Mad Genius Designs

I've moved my blog - join me?

2011-12-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

I decided it was time for me to move to my own domain. I hope you'll join me at:

New site collab - and you can get it free!

2011-10-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for the October Blog Train, click here.

October has started with a bit of a sour note as my son was sick all day yesterday so we lay around the house. Today he is feeling better so I'm hoping we can brave the rain and get out for a bit - maybe hit a Starbucks for a pumpkin spice late - so yummy! I admit Starbucks is probably my one big vice. I have a total love hate relationship with them - I hate how much they charge, but I love the drinks! Do you have any vices?

I wanted to be sure to show you the October collab at Digiridoo Scraps - it's awesome! I wanted to find a way to describer it to you, but I think I'm going to steal the site description because they wrote it so well!

Calling all shoe addicts, handbag collectors, girlie girls, shopping trippers, style divas and followers of fashion … Our chic and stylish new megabit Uptown Girl is just for you. Always wanted a kit to scrap that perfect pair of shoes? That gorgeous outfit you just bought? Pictures of your latest shopping trip? A night out with the girls? Or anything else girlie? In this season's colors … we bring you Uptown Girl.

And here is the preview:

And in case that wasn't enticing enough, here comes the best news of all: you can get this collab absolutely free! Just ad $10 worth of anything from Digiridoo Scraps to your cart, and the kit will automatically be added. Such a deal! Go grab it!

October Blog Train Coming Through :)

2011-10-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

Happy October! September flew by for me, as we settled into back to school routines, both for my one child starting high school and my other starting homeschool. It's been busy, but a good busy. I hope your fall has gotten off to a good start, too.

Without further ado - welcome to the October Blog Train, brought to you by The Blog Train Blog. As of this posting, the complete blog list is not up, so I not 100% sure, but based on preliminary lists, you probably arrived from Jumbbumble and your next stop should be Blue Heart Scraps. If these links aren't correct, or if you get lost, you can always find your way again on The Blog Train Blog.

This month's blog train is once again 'theme free' which meant we could take the palette anywhere we wanted. Last month I went masculine, so this month I let the colours take me into a feminine place. Here is what I cam up with, I hope you like it (I believe if you click it you will get a larger preview):

To download, please click ----> here <----

Thanks so much for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the train!

Festival of Colour and new Site Collab (which you can get free!)

2011-09-10T23:54:00.001-07:00

I really love fall, I love the way the trees change colour, I love the cool evening wind, and I love being cozy inside. Though, to be honest, this year we haven't had any of that - it's sunny and hot outside. I'm not going to complain, though, because we had a very late start to summer, so I'll take a late end to go along with it.

In the spirit of fall, the 'Take Your Pick' this month at Digiridoo Scraps is done in beautiful fall colours. I love these colours, and I love how the whole category comes together so well.

I made a paper pack and a glitter pack - check them out:

And here is a small sampling of the other products in the category:

You can mix and match to your hear'ts content ... and ... if you spend $10 combined, on anything in the store, you get this month's collab Chapters Of Our Lives, for FREE. And it's gorgoeus - have a look for yourself:

It has 110 elements, 60 papers and 2 alphas - that's a pretty good deal to get free, don't you think?

I hope you are enjoying your September, whatever the weather, and thanks for dropping by my blog today!

August Blog Train - woo woo!

2011-08-01T22:53:00.003-07:00

It's the evening of the first, and I apologize for being late with my contribution for this train - I'm having issues with my computer and I think it maybe be time to re-install Vista again (which is frustrating because I only did that a few months ago.)

You should have arrive from ViolaMoni

Your next stop after me is Dana's Footprint Designs

And if you get lost, you can always find the full list on The Blog Train Blog.

You probably already read this, but this month's train is a bit different, as we were given a swatch but not a theme. So, I decided that the pink just wasn't working for me, and I made this little mini I call 'Boyish.' I hope you enjoy. You can download by clicking the image below.

*note* I received some feedback about my string and button that caused me to change them - I have adjusted the preview and upload with the updated files, if you care to re-download to have the updated files.

If clicking the link doesn't work, try this: CLICKITY CLICK ME!!

I'd love to hear what you think of it - and I hope you enjoy the rest of the train!

Two-Riffic Blog Train - woooooo wooooo!

2011-06-12T21:55:00.001-07:00

Welcome to your next stop on the Two-Riffic. You probably arrived from The Bermuda Scrapper.

On this train you will find goodies made with the awesomely cute kit Two-Riffic, that you can get FREE at Digiridoo Scraps right now with a $5 purchase of anything in the store. Check out the preview of this kit - it's awesome fo birthdays and other celebrations, and it's versatile enough to be used for kids and for grown-ups:

For the blog train, I've made you a quick page with this kit. I'm a huge fan of multi-photo layouts, especially for thigns like birthday parties when there are so many photos to scrap! SO I made you a quick page with space for 4 photos. I hope you like! Click the image to download.

If the image doesnt work, you can click right here to download.

Your next stop is Sarah Barber, who has some awesome awesomeness for you (really, you don't want to miss it!)

If you get lost along the way, you can find the full list of participating designers in this thread at the Digiridoo Scraps forum.

Enjoy!! And thanks for dropping by today :)

I'm in the spotlight! Also lots of news.

2011-06-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be in the spotlight at Digiridoo Scraps for all of Jun! There are two of us in the spotlight, myself and Vick of Dana's Footprint Designs. We got together and made a collab that I must say is one of my favourite kits I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. Oh, and my store is on sale all month AND it's the two year birthday party of Digiridoo! Wowsers that's a LOT going on! Let me break it down a bit :)

The entire Digiridoo Scraps store is 22% off this month for the birthday celebrations (except new releases and grab bags) BUT because I'm in the spotlight I discounted my stuff a bit more. When both discounts add up, its 30% off - woot! Don't be alarmed if you don't see the discount at first, when it's all added to your cart it will be 30% off (except for my new commercial use grab bag - details on that to follow.)

While you are at the site checking out my sale, be sure to also check out all the birthday fun we are having! We have Bingo, pass the present, a scavenger hunt, speed scraps, and a special surprise in store.

And finally - my new releases! First, my June Commercial Use Grab Bag. This one has two tasty texture sets and a brush set - you can find full reveal in the detailed images. At $3, this is only $1 per full sized pack. All packs have passed strict quality checking (as has everything in store).

Next up is Morning Bloom. This collab kit has a shabby, vintage feel, and it's huge. You'll find 20 papers, 50 elements and a full alpha.

Here are some lovely layouts by my CT:

There's even more layouts by the talented Digiridoo CT in my DRS Designer gallery. I swear every day more beautiful layouts pop up made with this kit!

Thanks for reading all of that - and I hope you'll join us for Digiridoo Scraps birthday fun!

Monkeying Around Blog Train

2011-05-31T22:00:00.022-07:00

Hi! Welcome to your next stop on the Monkeying Around blog train brought to you by The Blog Train Blog. Isn't it a cute theme? Great for all those pictures of your loved ones (and furbabies!) being their goofy selves. You should have arrived from Simply Kelly Designs, and your next stop after me is Pardon The Mess. Should you get lost, can always find your way at The Blog Train Blog.

Before I show you my contribution, I want to tell you about the awesome birthday celebrations we are having at Digiridoo Scraps this month. We have lots of fun events planned, a special birthday surprise grab bag, and other fun stuff. Come check it out, you will be so glad you did!

Also, I'll let you know that I have a fan freebie on my Mad Genius Designs Facebook page - I change them approximately twice a month, so it's worth checking regularly :)

I had planned to do some hand drawn monkeys for this kit, but as I was seeing what the other designers were doing, I saw so many cute monkeys already, I didn't want to try to re-invent the wheel LOL. So I made you a pack of basics to coordinate with other people's cute monkeys. You'lll find texture cardstock in each colour, as well as some other great basics like ribbons and frames. I hope you enjoy!

To download, you can click the image above, or click RIGHT HERE.

Enjoy! And have fun on the rest of the train!

Long Overdue!

2011-05-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Ouch! It's just been too long since I posted here! I'm sorry I didn't mean to neglect this blog. I blog very regularly at Red Genius Enterprises, and I lost site of how long it had been since I was her on my site. I'll do better!

I've opened anew store, and I am absolutely loving it! I am at Digiridoo Scraps. The team is just awesome, everyone is so friendly, and I quickly felt like they were my new digi-family. You chould drop by and chek us out, especially if you like lots of challenges!

I'll show you my latest new releases - they are all CU. They were in a grab bag for iNSD, and I loved making them so much I'm going to try to do a monthly CU grab bag.

First is Pattern Genius Volume One. This is my first pattern set, but certainly not my last!

Next is Brush Genius Volume Two - these are grungy brushes, perfect for texturizing your papers or photos. I use them all the time now!

And third is Grunge Genius Volume 3 - I love these so much I'm already halfway through making my next set LOL.

I also have a freebie on my facebook page, I'm overdue switching it out and will do so this week, so go grab it now! It's on the tab on the left called 'Fan Exclusive.'

I'm also participating in June's blog train - so be sure to come back for that!

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great day!

Photoshop Tutorial - Selective recolouring with the History Brush

2011-03-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

I originally wrote this tutorial for an event last year at Digi Scraps Drive-In called Scrapbook School. I love the history brush so decided to share it on my blog too.

The history brush is a really neat tool in Photoshop. It allows you to return a portion of your image to a previous step in the history of your photo editing. I can think of all sorts of uses for this, especially if you do a lot of photo editing. The easiest way to demonstrate it is to selective colour, but once you know how to use it I'm sure you will find other uses for it too.

I apologize if this tutorial doesn't work well for programs other than Photoshop.

First, open an image for editing. Duplicate it, and desaturate the top layer. For caution sake, save it with a different file name so you aren't editing the original file.

From your left menu, select the history brush:

Now choose a brush. I like to use a soft edged brush, as I find it more forgiving around the edges. Start with a size that will allow you to do some fairly careful work on the image. My image started big so I chose 65 to start. You also can see that you can change the mode and brush opacity - you can experiment with your history brush on different modes (lighten, darken, pin light, etc) and different opacities to get different looks. For this simply tutorial I'm leaving it at 100% and on normal mode.

Now go back to your image. Bring up the history. You will see that to the left of each step in your history, there is a little empty box. Click the box next to the step in the process that you want to revert the image to. For recolouring, that is the step right before desaturating. Now you will see the history brush icon in that box. You are telling the program that this is the step you'd like to revert the image to when you use the brush.

Keep the desaturated layer active in the layers palette, and begin brushing on the photo. You will see where you brush the colour comes back - the image is reverting to the point in the history that you selected.

Continue brushing over the entire area of the image you want coloured. You may need to change your brush size to get into smaller corners. If you make a mistake (like I did, going out of the lines), you can use the history brush again, this time set on the step in the history where you desaturated the image, to correct your errors.

Here is my finished photo:

Isn't that cool?

Of course, we all know that there are lots of different ways to achieve selective colouring, but I can also see loads of other uses for this tool. Here's some ideas I have:

Use your history brush to selectively recolour part of an image, as above, then use it again, with a much larger brush on a lower opacity to brush over the entire background so that all the colour shows through, but is softer than the focal image - you will end up with a colour photo with a subject that really POPS.
Run a blur on the photo, then use the history brush to bring the focal subject back into it's original clear focus - you can make it look like you had an awesome lens when you shot the photo.
Apply a filter to your photo, then use the history brush to bring parts of the photo back to the pre-filter state for a unique look.
Add a texture and then use the brush to paint back areas you don't want the texture to show.
.... ?

Honestly I could go on and on. Play around with it - you'll love it! I'd love to see anything you do with this :)

Updates and New In Store

2011-03-17T14:15:00.001-07:00

I'm a bit embarrassed that I haven't blogged on this blog in over two months! I'm sorry - I didn't abandon you, I promise - I just started blogging a lot on the Red Genius Enterprises blog. I have 2 freebies a week going on there. Every Tuesday I give a way a pack of textures, which are CU, S4H, S4O, PU and CU4CU, and every Saturday I give out a template designer for Project 365 layouts. You should really check it out:)

What else have I been up to? Well, loading products into the new store at RGE. I also am designing a kit each month for project 365, that am giving away through a series of challenges and then putting into the store. I am designing them to be year-round every day kits, and I'm liking how they come together.

Here is the January kit - now available in store:

And here is the February kit, also available in my store:

Of course I have glitter sets for both kits in store, too, and will have cardstock coming soon!

And just so you don't miss it, there is a freebie on the RGE blog that coordinates with the February kit :D

I also created this super cool journaling set, called Simple Date Journalers. . You can customize it to make yourselt a journal mat to match any kit you are using, or you can use on of the included neutral journal mats. Or, skip the mat, but use the journal lines righto n your page. Try adding a cool metal style to them, or maybe even a paper style. The possibilities really are endless with this.

I have lots of other new things coming, and lots more to repackage and put into the store. I'll be sure to let you all know!

Now, I'd love to know in the comments, what's new with you?

First blog train of 2011 - Grandma's Quilt

2010-12-31T19:39:00.001-08:00

Wow, what a whirlwind December was! I know it seemed to me that it was one event after another, and it all kind of gets mixed together in one big long memory of pretty lights, hot chocolate, cold hands, hugs, turkey and wrapping paper. It was wonderful. I hope your holiday season was the same!

We are kicking 2011 off to a great start with an all new Blog Train. The theme this month is Grandma's Quilt, and you wil find a whole slew of cozy, vintage-inspired minis on the train.

Before you head on your blog train way, I want to mention that I am launching a brand new Project 365 Challenge on the Red Genius Enterprises Blog on January 1st. I will have goodies for you! If it's not up when you read this message, check back as I should have the new post up by the end of the 1st. I am also giving away a free set of textures there every Tuesday for Texture Tuesday. The new store is not *quite* ready to open yet, but I'll keep you posted!

Now, on to the blog train ...

You should have arrive from Barbara Speck Designs.

Your next stop after me is Studio Q Scrap.

If you get lost along the way, you can find a full list of participating blogs on The Blog Train Blog.

Here is the preview of my mini:

You can pick this up by clicking the image above, or by clicking

EXPIRED

Then, head out and pick up more minis! Have fun downloading, I hope you find lots of great stuff, and I am looking forward to seeing you soon!

Digi Scraps Drive-In Charity Scrapathon Blog Train!

2010-10-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

October is Breast Cancer awareness month, and you've probably noticed pink everywhere - businesses from office supplies to donut shoppes have been creating products specially designed to raise awareness and funds to this important cause. And the ladies at Digi Scraps Drive-In have stepped up to the plate. Not only have they created a beautiful charity collab kit, but they built an entire weekend event around it.

The Charity Scrapathon runs from October 21 to 24. Anyone can scrap along, but to be eligible for the prizes, you need to have purchased the charity collab kit.

And WOW these prizes! You can earn coupons, a site collab, and a chance to win Jen C Designs or C.W. Picket and Company's entire store!

