Scrappy Running Mama

Funky Playground Layouts

2010-11-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Here are my layouts for Funky Playground this week. If I had the time I would scrap with each designer's new release for the week. But I have to pick and choose the right one for me as I would rather give quality work than quantity. Another reason I've been keeping my CT numbers at minimum with a couple of guest spots here and there.

Alright back to our scheduled programming. First, we are welcoming FPD's November Guest Designer, Trixie Scraps to the store. She has over 30 items in store and I'm sure she'll be adding more through out the month. The product I created with this week is Love of a Lifetime - Value Bundle. Let me tell you this bundle is filled with so much stuff for the price.
A new designer coming over to FPD is LaLi Creations. Welcome to Funky Playground!!! Love what I see already and looking forward to more!!!

Who's ready for the November Playground Collaboration??? It's huge as usual filled with love, life, and thankfulness. For the time being the kit comes with quickpages made by the creative members so go and check it out!

Sorry MIA Last Week

2010-11-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Busy busy last weekend as the kid's Halloween festivities started Friday which was also my 6 year wedding anniversary. Saturday was spent looking for a last minute costume for DH and I. Seriously, not doing that again. And of course, Sunday was Halloween which we spent at hubby's BFF's house an hour away. Now the storm has calm down finally and back here scrapping and blogging.

It is November which brings us only a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I started my 30 Days of Gratitude on my tumblr page. If your interested in reading you can find it here: Simply Random Stuff

This weekend is going to sooooo FUN with National Scrapbook Day on Saturday. So much lined up all around the digi-world. I'm not even sure where to start.
First, FPD is throwing a double celebration! I hope to see lots of peeps over there!

Polka Dot Plum will have a few challenges, chats, freebies starting tomorrow. I made a freebie for the kit the designers made for the weekend. I hope y'all like them. Check the blog all weekend for a list of activities.

Ms. Libby will be busy getting married this Saturday but she does a few things in store on Saturday.

Stop by Elise's Pieces Design store at The Digi Chick for 30% all weekend.

HAVE FUN THIS WEEKEND!!! HAPPY SHOPPING TO ALL!!!

Playing in the Leaves Collaboration

2010-11-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Elise has teamed with Girl Boy Girl Designs by Jen Balding to bring you this awesome collaboration kit that is cute for your fall pictures, playing outside in the cool weather, and much more.

Born 2b Wild :: Libby Weifenbach

2010-10-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ooops, I didn't get a chance to post yesterday about Libby's new release. Libby and Meg were inspired by a baby nursery set that a scrapper had posted at Sweet Shoppe Designs. It turned out so darling and fun even for non-baby pages. It comes in both a boy version too but I chose to scrap with the girly girl one this time around.

Funky Layouts

2010-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

New Releases once again at Funky Playground Designs!!! First off I scrapped a layout with Sir Scrapalot's Funky Club Week 8 Mini Kit. Dontcha you just love the rich fall colors and pretty flower elements. If you have yet to subscribe to the Funky Club, go do so now as you will recieve this mini along with all the past contributions for various FPD Designers. As we're quickly coming to the end of 2010 people are on a search for calendar templates of all sorts. Michelle Batton designed these bottom calendar templates as well as many other calendar sizes and style this week. Here's one for you and you can see from my layout how one can create a calendar with just the month. Thank you for stopping by and I'll see in the forums for chit chat, announcements, and of course, the awesome challenges by FPD's Playground Peeps.

Lullaby :: Elise's Pieces Designs

2010-10-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

I love watching babies sleep as they're so peaceful and calm. Even now that my children are past the baby stage, I still take the time to watch them sleep and fall into a sweet dream. This week Elise designed a kit for those sweet sleeping pictures but I can see this kit work for other layouts as well as you will see in the store's previews. I present to you, Lullaby by Elise's Pieces Designs only found at The Digi Chick.

Funky Playground New Release Friday

2010-10-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure to work with one of the FPD's New Releases this past week. This week my choice was to create using Donna Duncombe's Precious Moments Bundle. Hubby took several pictures of his best friend with his newborn back in July that needed to scrapped before her baptism in December. I have a couple already and here is another along with Donna's preview of the lovely baby kit!

Spooky :: Elise's Pieces Designs

2010-10-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween is in 2.5 weeks!!! Woohoo!!! I believe we're heading to our friend's house for a party and trick or treating but I keep telling DH it's a Sunday aka school night. I know it will be fun but I don't want to be the party pooper knowing the kid's will wake up grumpy the next morning. I'll just go with it and deal with them when the time comes. The kids are set with costumes but me and DH still looking around. We were thinking Mario and Princess Peach but who knows.

Anyways, here's some pics from last year's Halloween that have yet to be scrapped. DS as a red ninja. Not sure where he got this idea from but I'm guessing it's this youtube video he watched one day. And of course, who doesn't love the Halloween kits coming out this month. I love how Elise kept it simple and not to creepy crawly with traditional color scheme. Dontcha love Mr. Skelly there! :: Layout not linked at the moment ::
Credits: Spooky by Elise's Pieces Designs at the The Digi Chick

3rd Rock from the Sun :: Libby Weifenbach

2010-10-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Who wants to see an out of this world kit releasing Saturday, October 9? Well, here ya go ... a space kit from Libby, 3rd Rock from the Sun. I have to say this kit is one of the best ones I've seen as it focuses more on the solar system with all the planets included and of course all the extras. My layout focuses more on the word art, "I love you to the moon and back!" but in my journaling I write a few little facts about the moon and its distance from earth as well as the book, Guess How Much I Love You which made the quote very popular. Can you see my play on the title? Ya, being a bit silly tonight.

Libby Lou Crew Keepin' Me Busy

2010-10-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back to show you what Libby's created this past Saturday as well as last week since um, life got in the way of blogging. Sometimes I wish this can be done on my iPad when I'm out and about.

Anyways, first up is a versatile cheerleading kit that is made with colors of the rainbow as well as black and white. As you can see I didn't have any cheer pictures to post so I had to do them with our 49ers training camp pics.
Second, we have a Triple Dip with Misty Cato, Krystal Hartley, and Libby Weifenbach called Felicity. This kit reminds me alot of a wedding I went to in the summer as this was their color scheme for the wedding. It's so pretty and I paired the kit with brown mocha tones to go with the brown in the kit.
Last but not least, this template is perfect for month in review type layouts as well as Project 365. I know I couldn't hold myself to take a picture a day so, I went for the activities and funtions, our family had over the month of September. This layout took me some time to finish even with a template but I love love the outcome.
That's it folks for Libby goodies. I'm sure she'll have more yumminess coming along this week so keep an eye out at Sweet Shoppe Designs for a possible sneak peak.

FuNkY Playground Designs Kits and Collabs

2010-10-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back with an overload of layouts created for Funky Playground Designs. Must of felt very creative these past a couple of weeks. Or just time to keep me occupied as I've slowed down helping my best friend out with her wedding projects. I'll show the wedding stuff later.

Two Months Overdue

2010-09-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Oh my has it really been two months since I've written on my blog. I can believe it actually as summer days were busy and getting for school for kiddos. Now, I'm here taking a short break from housewife stuff to say hello! I'll start posting layouts here starting now. I'll give an update on my running, let's just say it's not going as planned but that's another post.

As of today, I'm on four creative teams: Elise's Pieces Designs, Libby Weifenbach, Polka Dot Plum and Funky Playground Designs. I'll pick my most current layouts made from each of team and hopefully I'll continue to do as I was doing before my Summer break.

Blog = Summer Break

2010-07-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

Summer blogging is tough for me with trying to keep the kids busy and taking mini vacations. I'll be back most likely next month when the kids are back in school. Hopefully, I can get myself together and have a new look to my blog. Not sure if I want a graphic look or scrappy type look or a mixture of both.

Have a great rest of the summer and I promise to be back!

Slow Creative Juices

2010-06-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

My creativity hasn't been flowing well lately. A little slow and flustered at times. Libby released a new kit this past Sunday which I didn't get a chance to make a layout for it. I did want to show it off here because it's oh so cute with a Scooby Doo and Blue's clues themed kit titled 4 Meddling Kids.
Click the image will take you the kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs and you can view the layouts my fellow ct members created.

Funky Playground Challenges

2010-05-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

FPD's challenges are coming back to the forum where they were before rather than the store blog. I loved it when it was in the forum and it was how I found Funky Playground over a year ago. I hope you all can join us because you sure will be challenged. Lots of fun and prizes.

Got Stitches?!?!

2010-05-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Libby has some rounded stitch borders for y'all!! I don't know how she has something new every week but she does. I guess she's Super Woman Designer!!!! Sorry for the drive by post but this girl needs her beauty sleep for a fun filled 2 day in Sin City (aka Las Vegas) with a bunch of girls for one of our own soon to be married ladies. Peace out and Happy Memorial Day!!!!Used an older kit which I've been wanting to scrap with for awhile, Fast Break Kit!

