TSG Blog with Tracy Beck - Ocotober 1, 2007

Hello,

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for the new week. I had a great Sunday, other than getting up at 7:30 (too early for me on a weekend). The all day crop I went to was great fun and proceeds were donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Fund. As usual, we laughed a lot (one of the best reasons to crop with friends). I got 8 pages done for me and a 22 page 8 x 8 gift album for my sister-in-law. (Hope she doesn’t read this.)

I noticed a fun new thread in our forum called Garden Tour. You can link your layouts to the tour and spread some loving along the way. Joni has been nice enough to get the ball rolling. All the info can be found Here in the forum.

This year has been flying by for me. It seems like the kids just got out of school for the summer and now they have been back to school for a month. We started off the year with a trip on the Disney Cruise. I highly recommend this cruise for everyone. It is a little bit more expensive than other cruises but if you are a Disney fan or have kids, this cruise is so worth it. They completely redo the ships every 1 ½ years including replacing the custom carpets and furniture. The kids program can’t be beat. Just check them in and they have a great time while you get to enjoy the adult only parts of the ship. I wasn’t thrilled with St Martin but we loved St. Thomas. The best stop is Disney's private island Castaway Cay. I could spend a week just on the island, but you can't stay there. The island is reserved for the Disney Cruise ships only.

A lot of my design inspiration comes from nature and my photographs. That is how I came up with my logo and website name, PhotoScraps. Usually, I take too many photos of everything. 1700 photos from the cruise. My photos from the Butterfly Farm on St Martin inspired me to create many kits including my two Pretty Dreams kits that are available in the store HERE. These are a couple of layouts I made with Pretty Dreams.



Tomorrow, you get to hear about my fun filled first day back to work after vacation. I got my Frappachino in the fridge so that I will at least have caffeine to face the day tomorrow. Happy Monday.

Here is the preview of Day 2 of Shades of Autumn. You can download this Sampler

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Happy Sunday!

I'm Tracy Beck. I'm known in the digi scrapping world as tbeck5. I started paper scrapping 11 years ago when my daughter was born and have been an avid scrapper ever since. If fact, my entire dinning room is my scrapbook room complete with 2 scrapping desks, file cabinets and lots of shelves. Also, that is where my computer desk is and where you will find me most evenings.



I discovered the digi world thru 2 Peas offering a free digi kit. I had been using Photoshop to photo edit my photos and once I discovered how to work layers I was hooked. That was back in March of 2005 and now, over 300 layouts and 2 creative teams later, here I am, an Exclusive Designer at the Scrapping Garden. Designing gives me a whole different way to express my creativity than doing layouts. I really have fun making something new and I love to see the layouts that other scrappers design with my kits. Here is my latest kit Seeing Stars. I just love how this one came out with the bright colors.
http://scrappinggarden.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1406








I haven’t given up on paper scrapping. In fact, I have actually completed more paper layouts than digital this year. So far, I’ve completed 261 paper pages and 44 digital this year. I love to go to crops with my scrapping buddies Kim and Melissa and this is where I get most of my layouts done. I plan ahead with my photos & papers and make myself page kits so that I can just sit and scrap away. We are getting ready to go on a cropping weekend the first weekend of November. Nothing but scrapping for 3 days straight. Our last weekend, I got 61 layouts done. I need to plan ahead for this one. Maybe someday, I will get caught up.



My non-scrapping activities include working as an office manager in a dental office, running after my 6 year old boy, cleaning up after my 11 year old daughter and occasionally, I have a few minutes to spare for my husband of 22 years. In honor of my time as guest Blogger, I have some pieces of my Shades of Autumn kit that I will be giving away daily. Also, be sure to check out the Designer’s Samples Gallery. I put some matching pieces in there too.





Grab todays pieces
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Last day for me!

I hope you are all enjoying the pieces to my Autumn Leaves kit! For any who missed any parts of it, or who didn’t get any of it, it will be in the TSG store the first of next week. There will also be an add-on and a stickit album to match the kit, in the store sometime next week.