When you purchase this kit, your $6 goes entirely to Breast Cancer research (after Paypal fees), gets you stunning collab kit (and it's not just pink) And a chance to win coupons, another kit, and perhaps an entire store (now that's a deal!)

Feast your eyes on the beautiful kit:

You can pick it up at Digi Scraps Drive-In, and remember all proceeds (after Paypal ees) are going to breast cancer research.

Of course we had to get the word out about this event as much as possible, and so we decided to launch the event with a Blog Train. Travel this train and you will collect beautiful brag book pages and even a set of blogwear. The train starts on the DSDI Blog and ends in the DSDI forums. Some of our team members live in other timezones, so be patient if all the contributions aren't posted yet - they will be.

Here is my contribution:

I linked the image, but in case that doesn't work, here is the download link again: CLICK HERE.

And here is the list of participating blogs:

Digi Scraps Drive-in
Nibbles Skribbles
C.W. Picket and Company
Kerry’s Scraps
Amy Scraps
Gail’s Moments In Time
Mad Genius Designs
The Cute Gets Cuter
Daphadilly Art
Luksamummy
Bonnie Blue Designs
A Damsel With A Dulcimer
Tricia's Treasures
AnitaW
Giggly Polkadots
Jen C Designs
Melly Scraps
Drive-By Freebie Forum

Have fun riding the train! And thanks for dropping by today :)

This Must Be A Joke

2010-09-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm laughing. Someone just left the funnies joke in the comments of my Progressive Blog Hop post. She left this today, after the download links expired:

you--and the other designers--have NO business expiring links! what if the retired kit is something someone really needs? you are not to do that anymore, all of you. re-activate your links and keep them up! >:(

I'd decided this person must be joking. Surely no one would seriously feel that they have the right to tell me - and other designers - what they do and do not have a right to do with their own designs.

And surely no one seriously thinks that any digital scrapbook supplies are something someone really needs? We all know that digital scrapbookking is a luxury, an extra, not a need.

No one could possibly think that they have a right to tell me, or any other designers, that they have to put their links back up and keep them up.

Surely everyone understands that things given away for blog trains, challenges, or RAKS, are given away on the terms of the person who created them.

I was a freebie hunter once too, and I understood that some freebies would be expired by the time I found them. And I understood that some really great things were free for short periods of time, and I was lucky to find some and unlucky to miss others.

So thanks, Anonymous, for the funny joke you left in my comments today.

I've entered the Pen Scrapprs contest!

2010-08-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've watched the Pen Scrappers contest for a long time, and I've always felt really scared to enter LOL. But this month I bit the bullet and I entered - woot!

Here is my layout - it is about my wonderful son who has had an amazing summer.

I am really hoping you will vote for me :) If you click this little button it should take you there.

Thanks so much for your support - I appreciate it! It's been a busy summer with family things and contests, but I promise I have some new kits coming this fall :D

Picnic In The Park Blog Train Coming Through :D

2010-07-01T02:48:00.002-07:00

I am such a blog train addict - I love riding the trains for the downloads, and I love making goodies to give away. This month he palette and theme for The Blog Train blog trains is SOO cute! I have to be honest though I designed this tonight - at the very last minute! It's been a crazy month, with the end of school and my laptop dying. I'm so glad it's July.

To my fellow Canadians riding through on the 1st - Happy Canada Day! To my American friends, Happy 4th of July :D

You should have arrived from Wilma4ever

If you get lost, head on back to The Blog Train Blog.

Here is my preview - I had fun with gradients with this mini!

You can pick it up by clicking here:

Click me! Click me! Really! You'll be happy you did!

No head on over to Memorie Creations for your next stop.

Enjoy the train - and your summer :D

Summer Surprises Blog Train - Woot! Woot!

2010-04-30T18:46:00.006-07:00

Its time for another super awesome blog train from The Blog Train Blog. The theme this month is Summer Surprises. Looking at all the previews make me long for those late summer evenings when everything is settling down bu its still beautiful out. My gift is below but I have a couple of things to tell you first :)

You should have arrived here from Jaya Prem's Hangout.

Since Jane and I were participating, we thought it would be fun to also have Red Genius Enterprises participate. And then we had an awesome idea - we made a full kit (14 papers, 30 elements) and we split it up - one mini for each of the 3 blogs, and one mini for the store. The blog minis are gifts of course, and the store mini is only 1.99 - so if you snag all the gifts and the store mini, you have a full kit and it only cost you 1.99. And if you get it right away, before end of Sunday the 2nd, you can even save 40% on that 1.99 for our iNSD sale. How cool is that?

Let me show you what the entire kit looks like together:

Here is the mini in the Red Genius Enterprises Store, for $1.99. There is also a cardstock addon for $1.99, which you can also get for 40% off this weekend.

And this is the mini I have as a gift for you this month:

*sorry this gift has expired*

Now, I know you will want to ride the whole train, but if you love our full kit, make sure that you snag the gifts from Little Red Scraps and Red Genius Enterprises and keep them together. Then hop over to our store for the mini there, and you've got the entire Red Genius Enterprises kit! WOOT!

Enjoy! And now head on your way to the next stop on the train, which is, conveniently, Red Genius Enterprises :D

If you get lost along the way, head back to The Blog Train Blog. I keep it bookmarked so I can always find it :)

Have fun!

My Birthday Month - Week Three Sale

2010-04-14T23:22:00.007-07:00

I'm having so much fun clebrating my birthday all month :) Last weekend I got cake - twice! And that's no small feat given I can't eat wheat or dairy. I had a soy-based 'cheesecake' on Saturday (with a soy chai tea):

Then the next day, my wonderful hubby made me a chocolate cake with my favourite wheat-free dairy-free cake mix. Isn't he sweet?

Tomorrow is Lucas's birthday so we'll start a whole new round of cakes. WOOT!

We're moving into week three of my awesome birthday month of sales. This week, I'm matching every dollar you spend in my store at Digi Scraps Drive-In with a coupon towards any other item of your choice. Coupons will expire in 30 days and can be used for future releases.

Stop by my store and snag some goodies!

Red Genius Enterprises New Release - Tea Party At Georgia's

2010-03-30T18:43:00.003-07:00

Check out what Jane and I have been up to - we just released our newest, super cute kit, Tea Party At Georgia's:

You'll find more detailed previews, info on how to participate in 4 different RAKs, and a co-ordinating freebie on the Red Genius Enterprises blog.

See you there!

Photoshop Tutorial - make your own quick page style

2010-03-25T23:58:00.005-07:00

If you've been spending time the digital scrapbooking world, you have probable seen a lot of quick pages around. If you haven't seen them, what they are is complete pages, with papers and embellishments and shadows, with a hole (or holes) for your photos. They can save your hours of time getting an album done. Lots of designers make them, and some scrappers love to make them too, to share with friends or give away on their blog (always be sure to read the TOU to see if they are allowed!).

There' a few tricks for making quick pages, I'm going to show you one that I use most often.

Your first step is to create an entire layout, complete with shadows and photos. If you don't have any photos (I commonly don't, I am just designing the page based on how the elements look together), create a solid shape where your photo would be.

Now we are going to make your photo(s) disappear, as well as all the layers below.

Your first step is to click on the photo in your layers palette. Then go to your layer menu across the top, choose style, then click blending options.

On the blending options menu, set your fill opacity to zero, and set knockout to deep. This tells it to knockout all the layers below the item. You can see in my screen shot that the photo is gone, as are all the layers underneath. The squares indicate a clear space. If all layers don't knockout, it means you have a layer locked, so go in and unlock the layer, then try again.

Next, you want to save the blending mode you just created as a style. To do this, click the 'new style' button. You will get a prompt to name the style. Name it and click 'OK'. You will see now the style shows up in your layers palate.

Now, in case you lose your presets in photoshop, its a good idea to save this style to your hard drive. To do this, go to the edit menu across the top, and choose preset manager.

From the dropdown menu, choose styles.

Your recently saved style will show up last on the list. It's clear because it's a blending mode, there isn't anything like colour or pattern to it. Click it to highlight it, then click 'save set'. It will prompt you to choose where to save it (put it somewhere you won't forget!) and give it a name.

Now that you have your QP style, you can use it again and again. Just click on the item you want to make invisible, and apply the style. What's great about this is you can still move that layer around, play with photo placement on the LO, and even add drop shadows, just like you could if you could see it. If you turn the eye off on the photo, the paper underneath is still intact. Nothing has actually been removed from the layout, its just been 'knocked out'.

Once you have your page finished, save it as a PNG to preserve the empty pixels, and you are done!

The Crediting Thing

2010-03-16T16:00:00.010-07:00

I want to reply to Maya's blog post, and my reply is getting far too long for a comment, so I have decided to post it on my blog.

First - for background, you may want to read Jenn's blog post, as well as the forum post she was reacting to.

Maya's blog post is, to me, fascinating. I love to read about the history of digital scrapbooking. I wasn't involved those many years ago, and I wish I was. It sounds like it was a very exciting time! It's amazing how much has changed, how quickly. I think Maya very respectfully and thoughtfully addressed a 'hot topic' that not everyone has been able to keep their head about.

I have some points I'd like to make in reply to Maya, so I am going to quote her a few times. My intentions are not to 'bash' Maya but to respectfully state my ideas on these points. Also, I am not making any comments about Maya as a designer, or Maya's site, which I am not very familiar with but is by many reports friendly, professional, welcoming, and full of creativity. I am merely using Maya's comments a launching point for more conversation. And so I begin...

However, my biggest issue with her position is that she is that she is pitting designers and scrappers against one another into an US and THEM situation, and this is hardly fair or of any use to either group.

I don't think Jenn is creating an 'us against them' situation between designers and scrappers. For one thing there are designers and scrappers firmly on both sides of the issues. But more importantly, I see she is doing quite the opposite, she is 'pushing back' against an 'us vs them' that seems to already exist between two different groups at some sites (not yours Maya). I might feel differently about Jenn's blog post if it had been random, but it wasn't, it was in response to a posting of the 'rules of this hobby' that said we need to all credit down to the tiniest button. These kind of 'rules' set experienced forum member/CT teams/Designers against everyone else, creating an environment where people feel it is acceptable (nay, necessary) to admonish and shame people for not crediting. Maya, you have had that experience, but you come from a unique place of knowing the industry inside and out and probably being able to chuckle at yourself about it and then move on. But a new scrapper, or someone new to the community, doesn't have that, and that shame and embarrassment keeps them from coming back (or coming out of lurk mode and participating at all.) (As an aside the original 'rules' post was so upsetting to me I may never find my way back to that site, and it has been a place where I have spent a good many of my scrapbooking dollars in the past.)

The conversation has gone on at length, because those of us who reject those rules have been told that we are breaking copyright laws, which is not true. I have a strong personal sense that following the law is vital, and a just as strong personal sense that mis-quoting and mis-interpreting the laws to make people do what you want is actually a form of bullying. Crediting is the law if the designer asks for it, yes, but no one is breaking the law if they don't credit when it isn't specifically asked for, nor should they be threatened that they are doing something 'illegal' for not crediting a designer who doesn't ask for it.

Like Jenn, I too am a person whose skin may crawl at the idea that there might be any rules applied to my hobby . However, there are no rules applied to the creation of the art, or the creative process. The rules she is speaking of are applicable only in the publication of that art. So the rules are not about the crafting or creative process at all. They are about the community, and the publication of work, either in print or online.

I submit to you that there really is no way to effectively participate in this community, to learn from the tutorials, get feedback, play along in challenges, etc., without posting your layouts. Unlike, say, pottery, where we can meet in real life with a group and share tips and techniques without ever having to post an image online, for digital scrapbooking our community is online. And as being a part of the community is a big part of the hobby, the rules that are applied (or not applied) to the community are vitally important.

Does it help us when you credit us? Of course it does. Does it help the community when you credit? Of course it does. Does it help you? Yes it does. If you like a designer and you want her to continue working and creating more stuff that you enjoy, it really helps to support her.

I agree with you on all points. Everything I purchase, online and off, I purchase both to fill a need but also to support a business I appreciate and want to stick around. I also post credits on all of my layouts. The conversation has never been about whether it is a great thing to do, but whether it is right to require it. And also whether it is right to admonish people who don't credit/can't credit for any reason. People have differing levels of organizational skills and some just cannot do it, and it has nothing to do with being lazy or disrespectful (trust me, there are people I dearly love who are most certainly not lazy, but can not keep track of a shopping list with 4 items on it - apologies to my husband.)

What I would like to know then, is how does this community and industry continue to sustain itself?

The industry will sustain itself because of the community around it. Because people do share their layouts, they do share when they have found designers that they love, they do share new techniques, tutorials, ideas. Not requiring credit is not the same as forbidding credit. As hobbyists, we love what we do, we are often self-proclaimed 'addicts' and we will continue to make layouts, rave about supplies we like, and HAVE to have the latest and greatest new kits. Designers don't need to demand or require credit for us to give it - we LOVE giving it! By setting aside the 'rules' we create more freedom for people to come into our community, feel welcome, make layouts, share them, not worry if they missed crediting a button, and not worry about breaking an un-written code. We can do away with the people who ruin the experience by shaming people for not following rules. The more people feel free to just enjoy their hobby, the more they will create - and the more they create, the more supplies they use - and the more supplies they use, the more they will want to purchase even more of latest and greatest supplies. And that is what will sustain the community ... the community will. But not if it's not a friendly and welcoming one.

I did start out as a paper scrapper. And I went to some workshops where you were only allowed to go if you only used supplies made by that manufacturer. I was shamed out of a workshop in tears for using a tool I had brought with me, breaking a rule I did not know existed. I stopped going. I was looking for a way to be creative, and to enjoy some companionship with people with like interests. Instead I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and inadequate for not knowing enough to choose the 'right' tools.

Though clearly a different situation, this is a similar case - a group of people felt they needed to impose rules to protect their ability to profit from the people participating in the hobby. Instead, they alienated hundreds of customers and are still to this day perceived as elitist (I am quite sure many paper scrappers who read this will know exactly which company I am talking about, and I don't even have to hint at the name). They did exactly the opposite of what they were trying to do - they did not protect their ability to profit from scrapbookers, they pushed them away.

And there were hundreds of other paper scrapbooking companies ready to step in and say 'come to our workshops, use our products, and feel free to express your creativity without any rules.' And people did.

And the paper scrapping company went bankrupt. And many people shook their heads and said 'I knew that was coming.'

The irony in the situation here is that demanding credits will get you credits, but NOT demanding them will get you credits too - freely given, often enthusiastically, and without alienating anyone. And so, as we build our communities, and as we establish ourselves as designers (as some of us are trying to do), we need to be really clear: do we want to be the community/designer that large groups of people avoid because of our rules, or do we want to be the community/designer that everyone returns to and raves about because we are fun, flexible, and encourage creativity?

I know which one I want to be. Do you?

NSBR - A Lesson Learned

2010-03-13T18:44:00.003-08:00

Last summer, at the end of the school year, I had a great idea (I thought) of taking the boys to a movie to celebrate the end of school. Transformers was out, which I knew they wanted to see, and I was feeling celebratory.