Late Post for Libby's Newest

2010-05-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Busy this past week with my part time job, designing/printing my friend's invites, and family everyday stuff. When Libby was early in handing out this kit, well I was the late one finishing it up. Hence, the day old news but here it is! This week SSD designers did a "scraplift" of one of their fellow designers. Libby lifted Shawna's You Don't Know Me kit and designed, Desmond and Molly Jones. I think Libby did an awesome job putting in her own design style.

While We Were Away ....

2010-05-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

While We Were Away...

The Scrappity-Doo-Dah designers and team members were cooking up something special for you!

The whole team at SDD appreciates all our customers, and our whole team want to thank you for your continued patience - both in the time that we were down and our migration over to a new, more (ahem) reliable host. We hope that this blog hop will make up for it!

More than 15 of the designers and some of the CT, Love Birds, and Moderators of SDD have come together to bring you this huge kit - While We Were Away. We know you missed us while we were away and we missed you too!

If you take all of the stops of the blog hop you will end up with a huge, beautiful kit that you will be able to scrap almost anything with. You'll also receive a ton of quickpages, courtesy of our Creative Team, Love Birds, and Moderators!

First I want to take a moment to tell you that a ton of designers have sales and specials going on this weekend to make up for the downtime. Be sure to check all of them out this weekend!Please understand - SDD will be going through a host move throughout the weekend and possibly into the week still. If the store does happen to be down, be patient and try again later. We may experience some downtime during the move, but rest assured if there is, we will try to fix it ASAP!

And now on to the blog hop!

Here are a couple of Quickpages made by me created from bits and pieces from Bekah E Designs, JayaPrem's Hangout and Gabs Art contribition to While We Were Away. Download QP's HERE

And don't forget to stop at the next blog to grab your next piece. You should have come from (last blog link) and your next stop will be (next blog link). If you get lost, you can find all the blogs right here:

http://digioverdose.com/blog/ - Tam & Yvonne
http://lisetescrap.blogspot.com/ - LiseteScrap
http://www.scraplantis.com/gabs-blog/ - Gabs-Art
http://digilicious.typepad.com/digi_licious_designs/ - Digilicious Designs
http://danospookie.blogspot.com/ - Danospookie Designs
http://www.lilleyscrapdesigns.com/blog - LilleyScrap
http://scrapsillysara.blogspot.com/ = Sara E Designs
http://bekahs-escape2scrapland.blogspot.com/ - Bekah E Designs
http://wordartfun.blogspot.com - Kathy Winters Designs
http://twinmomscraps.blogspot.com - Twin Mom Scraps
http://pixiemamadesigns.blogspot.com - Pixiemama Designs
http://scraps-by-jayaprem.blogspot.com/ - JayaPrem's Hangout
http://ginnytallent.blogspot.com/ - GET Designs
http://www.inspiredbydominic.com/blog/ - Inspired by Dominic Designs
http://crystalcreationsbydesign.blogspot.com/ - Crystal's Creations
http://www.2minutes2myself.com/ - Andrea (CT)
http://www.storiesremembered.blogspot.com/ - Crystal (CT)
http://faithhopeandluv.blogspot.com/ - Lisa (CT)
http://jennmurphyscraps.blogspot.com/ - Jenn Murphy
http://www.cvfragata.blogspot.com - Corinne (CT)
http://pinky-designs.blogspot.com/ - Pinky (CT)
http://threedogsandababydesigns.blogspot.com/
http://elainetherese.blogspot.com/
http://creativetripletmom.blogspot.com/
http://victorialanedesigns.blogspot.com/ - Vicky

If someone does not have their piece up yet, please bookmark and try back later - we are all in different time zones so some may not have their pieces up quite yet.

Thank you for all your understanding during the last couple of weeks and through the move this weekend! Enjoy!

I'm a Sparrow

2010-05-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed the new blinkie on the side. I've been added as a site CT for Scrappity-Doo-Dah as of last week before all the hoolpa server business happened. They were having a CT contest which I decided to participate in last minute simply for the challenge and a chance to join a great group of scrappers. Well, I made it past every round and here I am. For all the challenges we had to create layouts either one or two. Here are all my entries from the contest:

Showin' Some of Elise's Pieces

2010-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Humpday Everyone! As I sit here and clean the house, blog, surf the web, hubby is out with this buddies watching Tour de California go through part of San Jose. I was invited but stuff needs to be done around here plus, I wasn't sure if I'd be back home in time to pick my boy-boy. Oh well, I won't complain any longer and bring you a couple of layouts that shows off Elise's Pieces Designs. Over at The Digi Chick, they're celebrating their birthday this month and in honor of the festivities, the designers created birthday themed kits. May is also Grab Bag month where designers put together bits and pieces of their work into a bag. Some choose to reveal some don't. Here are Elise's May Grab Bag and Birthday Kit for you and of course, I can't leave without showing you a couple of things I've made.

BOOM BOOM CLAP :: Libby Weifenbach

2010-05-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

New, New, New from Libby. Are you guys ready for Memorial Day Weekend? Well, I'm sure you will be once you see this cute red, white, and blue kit that Libby released today named Boom, Boom, Clap. I wanted to go to Old Navy for their flag tees for an impromptu kids shoot. Decided against because I was sure to find a picture i haven't scrapped when I was taking my scrapping break. Thanks Libby for another wonderful kit! I'm so looking forward to Memorial Day. I'll be remembering our country and all that thought for us ... Vegas style.Forgot to mention I used these templates to clip all the papers in the middle for a paper layered look that I was trying to achieve.

One More Funky Layout

2010-05-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here's goes another one I finished this week for FPD. Cheryl from Fiddle Dee Dee Designs and Jaclyn Bernardo Designs collaborated together for an awesome template pack. I've been a fan of Cheryl's heavily layered layouts that I was happy to see her make them into templates. Also, showcasing these templates is another collaboration but this time with Geek Chic (FPD May Guest) and the big bad boss, Michelle Batton. The layout below is an old picture from 2007 in Maui with my two besties.

Funky Playground :: May Playgroup

2010-05-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Funky Playground Designs at it again bringing the newest releases to you. This month FPD has also started something called the "Playgroup" which designers are given a color palette to deign with and we as scrappers can pick and choose which elements and papers to purchase. I adore this idea because sometimes you only want/need a few things for your layout.

GI Josephine :: Libby Weifenbach

2010-05-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Libbby's newest kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs to replace one of her favorite Camo kits. she makes the bestest girly kits, dontcha think? I think so!!! But this kit is easily workable for boy layouts too as some of the CT created a few layouts of their boys.

GI Josephine

Do the Funky!

2010-05-05T00:24:00.001-07:00

Alright, trying to find funky titles for my work with Funky Playground Designs but of course, it comes out sounding dorky especially at 1230 in the morning. Anyways, I wanted to show you this ad for the store's promotion for the month of May. Below you will find a preview of the kit, template I used by FPD's May Guest Designer, my fellow FPD CT, Cheryl of Fiddle Dee Dee Designs and of course, my layout using all of the above. Love how my layout came out all with the help of Cheryl's awesome layerings style.
There's more layouts both from our new designers at the Playground and the other from our guest designer, Geek Chic!

Party in the Garden by Secret Garden
I Know What Boys Like by Daybreak Scraps

When the Wind Blows Collab by Geek Chic and Graham Like the Cracker

Polka Dot Plum NSD Blog Train

2010-04-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Happy {inter}National Scrapbook Day!

Polka Dot Plum is celebrating with a boat load of events throughout the day and of course, you can't have NSD without GREAT sales. Hop on over to the store after your done with the blog train. Enjoy the ride. Today, I have for you a template that I made especially for you on this wonderful scrapping day. Have a GOOD weekend and get your scrap on!
~ Download by clicking image ~
My inspiration for the template made with Grace kit by Lauren and Amy aka Polka Dot Plums.
The following are the other stops for the blog train just in case you get lost along the way.
Heather http://cornbreadcupcakes.blogspot.com
Corinne <<<<>>>>>
Sharon http://quietangelsb.blogspot.com
Emily http://polkadotpixels.blogspot.com
Brandy http://creatively-yours.blogspot.com
Faye http://digiscrapdabbler.blogspot.com/
Jadelyn http://scrappycharmer.blogspot.com/
Nikki http://nikkisdigilayouts.blogspot.com/
The Pixel Lounge http://thepixellounge.blogspot.com
Shauna http://shaunas-world.blogspot.com
Polka Dot Plum Blog http://www.polkadotplum.com/blog/

Funky Playground Events for iNSD

2010-04-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

Come on over to the Playground where there's a sale throughout the store, chats scheduled for the whole weekend, and a simple challenge for a chance to win a nice gift certificate. See ya at the Funky Playground!

