Happy iNSD (and a freebie)

For those not in the know, International Scrapbooking Day (iNSD) is a much anticipated event by anyone who scraps. Digital Scrapbook stores have their biggest sales of the year, and there are a ton of products you can grab for a fraction of the price. All my designers have outdone themselves this year, and I'm feeling super lucky that I get to play with their stuff early.

I got to play with Michelle Batton's contribution to the FPD May 2011 Collab. This kit is huge I tell you. The bundle is going to be $6 until the 8th of May and then it will go up to $12 on the 9th and be available through the end of May. Then June it gets broken up and the contributing designers will put them in their individual stores.



I made 2 pages with Michelle's part. Can you tell I gravitate towards purple? LOL.




And as a gift for you, here's a quickpage of the second layout.



You can download it HERE.

I'm going to link you up to Michelle's facebook page, store and blog as well so you can check out the rest of her products.

Back with a freebie

Hubby's Grandfather passed away last week just a few days short of his 94th Birthday. We ended up flying down for the funeral, taking the girls with us, which they thought was just fabulous. Our girls love their Nana and Poppa to pieces, and Brooke has been asking to go down for the last 3-4 months, so you can imagine how happy they were to spend nearly 5 days with them. Granddad's funeral service was really lovely. Read the little story on this layout about what Elisa did:





We came back just in time for Brooke to start school for the year. She is Year 2 now, and has been placed in a Year 2/Year 3 mixed class. Her teacher is fresh out of teachers college, and seems OK so far (fingers crossed). Brooke is happy to be back with her friends again.

Elisa started Kiwi Kids today, which is an extended Playcentre Session for the over 3 yr olds. She loved it. Got paint everywhere. Now that Brooke is at school, Elisa and I will have little teaching sessions at home each day. Topics will include letter and number recognition, counting, writing practise, computer skills, music, art etc, concentrating on just one topic each day. She enjoys that too. Today we did some art, then practised counting on the Playhouse Disney Games Website. I think I'm going to get her a little wee computer mouse that fits her hand better. I've seen them around. I made this for Elisa too. She of course thinks it is just wonderful and insisted I post letters to her immediately. I'll make one for Brooke next week using different papers.



I also finished last weeks 365 pages. The theme was all about Brooke. This week will be about Elisa.


See the separate pages close up HERE and HERE.

And I promised a freebie didn't I? Here it is, a quick page of this layout from my last post. Click on the image below to download from 4shared:



OK, that's about it for now. Have a great week!

Annnnnd.... we're back! (with a freebie)

(Note: if you're here for the Digi Chick Blog Train, scroll to the bottom of this post).

It's a feast or a famine with my blog huh. I alternate between posting 3 times a week to only once or twice a month when things get really busy. I don't suppose I'm the only blogger to do this though huh. Well where do I start? Christmas I guess. I was going to post a stack of photos, then thought I might as well just wait till I'd scrapped my pages and show them instead. So here is our Christmas. Since the photos had so much colour in them I decided to go with a fairly neutral background palette and let the pictures do the talking.

















And of course I had to scrap Elisa's broken arm didn't I? She was lucky it was just a greenstick fracture and that it healed quickly. She only stayed in the plaster cast for 2 weeks, getting it cut off on Christmas Eve.







I've done a few CT layouts too, though am still in the process of uploading them to my galleries. Lucky you, you get a sneak peek here on my blog first. There are a few more to come, but I can't post them for another day or two.









Oops, I nearly forgot. Here are my latest 365 pages. I've decided to continue Project 365 in 2010, but simplify it somewhat with Biograffiti's templates. I was lucky enough to win her January set this week. Yay!





OK, you've made it this far, now I guess some of you are here for the Digi Chick Blog Train.



Here is the template freebie I have for you. Perfect for scrapping Christmas photos, or any multiphoto page. Just swap the tree and snowflakes for other elements if you're not doing a christmas page. You can see the page I based it on HERE. I'd love it if you left a comment saying what you think. Click on the preview to download.