We slid into the theater right on time. I thought this would be great, as we wouldn't have to sit through any trailers. We got our popcorn and entered the theatre just before the main feature show started. The boys went in first, I was following slowly with the very full popcorn.

I hadn't even gotten fully into the door before Coram was running out. 'Too loud!' he shouted, 'Scary!'

I cajoled, bribed, and begged him to go back into the theater. After all this was our big treat of the month, our big trip out. And it was a movie he wanted to see! I asked him to just give it 30 seconds in there before he decided if he really wanted to stay. He went in. And came out again. Right away.

We got a refund, took our still very full popcorn and drinks, and left. I was frustrated and sad, Lucas was screaming mad, and Coram was just happy to escape. I decided I would never take them to a theater together again.

Fast forward. That was June. Now it's March. Spring Break. I arranged care for Coram for 4 days of the 5 days off from school, and Lucas was able to go to the daycamp he liked. I wasn't sure what to do on the one day Coram was going to be home. He was refusing all of my suggestions. Lucas ended up home that day too - he really wanted to sleep in, and it was Spring Break, and I knew I wasnt going to get any work done with Coram home, so why not have both home. At one point I got the idea we shoudl go to see a movie.

I honestly don't know why I even considered it. But I did.

At first both boys wanted to go. Then Coram started refusing. And I decided to approach the whole thing differently. I set up an alternative place for him to go, to his Grandpa's house. I told him Lucas and I were going, he was welcome to come if he wanted, but we would not be upset either way. I told him we could bring his laptop and headphones so if he needed to escape the theater he could. I told him if we got there and it was too loud, we'd get a refund and I'd take him to granpda's and Lucas and I would go back for a later show. So he could test it and know that we wouldn't be mad if he couldn't handle it.

He decided to come. He wanted his DSI (handheld game system) as well as his laptop. We packed it up, made sure it was charged, brought the headphones. And we went early this time, not last minute. We got to slowly get used to the lobby, pick up our food, spend the usual five minutes deciding what kind of drink to get. We got a good seat - way at the back so it was quieter - and we got to get used to where we were before it got loud. We chatted, ate popcorn, and laughed at the silly ads on the screen. We got used to the smell in there, the people, the acoustics.

When the movie started, Coram crunched popcorn with fervour. After about 10 minutes, he switched to sucking malt candies slowly in his mouth. then he passed those back and fervently chewed popcorn again. He did that until the malt candy was gone. I'm convinced the sensory input helped him stay calm.

He asked to leave twice. Each time I offered him his laptop or DSI and his headphones. He would look, consider, then say, 'No, I'm ok.' He had to use the bathroom - and I got up to walk him there - but he asked me to stay in the theater to save his seat. He and Lucas went to the bathroom, got a popcorn refill, and calmly returned to our seats.

And we made it through THE WHOLE MOVIE. No meltdown, no bribery, no stress. We loved the previews and have made plans to go back and see other movies. Afterwords, we went to the arcade in the mall and played some games, then we got a snack and came home. It felt like the most normal day I've had in months, if not years.

I learned a lesson, if not several. Prepare prepare prepare. Allow lots of time to adjust. And have escape routes planned. Coram felt safe. He was able to relax and just enjoy. And so was I.

Photoshop Tutorial - internal shadowing on digital scrapbooking elements

2010-03-08T18:18:00.013-08:00

When we are designing digital scrapbook elements, we want to add internal shadows to any layers to make them look realistic, however, we don't want those shadows to be on any part of the layer that hangs into open space. This is because the industry standard is to have no drop shadows on the any outside of elements, so the end user can do their own shadowing when they scrapbook. There are a few different methods to do this, but this is my preferred method.

Here is a simple layered flower - it has two layers plus the bead in the center. It's nice enough, but looks really flat. We're going to do what is sometimes referred to as 'internal shadowing' to add dimension and realism.

Our first step is to shadow the top layer and the bead. I use Photoshop CS3, so all my screen shots are from that program. You can probably find the same tools on your version of photoshop in generally the same place. Go to your layers ribbon, select layer style, then drop shadow. Add drop shadows to your preference (note - industry standard for this is to shadow from the top left, but size and spread are up to you)

Now we have nice shadows on bead and the top layer of the flower. The bead shadow is fine, but where the ends of the white flower extend past the red flower, into open space (external shadows), we need to remove those drop shadows. On the right, in your layers palette, you will see 'drop shadow' listed. It doesn't highlight or appear clickable, but if you mouse over it and right click, you will see several options (if you don't see these options your mouse may not be exactly on the shadow layer, try moving it and right clicking again)

The option you want to choose is 'create layer.' This is going to put your shadow on it's own layer.

You will get a warning message - click OK.

Now you can see that your shadow is on it's own layer. It will be called 'Layer X's shadow' (where X is your layer number) or if you named your layer it will be called 'Name's shadow'

Next, highlight the layer containing the item you want to REMAIN shadowed. You do this by holding the control button and clicking on the thumbnail of the image. You will know it is selected when there are marching ants all around the image. (if you have more than one layer that you want to remain shadowed, you can select multiple layers by holding shift+control while you click on the thumbnails)

Go to your select ribbon and choose 'inverse' Now you will have marching ants around the outside of the canvas and the image, indicating that everything OTHER THAN the image is selected.

Keeping the section there, highlight the layer containing the shadow. Press your delete button. This will delete the shadow from the selected area (which is the inverse of the image you selected - hence, shadow is left on the image you wanted shadowed and deleted from everywhere else)

Go back to your select ribbon and chose 'deselect' to get rid of the marching ants.

Now you can merge your layers, and you have a layered element with shadows iternally and no external shadows :) Done!

I'm a PC user and I know there is no control key on Macs - I think the key is command but I'm hoping a Mac user will come and tell me for sure :D

New Release - Star Genius Volume One

2010-03-07T12:29:00.004-08:00

I had so much fun making my Shine On freebies, and along the way I made some of my papers into overlays (only the ones I had licenses to do so with, don't worry!) I got them packaged and into store - and you can pick them up at Pretty Scrappy for 40% off this month as almost everything at Pretty Scrappy is on sale for our 2nd birthday celebration.

Of course they are also available at my Digi Scraps Drive-In store :)

I'm going to do more with the stars soon, too. I just need to find time!

Speed Scrap Tonight!

2010-01-22T16:13:00.001-08:00

I'm hosting a speed scarp tonight at Stuff To Scrap - hope to see you there!

End Of Year Sale!! Woot!

2009-12-27T18:19:00.003-08:00

YAY I just got an email today that the entire Stuff To Scrap store is on sale (except retiring items which are already $1).

So - your first stop is my store (of course LOL) and don't forget my design team Red Genius Enterprises and my partner in crime Little Red Scraps. If you haven't blown your budget, check out the rest of the Stuff To Scrap store. (Yes, I know I am a brat LOL)

Celebration - Day 5 and Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-24T16:47:00.007-08:00

Wow - Christmas Eve! My boys are on fire with excitement and I am on fire with so much left to DO lol. I haven't even started wrapping. Its going to be a late night! I hope you are all enjoying your holiday celebrations - whichever holiday you celebrate, wherever you live.

Today is the last day of Celebration. I am glad you guys loved this kit - I am super happy with how it came out. Today we have lots of goodies for you - so I'll get right to it.

First, here is a 12 by 12 QP I made for you:

*download expired*

Next, here is a QP and a set of 4 BB pages made by Shel Belle's CT member, Sandra.

You can get the QP here.

You can get the BBs here.

Now - head over to Janie's blog to snag this quick page:

I believe that Lorry has also done a QP from the layout she made that I showed you the other day - so head to her blog to get it.

Check out Shel Belles blog, she will link you up to some of her CT member's freebies.

As far as I know that's all of them, but I may have missed some. Check out my CY members blogs linked on the right just to see what treats may be there.

Thanks again for coming by - Merry Christmas - and I'll chat with you all again soon!

Celebration - Day 4

2009-12-23T17:55:00.006-08:00

Well today I feel totally invigorated and inspired and I am so thankful you all took the time to leave me such wonderful comments.

Today we haven't he alpha for the Celebration kit. I'll show you the kit preview again but you can't see the alpha very well so you'll have to just download and see what you think:)

Here are a couple more CT Layouts I have to share:

From Lorry:

From Jodi:

Don't those ROCK? I have a couple more that Shel Belle's CT member Sandra did -and she made hers into QPs so com eback tomorrow to snag them for free:)

Here is the link to snag the alpha from 4sahred:

*download expired*

And don't forget to go see Shel Belle for her alpha too. Don't forget to thank her for her awesome kit!

Tomorrow will be a QP and various CT freebies - see you then!

You guys ROCK - thank you!!

2009-12-23T11:13:00.005-08:00

WOW everyone! What an amazing flood off comments to wake up to! Thank you all so very much! They have totally overshadowed that grumpy-guss moment and I am just wearing a HUGE smile. Thank you sooo much!

About my comment to people who don't always say thank you - I know that sometimes you are in a hurry, and I know that it can be confusing. I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad for not saying thank you all the time - I know that would be impossible. I love that so many of you take the time to say thank you when you do. I love giving away my freebies, I love seeing my blog followers numbers go up and my dwonload numbers go up. That tells me people like what I do - which encourages me to keep doing it:) So it's not just the comments that help, please don't feel bad if you can't/haven't commented. Thank you for coming to my blog, following me, linking me in your blog roll, and just coming by regularly to see what I've got - all of it!

I'll be back this evening with the alpha (which I think you will LOVE by the way!) but wanted to let you guys know that I am absolutely gob-smacked by the wonderful comments, thank you all SO much for taking the time it totally and completely made my day!

A Sad Note and Celebration Day 3

2009-12-22T17:53:00.003-08:00

Hi everyone - I'm feeling glum right now because someone left me a horrible comment on my blog. It was about the Stuff To Scrap blog train. Here is what the commenter (who hid behind 'anonymous') wrote:

Christmas is on Dec 25 - why would you enter a blog train and take it out early??? What a shame! I have purchased many items from different bloggers as I collected the pieces - I will NEVER buy from someone like you

The Stuff To Scrap blog train has always been officially running from the 1st until the 15th. Some people leave their links up, but the train is over on the 15th. My links came down around the 20th - which is not actually pulling the freebie down early, it is leaving it up longer than necessary. This was never a Christmas train, it was just our monthly blog train that had a Christmas theme this month.

I do at least one free FULL kit per month on my blog and usually I also do the Stuff To Scrap blog train which is a mini kit. Many designers no longer give free kits once they start selling in a store, because they feel it hurts their sales. The chatter in designer forums is to give 'samplers' from kits. However, I am a scrapper too, and it wasn't that long ago that I was looking for freebies too. I found samplers to be really hard to use because ... well ... there isn't enough stuff! So I decided one free kit - a good kit too, not just something I pump out as fast as I can because its free - each month would be how I would still give to people who can't afford to buy, give a useful kit, and still have kits that go straight to the store for sales.

I recently was participating in a designer discussion about freebies, where several designers gave up on regular freebies because people would get upset if they weren't posted long enough, or if they were late posting them, or other things that freebie hunters found 'unfair' about the posting. If I was getting regular rude comments like today's I think I would give up on freebies too.

I am happy to say that most of you are great! Some post nice thank you's and I feel very appreciated by you. Many of you just download and go (you know who you are!) and I would like to encourage you to comment - not just for me, but for all the designers who are giving you freebies...if you haven't tried your hand at designing, maybe give it a go so you can see how many hours of work it takes to make a kit. Then you'll understand why its a drag to see several hundred people have taken your freebie and only 10% or so say thank you. However, even a download without comment is better than the attitude of entitlement shown by anonymous today. It completely took the wind out of my sails, and I am not really feeling enthusiastic about anything.

Here is today's download link. It is to the elements of the kit. I'll post more CT layouts tomorrow when I'm feeling better.

*download expired*

Don't forget to swing by Shel Belles blog too, for her elements.

Celebration - Day 2

2009-12-21T17:39:00.004-08:00

I'm so glad you are loving this kit as much as I do:) Thanks for all your comments it really warms my heart :)

I have a couple of CT layouts to show you today.

From Janie:

From Jodi:

Aren't they pretty? I love how the two kits work together so well. And I love my CT - thanks ladies!

Today you get the second papers link:

*download expired*

Don't forget to go to Shel Belle's blog to get her second set of papers too!

Thanks again - see you tomorrow for a couple more CT layouts and the elements!

Celebration - Day 1

2009-12-20T22:43:00.004-08:00

It's here! My new freebie kit in collaboration with Shel Belle! I'm so excited.

Here is the full kit reveal:

Isn't that awesome? I have been wanting to do a black and white kit for some time, and the idea of New Years and the bling made it seem like a perfect time. I don't have any LOs to show you yet, as everyone is super busy at this time of year, so just imagine all that black and white and shiny goodness with your upcoming New Years photos, or other celebrations:)

So, there aren't as many solids as patterns, so instead of doing one solid day and one patterned day, I just split the papers into two groups of six - you get one group today, and one tomorrow.

*download expired*

And then go check out Shel Belles blog to get her goodies!

Come on back tomorrow for more papers.

Download links and snot

2009-12-02T17:34:00.002-08:00

Ohhhh Emmm Gee - I have tears pouring down my face! I always have been bad for typos, and I rely heavily on my spell checker - but when I make a typo that is still a word, my spell checker doesn't flag it ... which is why I had no IDEA my snow layout said ' we don't have snot yet this year'. Thankfully we never get snot falling from the sky!! Thanks J9 for pointing that out to me - my husband and I had a great laugh.

There's been a couple of comments about people missing download links - I am very sorry for that! I have left each of them up for a bit extra, not held strictly to the 24 hours, because I know sometimes it can be herd to get back in on time. I'm sorry if you missed the links. Normally I don't reactivate links once they've expired. But, it's Christmas and I don't feel like being scroogy, so here's a deal - come back Friday, and I'll reactivate all the links for Friday only

In the meantime - you can still sang the elements, the alpha - and be sure to check out the Red Genius Enterprises blog for the daily download!

Stuff To Scrap December Blog Train

2009-11-30T15:44:00.004-08:00

Choo Choo! It's time for another Stuff To Scrap Blog Train!

This months theme is Homespun Christmas - and as usual the train is wonderful. Here is my preview:

Snag it from 4shared - it will only be up until the 15th then it will go in store.

I made my papers have a fabric feel to them, and I had so much fun I did a fabric addon - which you can snag from my store should you wish.

Here are all the other stops on your train - enjoy, and remember to say thank you as you go!