Class of 2010 by Libby Weifenbach

2010-04-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Libby designed an awesome kit for Graduation which I feel is very versatile with different color elements and alphas. As you can see from some of the posted layouts that it doesn't need to scrapped with graduation kits. But, for me I scanned a few pictures from Hubby's college graduation 10 years ago.{click for credits, thanks}

Weekend Haps

2010-04-25T22:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday night ... The kids are sleeping, Hubby is revamping his resume, and I'm ready to hit the hay. But, I'm here to motivate myself and remind myself that I need to get my butt back in gear for running. I've been trying to be good with regular exercise which I think I've finally found a few things I like to do but getting out with my running shoes isn't one of them. I ran Saturday morning only for a mile and half straight and had to walk the rest of the half mile home. I shouldn't be beating myself up but I do. I guess as they say "you are your worst critique" and I am. I wish I can just go out there and run 5 miles straight even if it's a slow pace. Maybe that goal is too high but something inside of me is challenging. I will see how far I get Tuesday morning because that will be probably be the next time I lace up my laces for a run. Right now, I'm doing Insanity, Jillian Michaels/Biggest Loser and looked into P90x. Lots of Plyometrics which I'm actually liking. I'm not to sure about P90X but I like the strength exercises it incorporates. I may give it a go but not follow the schedule. Wishing myself strength and luck to add some mileage this week. Happy Running!

I'm IN! I'm IN!

2010-04-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

I was of the chosen 20,000 runners to run Nike Marathon 2010. I signed up for my first full marathon so, I am sooo scared that I'm actually going through with it. I went into the full knowing I have a better chance at getting in when I really felt like I should stick with the half because all these events during the summer and fall. Gosh, I'm still a bit uneasy about taking on 26.2 miles with SF hills. I was getting the butterflies yesterday from excitement and anxieties. It was probably more anxieties because as you have been reading, I haven't been running much for the past 6 months. Looks like I'll be starting slow, veeery slow. Now this blog will be truly what it's meant to be for ... Running and Scrapping!

FPD Speed Scrap Tonight 6PM PST

2010-04-22T12:35:00.001-07:00

Hope you guys can make it! It'll be full of fun because we have a long deadline to get those layouts turned in. The image takes you directly to FPD Forum and find "Enter the Chat Room"! See you there!

Funky Time!

2010-04-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

I finally figured how to change blogger back to the older version. The newer version doesn't have an option to link pictures to another site unless I do in html. Um, no thank you. I'm HTML illiterate, I mean I get some of it but get a bit frustrated. Hence, I haven't changed the look of my blog since last year.

I know I haven't showed off much of my layouts with Funky Playground Designs. Since the grand opening I've done lots layouts and none of them are here on the blog until now. All layouts are linked to the FPD gallery for credits. Thanks for looking!

Polka Dot Plum Schtuff

2010-04-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

Okay it seems I've been lacking in showing off my work that I've done for Polka Dot Plum. Don't why when they are such great designers at that store.

Berry Sweet Designs

She's one of the newest designers at PDP and I became fan a quickly with her white space templates and and pretty kits.

Being a Mommy

Escape Collaboration Kit ~ GSD by Lyndie Collins and Susan Robinson

Escape the Everyday with Anything Silly

Another new designer at PDP is Utski Designs. Here is one of her 2 new kits:

Aqua Marine

Do You See What I See?

Just Peachy Mini Kit :: Elise's Pieces Designs

2010-04-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

And another one who's back on track is one of my first creative teams I joined last year, Elise's Pieces Designs. Missed her so because she usually keeps us busy with kit on a weekly basis. Don't worry she has a few more things up her sleeve in the next few weeks. Here ya go a sweet mini kit by Elise, Just Peachy:

Fonts: Smitten Kitten and Century Gothic

Sunshiney Day :: Lil Dig Bits by Jude

2010-04-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Jude's lateset release at The Digi Chick tomorrow 4/15 is Sunshiney Day. Nice to see her with whole new kit full of goodness. I had to do a boy kit with this one. I know I could've played more with the elements but lately I've been keeping my layouts quite simple and more focused on my journaling.

Kit: Sunshiney Day by Lil Digi Bits by Jude, Font: CK Print

Cherry Limeade :: Libby Weifenbach

2010-04-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

Libby's latest kit, Cherry Limeade only available at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Catch Up Time!

2010-04-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's going on with me and my scrapping and running. Maybe I should change the name of my blog to "Motivation, where are you?" Crazy, I know. I've been good about keeping up with all my creative teams. Not falling behind there but I usually do more than my required layouts such as challenges throughout the digi world. Part of the reason for the lack of layouts lately is I've been working on my friend's wedding invitations. At least we had a starting point with examples of passport invitations on wedding forums/blogs and etsy for inspiration. For the most part, the design and the internal stuff is almost ready to to be finalized. Who knew there were so many shades of celadon/sage green? I think I've been to my LSS too many times that I could almost be labeled as a paper scrapper. uh, not. I'll show off the invites once they are finished or in the process. I have a few samples but only printed on my lousy inkjet.

Now that I updated you a bit on what's going here. I hope you enjoyed viewing my layouts. Not sure when I'll have the time to up date this blog. For now, have a wonderful day!

First of Many Libby Layouts

2010-03-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

My Sweet as can Bee layout was created using Libby Weifenback newest release, The Bee's Knees as shown below available at Sweet Shoppe Designs today for 20%. She made some cute elements with this bright and cheery colors.

I'm on a new CREW

2010-03-22T09:43:00.001-07:00

Do you see my name? That's me!!! Of course, the new blinkie is already up and running. I couldn't believe the email I received Saturday that I read it twice just to make sure it didn't "Sorry, maybe next time". I'm really excited to be on Libby's crew and looking forward to scrapping with her designs and making new friends in the digi-world. This will be the last team I apply for long time. I currently have 5 permanent positions but I really want to work on taking better photos, post processing and scrapping the memories behind the photos. Hubby recently purchased a Nikon D90 which I'm slowly learning. So here's to a new venture on the Libby Lou Crew!!!! Thanks Libby Weifenbach!

I'm a Sugar Plum

2010-03-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

I added yet another CT to my digi resume. It's a site CT which I like to do because I scrap with different designers and get a taste of there work a little at a time. It's nice over there with the right amount of traffic in and around the gallery and forums. I have all my assignments finished for the month. I will most likeyl scrap more layouts but I like to wait for the new releases to come out weekly and play with those.
First, I have a designer whom I'm very familiar with ... Charlize Creations. I was on her CT not oo long ago. I scrapped with Life of Love:
I made this layout for the Speed Scrap at Polka Dot Plum with Tabby (another past designer I created for). I love bright colors but the pictures just weren't matching the papers. Hence the black and white pictures. I usually scrap with color pics so, this was a bit out of my element.
Second, I present to you Danielle Corbitt Designs. Here I picked up her Sk8er 4 Life kit and Stitched Together Element Pack. Kewl boy kit, right especially for older boys. And those stitches are perfect for your stash and go-to stitches. Made the layout for my AD challenge (3/10-3/16) over at Polka Dot Plum. Here's the inspiration:
And last but not least, I scrapped one of Sir Scrap Alot's kits, This One's for The Girls: Natalie.

New Kit: Mademoiselle

2010-03-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

A collaboration brought to you by Lil Digi Bits by Jude and Michelle Batton named, Mademoiselle available at The Digi Chick today for 20% off. Come check out the soft pink colors, pretty patterned papers, perfect elements, and a set of alphas too.

Another one: Fizzy Pop Designs

2010-03-02T10:57:00.001-08:00

Lizzy is a guest designer over at MScraps.com and her first contribution to the store is Sidekicks Pack No.11 It was also a great excuse to make my first purchase over at mscraps and who do I pick, Kelly Mickus's kit, Hello Sunshine. I lurve Kelly's designs. Now on with the show:

Guest CT Spot with Fizzy Pop Designs

2010-03-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

I forgot to add that I'm guest CT'ing for Fizzy Pop Designs aka LizzyFizzy in the digi world. I love her scrapbook pages and I've been fan since I started back last year. She makes templates that are modeled after her own scrapping style which for me, is too cool because I scrap simply. Here's her latest release at Cat Scrap.Kit ~ Citron and Champagne ~ Girl Friday Studio ~ The Digi Chick

I'll also have one more layout using this template pack but I'll post it on Thursday as I scrapped with Jude's new kit releasing on that day. Have a wonderful day y'all!

February Round Up

2010-02-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

Looks like I'll be starting something new on my blog. I was Polka Dot Plum's Blog last night and read this post: The Sunday Post
It's goes into detail on what it's about and where it originated from. As I am not participating in Project 365 or 52, I think this is a great way for me and my family to reflect monthly and then look back at years end. Yes, January is missing but I'll go back and do that too.

