Can it be a bad year already???

Ok so far 2011 is not the best year I've ever had. New Year's Eve was spent in the ER with Sharla, she has congestive heart failure...yeah you read that right. I had all these great plans to post out a lot of my layouts on New Year's Day, and over the next couple days, while I was off. But that all went by the wayside. She is feeling better, but they still have her in the hospital, and we're hoping she gets to come home tomorrow.

I have a massive amount of layouts to show you, ok maybe not massive, but enough that I want to get them out of my to do box. Today I'm going to focus on layouts I created for Challenges at Polka Dot Plum. The first up is a photo of Trey, Callie and Cole, taken a couple of years ago. The kit is Christmas Treasures by Charm City Scraps. It was done for a word art challenge and Tobi Dawne did the word art.

Next up is one of Zoey I did for a font challenge, the font was called Font Moochers and I really liked it. Zoey is in my pillows and not happy that I brought the camera out...thus the title.

Now for a Christmas time tradition at our house. Well actually at our pet store. They have a Santa for the babies. This was last year, and it was a real challenge getting three into and out of the store. This year we took Cole along for support. The kit used is Glittery Christmas by Sugar Pie Scraps.

Next is photos from Aunt Jean's birthday party. We all had a great time, and she was very surprised. I used a kit and template by Jen C Designs.

Ok I've discovered photo treatments and am having lots of fun playing with the free ones I've found. My favorite is one called 70's that gives the photos a look like something from the 70's. I did it on this photo of Cooper, it is not the best example, but I really like the effect.

I used the same treatment on this photo of Tucker. It lightens the photo and washes the color just a bit. Which I really think is cool (maybe because I remember the 70s). The kit I'm used on this one is called A Dog Says Woof by Roseytoes Designs.

Here is one I did of Sharla, the photo was taken last spring. I'm not sure I'll ever get her to go back and pose there again, because afterwards I found a baby possum in one of my photos right where she had been standing.

Now for a couple of older photos. This is Callie and Cole playing on the couch. She was tickling him with her fingers and hair and the more he laughed the more she did. Sharla was having a hard time hanging on to him.

I've had many people tell me that if they believed in reincarnation, they would want to come back as one of my dogs. Ok my babies are a little spoiled. Here is Tucker, as he watched me getting dressed one morning. You can see he leads a really tough life.

The last one for now, is Sharla and Cooper. I did it for a lyric challenge, but I only pull a couple of words to use. I love this kit by Secret Stash called The Way That I Am. It works for so many things.

I will try to be back tomorrow with more. I really want to get my stash cleared out and then blog on a more regular basis. Keep Sharla in your thoughts and prayers!!!!

Catch Up Post 1

Ok, here is the first of my catch up posts, don't be surprised if by the time this weekend is over you see about 100 layouts from me. I show I have about 124 or so on my external hard drive and I normally move them off of it once I've posted them here, so give or take a few that have been done in advance for my designers, it could be a high number. Today I'm going to focus on some of the ones I've done for challenges at Polka Dot Plum.

Ok first up is a layout I did for one of the All About Me challenges. We were to find a photograph that represented us. I found a photo of an old tractor that Sharla took and just couldn't resist using it. I might be old and rusty, but I'm still working (hehehe).

Next up is a layout I did for an ad challenge. It was a blockish ad, so I did a blockish layout. The photos are Cole in front of his new truck. He was so proud and boy does he look all grown-up. He can still be a kid, but alas he is really a young man.

Third up is my Girl Power layout featuring Ms. Callie. The kit I used is called Tayla: General Girl by Brine Designs one of the new designers at Polka Dot Plum and I did this layout for a template challenge. I love this photo of Callie showing off her guns!!!!

Fourth is a layout I did of Sharla. I was using a kit by Danielle Corbitt called Techie Dreams. She was posing for me on the couch, she is such a good sister.

Fifth up is Zoey posing on the back porch. She jumped up on the couch next to me. She loves it when we all sit outside on the back porch. I used a kit called Focus and I love the color combination in that kit. This was done for a one word challenge...doesn't she look Happy.

Sixth is Callie again, using a kit called New Love. The photo was taken on Mother's Day (I cut Mom and Cole out of it). I love that smile, it makes me happy!!!! I did this one for a font challenge. I love those challenges, but then I'm a font-a-holic.

Seventh is Watson, and for those who don't know Watson is Callie's new dog. Sharla snapped this photo when she picked Callie up to go to the airport for vacation. I think Callie missed Watson more than anyone else. I did the layout for a color challenge and used a kit by Secret Stash called Be Inspired.