Nibbles Skribbles
Becky aka SAHM Scrapper
The Scrappy Kat
Quiltifications
Scraps N Pieces
Mommy Me Time Scrapper
Bubblescrap Designs
Little Red Scraps
Ginger's House
light's digiscrapworld
Grandma's Templates
Jensen Motley Crew Designs
Scrap Me Silly
Shel Belle Scraps
Crafting at Your Special Delivery
Saphira's Scrapdesign
Scrap Attack Scraps
Scrappin' Serenity
Ányi + a digitális scrapbooking
Life is Not a Cereal
Kerry's Scraps
Rainamoon Scraps
Lotsofprettythings
Rucola Designs
DigiScrapz by Christi
Nita's Things
Funky Time Designs by Amber
Midnight Scrapping
Desertgirl Designs
moms unique possiblities
CityGurl Creations
This Little Missy
Let Me Scrapbook
A valóság tükre - OsDesign
Ayu's Scrapping
Adriana's Cafe
Altered Sea
Flower Scraps
Kori's Scraps
Always Be Neighbors Designs
JW-DigiScraps
Mad Genius Designs
A Fish Design

Speed Scrap!!

2009-11-18T21:58:00.004-08:00

I'm hosting a Speed Scrap at Stuff To Scrap on Thursday evening, the 19th, at 7 PM Pacific time.

Here is the participation prize a made - its a mixed case alpha (lower and upper case mixed in) with numbers and symbols, and a bonus of 8 matching snowflakes.

Come join me in the forum and in the chatroom at 7 :)

New Release - Pretty Cozy!

2009-11-11T12:05:00.008-08:00

I started making this kit for last months colour challenge at DSDI, and I just could not stop - the colours are so pretty! So I present you with the full kit: Pretty Cozy!

I got totally wrapped up in glitter, swirls, and flowers and couldn't stop creating - but I love it! There are 12 papers, 27 elements, and a complete alpha. You can pick it up for 20% off this week only at Stuff To Scrap.

Here is a layout I did with it:

And I thought - well, since I lie it so much, maybe YOU will too, so I made a Quick Page for you!

You can pick it up for free on 4shared for one week. then look fo rit int a quick page pack in store:)

Stuff To Scrap Forum Blog Train!

2009-11-01T11:08:00.004-08:00

*oops - the scheduled post didn't work - sorry to be late posting!**

It's time for another beautiful Stuff To Scrap forum blog train. This is a blog train anyone can join from month to month - just drop by the forum and sign up. We take all designers, not just ones who sell in the store. Not a designer? You can make QPs from other designers pieces. Swing by the forum to see what Decembers colours are.

This month I made you a basics paper pack, with solids and worn solids in each of the six colours.

Pick it up on 4shared - it will be free for two weeks, then it will go into my store.

Here is your list of blog stops to pick up more. Remember to thank people along the way! Have fun, and thanks for dropping by today!

Scrap Like Crazy
Manda's Scrappin' Creations
Rainamoon Scraps
Becky aka SAHM Scrapper
Scrappin' Serenity
Life Is Not A Cereal
light's digiscrapworld
Christin's Creations
Scraps 'n Pieces
Midnight Scrapping
Kori's Scraps
Desertgirl Designs
Farrah Smith Designs
Little Red Scraps
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Ányi + a digitális scrapbooking
Grandmas Templates
The Scrappy Kat
Digi-Scrapz by Christi
Jensen Motley Crew Designs
Ginger's House
StashHappy Designs
My Scrappy Heart
Dream Big Designs
Shel Belle Scraps
Adriana's Cafe
Mommy Me Time Scrapper
Mom's World of Unique Possibilities
A Fish Design
Nibbles Skribbles
A valóság tükre (Osli's blog)
Knittinjen
Borsmustár
Saphira's Scrapdesign
CityGurlCreations
ThisLittleMissy
Let Me Scrapbook!
scrapattack
Crafting at Your Special Delivery
Flower Scraps
Every EverAfter Moment
Nita's Things
Craft With Me
Mad Genius Designs
The Latest Scoop, Too
ABC Scraps
JW DigiScraps

Fall Into Fall - Day 5 - Quick Pages

2009-10-29T21:15:00.003-07:00

Wow - this week went fast! I am so glad you all are loving the kit as much as you are.

Today you get QPs. And its looking like a LOT of them with myself, Jane, and various CT members. I'm excited!

Here is my preview:

Pick this up on 4shared.

I am just going to link you to the other blogs for QPs rather than post previews because otherwise this post will get really long LOL. So here you go:

Janes Blog
Always Be Neighbours Designs Blog
MadScrapper Designs
Adriana's Cafe
Altered Sea

Hope you enjoy - and remember to thank all these kind ladies!

Speed scrap is a-comin!

2009-10-06T17:50:00.004-07:00

I had scheduled myself to host s speed scrap tomorrownight and I was really looking forward to it until I put my two calendars side by side (family one and work one) and realized DOH thats my brother's birthday dinner! He is turning 19 - this is a celebration that can't be missed.

I am happy to say that Jodi, one of my CT members, stepped up and is hosting for me. Thank you so much Jodi!

You can join the thread in the forum for details and instructions and fun!

Stuff To Scrap Forum Blog Train!

2009-09-30T22:52:00.004-07:00

Its time for another amazing blog train from the Stuff To Scrap blog! This month we have a very pretty color palette, and the name is 'Afternoon Delight'.

If you want to participate in the blog train in future months, you can - anyone can! Just drop by the forum and see the new colout palette and sign up :)

Here is my contribution:

You can pick it up for free on 4shared for two weeks - then it goes into my store.

And here is the list of all the participating designers so you can go get more goodies! Enjoy, and don't forget to thank these ladies as you collect :)

Digi-designs by Nicole
Life Is Not a Cereal
Stuff To Scrap
Becky aka SAHM Scrapper
Scraps N Pieces
Grandmas Templates
Desertgirl Designs
Shel Belle Scraps
Tonisha's Playground
Ginger's House
Ányi + a digitális scrapbooking
Seal Scraps
Craft With Me
Midnight Scrapping
Tricia's Treasures
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Jensen Motley Crew Designs
Dream Big Designs
a thousand words by Brooke
Adriana's Cafe
Digi-Scrapz by Christi
The Scrappy Kat
moms unique possibilities
Chubby Bird Blog
This Little Missy
Borsmustár
Saphira's Scrapdesign
A valóság tükre (Osli's blog)
StashHappy Designs
light's digiscrapworld
Citygurl Creations
Lovin' My Scrappy Life
nitasthings
JW-DigiScraps
The Latest Scoop, Too
Let Me Scrapbook!
Little Red Scraps
StrawBearyDesigns
Mad Genius Designs < -- YOU ARE HERE

A Sale Is A Comin

2009-09-21T10:39:00.002-07:00

It's the first day of fall this week, and we are celebrating with a sale at Stuff To scrap!

So mark your calendars - tomorrow it starts! Head to the store and start your wishlist:)

NSBR = Non Scrapbook Related

2009-09-08T10:58:00.004-07:00

You may or may not know this, but this blog originally started out having nothing at all to do with digital scrapbooking. I used it to update family on things in our life, vent, whine, gloat, you name it.

I have decide that I will include those 'life' posts again. I'll always put 'NSBR' in the title, so if you are here looking for my scrapbooking goodies, you can ignore them. And if you are here looking to read about my life, just click the NSBR label and you'll get just my life posts:)

So, to start off posting abotu just my life LOL...Today is back to school. I cannot possible say YAY loud enough to capture how relieved I am. This summer has been by far the most trying summer in my life as a parent. For the three previous summers, Coram has been in a summer long day program. This helps him because he really needs the structure and routine. However, after my back injury last year and the circumstances around it, the program decided that they no longer felt they could keep Coram safe this year. So I spent the months coming up to summer trying to secure summer care.

And this is what I encountered:

- There are 4 community centers in the city that offer 'inclusive' programs.
- There are way more kids than there are spots
- Because of this mis-match, each child can only be given 2 weeks at each center
- The supportive staff at these centers are primarily volunteers, from late high school or early university, who are enthusiastic and willing but completely untrained

And these are the results:

- Volunteers are awkward and unsure when they first meet Coram, two to three days are spent getting over that
- Two to three days need to be spend building a rapport with Coram, then they maybe have one good day
- the weekend comes, and the break intrudes on the rapport
- In the second week, Coram becomes aware that he is leaving that center, gets anxious about that, and starts acting up

We only kept this up for a couple of different centers, because it just wasn't worth the stress. I would get until maybe noon at the latest before I was called to go pick him up. I wasn't getting any work done, he wasn't getting the structure, and we were all stressed. So I just kept him home the rest of the summer.

Now, I love my kids, but after several weeks of this, I was about to lose my mind. I am just so very thankful that school is back in session.

Now, in a few weeks I may feel differently, when the slogg of getting Coram out of bed for his 7:34 bus pick up and packing lunch and dealign with school issues gets me down. But for today, I am content.

Testing Siggy

2009-09-07T22:45:00.002-07:00

Here's hoping for a perfect siggy on this my fourth try ...

Labour Day Sale - Don't Miss It!

2009-09-05T01:24:00.005-07:00

So much as I love my kids, the fact that they are going back to school on Tuesday is very much a reason to celebrate! So...

Everything is on sale - even these two new beautiful quick page sets my CT member Jane and I just made. We started out doing a bracket album, but decided that we'd also offer them on square pages for people who prefer pages that way.

Head to my store now - the sale is over end of Monday!

Thanks to Jane for making the awesome ad for me:)

Have a great day!

Why I LOOOOVE working for Kodak

2009-09-02T13:28:00.004-07:00

Oh how I love my job and I loooove fall when everyone is gearing up for the bug holiday selling season - I get goodies!

The boys are happily playing with the Zi6 and the Zx1 - sooo much fun!

And I of course am just LOVING my ESP7 it has an awesome scanner (If you are interested, here is a fairly technical but thorough document about the difference between CCD and CIS - this one is CIS)

Free Photoshop Course

2009-08-28T18:08:00.003-07:00

I just signed up for a fee 6 month photoshop course. I am excited! Anyways I thought I'd share the link in case any of you want to sign up too. It starts next week.

CreativeTechs free Photoshop Course

Maybe I'll see you there!!

Speed Scrap at STS - be there!

2009-08-25T21:24:00.005-07:00

Ok so I was supposed to be hosting a speed scrap tomorrow night (Wed) but my sister went into labour today! Woot! I actually just got the call, and she had her baby this evening at 8:27. My mom is coming to town and we'll all be doing some baby lovin' over at the hospital tomorrow, so I asked for help form the STS designers, and I was so happy that Kathy from the Latest Scoop, Too, stepped in. Thanks so much Kathy!!

Head on over to Stuff To Scrap and have fun!

Market Mommy Labour Day Blog Party Coming!

2009-08-25T11:03:00.003-07:00

I just love facebook sometimes - especially when I get to hear about cool things like the upcoming Market Mommy Labour Day Blog Party. Here are the details (copied from the Market Mommy blog)

As a tribute to all hard-working moms, Market Mommy:: The Blog is hosting a blog party the week of Labor Day (September 7 – 12). Each day (Monday – Saturday) will feature at least one mom-owned business and giveaway. It is going to be a very exciting week!

Not only will there be AT LEAST 6 great prizes to win, there will also be some great information. Mom business owners, just like yourself, will be sharing information about their companies and how they balance their business with raising their family at the same time.

I am offering a prize for his cool party - fun, hey? So head to the Market Mommy blog and pre-register(by commenting on the post) for even more changes to win:)

A Blog Award? for MEEEEEE?

2009-08-23T17:55:00.003-07:00

I've never been given a blog award before, so a million thanks to cherie for this super cute cupcake award:

The rules of this award are I choose 15 blogs to pass it on to - so here they are:) I went through those that I have bookmarked or favourited and randomly chose some because I have waaay more than 15 that I looove!

Little Red Scraps
I Am Simply Sarah
Stolen Moments
Sweet Digi Scraps
The Scrappin Cop
Designs By the Polka Dot Chicks
Inkin and Thinkin
JayaPrem's Hangout
Miss Erin's Scraps
Ramona The Pest
Flutterbye Faery
Scrappin Daisies
Punky Princess Designs
Dreamers Magic Designs
Snuggle Berry Pie Designs

Ok that's 15 - there are so many other blogs I love. Some day (soon I hope) I'll update my blog roll.

Thanks for droppin by!

A note about comments...

2009-08-14T01:09:00.002-07:00

So I was just reading my 4shared comments and my blog comments and I wanted to say to you all - THANK YOU! It warms my heart to hear from you guys, and I love all the appreciation for my goodies. I love doing what I do, and I am so glad you guys like it too. So thanks to all of you!

Six Word Saturday

2009-08-08T13:11:00.002-07:00

The cats peed on my bed

Stuff To Scrap Forum Blog Train - Summer Camp

2009-08-01T01:27:00.004-07:00

**It's a 4 blog train day - make sure you snag them all**

I so love the colours and theme of this summers forum blog train from Stuff To Scrap - summer camp! My boys are at summer camp right now (back Saturday morning) and I know there will be loads of cool pictures to scrap.

Here is my preview:

*download expired* you can now find this mini in my Stuff To Scrap store.

Hey - you can join in on this train too if you like! You can design a mini kit, or make QPs with another designers mini. Check it out and sign up for September in our forum.

Here are all the other stops on the train - so many awesome mini kits! Have fun snagging them all, and remember to say thank you along the way!

Nibbles Skribbles
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Elegantly Funky Designs
Scrappin' Serenity
Scraps by Andrea
Ginger's House
Seal Scraps
Saphira's World Scrapdesign
Scrap Attack
Let Me Scrapbook!
Shel Belle Scraps
Scrapping Rainbow
Noelle's Little Corner in Scrap Land
Strawbeary Designs
Nita's Things
Mommy Me Time Scrapper
JW Digi-Scraps
3s_enough
Flower Scraps
The Scrappy Kat
Tonisha's Playground
Digital Scrap Fun
Digi-designs by Nicole
Rants N Random Ramblings
Designs By Mel
Samantha Scraps
A valóság tükre
Serenity Scrapping
Scrap in a Can
Stuff to Scrap
My Digaddiction
Mad Genius Designs
A Whittle Whimsy

September Blog Train from The Blog Train Blog - WOOO WOO!

2009-08-01T00:46:00.006-07:00

**It's a 4 blog train day - make sure you snag them all**

OK so here we are, August already, and I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking of back to school. So how cool is it that The Blog Train Blog did a back to school theme this year!

I'm so sorry - I can't get the big preview slide show to work - so after you snag my part, you can find the preview on the Blog Train Blog.

And here is my preview:

You can snag this for *LINKS EXPIRED - SORRY* for the whole month. I'm working on a full kit for this that should be in my store soon - I loved the colours :)

Your next stop is DesignZ by DeDe

To find the list of all the other participating designers, head on back to The Blog Train Blog. Have fun and remember to say your thanks along the way!

Sale and a Freebie Woot!

2009-07-21T08:57:00.004-07:00

So it's $2 Tuesdays at Stuff To Scrap, and I have put these two full kits on sale for $2 this week:

Snag them at my store - this week only!

And to celebrate, my wonderful CT JaneAgain has made you two free quick pages! You can get one here and the other on her blog.

I have for you this awesome one made with Dunkadelic:

Pick it up on 4shared.

