Did you know?

Did you know that Elemental Scraps gives away TWO free kits a month for completing challenges? You only have a few days left to get the Passion Fruit kit pictured below. Just complete three challenges in the Elemental Scraps challenge forums and you can get this beautiful kit (so big, it's not even all pictured in the preview) for FREE! Another new kit is coming for the beginning of May, so keep checking and challenging! Freebie reminder: If you are not downloading my freebies from my blog or store, you are downloading pirated material! Please know that I want everyone possible to take advantage of my free samplers and products, but I need to be able to sell stuff once in a while too. That's why my freebies are only available on my blog and store, so I can also share images of my for-sale products. It may seem greedy, but it's a business for me as well as something I love. If you see someone sharing a file of mine (or any other designer for that matter) via a file sharing host like YouSendIt or RapidShare, please try and help them understand that this violates our Terms of Use and is detrimental to the industry that wants to help them find beautiful products to use for scrapping. In other news: only two more days to get 25% off the new Memory Miniatures, and only four more days for my April Free With Purchase deal. This month has gone by so FAST!

Make mine a double

Double ear infection, that is. My poor little guy was in the nurse's office yet again, complaining that his ear hurt. My kids rarely get ear infections, so his minor complaints about his ears last week fell on deaf...well, ears. I just cleaned em out and figured he'd be fine. But by the time I got to school to take him home he was nearly in tears from the pain. The doctor barely even had to look to know he had it bad. Thank goodness we're home now with grape flavored amoxicillin and ready to knock that stuff out. Well, as soon as he wakes up. Poor kid.

What a relief

We've lived on Long Island for just over 2 years now, and for all that time I've been without a physician. I went to the urgent care place once, for a bronchial infection that lasted a month (I finally gave in and went to the doctor when I lost my sense of taste and cried through dinner!). But no regular doctor. Today I finally called a place nearby and got an appointment for a checkup. I don't know why on earth I put these things off, but I do. I guess when you feel good you don't think about it, and when you feel bad it's kinda too late. So to celebrate I'm going to do something that I don't do too often: spend some money. Sales were pretty good for the first half of April, so I'm going to use my little Paypal nest egg to do some things for myself. First, I have a personal shopping day at Borders so I'm going to go see if they have the latest Photoshop Creative magazine. Then I'm going to take myself and my magazine to Panera for lunch. After that I need a trim and I'm going to see if there's a nail place in the same shopping center where I get my hair cut. I never have my nails done anymore, and it would just be fun to have them done today. Understand, the place I get my hair cut charges ten bucks, so I'm not breaking the bank here. LOL! I'm having a Cheap Girl Spa Day! But it's fun to do nice things for yourself once in a while. It's too nice to stay indoors. I started walking again finally. I have a nice little 45 minute route mapped out through the neighborhood. My friend Maria always promises she's going to come with me, but she can't ever get her kids out of the house in the morning! She's so funny. And we spent the entire weekend either playing sports or gardening. Thank goodness the warm weather has arrived! Rebecca is TOTALLY the star of her soccer team; I'm always so proud to watch her! She's a good teammate too, always passing the ball to the other players to give them a chance to score. Ben is loving t-ball, especially since Daddy is an assistant coach. He loves strutting around in his cute little uniform. Well that's it from here for today. Thanks to Ikea Goddess for putting my Rebecca sampler pack up on her freebie blog this weekend. I love knowing that so many people are able to see my work up close now! Don't forget about the Memory Miniatures sale and coupon...good only through Friday! Have a great week!

Got a couple new things for ya today!

You knew it was coming: the release of my Memory Miniatures! They're up in both stores now and ready for you with 25% off introductory pricing. But I won't let my beautiful blog readers get away without a little something extra: use this coupon code at either store to take 25% off the sale price! Yahoo! Find the minis at Elemental Scraps or Natural Designs. CODE: CS-LoveMinis Check out these layouts by my wonderful teammates at NDISB and ES: In addition, I've put another mini kit in the "Naturally Guilt Free" dollar bin at Natural Designs. It's called Chris's Charisma, and it's named after one of my long-time internet (and real life) friends who is also a dedicated and talented CT member for me. It's a kit I made a long time ago, but I've updated it to meet my stringent quality standards and I know you'll enjoy using it. For a buck? What a steal! Here's a layout I did with it yesterday, using one of Jen Caputo's new templates at Scrapbook Graphics:

Sneak Peek Today!

