checkout for $2 off any of my products! Enjoy.

Pillowgirl

http://www.myscrapshop.com

Free CU layout template, life, updates, and more.

OK I realize it has been such a long week and then some, and I have been remiss on my blogging. What can I say? Life is hectic as a new SAHM! I got more done when I worked full time, it seems. Now I am home with Maia and it is all too tempting to spend the day on the couch lounging with her, or playing light brite. Or using the playdoh. I am a sucker for my 4 year old, she can distract me better than anyone I know.

To make it up to you, I have a really fun layout template, AND I decided to make it free, and commercial use. You can use this to do your CT layouts for another designer, you can use it to do previews of your products, you can use this to make layouts for your S4H clients, you can use this as inspiration for your blog layout, you can have it laminated and throw it like a frisbee. Just USE it and use it well :) The only thing you can't do with it is give it to a friend in its original form, or resell the actual template. So, what you ought to do is tell your friend to come here and get it, it's gonna be here for a while.

Download this template here on 4shared.

I would love to see what you use this template for. I know I love to use templates when I am looking for a little guidance on a layout. It's also important to note, tis is a layered PSD file so you can move things around, rotate them, reshape them, cut part of it out, change the phtos around, add journals, add a title, throw a few flowers in there, add a ribbon, screw the scallops if you like straight lines, etc. This should be a tool, not a RULE.

Now, what else have I been up to? I have been working on one helluva kit for our challenges that are going to start tomorrow at MSS. I would show it to you but I am sworn to secrecy. It's huge, it's versatile, it's got a little boy, a little girl, a little grown up, a little young, a little mod, a little traditional, and it's got a whole lotta soul. So to see what I have been creating, check out the forums at MSS tomorrow when we post the new challenges. You can win it before you can buy it, and I do love that with challenges, everyone who plays gets to win.

I also have the last few days of my retirement sale going on, this weekend is your very last chance to get 65% over 60 of my products. I am doing a major inventory overhaul. Over half of these products are Commercial Use. Products like 88 overlays for less than $6, my Designer Tools 101 (101 different designer tools) for less than $6. It's a pretty big deal, but I am trying to keep my good name as the queen of good deals, so if you like that about me, go grab your cart and come visit my store lol.

Now with all this going on, I bet you didn't know that I have been working on some new stuff for DSD as well. And that we have weekly chats at myscrapshop.com/chat. Last night we had a chat and it was a lot of fun. I love seeing Sir Scrapalot try to keep a straight face when I pick on him in the chatroom. He hosted a game of MSS Trivia last night, just for fun, and it was a good time. I love that with our goodie bags, everyone walks away with a smile on their face.

Thank you to all of you who visit me and read these longwinded posts. I am playing catch up for a long spell of playing with Maia instead of blogging, but you know I would never stop blogging, designing, scrapping, and playing...

Until next time...

Pillow

A Freebie, and how to get another freebie, and then some.

Hey everyone. I bet you don't ever get tired of me saying COME CHAT WITH US AT MSS.


We're having a chat every Thursday night at 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, and 6 PM Pacific. That's right, every week on Thursday.

And every week, we have gifts and games for you. Mine's not the only one, but it's the only one I am gonna show you tonight lol. I will try to post some more previews tomorrow.



This week, I am giving the second part to the Simply Farm kit. Now if you didn't get the first week's portion, come to this week's chat and tell me, I will get it to you if you come this week.

I am also putting a freebie up tonight of a couploe cute animals that coordinate with the kit. I got them done after I packed up the chat prize, so I want to give them to you here.

Click for the free animals.

And I have over 60 items on the Retirement shelf at My Scrap Shop. About half of them are commercial use. If you haven't come over, you need to come see what's there for a STEAL. I already price my products at the lower end of the scale... no prada on this girl... I'm all about big bargains for less bucks lol. But now you get 65% off to boot. Not a bad deal if ya ask around. Check out my retirement products in the the Retiring section of the store at http://www.myscrapshop.com/shop.

WOW WOW WOW

I am still winding down from the excitement today at MSS. We had an AWESOME turnout for our chat. Trish says there were over 40 of us in there all talking at once lol.

We gave out some great prizes, but even more exciting... we turned on our New Releases in the store, AND they are on sale for 20% off until 11:59 PM Friday (today, but it's still Thursday since I haven't gone to bed yet)

I released a new CU collection that is the biggest ever. And it's got... shimmer, crumples, fun kid stuff, fancy autumn stuff, pretty floral and swishy overlays, and a bonus... and I know I am forgetting something lol. Here's a link to it in my store.