Then snag this one from Jane:

Don't forget to leave her love - she made both of these for me AND this is her very first freebie on her own blog! Wooot! Thanks Jane - love ya!

Remember, these two awesome kits are only $2 this week only at my store.

Have an AWESOME day!!

Vote! Vote! Vote! (please?)

2009-07-20T11:51:00.006-07:00

I am so excited, I am on the store team for Brownie Scraps at the DSA Ct Throwdown. We just had week one, and we need your votes!

We had to choose a colour scheme and a theme. We decided to do our favourite parts of our kids - and for colours we did a rainbow. We even did our photos in an arch! Check it out - I am so proud of us :)

You can check them all out in our thread.

Here is the link to vote for store teams. We'd love it if you'd vote for us, The Brownie Girls.

We loved out layouts so much, we decided to make them into quick pages and do a blog train - woot! Here is my LO:

And here is a preview of the quick page I made with it:

You can snag this on 4shared.

And here are the next stops on your train! Have fun and don't forget to say thanks along the way.

Melody (Brownie Supreme's blog)
Gab
Traci
Jewel < --- you are here
Michelle

Have a fantastic day!

Freebie Quick Page for ya!

2009-07-16T17:28:00.006-07:00

I have an awesome freebie quick page for you, made by my CT member JaneAgain (who is starting her very own blog and I'll let you know when it's ready!). She made it with my part of the Those Summer Nights blog train. I made my mini to celebrate cool drinks by the sunset. Jane added some of her own elements and she glittered and recoloured a bit too (she'll be a designer soon enough!). I love it!

You can pick this up for free at *download expired - sorry!!*.

This is the mini she made it with:

If you missed it when it was free, you can pick it up for $1.99 in my store. And I suggest you follow my blog so you don't miss future freebies!

Enjoy the QP, drop us a comment if you download - thanks so much and see you again soon!

New Kit - Bright Baby Girl

2009-07-09T08:48:00.003-07:00

I just finished up this kit, and I am totally in love with it - so bright and fun! It's called 'Bright Little Girl' and it was designed with summer fun outdoor photos in mind.

It includes some hand drawn doodles (a trike, a tree and swing, a sun, some grass) as well as your scrapbooking 'must have's like buttons, ribbon, and string.

You can pick it up at my Stuff To Scrap Store.

Also check out the Stuff To Scrap blog because there is a designer intro there all about me, and you can snag some super cute brag book pages!

And of course I would love it if you link me up with any LOs you do with my work :)

Have a fantastic day!

Stuff To Scrap July Forum Blog Train

2009-06-30T23:23:00.005-07:00

You'll be signing in your hear the whole time you are downloading this blog train 'Those Summer Nights'. This blog train is organized by all of us at Stuff To Scrap, and is open to anyone who wants to join - you can check out the August sign up thread and join us! Are you a layout artists not a designer? Then you can do quick pages for us :) Just drop in and let us know you'd like to participate, we'd love to have you!

Here is my preview of what I made this time. I kept thinking of sunset evenings and cool drinks LOL.

*link expired* Find this in my store.

And here are all your other stops! Lots, hey? You will have an awesome mega kit when you snag all these. Please don't forget to leave comments as you go - they really do make designers day!

A Whittle Whimsy
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Becky Young Designs
Desertgirl designs
Digi-designs by Nicole
Dream Big Designs
Dreams Inspired
Flower Scraps
Funky Time Designs by Amber
JW Digi-Scraps
Let Me Scrapbook!
Lovin My Scrappy Life
Mad Genius Designs <-- You are here Nibbles Skribbles
PDDesigns
Resistance is Futile
Samantha Scraps
Scrap in a Can
Scrap Raptor
Scrappin' Serenity
Scrapping Rainbow
Scraps of Ellay
Seal Scraps
Shel Belle Scraps
Strawbeary Designs
Stuff to Scrap
Tanya's Crossbone Cuts
The Mathematician's Assistant
The Scrappy Kat

There's a Sale Comin'

2009-06-22T18:56:00.004-07:00

Yep it's true, Stuff to Scrap is having a Sizzling Summer Sale this coming weekend. Check this out:

I'm going to have some new goodies in my store in time, too! Woot! See you there!

Here is a little secret ...

2009-06-06T12:27:00.002-07:00

... if you download the June calendar from the Stuff To Scrap blog, you get a little folder of coupons, including one from me!

Go get it!

Sneak Peak - Speed Scrap Participation Gift!

2009-06-06T12:01:00.004-07:00

Ok so I know I said you'd have to come to the forum to find out, but I am so happy with this little gift I have to show it to you. It co-ordinates with my Blog Train Blog contribution for 'My Favourite Guy':

So no ONLY do you get a great page scrapped, excellent company, and points towards FREE STUFF at Stuff To Scrap; you also get a cool free alph! Woot!

See you at the forum! 3 more hours to go!

Speed Scrap Hosted by Me!

2009-06-05T16:09:00.005-07:00

I'm hosing my first speed scrap at Stuff To Scrap tomorrow!

I haven't finished the participation bonus yet, but I will have it ready to go tomorrow. You'll just have to come to the forum to see!

Hope to see you there!

My Favorite Guy Blog train Is departing!

2009-06-01T09:00:00.004-07:00

Here is blog train number 3:) Scroll down for the Stuff To Scrap forum blog train and the Half Baked girls blog train - believe me, you'll be glad you did!

It's the giant mega super huge Blog Train Blog blog train. Woot! Woot! Here is the big preview:

You probably arrived from here: Monna Lainson

Without further ado, here is my preview:

*link expired - sorry!*

And here is your next stop: Creations By Rachael

If you get lost along the way, you can always find the full designer list here: The Blog Train Blog

Remember to thank all these designers for their hard work! Have fun!

Stuff To Scrap Forum Blog Train

2009-05-31T15:00:00.004-07:00

Here is another awesome blog train for you! Woot!

Stuff To Scrap does a monthly forum blog train and anyone can join - the more the merrier after all. Check out the forum to see what July's train is looking like:)

This one the theme is 'Daddy And Me', and I know we tried to make it for both girls and their daddy as well as boys and their daddy. On that note, I tried to make mine feminine. Have a look:

*links expired - sorry!*

And here is the list of all the other participating blogs:

Always Be Neighbors Designs
Anyecs
Becky Young Designs
Dream Big Designs
Dreams Inspired
Digi-designs by Nicole
Eva Marina Scraps
Every EverAfter Moment
Flower Scraps
Jackie Torres
JenasisDesign
JW Digi-Scraps
KnittinJen
Mad Genius Designs
My Digaddiction
Nibbles Skribbles
Pure Pixel Designs
Resistance is Futile
Scrappin' Serenity
Scrapping Sisters
Scrapping Words
Scraps of Ellay
Seal Scraps
Sexy And Hot Mama Scrapper
Shel Belle Scraps
Tanya's Crossbone Cuts
Tery Hooson
The Latest Scoop, Too
The Scrappy Kat

Enjoy - And don't forget to thank all these wonderful designers!

Culture Unplugged Video

2009-05-29T08:57:00.002-07:00

I came across this on another blog, and I found it extremely powerful. I hope you will watch it.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Feel The Music Blog Train - Now Departing! fixed

2009-05-17T14:00:00.006-07:00

****Edited - soo sorry folks! I have fixed my link!!!

I am so excited to be part of the 'Feel The Music' Blog train. I am posting my preview below, as well as the links to all the other participating sites. If you get lost, you can always go back to the Feel The Music blog to find your way.

Remember to thank all the designers who worked on these kits for you - and enjoy!

Here is your download link

Create with TLC

Craftymumz Creations

The Scrappy Kat

Humbug Graphics

Royanna Fritschmann, Studio RA Designs

FoxyLady Creations

Digital Keepsakes

Crafty Scraps

Dezigns by Amanda

Scraps by Yanna

Miggins Does Scrapsville

Athena Designs

Candy's Treasures

Mad Genius Designs <------YOU ARE HERE

Train Station.....Feel the Music Blog

Colleen's Creative Scraps

New Freebie Kit!

2009-05-08T21:42:00.004-07:00

We just wrapped up week one of Designs In Digital NDIDDS challenge, which means lots of free kits for you!

This week we were required to use at least one doodle, so I decided to do my whole kit based on doodles - it's very different for me, but I like it. Have a look:

*download link has expired - sorry!*

I have an add on I'll post in the next day or so here, so check back!

Long post - Very good information

2009-04-29T20:55:00.003-07:00

Forgive me in advance, I do know that shorter blog posts are easier to read, but there is SOOOO much you need to know, this one will take time. But believe me, it's worth the read.

Blog trains:

I will be participating in 3 different blog trains starting May 1st, and one that starts May 4. I've already scheduled my posts, so look out for them! There will be a lot of posts on May 1st, so be prepared. Oh, and seriously - clear out some hard drive space because you are going to be downloading like mad :)

Design Challenge Freebies

I had to drop out of the Brownie Scraps challenge last week as I wasn't able to get my kit done in time. But the good news is I signed up for another design challenge and there will be freebies from that one. The first set of freebies goes live May 1st. I'll link you up.

NSD (National Scrapbooking Day):

HUGE things happening in scrapbook land this weekend, I am going to lay out for you what is going on at the sites I sell at CT at.

1. Bouquet of Pixels - the entire store (mine and all the other designers) is 40% off. We will be having a blog train where you can get some freebies, and a store scavenger hunt where you can pick up free pieces of a stunning collab. Look for previews on the 1st. There are also forum challenges for more prizes, including a Speed Scrap I am hosting Friday Night. Here is the flyer:

2. Brownie Scraps - lots happening here, including sales, a blog train, challenges all weekend, and an Awards Show. I'll be hosting a bingo on Saturday as well as a 'scrapflip' challenge all weekend. Here is the flyer:

3. Digital Candy - huuuuuge things here this weekend. Challenges, Scrapathon, speed scraps, chats, and loads of goodies you can pick up along the way. Here is the flyer:

4. Pretty Scrappy - I don't have a flyer for this, but there are at least 4 speed scraps over the weekend, including one hosted by me Saturday night, as well as bingo and weekend challenges. Oh and a scavenger hunt for an NSD collab kit.

WHEW!!!! Ok I think that is all of it! Scrap with me all weekend and you will not only have some fantastic pages done, you will get LOADS (and I mean loads) of freebies! Like I said, I'll have lots of posts on the 1st, so read carefully. I am so excited!

Toot Toot! Blog Train has left the station!

2009-04-18T10:09:00.005-07:00

I am so loving this blog train - it's all about Baseball! Just in time for the season!

Here is my goodie for you:

*download link has expired - sorry!*

And here are your other stops - have fun!

Create with TLC
Craftymumz Crejations
Madness or Genius Designs <---- YOU ARE HERE
Scrap by Yanna
Scrappin the Day Away
Miggins Does Scrapsville
Royanna
Jaydens Mama Designs
Foxy Lady Creations
Humbug Graphics Galore
Colleen's Creative Scraps
Digital Scrapbooking Goddess
Candy's Treasures
Jada Collectibles
Krystie's Kreations
The Scrappy Cat

Some Freebies Coming Down Very Soon

2009-03-20T23:45:00.002-07:00

So, I am super excited to announce I will soon be selling my designs in a store! woo hoo! But don't worry, because I'll still have freebies on my blog, I promise. I know how important that is when you are starting out with digital scrapbooking.

But here is a little heads up that some of my freebie kits will be coming down over the next little while. I haven't decided for sure yet which ones, but if there is something you wanted that you haven't snagged yet, now is the time.

You can click the 'freebies' tag to be sure you got everything:)

Surgery is Done, Woo Hoo! And a Freebie for You!

2009-03-18T17:07:00.008-07:00

Who knew I was such a poet?

So the surgery is over. It was a nightmare, and ended up with 3 big strong men holding Coram down to get him anesthetized, but it's done. He is already feeling so much better, and I am seeing glimmers of his old happy self. I am so relieved.

I am having so much fun on their quick page team. They have started a new section in the forum where quick page team members post their creations, so you'll want to check it out often - because our freebies are only every up for a week!

I got to play today with an amazing collab kit called Rough and Tumble by the Pretty Scrappy designers. Check out this preview - this kit screams little boy - and it's even on sale!

And here is the page I did with it - my son Lucas being head locked by my little brother. Lucas asked me as I was making this, 'Why does Tai do that to me all the time?' I have no answer - I'm a girl after all and can't conceive of why boys do what boys do. Heh.

And - last but certainly not least - here is the freebie quick page I did up for you all.

You can download at 4shared *link expired, sorry! *, and pretty please leave comments for me - it keeps me going! And remember this will only be available for one week - so snag it now, and tell your friends:)

Woo hoo - new freebie - and it's a goodie!

2009-03-14T21:42:00.005-07:00

Wow this week was super busy. I made a full kit for the designer challenge at Brownies Scraps - but I'm not sure yet if I'll make it a freebie or not - it was a lot of work!

I also did week 2 of the Desire 2 Inspire contest at Inspiration Lane. This week we did a collaborative kit with one other designer in the contest. My partner is the fabulous Jen of GF Designs. We were give one colour - which is the lighter blue in our kit - and we had to design a colour palate around it. We came up with a super cool theme, and I am very very happy with both parts of this collab kit. I am gobsmacked at how long it took to do LOL ... I mean, we only had 4 days or so to do it in ... and I sat for about 13 hours straight on that last night (yep - 4 am bedtime!)

We hear again and again that there aren't enough boy kits in the digi-scrap world - and this awesome collab kit to fill that need. Snag it if you want it, because it will only be free for a week or so.

Without further ado, here is In My Little Boys Pocket!

This is my part - which you can download with the 4shared links below. Under that is Jens part, which you'll need to run to her blog to download.

*Links Expired - sorry!*

Download at GF Designs Blog.

Enjoy and let me know how you like it! And I'd love to see what you do with it - come back and link me up!

Oh - you can probably pick up some more great freebies by checking out the week 2 challenge gallery at Inspiration Lane.

Hop In And Get This Free Kit

2009-03-13T16:00:00.001-07:00

So - for week one of the Desire 2 Inspire contest at Inspiration Lane, we were given a colour swatch and an go ahead to choose our own theme. I looked at the colours and saw aster instantly. So I made this cute little kit. Hope you enjoy!

I had to use a different file server for this one, which allows much smaller uploads, so make sure you get all 3 links:

*Links Expired - sorry!*

And we are nearing the end of week 2 at Inspiration Lane, so check back early next week for more goodies from me:)

Update On Us And Celestial Inspirations - Add On

2009-03-12T17:30:00.001-07:00

For those of you family and friends who come here for updates on us - sorry for such a digital scrapbooking heavy blog lately! It's such an addicted hobby! We are doing fairly well. Coram has an abscessed tooth that they dentist has tried three times unsuccessfully to fix - seems we can't get him frozen. So he was scheduled an OR date of May 12th to have it done. In the meantime, his behaviour has really been fluctuation as his pain and infection comes and goes, and he goes on and off antibiotics.