Here's it goes:
What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
This month I started to read New Rules of Lifting for Women and of course, my stack of magazines: Shape, Women's Health, Weight Watchers, Real Simple, and All You.
What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Hubby and I have watched season 3 and 4 of LOST on hulu.com. We watched the SuperBowl in the beginning of the month with his best friend. Winter Olympics but not as much as usually have in the past. I'm all caught up on Desperate Housewives that have been sitting in my DVR since the new season started. Biggest Loser started this month too which is always inspiring to watch. With the kiddies, we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on DVD. Hubby and son finally saw Avatar in 3D.
What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
On the last Saturday, my family and I went for a drive to SF. It was a beautiful day after the rain passed in the morning. In Feb., Josh had a week off of school where we went to the park and simply hung out together. For a playdate with Josh's school friend. Dakota, we spent the afternoon at Jungle Island where the kids climbed, ran around, and played Laser tag.
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
I didn't receive any gifts this month but I gave out small Valentine's day gifts the three loves in my life. Hubby received his favorite chocolates, Reeses cups and a workout short, Joshua got Connect 4, and Carissa received a stuffed puppy that she's named Mimi.
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
haha This one will make you laugh. I bought myself a hair dryer today. I haven't owned since I've lived with my mom. I usually let my hair air dry but got a nice layered cut a couple of weeks back. The hairstylist blow dried it and it looks pretty.
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
No, health concerns for me ro the rest of the family.
What were my accomplishments this month?
My accomplishments for this month are a couple of finished and on going projects for friends and family. I designed my friend's Save the Date post cards which her and her fiance are very happy with. I started working for my sister in law at editing her pictures for ebay store, Funkin Junkie. At my part time job, OldNavy they finally trained all the new hires at the register. No big deal but it's always nice to learn something new in any company. I applied for a Customer Service agent for Hawaiian Air but have yet to receive a phone call. I ran with the hubby at Almaden Lake Park. This is more his accomplishment because he ran for more than 10 minutes at a time when only last month he'd be winded after 1 minute. I'm so proud that he's becoming healthy.
What were my disappointments this month?
I fell off the workout and running wagon. Even though, I went out for a run, it was only one run where before I'd go for 3-4 runs a week. Also, we canceled my gym membership at the end of January so, I haven't had a chance to get a good workout in at home. I have DVD's as well as On Demand Exercise but no motivation.
How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)
My goals for the month were to update this blog on weekly basis and so far I've been really good. I may blog more depending on my designers. My running goals never came to me. I will continue to make it my goal to get out and just do it.
Anything else noteworthy to include?
I think a lot has been said already.

Butterfly Kisses

2010-02-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Friday's Fresh Fruit at Scrap Orchard brings Dani Alencar and Pamela Donnis's Collaboration kit, Butterflies in Heaven and Dani's Fast Scrap Set 1. The collaboration kit has been released before but at one of Dani's old shops a little before I joined. I finally got a chance to play with this great collaboration as I've been a fan of both Dani and Pamela when I came back from my hiatus.

Oops A Liitle Late

2010-02-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

I thought I posted my layout in the galleries already for Dani's new kit. Better late than never. She's working with Bianca to bring monthly kits for Project 365. Here's the February kit along with an old template pack. Thanks for coming by!

Credits:
Kit ~ A Whole Year Kit: February ~ Dani Alencar ~ Scrap Orchard
Template ~ Free Style Set 1 ~ Dani Alencar ~ Scrap Orchard
Alphas ~ Hand Stamped by Michelle Coleman and Free Spirit by CD Muckosky
Black Stitches ~ Stitch Hiccups #1 ~ Suzy Q ~ Scrap Orchard

New Creative Team

2010-02-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I'm trying to keep my lil promise of updating this weekly. So far so good but it's only the first week. Anyways, a couple things to share with you guys. One is that I've been added to Lil' Digi Bits' Creative Team. The designer, Jude sent me a direct message via Twitter. I was a bit humbled that someone asked me to be on their team without even applying. Of course, I took the position for a couple of reasons, one her designs are my kind of style, she's a sweet gal, and her CT requirements are very fun and easy. I'm still working on a 2 page layout that I will show here probably in the next few weeks. I need to add a title and journaling. Thanks Jude for having me and to her current CT for welcoming me.

I only have one layout to share in the past week. I'm not feeling to creative lately because I need more pictures to work with. That's why I've been trying to take the camera when we go out. not doing well with that. We take it with us and it ends up staying in the car. Oops.

Although, the ownership at Funky Playground Designs is still up in the air. The designers still have new releases in the works. In this simple layout I combined Corina Neilsen's Project 365 "Celebrate Everyday" Starter Kit with Tania Shaw's My One True Love mini kit.

I'll Get Better

2010-02-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

I'll try to keep my blog updated weekly. As much as I'd like to blog daily, it's just the kids think I spend too much time on here already. Plus, DH and I are catching up on Lost. We're at the end of season 3. We did watch the first 2 in the beginning but it was too slow for us when season 3 stated again so we lost interest. We're at it again because it's the last season and hopefully we'll have some answers.

On Friday 2/12, Dani Alencar is releasing this sweet kit called Honey, Honey. I'm working on my layout so nothing to show as of tonight. Next time for sure. Also, Dani has an element challenge on her blog. Come on over and participate for a chance to win her Multipix Templates set 6.

Ok I'm Baack

2010-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Hi there! This is my first update of the new year. Yeah I know it's already a month and half in the year. Let's see the last time I was here was before the Christmas. I'll do a quick update of how 2009 ended. Of course, Christmas is always festive around here. We spent time with both sides of the family with lots of food, laughs, and presents. The kids once again were overwhelmed by their gifts which were mostly from our extended side of the family. It's kind of a given since they are the only grandchildren on my husband's side. We spent New Year's Eve with our family friends who we've never spent with so, it was different than our usual stay at home celebration. January for us is pretty much a recovery month where we take down the decorations, stash toys away for later playtime, and simply just chill out (literally). At the end of the month, we look forward to my son's birthday which he constantly talks about through out the whole month of January. This year he turned seven. We spent his birthday at a Warriors game in a Mezzanine suite with awesome parking. He's very into basketball right now so this was a perfect gift for him. The following day our immediate family came over to celebrate his birthday. I really enjoy small parties with a few of our close friends and family.

Hmmm.... let's talk about my running hiatus that I've taken since Nike Marathon. I really don't enjoy running outdoors in the cold and especially on the treadmill. Hence, the running break. I did have some gym trip in January to keep with the exercise but we canceled my membership as of January 31. We may sign me back up for the single gum membership since I only end up going to the same gym rather than the surrounding ones. DH has been hitting the gym and feels guilty for not having me at a gym. This year I will run the full Nike marathon. I'm scared but I know with lots of training I will cross the finish line. I need to sign up for more events or else you won't hear about any running posts for until July when marathon training begins for me.

On the scrapping home front. All my designers have been busy bees. I love it though. I'm always excited when they have new products. Tania Shaw has added me as a CT member for her designs. I was on her CT way back when she was called lunafairie designs. I'm happy to have found her when last year and to see she's been doing well. At the moment, I'm not sure if it will be short lived due to Funky Playground Designs closing its door at the end of February. We have to wait and see if any interested buyers would like to take over the site. Come one over 40% sale at Funky Playground Designs.

Laura of Designs by Laura has been on a very long break. I was getting a bit worried when she was updating us in the CT forum for over a month. We did hear from her finally after our CT leader emailed her directly. She'll be back but no definite date. I do miss her.

Dani and Elise are releasing designs regularly so I've been busy working with their wonderful work.

~ Dani Alencar exclusively at Scrap Orchard ~
:: click image for full credits, thank you ::

~ Elise's Pieces Designs available at The Digi Chick ~

I'll be back with More

2010-02-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

Click for credits ~ Thank you for coming by. I'll be back with more than 10 words on post. See ya in a bit

Busy Decemeber

2009-12-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy December with me working part time and hubby getting a few extra hours of overtime too. I did scrap quite a few pages this month but haven't had time to share all of them. I will post some of my layouts here. For credits, please click. Trying to keep it simple 3 days before Christmas.
The following are from Funky Playground Designers. For the month of December, FPD is giving away templates known as Funky days of Christmas. Hence, all the layouts that I finished even during this busy time.

Some Scrapable layouts that I finished too.

A couple from Designs by Laura.

And, last but not least I have Layouts with Dani Alencar's work:

That's all folks! I can't give a definite answer as to when I'll be back here. Merry Christmas to all and Happy 2010!

Scrapable Blog It Challenge

2009-12-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here we are the 15th of December with 2009 slowly coming to a close. Well, not after all the festivities of the holidays, of course.

Every November/December, I was ask myself, "Where did the year go?" so for this challenge, I would like you to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of 2009.

For 2009, we kept it pretty simple throughout the year living by a day by day routine. I have to say the good would be all our mini vacation through out California. We spent a couple of days in South Lake Tahoe with my son's best friend's family. Also, we spent part of Spring Break in Southern California visiting family and Legoland. In the summer, we did San Diego's Sea World as a family. Another good side, is my husband has kept his job while his fellow co-workers were laid off. I'm very thankful for this, it truly shows how much my husband is respected for his hard work. I have much more to write but I'll keep it simple. I'll continue it on a layout.