Eighth up is Cooper dressed in his lion costume, well lion coat. He does so well when we put it on him, except he doesn't like the hood, but he is better than Tucker about wearing it. I did this one for another font challenge and I used the kit Beary Scary - The Collection.

Ninth is Tucker posing next to a pumpkin. We didn't have a lot of luck at the pumpkin patch because they didn't want to sit, so Sharla bought a pumpkin and then tried with just one. Tucker was her best subject. I did the for an inspiration challenge where the ad was full of pumpkins. This is Carving Up Fun by Trixie Scraps.

Tenth and last for tonight is one more of Callie taken a couple of years ago when she was showing us her hand stand. The photo makes me laugh because she is just being silly. The kit I used is Grow Your Garden by Kalo Designs.

Ok that is it for tonight. I'm tired and I need to get to bed. But don't worry, I'll be back soon with lots more to show you.

So Much to Show You

Ok this is going to be another huge post, because I'm creating layouts much faster than I am posting here, so they are getting backed up something fierce. Today the layouts are going to be from various places, but most will be challenges I've done.

I'm going to start off with one that has been in my backlog forever, I did it as a speed scrap over at GingerScraps and never showed it to you. I think because the subject is giraffes and not someone I know. I got the photos when Sharla, Cole and I went up to Arbuckle Wilderness one year on Christmas break.

Yeah my oldest non published layout is off of my to show list. Next up is a layout I did with Modern June's portion of the August Build a Kit at Digital Scrapbook Mania. I love the colors in the kit. The photo is Zoey giving Sharla kisses.

Next up is one I did for Stuff to Scrap's Word of the Week Challenge. The work was lazy and I knew right away what photo I wanted to use, Sharla and Cooper "napping". This is Let's Get Together by Scrap N Pieces, and I love this kit.

I'm on a roll with my older layouts, so here is another one I did for a speed scrap at DSM. It features Tucker Joe watching while I get ready for work. He much prefers the days when I stay home, because he likes to have someone to lay down with him. This I used is called Dusty Rose by Modern June.

Now for a layout I did for a font challenge at Polka Dot Plum. The kit is Monkeying Around by Victoria Feemster and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would use a photo of Sharla. Daddy called her Monkey, all of her life, even when she was grown, so of course I had to use her.

I did the next layout for the Use it or Lose it challenge at Stuff to Scrap. They give you a mini kit and you have to use all of it on your layout. Sometimes this is easy and sometimes it is not. I like this one because there were not too many papers and elements.

Modern June's contribution to the September Build a Kit at DSM was beautiful and I really enjoyed using it for this layout. The photo is Callie opening her birthday present several years ago, it was just what she wanted...you can tell by the look on her face.

This layout I'm sure looks a little odd, but the challenge was to photograph a body part (no face or head shots allowed). So I did Zoey's big feet. Bless her princess heart she had whopper feet!!!. The I used is Lil Fella by Graham Like the Cracker and Wyld Web Designs.

Next up is a layout I did for a color challenge. It was birthday month at PDP and all the challenges were focusing on birthdays and so I did one of Cole after we silly stringed him. This was when he was in the 6th grade, after his school concert. We had him believing we were not going to be able to get him because there was too much going on...fooled him!!!

Another birthday challenge was the one word challenge and you had to use the word "celebrate" in your title or journaling. So again I pick Cole and silly string, but this one was from this year. It is getting harder and harder to surprise the boy (ok he's 17 but still a boy to me). But I think we got him this year. Hid our car in his garage and then we hid in his dad's shop. Both of these layouts were made with Kalo's Designs kit called Celebrate.

I rarely do two page layouts, not really sure why. I didn't really do them when I paper scrapped, so I don't do them when I digi scrap. But there was a template challenge at PDP that was a two pager. I used a kit by Sir Scrapsalot called Spring Symphony and the photos were taken at a local iris garden. I love irises and this place has some really beautiful ones.


Now for a layout I did with Secret Stash's Happy in my Heart kit. The photos are Cooper a couple of days before he was to be groomed. He was definitely a fuzzy face. It didn't help that he had been rolling in the grass, so his hair was sticking out on end. This was a template challenge and I really like how it looks.

I know many of you think the greatest contribution to the world in 1960 was me...yeah I know I'm old. The all about me challenge had us pull things that happened the year we were born. I think my favorite things were Green Eggs and Ham was written and the Etch-a-Sketch was invented...yeah I'm not an overly political person. But it was fun looking up different facts.