So, needless to say I was happy to get a call yesterday that there has been a cancellation, and we not have an OR date next Tuesday. I am both relieved and concerned - yikes all of a sudden it is happened FAST. Coram also seems to be both relieve and anxious. He has been very worried about his tooth falling out, his adult teeth getting damaged, and today he even asked me if he was going to get brain cancer! So i think he is happy that everything will get taken care of. But he has never had an OR visit before, so the general uncertainty over the unknown comes into play. We'll need a lot of patience to get through this, I think.

Next week is Spring Break, and I had already arranged to have the week off from Kodak, so at least the surgery stress won't be compounded by worrying about how I am going to get work done. And I am hopeful that by Thursday Coram will be feeling MUCH better and we can do some fun stuff, like going to Rogers Playdome - woot!

OK - for all you scrappers who came here for your freebie, I'll make you wait no more - here is the Add On to Celestial Inspirations:

You can download on 4shared *Links expired - sorry*. As always, comments are very much appreciated.

Come back tomorrow for another freebie on a totally different theme!

New Mini Kit - Celestial Inspirations

2009-03-11T17:08:00.004-07:00

Wow - week 5 of the Brownie Scraps design challenge is now over. Time really flies when you are having fun! This week we were asked to build a kit about ourselves...so I looked around me and realized I am surrounded by suns. So out came the camera, and here is my kit!

You can pick it up for free on 4shared *Links expired - sorry* . Also, if you do a layout with this kit or any other week 5 kit, and upload it to this Brownie Scraps thread, you could win a $5 gift certificate to Brownie scraps! How cool is that?

This week we were asked to do a layout about ourselves, so here is one about me:

The layout includes some things that are not in the kit but are in an add-on I will put up tomorrow - so come back to snag it!

One more week of the Brownie Scraps designer challenge, but the last kit is full sized and likely won't be free - but don't despair because I just joined another challenge and will have more free kits from that, too. You may want to follow my blog so you don't miss a thing.

Mondays Child QP for you

2009-03-09T22:40:00.006-07:00

Whew - we had a tough weekend around here. Coram started tossing his cookies on Thursday night, and it went through pretty much all of us over the last few days. I feel only slightly aware of what day of the week it is - and I only know that it's Monday because I HAD to watch 24 tonight (I am such an addict LOL).

But I have been able to get some scrapping done. I'm very proud to announce that I am now a member of the Pretty Scrappy Quick Page Team - yay! Thanks to all of you for your support during the contest for this, it really helps!

So, for my very first QP from the Pretty Scrappy designers, I chose to work with Monday's Child by Stacey Crossley Designs and Teri's Thing-O-My-jigs:

Isn't this a beautiful kit? So full of whimsy and I adore the colours. You can pick it up at the Pretty Scrappy store, and it's even on sale!. I made a layout with it, which is also whimsical as fits the kit, I think. Then I turned my layout into a quick page for you.

*download link has expired - sorry*

Another free mini kit from me:)

2009-03-02T19:09:00.003-08:00

Well, week four of the Brownie Scraps designer challenge is complete -
so now I can give you my kit, and invite you to do a layout and enter
a contest with it.

This week we were given a theme of 'spring' and a choice of two colour
palates. I had no idea what my take was going to be until I just
started creating with it, but I really like it! I love the bright cheery orange papers, and
I think the rain papers could make for some very cool layouts.

So without further ado:

You can download on 4shared here.

If you are interesting in a chance to win a $5 gift certificate from
Brownie Scraps, then do a layout with this kit (or any other kti from
this week) and post it in the Brownie Scraps forum.

I'll be back later with another layout of something awesome Scraps by
Jenn :)

Week Four - Freebie Mini Kit and Loads of QPs

2009-02-26T23:37:00.005-08:00

I am so excited I made it to the fourth and final round of the Pretty Scrappy Quick Page Team contest! Thanks for all your support along the way.

This week, as it is the final week, we had to do a 12 x 12 Quick Page, 2 4x6 brag books AND a Layout. They really wanted to see what we could do! They gave us an awesome kit to work with, and since I know you'll love it, here is the store link.

I spent a long time on these LOs ... I mean, I am always careful, but this time I was extra careful, trying to cluster elements to create the line of vision I was looking for, as well as layer them in ways that were interesting. I hope you like them!

Here is the 12 x 12 quick page:

download this here.

And here are the 2 brag book pages:

Download these here.

Remember, these are free for one week at the Pretty Scrappy forums. While you are there please vote, and don't forget to pick up the QPs and BB pages from the other 9 remaining contestants.

I also just finished week 3 of the Brownie Scraps designer challenge. This week we were given a colour palate, and we had to cluster elements into on bigger element. I had fun making the quilt pieces. Let me know if you like it!

You can download His Quilt on 4shared here. Comments are always appreciate:)

Don't forget you can do a layout with this or an of this weeks kits, upload it to this Brownie Scraps gallery and you could win a $5 store coupon.

Quick Post - With Freebies!!

2009-02-19T16:18:00.004-08:00

I am doing a post and dash today, as I am about to leave for a scrapbooking retreat (woo hoo!) but I wanted to make sure I got you your freebies.

We wrapped up week two of the Brownie Scraps designer challenge. For this week, we chose our own colours (I chose a palate from colorlovers) and theme, and we had to make our own textures for the papers. I found myself using a lot of photos of my upholstery for the textures, so I made a kit about the couch - and it's constant companion, the cat. So without further ado, I give you Kitty On The Couch:

You can download at 4shared, or head to the Brownie Scraps forum and get my kit along with dozens of other kits, all for free. If you do a layout with any of this weeks kits, and upload to the Brownie Scraps forum, you could win a $5 gift certificate to the store. How cool is that?

I also have my week three quick page for the Pretty Scrappy Quick page team challenge ready. I really worked on the element clusters to keep they eyes on the photos.

You can pick this one and several other free quick pages up at Pretty Scrappy. Please don't forget to vote!

Have a great weekend everyone:) Remember - I love blog comments!

Week Two – Loads of Freebies Available

2009-02-15T16:01:00.003-08:00

Happy Day After Valentine’s day. For me it’s a beautiful sunny afternoon, and both the kids are out of the house playing with friend s- what could be better? Well…OK maybe if he house had magically cleaned itself overnight…LOL.

So it’s week 2 of the pretty scrappy Quick Page Team challenge. This week I got to use a really fun and playful kit called Juicy Pop by Designs By Rachel. I knew right away that I wanted to do something fun and different with it, so I did a hybrid album. Here it is:

You can download this project here. While you are at it, log in to the gallery and vote for your favorite page or project. This is a vote-based contest, so every vote helps:)

For anyone new to digital scrapbooking, with this file, once you have downloaded and unzipped it, you add your photos to the page and voile – done! The photo spots are actually holes in the page, so just put our image behind the pre-done page. Then you print all three, punch holes in the side and lace with ribbon or something similar – and voila – a mini book!

Thanks for poppin' by!

Freebie for Kims Colour Challenge at DSO

2009-02-11T17:19:00.004-08:00

I just loved the colour palate for Kims Colour challenge this month, and since I have been tinkering in designing, I decided to do a mini kit for it. I am always happy for any constructuve criticism or feedback that you have:)

Here is the preview:

You can download it here, and please leave a comment if you do.

You will find more freebies co-ordinating with this colour palate in the thread for the colour challenge at DSO.

Thanks for dropping by!

The Lowdown On A Whole Whack Of Freebies

2009-02-09T16:00:00.008-08:00

Well, I have been a busy little bee, and it seems that once I entered one contest, I needed to enter more ... more ... more! It didn't matter that I didn't win the last one - it was all jsut too fun!

So - I entered a Quick Page Team challenge, which is all vote based. Its running at the Pretty Scrappy forum, and if you go there, you can get 26 freebies! How cool is that? And that's just week one! We'll be doing this for four weeks, so keep an eye on the forum or this blog and you'll know when the new group is up.

And, if you register there, you can vote. I'm not asking you to vote for mine, just vote for the one you like:)

Here is my quick page:

This is made from a mini kit called 'Evoke' by Just Passin' Thru.

You need to go here (the Pretty Scrappy forum) to download this QP, but that's OK because you need to go there to download all the other good stuff, too:) Here is the link to the main gallery for the week one challenge so you can see all the entries.

And next (yes, there is more!) I am doing a Designer Challenge at Brownie Scraps. This is super fun, and I have learned soooo much. There is no voting involved or anything, but you can get loads of freebie mini kits at the forum. Define 'loads' you say? There are 35 of them.

Here is my kit - this was my very first designing endeavor, and I am fairly satisfied with it. We were given a colour palate and a theme and we went from there.

You can download the papers here and the elements here. Please leave me a comment if you do, they are so encouraging :)

And don't forget to head to the Brownie Scraps forum, because you also have a chance to win a prize if you do a Layout with any of the mini kits.

I think that's enough for today LOL! I do have one other colour challenge mini kit I am finishing up and will post tomorrow or the next day.

Take care everyone !

What is a digital kit, you ask?

2009-02-08T16:02:00.001-08:00

So, the other day when I posted my first digital kit, Jane asked me what a digital kit is. Well, might I just say Jane, that you asked the magic question hehe.

So, for those of you who are digital scrapbookers, you probably don't need to read this post, you can just skip to my freebie. For those of you who visit my blog for other reasons (friends and family) and are curious, here is your answer.

As you probably know, I have been a paper scrapbooker since my almost 11 year old was born. Sometime last year, I got a really cool program to do 'storybooks', which are books made from my own photos and bound and printed into hardcover books. I was afraid ... I had no idea how to do it, if it would look good, etc. It tooke mw quite a few months of owning the program before I decided to try it.

When we went on our first Family Road trip, I decided this was a perfect chance to get started and do a digital storybook. And WOAH did I ever LOVE it. There is waaaay less mess when you digitcal scrapbook, no pack up after (just click 'save' and walk away) and a lot more flexibility. If I don't have the right colour, I just alter it and voila - a whole new graphic. I could cute up photos, and if I hated it I could just click 'undo' and have my original photo back (can't do that with a paper photo!).

Curious about what others were doing with their digital scrapbooks, I googled it. And WOW. I had no idea what a huge community of digital scrapbookers there are! Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people online, in forums and on blogs, sharing the work they do, and becoming friends.

What I was amazed to find was that there is gigabytes and gigabytes of free graphics available for scrapbooking. There are designers who give away freebies to promote the sale of their designs, there are designers who are learning and give away their freebies hoping for feedback, and there are all sorts of other reasons people give away their freebies.

For me, it wasn't long before I started to wonder if I could make graphics that people would be interested in using for their own digital scrapbooking projects. Not to try to sell them, but to contribute back to, and become even more involved in, the community I am so enjoying. So I started doing a couple of challenged on forums that involved creating kits.

So, a 'kit' is a package of graphics that is used for digital scrapbooking. They usually revolve around a colour theme or other theme, and often you can find several that co-ordinate together. Kits usually involved digital 'paper' and other 'embellishments' such as 'ribbon' 'frames' 'buttons' and so on. The preview below show strips of each of the papers I created, as well as the embellishments I made (through recolouring, adding textures, etc).

What do you do with a kit? Well, download it, unzip it, and load it into a program like Photoshop and play with it! You can use the papers as backgrounds, or cut them into shapes and use them to enhance your page. Put your photos on - and you can even try trimming them, too - and voila you have a layout (LO) that celebrates those photos.

You don't need to pay for a scrapbooking program to give this a try. I believe there are free downloads of various photo editing and graphic programs that you can try, and see how it goes. If you find you are too limited by the free version, and it is something you really like, then you can purchase a program. And like I said there are endless amounts of freebies for the graphics themselves. Check out Digifree and you'll find enough to fill a hard drive (or 3).

So - I hope that answers your question: ) And Jane, I know you said you have a hard time getting enough photos - maybe you'll find a love for digital scrapbooking and that will encourage you to take more photos. I challenge you to try - plus I want to see more photos of your kids heh.

Answer Your Cat's Question Day

2009-01-22T13:39:00.003-08:00

I thought it was a joke, but apparantly not ... Jan 22 really is Answer Your Cat's Question Day. So have a look at your feline's quizical face, and see if you can figure out what they want to know!

Template set 21 for a 2 pager Doreen Stolz

Comfy Cozy collab by Chaos Lounge, Wendy Page and Danielle CorbittFont – Brush Script M7

Frame cut with paper from Enchante Sampler by Diana Burton

Green staples,worded paper and ribbon, and Folder (recoloured) from faithful Friends Sampler by Scrap4Brains

Another Layout

2009-01-06T18:53:00.004-08:00

I am doing a photo a day, so far so good, but not going to post them every day.

Here is a layout I did of today's photo, which I think is worth sharing. It's not a flashy LO, but I think it's perfect.

Credits: The papers are a freebie from Dragonfly Designs currently being given away on the Brownie Scraps blog. I had to make the cream grid paper from the pack a solid cream to make the journalling readable.The hearts are from I Love My Cat by Annies Little Footprints, but I recolored the cream heart.I used Hummies paper tears that she gave us for ADSR 4 .Font is PC Brita.

Journalling reads:

I took you for a private assessment because the school said you were just misbehaving, but I knew it was more than that. I thought maybe you had a learning disorder. I was stunned when the psychologist suggested we do an Autism assessment, and even more stunned when the diagnosis came in. It wasn't news I wanted to hear. The good thing is that once we had an accurate diagnosis, we could learn how to help you - and how to fight with the school and the doctors so they would help you too.

I've never tried to post layouts before, but here goes.

2009-01-03T01:05:00.007-08:00

So....as I mentioned in my last post, I am doing this new challenge where I take a photo a day. Here are a couple of the layouts I have done. Some of them are already posted in some challenge forums, others will be posted soon (some of the forums are having gallery issues) so I hope that if you happen to see this twice you don't mind.

First, here is Coram just tickled playing video games:

credits: kit us 'My Guy' byStacy Towers, but I recoloured the alpha. The layout is a scraplift of FSAT-LO5 by mflott at Digital Candy.

Next is a layout I did of my office - which I have resolved to get organized this year. Now you see why:

credits: kit is Warmth Of Friends collab which is being given away on the Enchanted Studio Scraps blog train. The layout is based on a sketch I got for day one of the 365 challenge at Divine Digital

Both of these layouts are based on things I listed in my last post as things I needed to work on in 2009. Wish me luck!

A New Beginning, Some Reflection

2009-01-02T11:08:00.001-08:00

So, as I sit here wrapping up the first day of the new year, I can’t help but look back. This past year has had it’s challenges, but it has also had so many successes.

In January of 2008, Coram started at his new school. This was after several months of half days and struggles to get the administration at his previous school on board, as well as dealing with an aid that wasn’t a good fit. At the new school, his aid is fantastic, and the administration has been totally behind us all the way. Coram has made huge strides socially and academically, and he has been approved for a computer in his classroom to support his learning. Things are looking better and better for him.