For the bad, not much here. Most of this turns out to be a financial stand point at where we are with the big bad four letter word. D-E-B-T. Again, we've realized that our home is worth half of what we owe but in turn, we have half the property tax to pay.

The ugly, no uglies around here.

Okay, now you're turn to blog about your 2009.

Sharing Layouts

2009-11-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

I've been busy with my new seasonal job at Old Navy so, my blog has been neglected his past week. I'll probably do weekly updates as December is always a busy month around here.

The news for me in the digital world is I've quit two creative teams. The first two that took me in when I came back from dig-scrapping, Scrapberry Designs and Charlize Creations. I didn't have anything against Winnie or Tabby, I simply felt it was my time to part ways and possibly try out for me new teams in the new year. The 2 designers are wonderful people and would recommend them to you if you like their style.

Okay, now some layouts and products to shaer with you.
This layout was done for a scraplift challenge over at The Digi Chick. I used a collaboration kit by Sugarplum Paperie and Sahlin Studios called So Grateful.Next up is stuff from Dani Alencar. I've showed off the kits before but not her newest template. The kit with Seduction was created for a scraplift challenge at Scrap Orchard.
Last ones that were done for FPD's Monday New Release:

Everyday Gratitude Duo Kit

2009-11-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

Elise teamed up with simply.scraps to come up with this kit, Everyday Gratitude. I love that it still has a theme of being thankfulness with out the autumn colors. It was cool to work with simply.scraps designs once again even after my little stint with her in October.

Fall Romance by Laura James

2009-11-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

Laura has a new release at Scrapbook-Bytes called Fall Romance. This kit is exploding with papers. elements, and four sets of alphas for all your elegant and lovey dovey layouts.

Lazy Runner Here!

2009-11-17T14:36:00.001-08:00

Okay I'll admit now that the half marathon is done and over, I have not put on my running shoes since that day. Yes, I've become a lazy bum! I have yet to hit the gym as well. I need to get out of this rut or else I'll easily gain 5 pounds next week on Thanksgiving. Someone help me find my exercise mojo, it has gone missing. I'm sure once I hit the gym once this week, I'll slooooowly get into it. The fact is when will I get my booty to the gym. I have plenty of excuses of why I'm not working out but I'll spare you the whining. Now, that I wrote this blog entry, I sound pretty darn lazy. haha Okay, I need to stop fooling myself and I'll go for a walk at least.

Down This Road Designs' Cozy Comfort

2009-11-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Scrapable's exclusive designer, Down This Road Designs created a very wintery kit that puts in the mood for snuggle time and hot chocolate.

New Template Pack by Amy @ FPD

2009-11-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back with another layout from New Release Monday at Funky Playground Designs. This time I played with Amy Melniczenko's newest release: Layout Guides 7: Melanie. These templates were inspired by a few of Melanie (FPD's CT and Challenge Team) so come and take a look.

Scrapable Blog It Challenge

2009-11-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to my blog for the second half of Scrapable's Blog It Challenge!

Today. I would like to get to your history of how you became a digital scrapper. Did you paper scrap? Who inspired you? Where did you first call "home" in the digi-land? Anything you'd like to say about your venture into digital scrapbooking.

First of all, I was never a paper scrapper. As much as I wanted to document my son's first years, we didn't have a place for all the stuff that comes along with paper scrapping. As I was perusing www.twopeasinabucket.com, I came across layouts that were categorized as "Computer generated layouts". I like the graphic look some of the layouts had and went on a search on how I can accomplish such a page.

Summer 2005 to Winter 2006: Found a tutorial on the web and made my first layout. Downloaded freebies galore. My home base became Scrapbook Bytes and RAKscraps where I found lots of new online friends. I CT'd for Tania Shaw Designs (who now sells at Funky Playground Designs), RAKScraps, and Scrapkitchen (who now sells at Sweet Shoppe Designs).

Aug 2006: I had my second child and really wanted to focus on her and my family. I sadly had to quit all my teams and take a very long break away from scrapbooking.

Jan 2009: I got a new desktop with a large monitor and I was back at the computer again. My creative mojo came back in an instant. Taking risks with applying for creative teams. Rejected by many but accepted by my favorites.

Today: I'm proud to say that I have completed over 300 layouts and preserved memories my children, family, and friends.

I know kinda long but I hope you tell your digital scrapbooking story.

Daydreamer Designworks Challenges

2009-11-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

I joined in a couple of challenges over at Daydreamer Designworks. I've done a few layouts with them when they first opened and decided to go see the happenings over there. Here are my layouts from the template and color challenge.

Winter: Love or Hate?

2009-11-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Blog It Challenge at Scrapable with Cupcake Jaime

I gotta love the winter here in CA. It's not too cold for us to still be able to enjoy the cool weather when we're out. All we need is a thicker jacket and beanie and we're good to go. I think Winter some where else where it get colder than 30 degrees everyday is not for me. That's when I'll hate winter and look forward to summer. Yes, I love the cuddling part of the winter where we bring all our blankets downstairs and simply have family cuddling time. Also, another great part is we have snow in the Tahoe mountains for some fun snow play and snowboarding for the boys. I love all the seasons but I won't say winter is my favorite season. I'm more of summer girl, myself.

Beyond the Stars by Charlize Creations

2009-11-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

I went simple with Charlize's newest release at Daydreamer Designworks with Beyond the Stars. Pretty color combo with lots of different elements from dreamy starry nights to pretty garden flowers. Come over and check it out at DDW.

Beyond the Stars by Charlize Creations

New Orchard Girl = Dani Alencar

2009-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Dani is having her Grand Opening today at Scrap Orchard with 20% off for the weekend as well as $1 off coupon of $5 or more. I usually don't do layouts for Dani but I love the bright colors and all the girly stuff in this kit so, basically I was inspired.

Her newest kit is In a Girl's Closet:

Winnings!

2009-11-12T11:15:00.001-08:00

I've been a lucky during the DSD weekend. On Friday, I chatted over The Digi Chick for the first Friday of the month chat. Cheryl, the host had prizes if you answered the trivia questions correctly and quickly. I first won Elise's Grab Bag but had to decline for obvious reasons. I already have it due to CT'ing for Elise so, my alternative prize was a $10 gift certificate for Michelle's Batton store. Exciting! Woohoo I love winning stuff and winning from a designer that I have yet created layouts with. Here's my layout using Michelle'sButterfly Dream:Also, Lizzy Reiber (aka lizzyfizzy) opened her store at Catscraps called Fizzy Pop Designs on DSD with templates in her own style. I love her work and always wondered where she found inspiration to scrap some unique layouts. Now, I can be just like her. hahah just kidding. Anyways, she was having a contest for guests CT spots on her creative team when you scrapped with this freebie template: Guess what? I got a spot on her team for the month of March! I can't wait to play with all her FAB templates! Here's my layout using a kit I purchased from one of DSD sales. It's Kelly Mickus' Beginnings kit. I've had my eye on this for awhile because of my 2 fave colors!
Last and biggest prize of all was my winnings from Scrap Orchard DIY Bingo Game they had on Saturday morning with Kami of Ziggle Designs!! It was a blackout bingo and Iwas the first to call BINGO!! woohoo, I received a $25 gift certificate to the store. I did buy a couple of things but want to save some of it for new releases and maybe another sale.

Baby, I Love You Collaboration

2009-11-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

I have few more layouts to show you this one is created with Charlize Creations' and Fairytale Studios Collaboration, Baby, I Love You kit available exclusively at Daydreamer Designworks.

Designs by Laura is Back

2009-11-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

She's been away from the computer due personal stuff going with her. We missed her and her designs but she's back with good news from her. She will exclusively sell at Scrapbook-Bytes after much contemplation. This is all due to how well known SBB is in the digi-world as well as her well-being. I'm kinda excited to get back over there as SBB was one of my first home base sites. Here's one of her first kits to arrive at SBB:

Funky Layouts

2009-11-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Internation Digital Scrapbook Day came and went. We celebrated the fun day on Saturday, November 7, 2009 with challenges, games, chats, and sales (of course) all over the digital world of scrapping. Hence, my posting lag here. I'll show off all the new stuff that FPD released this past weekend. Sorry no product pics but I'll post all the credits below.Traci Murphy's November Funky Sampler
Valorie Brown's A Spot of Color

Sarah Bennett's Funky Sampler
Valorie Brown's Spot of Color
Tania Shaw's Layered Up Set 2

DSD Grab Bag ~ Sarah Bennett

Funky Joy Wendy Page ~ LO Guides Set 2 ~Amy M
Font ~ MTF Hoo rah ~ Miss Tiina
Stitches ~ Basics n More Stitches ~ Jessica Bolton
Green Bow ~ Popsicle Stick ~ PurpleColourz

One from this weeks Designer's Challenge with Sherry Ferguson:
Fabulously Festive Kit ~ Sarah Jones
Layout Guides Set 5: Julie ~ Amy Melniczenko
Teeny-Tiny Torn Tag Alphabet ~ Jessica Bolton
AlphaWare 2 - Worn Cardstock Black ~ Valorie Brown

One of Many Christmas Layouts

2009-11-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Designers are starting up there Christmas kits and here's my first one from Scrapberry Designs. All my layouts will come from last year's Christmas when I wasn't back at scrapping yet. Let me tell you, I have an overload of pics that I think most it will turn into 2 pagers.