I should be your last stop, but if you've missed anyone, retry the links below. Remember, we're all on different time zones, so it may take a little longer for some to get sorted.

Tiffany: http://ascrapaway.blogspot.com/
Jenn: http://jennamy82.blogspot.com
Kelleigh: http://kelleighratzlaff.com/
Sylvia: http://sylviascraps.blogspot.com
Neenee: http://www.itzaneetdesign.com
Jude: http://lildigibits.blogspot.com/
Holly: http://lv2scrapnjp.blogspot.com
Pam: http://www.pameladonnis.com/blog/
Jana: http://www.janam-designs.com/blog/
Marianne: http://www.nowthenhabibi.com/scrapping-stuff/
Jacinda: www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com (you are here)

I hope you had fun and picked up lots of goodies on the blog train. Now go check out what yummy new things the Digi Chick Designers have released in the TDC Store this week. (Pssst.....while you're there you will definitely want to check out the huge NEW range of products in the Studio 365 section).

More layouts and a freebie!

This week it's all about journalling. I love to journal on my pages - I feel I need to leave more than just photos for my girls, so I write. I write about me, about them, about the love we have for them, and advice for the future. For the AAM journalling challenge I'm hosting at The Digi Chick this week I created these first three layouts as examples:




And these pages use new releases from The Digi Chick Designers too. Click for credits.



And finally.......someone asked me to make a template from my Christmas Tree layout, so here it is! Click on the preview to download from 4shared. I'd love it if you left a comment too.

Welcome to The Digi Chick Blog Train!

Welcome to my very first blog train! The Digi Chick Designers and CT have come together to share some goodies for you. Yay! Some items are halloween themed, while others are not, catering for those who do, and those who don't like halloween. The links should stay active for about a week, so if you have problems at one site, just pop back later and check again.

For my contribution, I've created a quick page from this fairy layout of my two girls:




Since I have girls, many of the normal halloween kits are too dark for my little ones who love all things pink and girly, so imagine my delight when Quirky Twerp Designs created a girly halloween kit! Sweeet! So, using Trick or Sweet by Quirky Twerp, I grabbed a white paper background from Roben-Marie's White Paper pack, and put together this page in a flash. I also used Twigs and Sprigs (greenery) by Quirky Twerp.

Click on the preview below to download two quickpages (one version with the fairy title, and one version without). Let me know if you have any problems - this is the very first time I've ever offered a freebie, and it took a bit to figure out 4shared. Oh, and I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment to say what you think.






Yay! I hope you like it. Your next stop is Jenn's blog http://jennamy82.blogspot.com

And just in case you get lost, here are the rest of the blog train links:

Tiffany - http://ascrapaway.blogspot.com/
LuAnn - http://livelaughcreate-luann.blogspot.com/
Cheryl - http://cherylisadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/
Mel - www.littlepaperhouse.com
Kelley - http://www.kelleymickusdesigns.blogspot.com/
Sinead - http://www.slaphappyandscrappy.blogspot.com
Tracy - http://tracykosofsky.blogspot.com
Pam - www.pameladonnis.com
Elise - http://elisespiecesdesigns.blogspot.com
Jill - http://scrappingprincess.com/blog
Jacinda- http://www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com/ you are HERE
Jenn - http://jennamy82.blogspot.com
Kara - www.karaperrien.blogspot.com
Heather - http://bowenyard.blogspot.com
Juli - http://julifreshfish.blogspot.com/
Mari - http://mydigitalartstudio.com/
Julie - http://mycrazylifeasamomandawife.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://www.yamstamps.com/weblog/treat.html
Dani - http://www.danielleengebretson.com/
Cheryl - http://cherylisadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/
Kelleigh - http://kelleighratzlaff.com/
ViVa - http://vivaartistry.blogspot.com/
The Hybrid Chick - http://www.thehybridchick.com/