My genealogy research is moving right along. I have found a cousin of my dad’s who has some info that she found at the courthouse in the county where my dad was born, so I have 4 generations of ancestors now, on his father’s side of the family. I’ve also found out where my grandmother was born so I’m after her side of the family now. This is a fun hobby and I’m beginning to see why my mother kept going for so long when she was researching her family.

TSG has lots of fun challenges going in the forum. I am host for the ABC Challenge – we create 2 layouts each month. We only have two more letters to go and we’ll be through the alphabet! Then, beginning in November, I will start the challenge again with a few changes to the format. So if you’ve been wanting to make an ABC album, come join us. The challenges are posted on the 1st and 16th of each month, and in a little over a year you will have your album completed, just by creating 2 layouts each month.

Well, today is my last day as guest blogger! Tracy will be up next starting tomorrow and I will be interested to learn more about her – I hear she has come great freebies for you! I have really enjoyed being here this week and I hope you all enjoy the Autumn Leaves kit. Speaking of which, (SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED) is the last link for you! And the preview of today’s pieces is here;

Bye ladies, hope to see you at TSG in the forums and chat room!

Links!

Just a reminder to everyone...as it has been stated before, links are ONLY available for 24 hours!!! So grab them while you can!

If you miss some items, look for them to come to the TSG store soon.

This week is almost over! I have loved being the guest blogger – maybe I will keep my own blog up-to-date after being here. I haven’t had mine for long and my posting there has been pretty hit-or-miss, depending on what is going on at the time. If you’d like to check my blog out, there is a link to the right – it says “Scrap Designs by Pat Hall” on the blinkie. I haven’t had any freebies so far but I will soon.

I want to show you a couple more of my kits at TSG. “All Boy” is one of my latest, a mini kit that I used for the layout of Dax I showed you yesterday.











Then there is “Ode to Spring” that has really spring-like colors and elements.


















One of the things I got from my Mom is an interest in genealogy. She has researched her family on her dad’s side back to the 1600’s. I have just started doing research on my Dad’s family. My sister has been wanting me to do it for a while and I came across this picture of my dad’s parents that I had never seen before and it got me started.
My grandfather died before I was born and this is the first photo of him I’ve seen. I’m starting to get excited about this “quest” but I know it can be a long process. It has taken my Mom years but she didn’t have the internet to help her. There are all kinds of records available on the net.

Enough for today, SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED. And the preview -

Thursday already!

My goodness, this week is flying by. I’ve really enjoyed blogging and have especially enjoyed all the nice comments everybody’s been leaving. If anyone has questions, please ask them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I appreciate all the nice things ya’ll have said about my Autumn Leaves freebie kit! I’m already working on an add-on and a stickit album that go with the freebie. They will be in the store probably next week. Dyanna at TSG does a great job of getting our products put into the store really quickly – all of the Admin Team members are wonderful! You couldn’t wish for a better place to hang out, with very friendly people, than The Scrapping Garden. It’s like my second home.

I have to show you this picture I took of Sir yesterday. He was sound asleep out on the patio and I knew he would wake up if I tried to get outside, so I took this through the door. I got reflection from the door and the screen but I’ve tried to correct it using PS. At least I’ve gotten it where you can see that it’s him! He sleeps on his back like this a lot but it’s the first time I’ve been able to snap a picture of him all “relaxed”.

My dh and I have bunches of nieces and nephews as well as some greats. They show up frequently in my layouts, or they do whenever I get to scrap, which isn’t often any more. I guess Dax shows up more frequently than the others, since he lives pretty close to me. I took my screen name from Dax right after he was born because it is a pretty unusual name. All of our family have always been Star Trek fans and he was named after Dax on “Deep Space Nine”. Here is a layout of Dax that I did not long ago.

Okay – enough about me for today.
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Day Four

Already half-way through! This week is really flying by- you know they say time flies when you’re having fun!