In July, we were able to take our first successful family vacation. I organized it, and made a journal of ‘what to expect’ to help Coram prepare himself, and he handled all the transitions and changes beautifully. So much so, that we are looking forward to our next family trip!

Lucas has really turned a corner at school. His new teacher told me he is remarkable mature, and that she doesn’t number him amongst the kids she is concerned about academically. This compared to last year when he was almost a full grade behind in some subjects. He also completed a program about childhood anxiety which seems to have made some great changes in him.

Steve, as an adult, would probably prefer to make his own reflections on a year gone by. But for me, I can say that as a father and a husband, he has been my rock this past year. I could not imagine a more perfect partner, and I am so glad to have him by my side as we start another year.

Personally, I have been very excited with my work, both for Kodak and yoyomama. Due to my horrible back injury, I had to leave the DVD merchandising job I had, which has freed up more time for yoyomama, which is really exciting. I have also picked up sport of a new hobby – digital scrapbooking. It’s ‘sort of new’ because I have been scrapbooking for over ten years, but not digitally. I find digital scrapbooking gives me more freedom AND frees me from the mess of paper products. I do think I’ll always be a paper crafter, too, though.

As part of this new hobby, I have spent a great deal of time in forums. I decided to take on a new challenge: the 365 challenge, where each day you take a photo and scrap it. This has been mentioned on a few forums and blogs, but Divine Digital has actually launched a challenge around it, so that is where I will be posting my layouts. Fingers crossed I can follow through, as I think this will be a really cool book to have at the end!

So, for today’s challenge, the journaling prompts is to make a list of at least 12 things I want to accomplish in 2009. Here goes (in no particular order) :
1 – spend at least 1 hour per week alone with each child
2 – spend one night out per month alone with my husband
3 – scrapbook one pager per day, digitally in paper
4 – get my office organized
5 – get my bedroom storage area organized
6 – paint my bathroom
7 – design one freebie kit for digital scrapbooking by the end of the year
8 – visit the gym 2 times per week
9 - get the kids more active (swimming lessons, etc)
10 – get to an Autism support group that works for me
11 – get to Disneyland
12 – give away the boxes of stuff in my store room
13 – save $50 per month
14 – find a charity I can donate a small amount to each month

OK – so that’s more than 12, but once I started I couldn’t stop. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me!

Update

2008-12-11T17:50:00.002-08:00

Just a quick update, as I haven’t blogged in a while. Thanks for all your supportive comments on my last post. Things are on a pretty even keel here these days. No big meltdowns, not major incidents - just our steady, regular efforts to maintain routine and consistency in an unpredictable world.

Tonight we are going to the Christmas Concert at Lucas’s school. Then on the weekend Jama has her Christmas pageant, plus we need to get our tree up and go see Santa. Next week is the last week of school, so I have to get my butt into gear with making the teachers gifts! I have them all planned out, and I have most of the supplies, I just need to sit and craft away. I really like crafting though, so it’s not a chore, it’s just finding the time.

I still haven’t decided what we are giving the boys for Christmas. It seems all they want is video games, and I don’t want to give them that. So I am waiting for inspiration. I am running out of time though! I am sure some great idea will come to me.

If I don’t make it here again before the end of the year, I wish you all the most wonderful of whichever holidays you celebrate!

The Day She Called the Cops (or How I Hurt My Back)

2008-11-11T20:22:00.002-08:00

So, this story is now a few months old, but I haven’t had time to tell it before now, so here goes.

My younger son is Autistic. One of the ways his symptoms express themselves is through tantrums. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem as he himself gets bigger. I used to be able to sit him on my lap and wrap my arms around him while he flailed about, and it would stop him and keep him (and us!) safe. Now that he is about four and a half feet tall and 90 pounds, containing him and restraining him is becoming much more dangerous – bordering on impossible. We have enlisted a behavioural consultant to help with this, but in the meantime we are just doing our best.

Over the summer, my son goes to a program called ‘Kids Safe’ which is a day camp that runs out of our local school. I have him there because he needs the routine of getting up, going to school, and having structured days during the summer so that the transition to back to school in September is easier. This is his third year with Kids Safe, and they are experiencing the same problems we are at home with his size. Their only solution is to call me when his tantrums are unsafe for himself and for others. This happened one day in August. Coram had been climbing the pipes in the basement, kicking walls, and screaming. I had to pick him up, which was upsetting for him. What was more upsetting was that the rest of the kids were leaving for a field trip. He had been looking forward to going, but had lost the privilege, and was no longer welcome.

He tried to run after the group, which was worrisome, but became much more so when the group crossed a busy street. They had crossed at the light, but as he was running after them, the light had changed and he was about to go barrelling pout into oncoming traffic. I caught hold of him by the waist and held him. He pulled, screamed, kicked. I locked my feet into the ground and just held on. We spent a good 8 to 10 minutes struggling like this, then I began trying to get him back to my car, which was half a block away. I can no longer carry him, so I had to sort of man-handle him up the street, one leg under him lifting him forward as I stepped forward. He screamed the entire time, straining to follow the other kids.

At some point, a neighbour came out, cordless phone in hand. She walked past me, glared at me, and went to talk to the leaders at the day camp. She walked back past me, and made sure that I knew she was on the phone with the cops, reporting me. I asked the leaders to go talk to her, and they tried, but she said, ‘Get out of my face or I’ll f-ing punch you.’

I’m sure this friendly (?) neighbour thought she was helping a child who was being abused. What I don’t understand was why she had to be so hostile to the leaders of the day camp. The leaders called the cops, too, and explained to them what was really happening. The cops said they weren’t planning to send a car out, but I still wasn’t sure. We went back home, and I spent the evening wondering if I was going to have a visit from child services that day.

I got up the next morning to a sore back. I have had muscle strain before, so I thought nothing of it. I got in the car, and went to work. By about 2 in the afternoon I was having a hard time bearing any weight at all. When I got home that night, I could barely walk. When I woke up the next morning, I could not move.

When I had my first son, I was in labour for 40 hours – and I did not get pain meds until 38 hours in. It was extremely painful back labour, and I thought I was in hell. This back pain was far, far worse.

I had to have my husband stand and brace me so I could take baby steps to the bathroom – slowly, and painfully, with tears streaming down my face. Then to actually sit down I had to scream in pain; then the same going back to lie down flat on my back. This was no ordinary back strain. My husband called the pharmacist, because there was no way I could get to the car to go to the doc, and the pharmacist said to get the pain under control first, go to the doc later.

It was almost a week before I could bear any weight on my own. When I did get to the doc, who referred me to physio, I found out it was likely a lumbar sprain or a disk injury. That explained why it was pain unlike any back pain I had ever had – it was not muscular pain. I ended up taking 2 months off of work, going to physio twice a week and am only just back to work mid October.

Family services never came, which was a huge relief. I have never seen that neighbour again, either – even though she was just two blocks away. I wonder what she thinks when she reflects on the whole experience?

When I reflect on it, I know that I did what I needed to do to stop my son from getting hit by fast moving traffic. I took the injury in his stead. But I am afraid that next time I won’t be strong enough.

All This and a Blog Too?

2008-11-04T14:12:00.001-08:00

Ya, so, um... *cough* ... I’m a bad blogger. I’m sorry, I do have the best intentions. You wouldn’t believe how many blogs I compose in my head as I am busy driving, or just falling asleep. I come up with a witty title and starter paragraph, and I think ‘I’ll blog this as soon as I get home/wake up tomorrow/finish bedtime with the kids/{random activity here}’

But life, for me, is a series of chasing time, being late, leaving important things unfinished, and leaving hobbies un-started. Ok we all know parenting is non-stop, but I do have a couple of other things in the mix:

- I have a child with Autism (insert regular medical appointments, school meetings, therapy, and dealing with tantrums)

- I have a child with a cleft lip and palate, anxiety disorder and ADHD (insert more regular medical appointments, school meetings and therapy, and dealing with constant activity and desire to climb things not created for climbing – like furniture, walls, door frames, and small animals)

- I have my own struggles with depression (insert weekly appointments and a desire to hide in bed all day)

- I am working closely with a very busy parenting resource to build and market it (insert 40 hrs + of online time, and staying on top of 4 different email accounts)

- I work 15 to 17 hours a week out of the home (insert drive time and prep time, too)

And so I suggest to you, dear reader, that I have many very good reason to be a bad blogger. I hope you understand. I do my best, and I know many of you wish I’d update more often, and I will try to do better. But I can’t promise it will get much better than this.

I Laughed So Hard it Hurt

2008-08-29T14:20:00.002-07:00

OK so in the interests of full disclosure, it doesn’t take much to make me hurt right now, seeing as I have this deep tissue injury n my back. But don’t let that detract from how funny this blog is. Even if I didn’t have a back injury, I may have laughed until I hurt.

I do love to make character cakes myself, but now I think I might just let my sarcasm get the better of some of my upcoming cakes for adult friends. What better way to say happy Birthday to a dear friend than with this cake?

Thanks to Bloggers ‘Blogs Of Note’ for sharing this gem with me today :)

Square Pizza Night

2008-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

It’s not clear to me when the tradition started. Maybe it was the kids fighting over the television (AGAIN), or the kitchen full of dirty dishes (AGAIN), or that fact that we were both exhausted after a full week in the trenches (ALWAYS) but somehow we launched a family tradition: Pizza Fridays.

Now in case you are thinking of chiming in here with, ‘But pizza once a week isn’t healthy!’ let me just stop you now. It has bread, vegetables, dairy, and sometimes meat. I have it from a nutritionist that it is actually considered a healthy food choice, depending on what is on it (and we don’t load it with high fat meats.) And that makes it good enough for me.

So, after we established the tradition, we embarked on the laborious of mission of Perfecting the Pizza Friday. We ordered from various local restaurants, and we have a few standby favourites, but we have always been up to trying something new. So when I was at my local grocery store one day, and saw a nice bunch of Airmiles attached to a pizza (I am an Airmiles addict, but that’s another story) I decided to give it a try. It was a fresh, bake-it-yourself style pizza, and it was square.

I’m not sure if it was the shape of the pizza, the taste of it, or the fact that it was something we had never tried before, but it was a hit. Fresh from our oven, fit perfectly onto a cookie sheet, and really good sauce. So (for now at least) we have a new tradition: Square Pizza Fridays.

Want a piece?

Here I am!

2008-07-06T22:53:00.006-07:00

I have been completely AWOL and I apologize to all of my loyal readers. I’ll try to do better.

Things with the family are going very smoothly. The kids wrapped their school year without a hiccup, and we have all moved nicely into summer. The kids have had one week at Kidsafe and seem to be enjoyng it a great deal – more than in previous years. I think it’s because this is their third year, they are amongst the older kids, and they really fit in now with kids they have been spending summers with for so long. Also it helps that the leaders are so great – they all know the kids, and they don’t try to push Coram to eat, which has always lead to problems in the past. We have a couple of weeks off as a family later in July, but haven’t decided as of yet what to do with them. It might be nice just to hang out close to home, and do some day trips and relax, but it might also be nice to go on a longer road trip. We’ll figure it out eventually.

I’ll end this post with some pics of the boys hamming it up this summer at some local community events.

I think the boys had their faces painted to look like Mario and Luigi from Super Mario brothers, but I'm not sure. Whatever it was supposed to be, it was funny.

The police came by for a visit and brought their bikes.

Police officer Steve. Yum.

Here I am with the boys at the school fair. Too bad half Lucas's face got cut off heh.

This is a nice shot of all three of my boys at Rocky Point Station in Port Moody.

Here is a panoramic I took at Rocky Point Station with one of my many new Kodak Cameras. It was really pretty there.

Pine Nuts In My Cereal

2008-03-31T09:24:00.001-07:00

Ok so I admit I wanted my title to get your attention. But I also really do have pine nuts in my cereal. It’s granola, actually, and is surprisingly tasty. I picked it up yesterday at Portobello West, where we were promoting yoyomama. The booth next to us was for the Granola Girl, and she had samples. I don’t think I would have bought homemade granola if it weren’t for those samples. This stuff is sooooo good. And she packages some bags with bigger pieces so you can just grab a chunk and go. And no, I am not being paid to write this. I just really like my granola today.

Things with the family are on a pretty even keel these days. Coram’s new school is great, and he is settling in – finally! This week will be his first week of full dayss We have been adding gradually and I am so thrilled that we are finally here. So much for two weeks of half days (which was the plan in September). I am stunned really when I look back at how difficult the fall/winter was for us. But here we are in Spring – complete with sun, blooms, hail and snow (yes, really). I guess it truly is a time for new beginnings, and Coram is having one.
Lucas has an appointment with his ENT (Ear Nose and Throat Doctor) in a couple of weeks where we will find out if he still has fluid behind the one ear drum, and if we need to go in and put a new set of tubes in. He really notices the fluid, and I really notice he has hearing loss, so I am pretty sure I know what the answer will be. But we’ll just wait and see before we freak out about an upcoming anaesthetic on a boy with needle phobia.

I have been working a LOT. I still merchandise DVDs, but have added merchandising for Kodak into the mix. Also, yoyomama is doing very well and I am trying to focus a good chunk of time per week on that, too. I don’t get to see my pseudo-third-baby as much as I used to, and I miss him a lot. He is walking now, but still in that stage where he looks like a slight breeze would topple him over. Legs wide, arms out to the side for balance, and of course a huge proud grin on his face. I really enjoy our time with him, and Lucas tells me he wishes Christopher was his real baby brother. So sweet.

So that’s the update. I feel bad I am not able to blog more these days, but as I like to say these days, ‘It is what it is.’

Lucas and The Ear Tubes

2008-01-18T21:31:00.001-08:00

Lucas has had several sets of myringotomy tubes over the years. It is quite common for kids with cleft palate to have issues with their Eustachian tubes adequately draining the ear.

For those of you new to the world of cleft palate, here is a brief tutorial.

Close your mouth, and touch your tongue to the top of your mouth. It feels hard, right? That is your hard palate. Now, move your tongue back to where it gets squishy. That is your soft palate., and it goes to the back of your mouth. A cleft palate is a cleft, or opening, in the palate area. Some clefts are soft palate only, some are of the hard palate only, and some are soft and hard palate.

Ok, now, yawn. Feel those muscles at the back of your mouth along the top (the soft palate)? Those muscles form an arch at the back of your throat, and they have several functions in addition to helping you yawn. One of their functions is to help drain the Eustachian tubes. Eustachian tubes are internal tubes that equalize pressure in your ear.

Now, imagine an opening, or cleft, in the soft palate. Where would that arch of muscles go without tissue there? The answer is, they can't go there. The muscles don't form the arch, they just go straight up on either side of the palate. And because they aren't attached the same way, they don't work as well. Fluid and pressure can build up behind the ear drum, which is very painful and can effect hearing. Hence, many kids with cleft palates need ear tubes, and some continue needing them into adulthood.

Ear tubes are very small tubes that are placed in the actual eardrum. They function as an alternative way for the ear to equalize the pressure, by allowing fluid to drain through the tubes.

