You really have to take a peek at what's going on over at ScrapMatters, especially the first week of May!!! It is just unbelievable. Take a peek at the banner above. Can you believe this?? 40% off the first 2 days, then 30% (all with certain exceptions).

There are also 2 GIGANTIC kits that you can get. "Hawaiian Happy Hour" will be yours if you spend just $15.00 which isn't hard to do at SM. "Natural Wonders" is being offered as a participation prize for the "QUEEN OF SCRAP" competition. Take peek above at those!! WOWZERS!!! Such talented designers they have there. So head on over and take advantage of all that ScrapMatters has to offer!!

TTFN

National Scrapbook Month is Coming!!

May is National Scrapbook Month. I've been taking a look around and they have something great starting. It's called the "Queen of Scraps!" They will be having tons of challenges and speedscraps, sounds like lots of fun! They will also be choosing CT members for the site so it will have some additional benefits to joining!

So come on over and join in the fun! Can't wait to see ya!!

Woo hoo!!!! I'm so excited....on April 24, the FDA approved Simponi, an injectable biological used for treating several things, but for me it should help my psoriatic arthritis. Now I just have to have patience and wait the 6 months until Blue Cross will allow me to use it *sigh*. It seems to be having good results with stubborn PA so I can't wait to give it a go.

I attended a Speed Scrap (online) at ScrapMatters. Great instructions! Above you can see the final result. The main kit I used was Low Tide by Jen Lin Designs, the heart was from Clearly Seen Elements by Jeni Hopewell and the template was a freebie from Haynay Designs.

Well, off for a few hours sleep!

TTFN

National Scrapbooking Day is May 2nd. That whole week, most of the digiscrapping sites will be celebrating with sales, contests and other fun things! Some of my faves are:

Scrapmatters

ScrapbookMax

Scrapbookgraphics

InspirationLane

Jen Ulasiewicz

PickleberryPop

GottaPixel

And so many more (I'll keep adding to these). The designers I like tend to make very complete kits and the items look realistic or they go totally into fantasy. This way you'll get an idea of what you will find on those sites.

Don't forget to check designer's blogs. They will probably be having their own contests and freebies, if not on their blog, on the site they sell on!

Have fun! Scrap on!

TTFN

P.S. The scrap page above, "Snow Friends" was created using the kit "So Cold" by Dirty Feet Designs and is sold at Scrap Matters. kewl kit!

Baby Jackson, Blending Papers

Little baby Jackson arrived April 21, 2009 at 10:26 PM. 8 pounds, 3 ounces, 20 inches long. Of course, I've already started the scrapping! LOL.

Here I used the kit "Baby Jackson" (yes, I bought it before he was born because of the name) by MickeyB found at ScrapMatters. Beautiful colors and I especiallly love the papers...they blend well together. I used a mask by Studio Phuong at Scrapbookgraphics.

Now, the question is, how do you blend two papers? Just like you blend a photo onto the background. Play with the opacity, but also play with the layer types (just above the layers palatte in PSE 6) such as color burn, linear burn. You get some awesome effects!

Well, I'm off to do more scrapping!

TTFN

CT Calls

So I decided to check around and see what CT calls really entail. Here's what I have found so far.

Enable: A lot of the designers ask you to enable their kits on certain websites and on your blog. This means (I believe) that you promote their kits (okay, easy enough). You also, say if someone is looking for that perfect tropical kit and the designer has one, suggest that kit for those peeps! What a grand and very easy idea!!

They ask you to send you a link to your most complete gallery and 1-3 of your favorite layouts (depending on the designer). My tendancy, when I create, is to use several kits. I'll start out with one and think, that flower in the other kit would go perfect right here! Well, get out of that frame of mind. You can do so occasionally but concentrate on working with one designer's kit for your layout.

Short bio: I have since learned my bio is a little too short (okay, I've only answered 1 CT call, didn't make it...see why in the paragraph above :P). Let them know a little about you, kids, pets, etc. but also tell them about your digi scrapping. When did you get started and why? What intrigues you? Do you work with hybrid? Things that would make them take a 2nd look at what you can REALLY do!!!

Last but not least, they ask to promote them on your blog. This means keeping your blog up to date. Feel free to post your layouts, but also, maybe review the kit you used, all the things that were good about it. Well, I'm thinking I don't do this, but I will be starting. I think I would be good on a creative team but I have soooo much to learn. I'm thinking that I'm writing this blog today more for me...to ingrain it in my brain as to what I need to do. Well, I'm off to try and put my name in for a CT.

TTFN and good luck if you try out on ANY CT calls (there are several going on at ScrapMatters right now!)

I'm really getting to love these fantasy layouts. They are gorgeous scenes that take you away to somewhere not of this earth. Here is one I created from the kit "Secret Garden" by SussieM Designs. You can find her kits at Scrapbookgraphics. They are gorgeous. Also, Lorie Davison's kits can be found on the same website.

Above is a layout I made of my cousin's little one, Samantha. Easter 2006 she was searching for eggs but the weeds in one corner of the backyard were too high for her sandals. Off come the sandals and on go Aunt Terin's shoes. She was just too cute! So I extracted one of her photos and popped it into this great fantasy. The title, "Samantha's Magical Shoes." Enjoy!