Today I’ll tell you more about myself. I’ve lived here since I was 6 months old but I was actually born in North Carolina. We moved here because my dad got a job here and we stayed. I really like being in a small city, with Greenville SC and Charlotte NC just 50 miles away, should I feel the need for more culture or shopping(!) than I can get here. My dh and I built a house about 7 miles outside of town and we still live in that same house. When we moved here it was really in the country, but not any more. Now we have just as much, or more, traffic on our road as my Mom does in town.

Since I retired after 31 years in the local school district (I worked in the Finance Department) I volunteer once a week in the office at Meals on Wheels and also at the Red Cross office in town when they need me. I’ve also gone back to taking art lessons, after being out of painting for some years. My Mom is a fairly well-known artist in the area although she can’t paint anymore because of arthritis. This all keeps me pretty busy along with my designing for TSG.

Enough for today -
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DAY THREE

Hi again! It’s my third day already and I want to tell you how much I appreciate the comments you all are leaving each day. I’m so glad that you are enjoying the pieces of my Autumn Leaves kit. I apologize to those who couldn’t get the link to work at first. Jen was kind enough to fix it for me. Thanks Jen!

I heard from someone who lives only about 30 miles from me! Katie if you go to the TSG site, you can PM me and we’ll talk about S.C. and digi-scrapping! Great to find someone so close to me – with all of the sites I have frequented through the years I’ve seen very few South Carolinians. My screen name most places is "dax", in case some of you recognize that name instead of my real name.

Dyanna wanted to know how my cat got his name “Sir”. Well, you will probably be disappointed Dy, cause it wasn’t anything elegant at all! He was born in the barn at my FIL’s (who lived right next to me), one of a litter of 5. There were 3 short-hairs and 2 long-hairs, one of which was Sir. They were all different colors, from black to white to gold and mixed also. The long-haired gold one was a beauty from the beginning, and the favorite of my DH’s niece and nephew, who christened “her” Blondie – we all thought it was a female! When my FIL passed away Blondie was the only one of the litter left, so we inherited “her”. By the time I discovered this was NOT a girl, he was used to the name and we started calling him “Sir Blondie” so this big tomcat wouldn’t be confused, LOL! In time he became just ”SIR”! Just a case of mistaken identity, I guess. Here are a couple of layouts I’ve done of Sir over the past couple of years.

















Well, that’s enough for today – I do tend to ramble sometimes!

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Monday - day two

Here it is Monday already! I hope you all had a great weekend – I did! And last week wasn’t bad either. I went to Myrtle Beach for a few days with a group from the Senior Citizens Center and we had a great time. I’ve found that these Seniors who travel are a fun bunch!

I want to show you some of my favorite kits in my store at TSG this week. This first one I think IS my favorite so far because of the colors and also it has my favorite flower in it.
This is Sunflower Song:













I’ve always loved sunflowers, they are so cheerful-looking and seem to be worshipping the sun as the flowers turn to always face the sun. That is what inspired this kit! It’s available HERE in the TSG store.

A little more about me; I live in a small city in the northern part of South Carolina with my husband of 42 years. Yes, I said 42 years! We don’t have any children but lots of nieces and nephews who show up in many of my layouts. We also have a goddaughter who is a teacher in Alabama but plans to move back to SC soon. We’ve always had cats and a couple of dogs here and there through the years. Right now we have one cat who is called “Sir”. His name is a story for another day! I’ll also show you some pictures of him sometime this week, as well as a couple of my latest layouts.

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Happy Sunday to you!

Hi There!
My name is Pat Hall and I’ll be your guest blogger for the next seven days. I’ve got some big shoes to fill, after Jen and DeDe, but I’ll do my best. I’ll tell you something about myself and my life, and show you a few of my designs in the TSG store, and DEFINITELY pass along some freebies. I’ve made a fall-themed kit for you and every day I’ll make part of it available for you to download.

