Friday, April 29, 2011

Family Reunion

Last weekend we had a family reunion and a birthday party for my 90 year old grandmother.  I hadn't seen some of my cousins in 5+ years so I was super excited for the weekend!  We had a ball laughing about our times together as kids and getting in trouble when we were younger!  Our kids, even though they had just met for the first time, had a ton of fun playing together.  Every night the kids came in exhausted, filthy, but full of smiles.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend:
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
The "old" men played football with the kids!
The older guys were sucking air during the whole game!

I am SO thankful that my cousin Shane is a photo-freak like me!

The Easter egg hunt!

Filthy socks to prove you played hard!

Poor Kourt broke her arm on the last day.  She fell while racing Morgan. :(
This is Clyde, my brother's toy Australian Shepard.

This is Clyde "herding" the kids!

This coming week I get to head to Illinois to see my childhood besties!  Shannon, my BFF since I was 6 years old, recently had a baby that needs my hugs and kisses!  I don't know if I am more excited to smooch on the baby or photography him!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sale time!

Greetings Friends!
As I stated yesterday, Owl Tree Studios is going to close their doors soon.  Many of the designers are moving to other stores, but I am not going to continue designing.  Maybe I will pick it up again later in life, but for now I want to concentrate on my family's memories, my Creating Keepsakes responsibilities, and YOU via my blog.  :)  My store is 50% off now through Sunday, May 1st.  Everything in my store is priced under $2.75!  These 3 kits - full of paper, elements and an alpha - are $2.75 each:
Found HERE

Found HERE

Found HERE
Template packs with 4 templates per pack are just $2.00!
Found HERE

Found HERE
Found HERE
These flower elements are just $1.00!!!
Found HERE
These two mini kits are $1.75 each!
Found HERE
Found HERE
Make sure and shop my store by this Sunday!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Template Tuesday - Free Digital Scrapbooking Template & Design Tips

Greetings Friends!
I hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend!  I was blessed to be at a family reunion/ 90 birthday party for my Grandmother.  I had SO much fun visiting with family that I hadn't seen in several years!  I will post some photos later this week.
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Here is what today's template look like.  I thought a 2-pager might come in handy for your Easter photos:

You can download the PSD file/TIFF HERE (expires May 10, 2011)
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As some of you may know already, Owl Tree Studios is closing their doors.  The shop will be open the rest of April.  A couple of designers, myself included, will be discounting our products by 50%.  This sale will start tomorrow (April 27, 2011).  While I'm sad to see the shop close, I have to admit that I am a bit relieved because I have been struggling with time management.  I loved trying my hand at designing, but honestly, it's not for me!  I have only a handful of hours that I can dedicate to scrapbooking each week.  Since I started my store, most of those hours were eaten up with designing responsibilities, leaving little time for personal scrapping.  I long to "get back to the basics" and focus on scrapping for my family and Creating Keepsakes....and my blog of course!  Template Tuesday will still continue!  ;)

I hope you all have a fabulous week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Template Tuesday - Free Digital Scrapbooking Template & Design Tips

Folks, I am so sorry that I left you hanging for Template Tuesday last week!  Do you ever have days/weeks were you have so many things going on that you don't know where to start?  That was me last week.  Between traveling, family drama, friend drama, gardening, kids, homeschool, housework, yard work, husband, and hobbies, I hardly had a moment to breathe!  Anyway, I am back this week, and I made this template for you (download HERE  - expires May 3, 2011) :

I hope you have a fantastic week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Template Tuesday - Free Digital Scrapbooking Template & Design Tips & CY365 Blog Hop

Happy Tuesday!
Welcome CY365 (Capture Your 365) Blog Hoppers and all my regular readers too!  Blog Hoppers, every Tuesday I offer a free template to my fabulous readers.  Regular readers, I am a part of a Blog Hop regarding Project 365 aka Photo of the Day.
CaptureYour365


Let's get started with the free template.  Here is how I used today's free template:
Friends Mini Kit found HERE

Let's talk design for just a sec.  Why does this layout work?
1. Proximity:  All the important elements of this layout are touching or near each other.  This gives the layout a sense of unity.
2. White Space:  Actually, it's blue in this case!  The space without text or graphics is considered white space.  White space gives the viewers eye a chance to rest.
3.  Visual Triangle:  The splashes of red (number, stitching, sticker) form a visual triangle.  The triangle encourages the viewer's eye to travel around the layout.  Try creating a visual triangle with items that are the same color but not the same texture or size.
4.  Common Margins:  The entire layout is framed with a patterned paper.  This framing gives the layout an additional sense of unity.

If you are new to digi scrapping, you are going to need some software to get started.  Go to www.adobe.com and download the FREE 30-day trail version of Photoshop Elements.  (For a direct link, click HERE)  There are instructions all over the web as to how to get started in digital scrapbooking. Go HERE for some great instructions and links!

Here is the template (TIFF & PSD) can be downloaded HERE for free (expires April 19, 2011)
I have had numerous comments about how handy the text paths are for PSE users.  I thought a number text path might be useful too!  :)

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CY365
2011 is my third year of doing POTD/Project 365!  I love doing it, even though it's a chore at times!  My family and friends LOVE reading the books as it reminds them of things that they have already forgotten!  Today I would like to share with you my POTD books from 2009 & 2010.
Here is 2009 (the template used in most of this book can be found HERE):
                       

Here is 2010 (I created an entire year's worth of templates similar to this book which can be found HERE.)  Simply add photos and journaling and you are done!

                       

In case you missed the other stops in the blog, here is a list of participants:


Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Project 365 - Free April calendar

Happy April 1st!
Do you have any big plans for the weekend?
We are hooking up with family to celebrate my daughter's birthday!  She has been counting down the days!

Since it's April 1st, I thought you could use a new calendar page!  I don't always take the time to put my photo and journaling in my Project 365 layout everyday.  Instead, I jot down daily notes on my calendar, and when I get a moment, I work on the week's page.  You can download this free April calendar HERE:

Have you checked out  Capture Your 365?  It's an awesome site that is full of support, ideas, and links to all products related to Project 365!
I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Thanks for stopping by!