Ok the last one for this post is a layout I almost didn't do. I was to post on Scrappin' Daisies blog on a Monday, which is free day and I couldn't figure out what to post. I was going through the challenges at Brownie Scraps and found the indulgence challenge. I loved the mini kit they gave us to use. And in a very short time I had this layout of Tucker.

That is it for now but I have designers releasing kits almost everyday this week, so there will definitely be more to see (plus a freebie on Friday). See ya'll soon.

What's Happening

So do you have anything interesting going on in your scrap world these days? Well I know of a couple of exciting things. First Scraps by Andrea is having a sale...a really nice one (40% off). Her flier below is linked to her store, so click on it and go shopping.

Also if you've not signed up for Scrapzilla before now you really should. It is happening over at Polka Dot Plum and there are some great prizes being offered. All you have to do to register is to send an email to the address listed on the ad below.. And if you have not signed up with Polka Dot Plum before when you do, tell them that tomosia recommended you to them (that's me....hehehe). Here is a list of the prizes...

1st place:
Bamboo Craft Tablet from Wacom
Art Rage Studio Pro
1 year free Mozy Home Unlimited Account
$25 gift certificate to Persnickety Prints
Green Bulb Gang - Gold Membership Package - Good for 30 Day Membership
Scrapbook MAX! 2.0 digital scrapbooking software + mega expansion bonus pack called "Life Is Beautiful"
$25 gift certificate to Polka Dot Plum

2nd place:
Art Rage Studio
1 year free Mozy Home Unlimited Account
$10 gift certificate to Persnickety Prints
My Memories Suite Software Package
$15 gift certificate to Polka Dot Plum

3rd place:
1 year free Mozy Home Unlimited Account
$5 gift certificate to Persnickety Prints
FontDiner.Com Font Set of your choice
$10 gift certificate to Polka Dot Plum

Individual Weekly Winners: Gift Certificate from a Polka Dot Plum Designer


That's all I've got for today. I still have a backlog of layouts to show you, but I'm just not in the mood. It has been a sad week, the world lost a real gem this week and she will be missed. So I'm going keep it short and simple today. I'm sure I'll be back and raring to go by this weekend.

Another Big Post

I counted and I have 29 layouts that I've completed and haven't shown you yet. So I'm going to do another big post day to get some of them out of my to blog pile. Don't worry, I'm not going to do all 29, some are ones I've done for kits that have not been released yet, so I can't show them yet. And also I don't want to make the post too long. Today is going to be another Polka Dot Plum Day, with layouts I've created for designers at PDP or for challenges in the forum there. If you've not checked out the challenges you really should they are lots of fun and you can win gift cards and earn discounts.

My first layout is Angela and the newest addition to her family Molly. For some reason Tina (Angela's mom) calls that sweet little baby dog a monster, but when she brought her to see me, Molly was a perfect angel. She gave me puppy kisses and even fell asleep laying on my desk. I didn't see any monster tendencies at all. But of course get a girl and a puppy together and you definitely have trouble...which leads to the layout I made using Utski's kit Love the Piglet.

The next layout is one I did for the recipe challenge last week. I used the kit Sweet Summertime by Polka Dot Plum Designs. The photo is Callie, Cole and Mecca taken on Mother's Day this year. I'm not sure Mecca was ready to be the short one in the family (I think it has been a long time since that was the case for her).

I did a template challenge last week at PDP as well (in fact I think I did 5 or 6 challenges...I was on a roll). The template was really fun, and I used a kit called Anna Mae's Closet by Scraps by Ellay. I love the purple in that kit and just wanted to play with it over and over. The photo is Callie and friends at a birthday party (Callie is in green) and she made her mask, such a talented girl.

Now for my layout for the font challenge...the font is Sketch Block and is a great font, because is can be used for so many things. The kit is Love the Piglet by Utski Designs. The photo is Cole and Danni when they were over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure he is going to hate that I posted this, but I think they are just too cute.

The color challenge from last week had a great mix of blue, green, orange and cream and I found the perfect kit to use call I Wuff You by Connie Prince and Bella Gypsy. The subjects are Tucker and Cooper just before they got a treat of ice cream. They were quite excited because they love ice cream.

The hardest challenge I've done in a while was the paper to digital challenge last week. I tried three times before I got a layout I liked. The paper layout had lots of roughed up paper and I just could duplicate that in digital. I also really struggled with the dimensions. I used a kit called Ambience by Digi Designs by Nicole because it had some worn papers in it that worked well. Cooper was willing to pose, as long has he got his snuggle time as well.