TTFN

I am so hyped on my latest layout. I've been seeing these amazing fantasy layouts around the internet and had to explore the person behind the kits. This happens to be Lorie Davison (I keep putting an extra "d" in but this one time I finally got it!). She illustrates childrens book and has an unbelievable imagination! She has created several scrapbook kits that you can buy just part of or buy the complete kit.

So I went and bought one....okay two....and put together my first fantasy lo using her kits. The extraction took a while...and then I kept staring at it, thinking it just didn't look right. Then I realized that I needed to add shadows under certain parts of my nieces to make it look like they were really sitting on the ground. (They were actually sitting by a pool!)

So, here is the final lo which I'm loving more every time I look at it. It's title is "Fairy Tea Party". Let me know what you think!

I am exhausted. This work daytime hours, then go back to graveyards is kicking my tushy!! At least the training on days was fun and worth it (yes, I said training was fun!). We even had a speaker for 1 hour on the pharmocopia of mental illness and even that was interesting!!

Well, I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours. Speed scrap on ScrapMatters at 11AM Pacific time. Maybe I'll see ya there?


TTFN....for a few hours anyway!

Did you know that there are 3 blogs (that I can see) with the name Scrappy Frog? Can we become a little more original here? Hello! I have the scrappyfrog.blogspot URL so it means it's taken. Okay, just a little venting...heeeheee!

The speed scrap went well. The instructions were awesome and I love the way the layout turned out. I posted it above so you could see. Hope you enjoy it!!

TTFN!

Whoo hoo! Speed Scrap tonite at ScrapMatters...6:00 PST...okay, that's only 1/2 hour away but I haven't been able to participate in one for a while so I'm a little excited.

Also, over at ScrapbookMax, the week 61 challenge involves some designing (gonna learn to match colors, etc, etc). You are more than welcome to hop over there and take a peek! If you want to get your toes wet in digiscrapping this is an excellent website to start. The software is like Adobe Photoshop Elements, but MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to learn!! Come on over and take a peek!

Well, off to find some photos (or maybe just one) for the speedscrap! If it turns out okay, I'll post later on.

TTFN!!!

Ugh! I'm on this crazy schedule at work. My "normal" hours are 9 PM to 6:30 AM (so hard not to write the military 2100 to 0630!!). But I have 2 training days and so I have to flip my hours for ONE whole day twice this month. Today is one of those days. Tuesday my hours will be 7 AM to 4:30 PM. I'm so gonna crash and burn when I get home and sleep for hours.

I just completed one of my favorite photos from my trip to Cancun. When we went snorkeling, we stopped at a white sand beach to eat burgers (well, I didn't eat) and continue to drink beer and margaritas (I didn't have these either, just water). Anywho, there were these kewl hammocks just sitting empty waiting for me. Man, I parked my tushy there for the full hour we were there and didn't move. I told April, my friend, how to sit in one but she was just way too uncomfortable. Me? I almost fell asleep!!

So, without further ado, here are the credits for my lastest page "Hammocks in Cozumel" (Paper: Be Together - Monica Evan (Slightly recolored), Clamshell: Low Tide - JenLin Designs, Rope: A Pirate's Life - Hafen Creations, Staples: ***New*** D is for Dog - WM Squared, Starfish: Half Moon Bay - Chelle's Creations
Sanddollar/Scallop Shell: Natural Wonders-Down by the Seashells - Jen U Designs
Paint Stain: Pompey - A Work in Progress, Font: Joe Hand 2)

Hope you enjoy it!!!

TTFN!!! (off to bed at 7 at night..yuck! Too close to real people hours)

I just realized I start almost every entry with "well"....and several with "Well, folks!" Yikes! Talk about getting into a rut!!!!!!

For those that have ever had psoriasis, you know that a flare can mean days off work. I am going to try to go back to work tonight after 2 days off and 3 days sick. I hate flareups. I sleep a lot and hurt a lot!! Well, I'm almost healed, so I'm giving work a shot. Gotta make sure there's no wheat as I'm sure that was the straw that broke the camel's back and added to the mess!

I finished another ScrapMatters challenge, called "Roadmap to Scrap." It's kewl...the host gives several directions..a map, if you will..to follow to get to your destination of a great layout. I love the way mine turned out. The main kit I used was the new one, D is for Dog by WM Squared. I also used Holidays at home by Designs by Amilyn, Mod Boy by Tracie Stroud and Summer Garden by A Work in Progress. You can see this layout above. Enjoy!

Gotta try to get a few more hours of sleep.

TTFN!!

Well folks, I just finished killing 2 birds with one stone (figuratively speaking!). I completed one scrap page and completed 2 challenges! Woot!!! (2 separate websites). One, ScrapbookMax, challenged us to create part of our layout and share it with the peeps, so I decided to also share it with you!!! You can download the little minikit here.

Here's the layout I made with several kits (Bohemian Garden by Bella Gypsy and Jennifer Barrette, April Showers by Tracie Stroud, Frame Clusters by Trish Hefner and Chase the Winter Blues Away by Shannon Scherz). All excellent additions to your scrapping inventory!

Have a great rest of the weekend! TTFN

Well folks, I flared up a bit, so I have been at home and in bed for the last 24 hours straight! It has been great to feel good enough to get up and finish a little bit of scrapping!

I completed 2 more layouts with Bianca's "Blue or Pink" kit (remember...her kits are on sale for only $2.00 until April 5th!!). See my previous post for her store.

I love the way they both came out and they tend to show a little more of the versatility of the kit. Hope you enjoy!

TTFN