Lucas had his first set of tubes when he had his palate repaired at 10 months old. He has had three other sets since. His most recent set was a slightly longer tube, with a slight 't' shape. They are designed to stay in the ear longer than regular tubes, which usually fall our within 8 months or so. We used these t-tubes for his last set because we didn't want to have to keep going back for new tubes that often.

One of the tubes fell out after about two years, which we expected. The other tube has not fallen out. This is good for pressure equalization, but not very good for his ear drum. The tissue around the tube is a bit irritated, and the doctor is worried it will develop scar tissue around the ear tube and create a permanent hole. So, the tube needed to come out.

Enter the long thing instrument with the tiny tweezer-like pincers on the end. The procedure coudl be performed in office, by simply using the instrument to pull the tube out. It would hurt somewhat like pulling off a bandaid, and could hurt for one to three minutes. Sounds pretty harmless, right?

Well, unless you have a needle-phobia, that is. That long thing metal instrument with pincers on the end looks a heck of a lot like a needle. And for a boy who has had one too many doctors trick him into doing something unpleasant by promising it wouldn't hut, there was no way Lucas was going to let the ear doctor remove that tube.

So, we got a referral to the psychologist, the same one who helped us through bone graft surgery. She got the instrument and some Playdough, and a model of an ear, and she and Lucas worked out a lot of his anxiety and got a lot of his questions answered. I purchased a reward (an Action Replay for his Nintendo DS) and we all went together to have the tube removed.

Part of our strategy was for me not to be in the office at the time. Lucas went in with his Psychologist, and they did their relaxation techniques, and Lucas was able to handle the situation without me – a great step toward his independence.

But we had a wrinkle. It turns out that the other ear, the one that had the tube fall out over a year ago, is showing fluid behind the ear drum. This means that his Eustachian tubes are likely will not working. So it would be a mistake to take the remaining tube out, as fluid could build up in that ear too, and we would end up going in to put the tube back. So the tube was left in, and we are keeping an eye on the tube-free ear for the next few months before we decide if we will put a tube ion that one, too.

So I guess in many ways, we had success, because Lucas was calm and prepared and capable of doing the procedure. But I can't deny the irony of the situation, that the procedure couldn't happen for a completely different reason that was out of our control.

So I gave Lucas the reward, because he did his job just perfectly. And I guess in three months, we will either have to go through it all again and take the tube out, or we will have to schedule a trip to the OR to get a new tube in the un-tubed ear. Either way, I can see several trips to the psychologist in our future. Just call my psychic.

We're Alive

2008-01-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

Despite my lengthy absence from this and other blogs, I am alive, and so is the rest of the family.

As if working 30+ hours a week around a child who only goes to school until noon, taking said child to various appointments, and getting orthodontic work for other child wasn't enough, the calendar rolled into December and I got hit by the holidays.

Though busy, I have no other complaints about this holiday season. On the contrary, I really enjoyed Christmas with the kids this year. Tree decorating is no longer an tense struggle to keep the kids from breaking heirloom ornaments: they are old enough now to handle everything with the care and reverence they deserve. We didn't have a single meltdown at any of our gatherings: the kids are older now, and don't get as overworked at Christmas as they have in past years, and better know how to handle themselves when they are excited. And after their first attempt to get up at 12:15 am, the boys went back to sleep until 7:00 am, which is a very respectable rising hour for Christmas morning.

The boys got a Nintendo Wii from one side of our extended family, and several games for it from the other site. Lucas was so happy, he literally had tears in his eyes. To my utmost pleasure, playing the Wii is much more fun than any of the other game systems we have had in the past, and the whole family has been bowling together regularly ever since. I never thought a game system would create more family together time, but it has.

When we had very young kids, new Years Eve was always a non event. If we did anything, it was watching a movie and we were lucky to stay up until midnight. Now that the kids are older, they are excited to stay up themselves and ring in the new year. So, this year we had a small party with one friend. We made New Years ornaments, fizzy pink punch, and had chocolate fondue. Coram was worried he wouldn't be able to stay awake, so we took our noise makers outside at 9PM and shouted 'Happy New Year Ontario!'. At twelve we went out again and danced around the yard with our horns and shakers. Having made it to midnight, the kids were happy to go to bed and we were all asleep by one.

After New Years, we had a week of just hanging out around the house. The kids played their Wii for hours, but did take breaks to read their new books, build lego, and play with various other toys they were given. They also had some cool field trips through Kidsafe to the Vancouver Aquarium, Watermania, and skating.

This week is back to school, and so far it is going ok. Coram is at his new school, still half days, but with the intention of working up to full days. He has been spending sometime with his class mates, mostly for un-structured activities like library and gym, but it is all a slow process to get him worked into the classroom. His aid is motivated and positive, and I am cautiously optimistic. My work hours have gone back to the normal pre-Christmas level, so I am no longer rushing out for 6 am starts, for which I am very thankful.

Why I Sleep So Much

2007-11-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

So today Lucas was home from school sick. This means I can't take Coram to school either, because I can't go get him at 12:30 without draging Lucas there, so they both stayed home.

With kids 8 and 9, I can safely set them up in front of the TV ad have a nap. So that is what I did this morning. I lay my head down at about 9:30 am. The boys would come in every now and then to ask for things (Can I make a peanut butter sandwich?) or tattle on each other (Coram keeps changing my show to the weather channel!) but for the most part, I got a sleep. It was 1:45 before I finally dragged myself out of bed, and even that was with reluctance.

Now some of you may think maybe I stayed up late last night. Not so. I was in bed by 11:30, and slept until 8:00. Aghast, you now wonder why on earth I would have such a long nap in the morning after such a long night of sleep?

Consider this: In the past 8 years, I have had so few nights of fully un-interrupted sleep that I would only need one hand to count them on.

We all know this is part of parenting, right? Our babies get up in the middle of the night for a bottle, our toddlers climb in when they have had a bad dream. But how many have 4 foot 5 inch tall 8 year olds in their bed every night?

Yes, every night. It's an anxiety thing.

We tried getting a bigger bed, but that really didn't fix the issue. See, in order to feel secure, Coram needs to actually be touching us in the night. Get a king-sized bed – he still follows us all over the bed. Often, one of us is squeezed against the wall, and the other is hanging off the opposite side, and Coram is stretched perpendicularly between us, so he can be touching us both.

Last night, he kept throwing his leg over me. Kinda' like you'd throw your arm over someone you were cuddling in the night. But this was his leg. Over my head (remember he is sleeping sideways). I kept pushing it off, and it would be about two minutes before he put it there again. I physically moved him upright so his legs were not by my head, and happily slept a full twenty minutes before he had manoeuvred himself to the same position and threw his leg over me.

Add to that this boy has some incredible internal heat source, and is always hot and sweaty in the night. Naturally, he kicks all of the blankets on to the floor. Last night was particularly cold.

This morning (afternoon) as I dragged myself out of bed, I considered that I might as well just stay up all night, since the time in quasi-sleep is just wasted – I still need real sleep in a bed without children the next day. I could use that time to actually get stuff done around here.

A Day In The Life

2007-11-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

5:00 AM – hit alarm clock

5:00- 5:15 AM – lie in bed wishing you didn't have to get up

5:15 AM – hook hand-held computer into cradle, download work for the day

5:20 AM – get dressed brush teeth, put hair in ponytail, try to tame messy hair

5:25 AM – spend 15 minutes trying to shove large cardboard corrugate displayer into the back of a very small car without causing any damage

5:40 AM – necessary Starbucks pit stop

6:00 AM – arrive at store, stand around waiting for manger guy to show up with key. Try not to freeze.

6:10 AM – get into the store

6:15 – 7:00 AM – wrestle with most ridiculous corrugate display on the face of the planet.

7:00 – 7:10 AM – snap together the pre-assembled second display and whisper silent thanks that some studios do the hard part for you.

7:10-7:20 AM– try to fix the first corrugate, which is now collapsing under the weight of DVD's

7:20 – 7:50 AM– crazily sticker DVD's and put them on shelves. Haul boxes of DVDs around the store.

7:50 AM - Check on collapsing corrugate again.

8:00 to 8:30 – Drive home. Get kids in car. Take kids to school.

8:30 to 9:00 – hold Coram while trying to calmly talk him into staying at school. Speak with principal, and two SSWs. Restrain Coram when he tries to run, tickle him when he screams loudly for no reason, and show him how to use the staple remover.

9:00 AM– head back to store.

9:15 AM– necessary Starbucks pit stop number two

9:30 AM– back in store, filling fixtures, stickering DVD's, and rough-housing cardboard boxes. Check on collapsing corrugate again.

10:00 AM - Call manager to obtain permission to take down collapsing corrugate that you spent almost two hours putting up in the first place.

10:15 AM - Fill a third corrugate with disks, only to have it overbalance and fall on you. Fix it, fill it, and have it fall on you again. Repeat two more times before giving up on that corrugate too.

10:15 AM -12:30 PM – Haul more boxes, sticker more DVDs, fill more fixtures. All while listening to the Spice Girls at full blast.

12:30 PM– rush to school to pick up Coram

12:40 PM– apologize for being late for the 12:30 pick up, bring Coram home.

12:45 PM– get Coram hot chocolate.

1:00 PM– sit down on computer to read emails

1:10 PM– get Coram sandwich

1:15 – call stupid Mystery Shopping Company that decided to deactivate me for no reason. Get really frustrated when they lie to you and accuse you of lying. Give up because you are too good for that and have enough work anyways, so you don't need them (though on principle you don't like letting them get away with lying and then blaming it on you).

1:20 PM– necessary pot of tea

1:30 PM - answer emails, send ads for solo ad business, apologize to customer whose ad you forgot to send. Delete 175 SPAM emails so you can read the one pertinent email. Refresh tea

1:45 PM – get Coram some cookies

1:50 PM - Check snail mail. Recycle 7 junk mails so you can find the one real mail.

2:00 PM – help Coram find the cat. Snuggle with them.

2:10 PM - Log on to bank, pay bills online. Dump out cold tea dregs. Throw down a peanut butter sandwich to help with the light headedness. Remember that the last time you ate was 5:30 am.

2:20 PM – finally give to Coram's repeated requests to watch him play video games.

2:45 PM – take Coram to Boys and Girls Club

3:00 PM – arrive at second store, thankful that this location does not have any corrugate

3:10 PM – find out that the manager is off sick, there is no one in the department, half the new relerases aren't out, and the back room is so full of messy boxes you can't walk in there.

3:10 – 5:30 PM – haul boxes around, fill shelves and fixtures, sticker DVDs and flatten boxes

5:30 PM – rush to Boys and Girls Club to pick up boys

5:40 PM – apologize for being late for 5:30 pick up

5:45 PM – arrive home

5:45 – 6:15 PM – delete SPAM to find real emails

6:15 -6:30 PM – send more ads for solo ad business

6:30 PM– necessary Tylenol pit stop

6:35 PM– sit to type blog about what a crazy day it's been, look around at the housework and piles of paperwork to be done, and fantasize about a warm bubble bath....

The Halloween Costume Debate

2007-10-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I am old fashioned, but I would be happy if my kids wanted to dress up as over stuffed pumpkins, cute white ghosts, or maybe a rubics cube.

Heck, I'd even be happy if they got creative and dressed up as a giant cardboard toilet. It would be better than what they are currently planning to wear.

I'm not sure if it' a sign of the times, or a coming of age, or what, but my kids want to dress up as violent things. Last year Lucas was the grim reaper, and this year he found a Jason costume (yes, from the horror movies). He doesn't know who Jason is, but he liked the fake blood on the mask and sword.

Fake blood? On my kids? Where did that cute little caterpillar costume go that they wore year in and year out??

I had left Steve and the kids looking through the costumes while I did the rest of the grocery shopping at our local big box store. I came back and Lucas had this Jason costume in his hands. I looked in alarm at Steve, who gave me a mischievous half smile and shrugged, his usual reaction when I am freaking out about the 'little boy-ness' of my little boys (to which he can very much relate at the ripe age of 31).

Not wanting to be a spoil sport, thinking maybe my expectations were un-realistic, I relented, and unhappily paid for the costumes (through the nose I might add).

One the way home, I was so uncomfortable with these costume choices I was literally squirming in my seat. I told the kids I really didn't like how violent the costumes were, and Lucas said, 'Mom, do you miss the days when I dressed up as a cute caterpillar?' How did he know me so well?? Scary kid.

I of course denied that I still wanted my kids to be cuddly at Halloween, but I did make a proclamation: I will never again pay for violent Halloween costumes. I may not be able to control how you want to represent yourself, but I can sure as heck not contribute to it financially.

Coram took it in stride (after all, he was spider man last year, complete with stuffing-filled biceps – nothing scary about that!). Lucas protested and tried to tell me he was getting OLDER now and that his friends would think he was a dork if he didn't have a cute costume. But I held firm. I will never buy them costumes or costume parts for violent, scary costumes again.

Lucas then stated that he would just wear his Jason costume every year then. Because, after all, being a killer is cool.

Gak.

Update

2007-09-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have been so deep in the trenches here, that I forget what day it is. Yesterday I missed my regular Tuesday appointment. When my doc called, my frist though was, 'Why is he calling me today? Could he be cancelling this week's appointment?' Then I realized the appointment was meant to start a half an hour earlier. Sigh.

Coram is doing a bit better this week at school. They have moved him into the 'multi-purpose room' which is, essentially, a classroom that no one is using that has been set up for various other purposes – like small, pull out classes, etc. Coram and his SEA are in there for his day, and he goes out to integrate with the class periodically.

I'm not sure how I feel about this solution. Certainly, it allows Coram to relax, and not be so overwhelmed with the sheer number of people in the class. Also, it is better than moving him to another school so soon. However, I am sure he must feel kind of lonely and awkward in there.

Last week was a nightmare. Our of the 5 days, Coram managed to make it through one without me being called several times. I was feeling so helpless about it all. I met with the school principal, the resource teacher, and a fellow from the school board. They seemed to really be pushing for Coram to be moved on to another school, and I was pushing for the opposite.

See, Coram was not ready to move to this school. I knew that last spring. But, I was given no choice, and so we embraced what we could not change. We spent the summer getting him used to the idea of going there, and got him hooked in to the local community, encouraging new friendships, etc. Now, two and a half weeks in to the new year, they want to yank him away from all of that? It just seems to me to be not in his best interests to do so.

The principal believe that any initial upheaval in response to Coram being moved will settle, and that the year would ultimately be better if he were in a smaller class room better suited to his needs. I am not sure. I think he will settle where he is, when given enough time.

For now, there simply is nowhere for the school to move him to. They are looking to the school board to bend some placement rules, but so far the school board isn't doing so. They have offered to send in a behaviour specialist, but that is it so far. I tend to agree with the school board. We need to have completely exhausted all efforts before we move Coram through yet another school.

This fight – to keep Coram in school, to maintain co-operation with the teachers and the administration while still maintaining a working relationship with them, to complete my weekly work before 12:30 daily, and keep a smiling face through all of it so Coram doesn't react to my anxiety – is so much harder than I ever thought parenting would be.

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