Fairies in the Gareden Collaboration Kit

2009-11-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

I have a kit and layout from Charlize Creations. It's been awhile since I've scrapped with her designs so, it was nice to get this one out. Remember, how I wrote about 2 of the designers I create for will become an Orchard Girl at Scrap Orchard. Well, Charlize Creations was one of the two but she has decided to stick with Daydreamer Designworks for personal reasons, mostly because she feels DDW feels more like "home". I know exactly how she feels about finding the right atmosphere to hang out in. Anyways, back to the lovely kit with Charlize Creation and Karen Lewis that Ihad a chance to play with:

Grab Bag Time with Elise

2009-11-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

I love grab bag month at The Digi Chick! It helps me try out the new designers and some of my faves as well. For Elise's grab bag, she went with a theme. Can you guess what it could be with my two layouts?

Playing Catch Up

2009-11-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

Okay now that the big event has come and the cloud 9 has dissipated, I'll start scrapping regularly and posting more layouts. Although, we are thinking of another running event within the next 4-5 months.

First of all, my last scrapping post was in regards to Scrapberry resigning. She decided to stick around but sell exclusively at Scrapable. So that was exciting to hear the good news from Tabby.

It's November so my time with simply scraps has ended. I loved working with her work. It's so me with bright colorful kits. Guest spots are great because you don't have the long commitment. I do miss it around there even though I wasn't that big on posting as much as I liked.

Also, looks like 2 of the designers I create for will be Orchard Girls (designers at Scrap Orchard). I can't announce but you'll know in a few days. Scrap Orchard is where I played the contest a while ago to become a Honey Bee. I made it through all the rounds but got cut right at the final call. It'll be nice to hang out over at SO again. Maybe it'll help me when the CT contest comes around again. Ya, right.

If you don't know what this weekend is, what's wrong with you? It's National Scrapbook Day but in the digi world we call Digital Scrapbook Day or DSD for short. I'll be hosting a couple of challenges at 2 different sites so,please visit and play along. You may win a lovely prize. I'll play along at a few sites and join a couple of chats/speed scraps. As much as I can anyways as hubby is still away on business. I'll be shopping around too but not spend too much moola.

Alright, enough typing for me. Here are the layouts and kits awaiting their appearence on the blog.
First up is Rosemade's Ruby Sunset available at Scrapable.Second, I have Scrapable's new promo in the store names Surf's Up. Designers make bits and pieces based off a color scheme. I chose a few below to make my layouts. I love all the ideas the designers came up with and I'm happy to see this new type of collaboration at Scrapable.
Third, one more Scrapable item. It's Laurinda's Amish Country kit. I won't lie that I wasn't sure what I was going to scrap with an Amish kit. I opened the kit to find lovely patterned paper and a few simple elements that I was able to create with.
Are you still with me? I got lots more to see ...

Fourth, I have Dani's newest template and kit. Dani's Freestyle templates takes me out of comfort zone. When I'm done with my layout, I have to step back because it doesn't look right in my eyes. I'm always happy with the end layout that all is left alone.
Next I have some Funky Playground Layouts for you to see. Miss Tiina has the cutest little critters around. Her drawings look like they come straight from a cartoon. I love her work and she's one of the first designers I purchased from when I discovered FPD. Here's on of her latest cutie kits.
Fifth item to show off is FPD's November Guest Designer, Amy M. with her cool new templates. I played with her lots of photos template because I just don't do multi-photos layouts very well. Also, Amy asked me if she can make templates out of a few of my layouts. How cool is that to see my creations into templates? Sixth product to check out is Sarah Bennett's Sister Sue Kit. Let me tell you Sarah has been rockin and rollin with her designs. Every week she has something new to play with and she has it ready for us in the beginning of the week. That gices us creative team members lots of time to create lots of layouts for her for FPD New Product Monday blog. This past Monday, she had this ready for us and I scrapped my cake and candle that Carissa made for me.
Actually this next up is one of =Sarah Bennett's older kits, World Traveler but, she had it on sale for Lost and Found Thursday. I decided to work with it when I saw my friend's pictures from her European vacation. Last but not least is one of the last kits I worked with for simply.scrap's guest CT. This kit is a collaboration with Connie Price titled Doctor Octopus. I also used simply.scraps' Copy This template.

Thank you everyone for hanging in there with all the kits and layouts I posted. I needed to play catch up or else this would have turned into a 20 layouts and kits. I have a few more layouts to show in the next few days with new releases as well as DSD stuff!

Happy Wednesday y'all!

It's RACE Day

2009-10-27T19:50:00.001-07:00

4:20 am - Alarm goes off from my cell phone
Time to make coffee, eat my Power Harvest Bar, and "go" to the bathroom
Call Hubby make sure he's awake and either heading out the door or on the road. He's on the road already. What a great hubby waking up to be paparazzi at 4 in the morning.
5:15am Time to shower and get dressed. Hubby is here with SIL & BIL. Stretching, pinning my bib again, getting last minutes thing together.

The rest of the team come into our room for their food and drinks. A room full of girls stretching and talking.6:15am Out the door and group a couple of groups pics in the lobby

Starting line was a few blocks from our hotel. The bag check buses were on the same street as our hotel so, that went pretty quickly. We headed to Union Square to stretch and wait for one of more Holla Peno girl. Jaymee & I had Nike Rum club privileges so we attempted to find the group but went back as it was already after 6:30. We still wanted to start running with our crew. More picture taking courtesy of my hubby:At this point, I'm pretty much going through the motions as I would with any weekend long run. Once I get as close as possible to the start line, my nerves are ready to just do this. The energy all the runners are expressing is felt throught the sea of women and a few brave men. We're telling each other good luck and we can do it! Jaymee, Luci, and I try to stick together as we're the only three running half.

And, here's what the START LINE looks like:

The gun goes off! we push our way through the crowd and walk to the start line. We cross the start line a little after 4 minutes. I keep telling myslef, don't take off too fast because I need to conserve my energy for the hills ahead. From mile 1-5 I'm still running with Jaymee, Luci, Elaine, and Crystal. After the first short hill, we start to lose everyone. The only one I'm near is Crystal at around the Marina which I think is Mile 5. By Mile 7, we've all lost each other. I don't have my support group so, it's all me right now. Well, along with the other women runners around me. I talk to myself and tell myself, treat this like any other training run. I'm trying to stay focused at the first long hill and mission accomplished. I ran up the hill all the way to the top with out stopping. Running at a slower pace but no walking. On downhills, I try to catch speed so I take off but make a mental note to not pound the pavement. It's too early for knees and/or shins ot give out now. Okay half through, still no familiar faces. I'm doing great especially when I see my hubby and the rest of the signifcant others up the hill between 8-9. I'm actaully ecstatic to see them and take a few photo ops as I jog past them. Seeing hubby's face uplifted my spirits and energy and off I go. Right around Mile 10.5, I was mentally losing it, my right lower part of my quad started cramping slowly but if when I slowed down, I could feel more tension. I decided to run through the mild cramps and eventually subsided. Physically, I wanted to run faster but mentally, my mind was getting tired and I had no one to talk to. Finally, Luci ran past me and I caught up to her at the Ghiradelli mile and I was so happy to find someone to finishe the race with. Once we turned that corner and saw the finish line, we ran as fast as we could. I crossed the finish line at 2:38 and some seconds. That was my unofficial time-gun time. My chip time was 2 hours, 34 minutes and 34 seconds. Pratically 15 minutes shaved off from last year's races.

The Eve Continued ...

2009-10-19T15:01:00.001-07:00

After 3.5 months of training for Nike Woman's Marathon, I finally crossed the finish line after 2 hours 34 minutes and 34 seconds. I'm quite happy with my time even if I went 4 minutes over my goal time of 2:30. I have room to improve but very happy that I beat last year's time by 15 minutes. It felt great knowing that this my personal best!

The weekend played out like this:
Saturday:
2.46 mile run
Caravan into the city -- hit traffic on 101 so made a stop for lunch at Quizno's
More traffic downtown
Drop off our luggage at the hotel

Walk over to the Expo to get our numbers and other stuff Jaymee, my partna in crime aka half marathon

Search for my name on the Wall next to Niketown.

That was a task in itself, dodging through the crown from one side of the wall to other, trying to find my little 1 inch name which was on top, but I found it! I was excited to see my little old name on the wall of other determined runners.

Do you see my name?