Next I did the lyric challenge and I used a photo of Cole in the pool from several years ago. The song had a line about big pool partys and it just reminded me of the times we got to use my old bosses pool while he was on vacation. The I used is Nolan by Sweet Tomato Designs. I love the blues in this kit they work for so many different things.

The all about me challenge this week was to scrap your house (current or past), so I dug out some of the photos we took when the house was being built. We visited every day, and took tons of photos. I wanted to show just a few of the changes we saw during the process. The kit I used is Housewarming by Bella Gypsy.

Ok we're getting close to the end for today. This layout was for the font challenge I did this week. The font is Pea Lauren America and is a great hand writing font. I used photos we took the day we brought Tucker and Cooper home. They were camera shy, so it was hard to get good photos, but these aren't too bad. This kit used is Nolan by Sweet Tomato Designs.

The last layout for today (and I reduced my to blog list by 1/3) is one of the easiest layouts I have ever done and you'd never tell by looking at it. I used a bundled kit called Swirly Bundle by NBK Designs. The kit comes with paper and elements like all other kits, but also includes glitters, word packs and something called "toppers". The toppers are FANTASTIC!!!! The clusters that look like they took me hours to create are just one of the toppers. Yep all I had to do was size them the way I want, place them and add the photos. It was even easier than templates and more fun than a quick page (because I controlled where they went). The photos are Trey, Callie and Cole, doing that they do so well...mugging for the camera.

I hope you've enjoyed my walk through the challenges of Polka Dot Plum and I hope you visit the forum soon and join in on the challenges you find there. Also check out the links to the kits I've given you, they are all great kits and you'll have fun using them I'm sure.

Polka Dot Plum Layouts

Happy Wednesday all, I hope your week is going well. I'm going to show you a lot of digital scrapbook layouts today that I have created for the Polka Dot Plum Site. Some are ones I've done for designers since I'm on the store's CT and others are ones I've done for the forum challenges. If you've never done any of the forum challenges at Polka Dot Plum, you really should head over and check on them. They change weekly and for each one you do you earn a chance to win a gift card and % off coupons. I won last month and got a great gift card to Polka Dot Pixels' store and a 30% off coupon.

My first layout is Mecca and Cole taken at a balloon show years ago. This was for a template challenge and the kit used is Rocky Top Sweetheart by Polka Dot Plum Designs.

Next is a layout I did for an AAM (All About Me) challenge. The challenge was to scrap your favorite food or beverage. Well for those that know me, you know I had to do my Frappucino. I normally only get one a week, but boy do I look forward to it each week. The kit used is Fern by Polka Dot Pixels.

I selected Call Me Kristin Designs last month as one of my designers of choice and got to used her Vintage Vinyl kit. It is a mix of red, blue and black and I had lots of fun with it. In this layout I have Callie performing at a choir concert. She was and is such a great performer, she just lights up a stage.

My second layout with Vintage Vinyl is Callie again, this time the photo is her and two friends before a disco roller skating party. The girl can rock the disco look (IMHO).

Now for a layout of Sharla and Tucker, the photo was taken in the backyard and the kit I used is With All My Heart by Brandy Designs. I selected this kit because I love the soft purples and great elements. I used this as the example in the font challenge I led earlier this month.

My second designer for July was Berry Sweet Designs and she has beautiful kits and templates. I got to use her Twitter Goodies templates and In My Heart kit for this layout. It is Callie and a teeny tiny Cole. It was taken in the hospital the day Cole was born.

I also used the kit In My Heart for a template challenge. The photo is Callie posing by where she wrote Psalms 62:2 on the step of our garage as the house was being built.

I used the kit Collabracadabra Granny’s Attic which was a free blog train the first week of the month, but is available in the store now. Don't forget to always check out Polka Dot Plum Blog the first week of every month for their blog train. The layout was created for a font challenge and the photo is my grandfather, grandmother, mother and uncle.

I also did another AAM (All About Me) challenge where you were supposed to show your family. So I have Tom, Mecca, Callie and Cole in one photo, Mom and Zoey in another, Sharla and Cooper in the third and of course Tucker in the last, my family. The kit I used was It’s Not Easy… by Sir Scrapalot Designs.

Ok the last digital scrapbook layout for today is one I created using a template pack by BTA Designs called Tempting Templates Vol. 6 and the kit is Chocolate Truffle by Polka Dot Pixels. The layout was done for a one word challenge, and I had to have the word "you" in the title. I really love how this one looks.

Ok that is 10 layouts, and I think that is enough for one day. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow or Friday with more. I have a back log of layouts to show you, so make sure you come back soon. And don't forget to check out the challenges in the forum at Polka Dot Plum.