October's Designer Mix is full of great tools! You get 7 full size products, plus a surprise gift. So all told, you get them for less than a dollar a piece. And these aren't tiny full sized products.
Included:

1. Designer Shapes: 20 unique shape templates, some complex, some tools you will use over and over.
2. Vive La Glitter: 18 glittered shapes, different from the ones in the shape set. simply recolor them and use them as tools for a kit. Even though there is a lot of glitter on the market, there is always demand for more in kits. These will help you speed up your design process.
3. Lively Overlays: These 5 overlays are full of fun pattern, and they aren't just your plain "pattern tiled" overlays. These were hand designed to add an artistic touch to your kits.
4. Grunge Brush and PNG set: 10 grungy brushes, ideal for making grunged edges and overlays.
5. Cumpled Paper Overlays: 4 new curmpled paper overlays with realistic paper texture. The wrinkles and folds in these overlays really add a worn look, which is great for fall and winter kits.
6. Autumn Leaves: Recolor these 5 leaves (plus 1 acorn) with a simple color overlay, or add a more complex Clipping Mask overlay and brush on several colors. These leaves are very detailed and have a lot to offer for your autumn designs.
7. Recolorable Gems: 2 round PNG gems plus one layered PSD file with a gem and several stones around it. You can make this one 2 colors that way.

All told, you get 66 tools in this pack plus the surprise bonus. That's something to write home about. This product will not stay bundled, so please get it early. You won't save this much money on these products for long.

Here's a preview.

AND... there are more grab bags released tonight for commercial use! Sir Scrapalot, SKrapper Digitals, and Ladybug were all at the chat showing off their bags too ;) All of them, on sale, 20% off. Come stock up quick!

10 reasons to come chat on thursday night...

So by now you have heard about our chat tomorrow night, right? It's here at MSS in our chatroom, at 9 PM eastern. We're having a real New Release Party. A party I tell you. And we give gifts to people at parties.

http://www.myscrapshop.com/chat

Now here's some really good reasons to come.

1. A free gift from Lucie B that is like no other.
2. A free gift from Ladybug Designs that you will have tons of uses for.
3. A series of free gifts from Pillowgirl, get a minikit each week at our chat and they all tie together. You will love this mega whopper when it's done.
4. A goodie bag from Sir Scrapalot.
5. You get to see our new products first.
6. You just might win a really cool prize.
7. Scrapbooking is a family activity, so no need to lock your kids in the closet.
8. It's not like there's anything on TV that you can't record.
9. There will be designers, CT Members, and ET Members PLUS Trish, all here trying to entertain you without talking over each other too much.
10. More free gifts.

http://www.myscrapshop.com/chat

Did I mention that we are always noted as the most generous team whenever we throw a shindig? It's no joke. We make it worth your while.

Now, go, tell your friends. If you bring a friend, you both get gifts lol. And you can both record your favorite TV shows and trade after.

http://www.myscrapshop.com/chat

By the way, this is a weekly chat, but Thursday the 9th is our first so it's a real kick off party. You don't have to bring a side dish or RSVP, just come on in.

CU Freebie! Sneak a Peek. Chat with Meeee.

I am pulling an all-nighter. I couldn't sleep last night, I have so many designs running through my head! It's weird how inspiration just hits like that sometimes.

The hubby is staying home today so we have a few plans to take Maia to the park and have a little family time. We have some weekend days off together but those are always filled with errands and shopping and running around, so today will be a nice treat. Maia doesn't know he is staying home yet, so she will be pleasantly surprised when he is still here when she wakes up.

So what has had me up all night?

Well, I have been finishing up a new release that is coming out this Friday. If you are at our chat on Thursday night, you will get a little something in your goodie bag from me that ties in with it too. Want to know what it is that I finished? Here's a sneak peek, hehe.

Also, I did a little cu freebie for you in my "spare time". I know a lot of folks out there are designers, or want to design, and this little freebie is to help inspire you. I hope you enjoy it! I love making CU tools, it's so much fun to see them pop in in kits I run across. If you use my tools, send me a toot, and I just might post a preview and a link to it here on my blog to show it off!

Download this freebie here

Am I crazy?

I don't think I'm crazy, I just appreciate a good deal. So I decided it's time for me to give one of those big big deals.

And well, here's another really good deal at My Scrap Shop too! (I tell you, there's something in the water at MSS, we all like to save money)

I am excited for a date I have with my mom tomorrow. We are going to the "Girl's Night Out" at Heartland Paper. My mom doesn't scrap but she just doesn't know how. I imagine if she tried scrapbooking, she would need to build an add-on to the house though to fit it once she got started. Know anyone else who is like that?

I have been having a hard time "believing" that I am not working and not planning to return to the job I had for 3 years. It's still a lot to take on "mentally". It's like I wake up in the morning and think I need to get ready and hurry to work... only to remember during my first cup of coffee that I don't do that anymore. The hubby suggestss that I take a night time part time job, and spend the time during the day with Maia. I am still trying to convince him that if I do that, it will be like having two jobs. I have a whole different respect for women who manage to keep their carpets vacuumed and their dishes clean, let alone the ones who seem to have spotless homes with kids in the house.

But, right at this very moment... if I look over my right shoulder, I am seeing the view of Miss Maia all snuggled up in a blanket on the couch, wrapped up like a little burrito, with nothing out of the blanket but her cute little head. She is taking her long anticipated nap, and I am finally here to send out a note hehe. This is my dream job. The pay sucks, the overtime is horrible, I have a college degree and am totally under-appreciated... but DANG I love the benefits and the perks. I am paid in hugs and kisses to be Maia's Personal Assistant in life lol.