Niketown -- to check out the marathon gear and apparel. I was thinking of buying some a hoodie or on of the other tops. I stopped myself because I know I would see in a month or two at the outlets for half or more than half the price. I even had a gift card for Nike but still hesitated to purchase.Brian & Joanne checking out the course map for the second half of the marathonElaine and Jaymee trying out their new hats
Joanne & Elaine posing like a girl

Macys -- Check out more stuff since Joanne had a Macy's coupon but still no shopping
Back to the Expo
Hotel Adagio - beautiful hotel and great location, book early
Dinner at Buca -- yummy Frutti de Mare, Eggplant Parm, Garlic Bread and of course, water
Hotel Adagio
Get everything ready -- timing chip on shoes, bib pinned to our tanks, all clothes hung, gear prepped.
Off to bed -- Of course, I was the last one to sleep. I was tossing and turning for at least an hour then I slowly fell asleep at who knows what time

The Eve of Nike Women's Half Marathon

2009-10-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so anxious that my stomach is turning and I'm nauseous. I just want to go be with my running friends to get my mind off this feeling. That's it for now, I'm off for a 2 miler before we head out to the city. The run will help get me anxieties at bay. No need for Prozac. hahaha Be back after the race!

Scrapable Blog It Challenge

2009-10-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Aloha Scrappers! Welcome to my little paradise called Scrappy Running Mama. You came here today from Scrapable's Blog It Challenge and I am the co-host for this bi monthly challenge.

Being that I am running Nike Women's Half Marathon this Sunday, October 18. An event geared towards women (some men) I would like to keep the subject of our womanhood, girly-ness, feminine sides ... you get the point.

TOPIC:

What makes you feel like a WOMAN?

It can be your actions, materialistic, appearance, attitude, personality, etc. Try to keep all blogging on a positive note because I think it's time to reflect on ourselves.

I'll keep this simple. The day I found out I was pregnant with my first child, it made me realize how special and important a woman's body could be. To carry and nurture a baby inside my own body for it's growth is absolutely amazing. I've seen and heard stories from women but once I knew I was pregnant, it was quite empowering to me. Even with my second child, I felt the same way over again. Woman have an amazing physiological body and don't anyone ever tell you differently.

Scrapable :: Blog It! Challenge

2009-10-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Katarina is the co host for the Blog It challenge at Scrapable. Basically, we go to the host's blog and blog about the topic she has chosen to discuss. For this challenge, we're discussing the well known Gosselin family. Here are my thoughts about the show and their family.

Truthfully, I'm over them. I've been over them since the day they announced they were divorcing. I enjoyed them from day one when they had their Discvory documenting their lives. I would watch the Jon and Kate marathons on the weekends for the episodes I did miss. Their shows were DVR'd weekly. I read their magazine articles. I watched them on show appearences. I think it was after season 4 show finale, I could sense Jon and Kate were not on the same level as far as their lives and show went. Jon was complaining he was only known as "Jon and Kate Plus " not just Jon Gosselin. I believe it was afer that show he started to act out meaning going out partying without his wife. Anways, now that the new season has started, I simply can not get myself to watch the show no matter how much I did love it. It hurts to know what the kids are going through,t he pain Kate is still feeling, and Jon's behavior in the situation. Plus, they are all over the tabloids with he said/did or she sad/did. It drives me nuts. Please Jon and Kate stop! Stop all this nonsense! I'd rather not hear one more word or see you any on them on tv again. Please focus on what's important here, your family!

Farewell to Scrapberry Designs

2009-10-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Tabby of Scrapberry Designs made the decision to hang up her designing hat to focus on her family which I know is everyone's first priority. I'm truly saddened by this because she was the first designer that took me under her wing after my break. After a couple of months of being on the team she asked my to ber her CT leader which I accepted. Since then, I've learned how much a sweet person she is in the designing world. Thank you Tabby for being a wonderful designer to me and the rest of the creative team. You will be missed in the design world but there is no way you're saying good bye in the scrapping world. I'll see you around doll! Here are a some my creations with Scrapberry Designs! I won't link them individually this time but here's my Scrapable gallery where all my layouts are posted for Scrapberry Designs. Also, she's having a sale over at Scrapable so, go check it out.

Less Than a Week

2009-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Down to the wire with training with a few 2-3 mile runs for my last week. Lots of stretching, hydrating, and resting will be in play too. I'm still congested from last week's 24 hour bug but I feel great. We ran 6 miles last Saturday at our home trail in Los Gatos. As much as I would have liked to head to the city, we couldn't because we were out celebrating the night before for our friend's birthday. According to J's Garmin, we ran 6 miles at an average pace of 11:15 which is tad faster than our goal pace. Considering I didn't run or hit the gym for six days, I felt good through out the six miles.

After our run, lunch at Subway, and off to find our booty shorts for our matching outfits. Yes, shorts shorts in black. I've never ran in these type of shorts except for the shorts under our running skirts. Actually, these shorts were difficult to locate in a szie small. After numerous trips and phone call to sport stores, Coach B and J made a trip to Antioch to pick them up. Thank you to my favorite running couple for making the long trip!

Besides, my booty shorts and our top, I need to figure out what to layer on top during the cold SF morning. Last year, I wore an old sweater which I tossed/donated at mile 2. I don't have any old sweaters anymore so I may just brace the cold with one long sleeve top. I'm still deciding.

Also, reservations are set at Buca for our carb loading dinner on Saturday night. Yummy! Too bad hubby can't join us because he'll be at his brother's engagement party. That's one thing he looks forward to as part of my training ... the yummy past dinners. Silly hubby!

Anyways, I'm sure this post is quite long by now so I'll go. I may have some layouts before the end of the week but we'll see if I creative focus this week.

Tata till later!

Funky Playground :: Girlfriends

2009-10-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

New Release Monday at Funky Playground Designs brings this humongous collaboration that Tania Shaw helped put together called Girlfriends. This collab is full of bright colored papers, elements, word art, 3 sets of alphas, and a handful templates.

simply.scraps :: Frank the Frog

2009-10-12T15:01:00.001-07:00

The Gotta Pixel store hosts a Gotta Grab It event where a color scheme is chosen and the designers use that as their inspiration for design. Laura of simply.scraps went with the froggy theme which is too cute and perfect for my son's layouts.

Elise & Madame Wing Collaboration

2009-10-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Elise and Madame Wing collaborate on this pretty fall colored kit, Autumn Spice. This is my first time working with designs by Madame Wing that I was a little excited to see what her designs were all about. Of course, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed as I've always been happy with all my purchases at TDC. The collaboration was perfectly executed with lots of great elements and lovely array of papers. Thanks Elise for collaborating because you've introduced to a new designer.

Sarah Bennet of FPD :: Memories of You

2009-10-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

I got sick Sunday evening so, I didn't get a chance to finish a layout for Sarah Bennett's Memories of You kit in by New Release Monday. Since, I was out of creative energy I usually do a challenge to get me going. I figured I''ll do the FPD Scraplift Challenge which was a Paper to Digi scraplift of Michelle Filo at Two Peas in a Bucket.Michelle Filo's Velvet Layout @ Two Peas

Dani's Newest Template

2009-10-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Dani's latest release was a set of unique templates, Free Style Set 1 which are actually from her very own layouts. These templates are unique compared to what I've seen around the digi-world. I also played with her Time to Rock kit to show off one these funky templates.

12 Days and Counting

2009-10-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

In less than 2 weeks, I'll be at the start line for Nike Women's Half Marathon. I'm getting excited and ready to kill those hills and cross the finish line with all my friends.

Last Sunday, I ran part of San Jose's Rock n Roll Half Marathon with one of my friends. We were what race officials would call "race bandits". I'll say I wasn't the only one so I don't feel guilty at all. We actually only ran 4 miles of the race course and turned around for the next 4 miles. We were not running our best times due to boredom, checking the map, and just not into it that day. I know we could have done better but we kept saying, well at least we're out here running and keeping up with our training schedule. We finished our 8 miles in 1 hour 39 minutes with a 11:49 pace. Quite slow for a very flat course but we did it. After our short run, we headed to the finish line to look for my friend's husband and the rest of the running crew. Today, everyone we knew beat their personal record in a half marathon. Congratulations runners! Keep up the great work!

My longest run until race day is 6 miles and the run in between are 1-4 miles. It's cooler outside and the sun is setting earlier so most of these runs will be done on a treadmill at the gym. Also, I've been under the weather with congestion and slight cough so, I've been resting these past couple of days. Resting my body and getting back to my healthy state in time for the big race day.

I think the girls have finally agreed on a matching top for the race. They've all been bought so we're almost ready. We're thinking of black tight shorts for our bottoms but I remember how cold it was and I may wear black tight capris instead. Also, I'm in search of a long sleeved top or jacket with a full zip possibly in the same color as our tank.

Time to cook dinner so I'll come back again soon. I will have more layouts uploaded as a couple sit on my desktop waiting to be uploaded to its rightful gallery. Be back soon, how soon ... can't tell you that right now.

Peace and love!

Bless the Child by Charlize Creation

2009-10-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

One more layout and kit sharing for today and then the next post will an update on me and my running.