Some of you already know, I've been in the designing doldrums for a week or so now. One of those "Why am I here? What is my purpose? And why does dh keep yelling at me to get off the damn computer?" kinda things. But despite all my questioning, there has been a product idea fairly THROBBING inside my brain for several weeks now, demanding to be released into the world. I've been working on it for a while now, and I finally have what feels to me to be a completed product. They're called Memory Miniatures, and they are basically watch cases with glass covers that have been filled with little trinkets. I picture them being used on heritage layouts, feminine pages, baby pages, wedding or romance pages, lots of stuff. There are five that I've created for you, each with a coordinating ribbon for hanging. Of course, you can attach them to your page in any number of ways that I probably never thought of, but if you like ribbons then they're already in there for you. The sixth miniature is saved in three parts: a neutral background, the watch case itself, and the glass cover, all in png format. This gives you the capability of filling your own watch case with items from any designer, any kit! How COOL is that? There's also a matching neutral ribbon that you can recolor to your liking. These little babies will be available at both my stores on Friday, and of course my blog readers can expect a special coupon deal in addition to the introductory pricing. So please check back!

SWOON!

If you read the entertainment news, you might have heard about how George Clooney stopped at a lemonade stand while filming a movie in NC recently, and paid the little entrepeneurs $20 for a glass. Well, that all took place on the road where my SIL's parents live, and she got to meet him! Here's living proof! He's SOOOO dreamy. Sigh.

Update on my new kit, Spring Skies

I've decided to do a special offer on the new kit! Available at either store, just make sure that you have the minimum amount of my product in your cart in order for the coupon to work. You can, of course, add product from other designers as long as you have $5 from me in there. Discount is automatic at Elemental Scraps; just put $5 of my product and the Spring Skies kit in your cart, and the discount will show up. At Natural Designs, just put $5 of my product in your cart, add the Spring Skies kit, and use this code at checkout: CS-WelcomeSpring My stores can be found at Elemental Scraps and NDISB. ETA!!! I just found this ADORABLE layout using my Doo Wop kit, and I just HAD to share it with you. It's by DigitalDiva and I found it in the Elemental Scraps gallery. Isn't it just perfect? Doo Wop is available at both my stores.

New Spring Skies kit

Several of my friends asked me to rework my Promise of Passover kit so it would be more versatile for non-Jewish pages. And I was happy to oblige! Presenting my new Spring Skies kit, which incorporates all the non-Judaic pieces from the Passover kit, plus a few new or reworked pieces. I hope you like it! :) Available at NDISB and Elemental Scraps.

What can you get for a BUCK?

NDISB is back open, and we're refilling the store with all the goodies you remember, plus a few new things we created during our enforced "downtime." But it's not just the same old NDISB...Ernie and Theresa have instituted a lot of changes for the better, and more are coming! One of the most exciting additions is the section of the store called "Naturally Guilt Free" where you can find all kinds of fun products for only A DOLLAR EACH! Fill up your basket and still be able to face your Paypal account in the morning! Right now Nina has a whole bunch of sketches in there, there's a cute pack of bows, and I resurrected and improved on a little mini kit I created ages ago and put it in the dollar bin. So run on over and see how far your dollars will go!

Happy Passover!

A happy Passover to all my friends who celebrate! We won't be having a first night seder this year, but we will be going to my mother-in-law's house tomorrow night for a second night seder with the family. I love this time of year, watching the kids hunt for the afikomen and ask the four questions. (Or maybe that's FIVE questions, if you count the big one: when do we eat?) In honor of this blessed holiday I've created two new products: a kit and a set of date stamps. They are currently available at Elemental Scraps and will soon be available at NDISB as well. I hope you like them.