This one is brought to by Charlize Creation called Bless the Child available at Daydreamer Designworks. Her designs always take me out of my creative comfort zone which is challenging but I always love my end result. So here it is:

Slumber Fun by Scrapberry Designs

2009-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here is Scrapberry's newest kit, Slumber Fun. Great for all the sleep over your children have had or will have in the future with cute pillow and ice cream elements to add to your layouts.

{clickity click click for credits}

Hey Boo Kit by simply.scraps

2009-10-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

My October guest post has begun with simply.scraps. The first kit I played with was Hey Boo which is exclusive to Daydreamer Designworks for her October Designer Guest Spot. I scrapped the kids older Halloween pictures from 2007.

Last Day of September

2009-09-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fall is slowly hitting California with very cool days these past few days and more to come. This past week I've been pretty laid back with scrapping and running. I've been exercising at the gym with strength training classes and a couple of miles on the treadmill. My friend and I are running San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon this Sunday but only 8 miles. Yes, we're going to race bandits because 13.1 miles is too much to run when we'll be doing the same in 2 weeks. Today, I need to run 4 miles to keep up with training. Hopefully, I can get out before it gets dark.

As far as scrapping. I did finish a layout for The Digi Chick's Scraplift Challenge and I'm working on a couple of kits for release dates in the next few days. One is from simply.scraps which I'm an October guest for her creative team. Charlize Creation will have something new too at Daydreamer Designworks on Friday and Funky Playground will have a couple of new things for Monday. I know in the next couple of days, I'll receive my assigned designer at Scrapable. For now, I'll leave you with this layout:

Funky Stuff

2009-09-28T00:26:00.001-07:00

Today is Funky Playground New Product Monday. 2 of my layouts are from today's newest releases and the 3rd one is from the Designer's Challenge 2 weeks ago. If any of you are reading this, Funky Playground will be posting a Creative Team Call sometime this week. If you like what you see as far as products, I encourage all to apply. The designers, challenge, cheer, and layout team are all fun to work with and always have nice things to say to each other. If I get an ad for the call I'll come back and post it here on my blog or you can email me if you have any questions. Now back to todays' FPD stuff.

{freebie on Sarah Bennett's blog}

Three Weeks from Now ...

2009-09-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

... I crossed the finish line for my fourth half marathon at the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. For the next 21 days, my training will be tapering off. Two more long runs at 8 and 6 miles. During the weeks, I will focus on strength, core, and possibly one more hill training.

As for yesterday's 12 miler, I felt absolutely GREAT through out most of my run. Of course, the first 2 miles, I was thinking maybe I'll cut it short at 10 miles with J and E. But, I was feeling better after the fourth mile, my first GU, and some down hill running. We were running faster than our regular pace (11:30 min/mile) at 11:05 - 11:15/mile. The pace was fine for me as long as I stayed on the flat residential area. I could tell from all this training these past months that I'm stronger. I may not run be able to run all of Lover's Lane (a very steep and long hill) but I killed the rolling hills through out yesterday's course. It was tough but I didn't feel like passing out 10 steps up the hill like in the beginning. Truthfully, taking a break from last week's run helped me get through 12 miles. I was feeling guilty about not keeping up with training but after awhile I realized I mentally and physically needed it. Hopefully, the energy I had during yesterday's run will reciprocate on race day, three weeks from today ... Sunday, October 18!

Past and Water, Please

2009-09-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

The eve of our second peak long run for 12 miles tomorrow morning. I haven't been blogging much about running as I seriously fell off track. I think last weekend really screwed me up because my routine is to run every Saturday. Well, it was my birthday weekend and we headed out to Carmel/Monterey. Sunday, I thought I would head out but nope, slept in. I finally exercised on Tuesday with strength training. Wednesday, I went to the hill near my house but I got spooked because no one else was out there and the sun was slowly setting. I ended at the gym's treadmill running hills for 20 minutes. I still got a good workout, not the best but happy with how I felt afterwards. Thursday, I did yoga poses and streteched through out the day which I usually try to do before any of my runs. Friday, I basically hydrated, ate well through out the day and carbed up for dinner. I will stretch before going to bed in a couple fo hours. Other than that, I am mentally ready and somewhat excited that it's our last long run. Then, it's all tapering from there. 3 weeks and counting ....

Of course, the girls I run with are searching for the perfect color coordinated outfit. We voted on a grass green but finding it hard to find the right shirt in the stores. I even went to a Nike store 30 minutes away but no luck. We may have to order online or head over to the big Niketown in SF or change our color chose. Right now, we all have different preference for our bottoms such as shorts, skirts, capri tights, or leggings. We agreed to wear black bottoms regardless of style. My chose right now is capri leggings. I have blue ones that I love to wear but not sure if I want o pony up $55 for the black ones. I usually buy all my running clothes at the outlet but they're not carrying the style I want right now. We'll see how desperate I get to buy the black ones or not.

Be back soon! Good night! Happy running thoughts for me and the rest of the Nike Club Run SF!!!

Charlize Creation Layouts

2009-09-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Winnie of Charlize Creation released two kits this week as well as adding on to her Exquisite Team. She's been a busy lady. Her designs are probably are always a challenge with me because it's not easy to have a paper style look with her papers and elements. I do enjoy the challenge and the process it takes me to scrap with her work. Her designs are different and very unique. I love the she uses bright colors in all of her designs. Her team was my first team when I returned to scrapping so it has a special place in my digital scrapbooking resume. Anyways, on to her designs and my layouts! Enjoy!

Elise's New Release, Finally

2009-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since you've seen any of Elise's designs here. I've missed working with her work so it's nice to see her designing like crazy with 2 new releases for Thursday. Well, she's been busy with a big move during the summer. Finally, she's come back with some GREAT stuff. I mean GREAT. Really GREAT! TWO kits kinda great! Okay enough .... One kit is Summer Garden with soft color palette and cute elements. As much as I love all Elise's kits the next one is by far my most favorite kit of all. It's a collaboration kit with Courtney Wilson of Polka Dot Plum called A Sport in a World of Games. GREAT kit focusing on RUNNING!!! Truly, no designer has designed a kit themed towards running. Maybe elements and word art but not a full on kit! Can you hear my excitement in my blog? haha Anyways, here are the 2 new releases for September 24 at The Dig Chick.Last year's Nike Women's Marathon. I am finishing my second page with journaling and a couple of more pictures. It's taking me awhile to journal as the event was last year.

Scrapberry's New Store

2009-09-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Scrapberry Designs can now be seen at Digi Scrap Drive In. She's officially a Pink Lady aka Designer for them as of last week. I've finished uploading a few my layouts already. The new store is cute with it's drive in theme and colors of pastel. The Grand opening with lots of different events and challenge starts tomorrow, September 24 and ends on September 27. I'm going to try out the new place by jumping into challenges.Also, if you haven't stopped by Scrapberry Designs Blog, I posted a template challenge over there. Go check it out, create a layout, and have fun scrapping!

Not an Ordinary Day by Dani Alencar

2009-09-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am doing good with keeping up with my CT layouts. Umm ... running not so much. I make a post soon about running. For now, here is Dani's latest kit at Go Digital Scrapbooking, Not an Ordinary Day. Of course, my layout to follow. Thanks for coming by.

Random Layots for Designs by Laura

2009-09-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of layouts from my one of my CT's, Designs by Laura. One is her portion of Daydreamer Designworks Grand Opening Blog Train and the other is from Digi Scrap Addicts' The Enabler Design Challenge seen in this month's Enabler aka monthly newsletter. Both of these weren't assigned work but as always I like working with bright colors. I couldn't resist.

Unforgettable by Spinky Dink Scraps

2009-09-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

I try to wait for new releases by assigned Scrapable designers because most of the time they come up with one or a few kits towards the middle and end of the month. Thank goodness, I waited for this one. It's all about love and memories just like the song Unforgettable.

LOTW @ The Digi Chick

2009-09-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

hehe ... I got layout of the week at The Digi Chick for 9/21! Guess what, that was birthday too! What a nice little surprise for me! The layout I created was for their Inspiration Challenge last week where we were given a simply QP to dressup. Here it is:

New Creative Team

2009-09-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

I applied for Dani Alencar's Creative Team a couple of weeks ago and finally heard from her last week that she accepted my application. She did have a few concerns but I let her I can do the job of promoting her designs where possible. Since, I found her designs to work well with my scrapping style, I already purchased a few of her kits knowing I'd love to work with her. Her latest kit was, Bright New Day which was part of her August Grab Bag at The Digi Chick that she revelead this month. I already showed you the layout but here it is anways with the kit:
The second kit is titled, My Best Friend available currently at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com and I also used Mulitpix Template #3 available at The Digi Chick.

First Day of School Layout

2009-09-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

I know 3 weeks later, right! I've been waiting for kits that were bold and boyish and Tania came up with a paper pack and alphas that fit my needs. I'll do it backwards this time where I'll post all the products I used first and then the final layout.