Okay – as I said, my name is Pat and I’m an exclusive designer at TSG. I’ve been digi-scrapping since the spring of 2002 when I decided to do a Heritage scrapbook for my Mom for Christmas. I had done a little paper scrapping through the years so that’s what I started with. I was pretty shocked to find out how expensive paper scrapping had become so I started searching for free images and clipart on the computer that I could print and use. I just stumbled onto “scrapping with your computer” while googling for some wreaths to print out, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. Being a computer geek anyhow, I was immediately hooked. So my Mom’s scrapbook is “hybrid”, part paper and part digital. Although I had to use Microsoft Word to make my layouts, the scrapbook turned out pretty well. All my relatives were AMAZED! It wasn’t long, of course, until I bought DIP, and found the scrapping communities.

I was a CT member on several sites and met Robin and Cheryl there, so when TSG opened I became one here. By then I was making papers and elements for myself and designing just seemed a natural progression, so Cheryl took me on as a member of the TSG Design Team!

Well, I’ve gone on long enough for one day, so I’ll just post the link for Day One of my “Autumn Leaves” freebie!

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That's all for today - see again tomorrow.

Last day for me!!!!

Hi all! Welcome to my last day as guest blogger! First of all, I need to apologize for yesterday. I probably shared a little too much. But I guess that is what a blog is for, sharing and getting stuff out that you want off your chest...LOL...anyways, I'm sorry that I got so down! I will get past this part of my life and things will get better. I don't want to leave on such a downer post, so hopefully today's will be much happier. :)

Thank you for all those digital hugs and prayers and uplifting comments! Once again, I'm very blessed to be a part of this wonderful digital scrapbook community! Thank you all!!!

Honestly, I don't really have much left to say. I needed more questions from you all...LOL. I feel like I have told you so much about me and my family and I just don't know what else to share right now.

Don't forget to keep coming back to MY BLOG and MY TSG STORE! I try to keep getting new products out so keep checking in! I have some fun new Halloween stuff coming very soon as well, so you'll have to keep an eye out for them! If you missed any of FALL CIRCLES, it will be in the store next week. I also have another kit that is coming to the store next week. I'll just share it with you:



Thank you so much to all of you for joining me this week! It has meant a lot to me to have this opportunity! And I really feel like I have gotten to know all of you a bit as well! So thank you so much for having me! Don't forget to come back next week (Starting Sunday, Sept 23) for an amazing week with the wonderful Pat Hall! I can't wait to see what she has in store for us! You won't want to miss it!

Oh, and of course don't forget the LAST piece of FALL CIRCLES (I messed up on the preview yesterday..it says day 7, but it was wrong...sorry about that)!

HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!


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TGIF

Hi all! Thank goodness it's Friday. Wow, it's been a long week for me. I have really enjoyed blogging with you though! That has been one of the highlights. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie "The Story of Us" -- I really like that movie. Anyways, in the movie the family have a little game they play....HIGH-LOW. Each member of the family is asked what their HIGH and LOW parts of their day. I thought it is a very good tradition and helped the kids to talk to their parents. When my kids get older, I hope to start this.

But anyways, I wanted to say my HIGH this week was definitely this blog. I have felt really good about what I was able to share and to have all your wonderful comments! Thanks again!

My LOW was definitely today. I know I have mentioned that my family is struggling financially, well today was not a good one in that way. We just had some extra debt that we weren't planning on and now we are in a little trouble. So I really could use your prayers if you can. My husband takes care of the finances now (we really do it together, but he is the MAIN person.) I used to do it all on my own and got so stressed out and depressed over it, that my hubby literally TOOK OVER IT. Anyways, he has done a good job and we share everything. When he told me today about some new financial stuff that we have to figure out...I really did not take it well. I'm still struggling with it. I'm trying not to let it get me down, but I'm not doing a very good job...so I could really use your prayers right now. I know it's just a little rough patch, but I am having a hard time making it through. Anyways, sorry about bringing that all on you...I guess I needed to get it off my chest a little. :)

Linda-I'm so sorry that you are going to miss the rest of the kit...you'll definitely have to pick it up in the store next week. :) But I hope enjoy your time with your parents.

Sharon-That's way neat about being raised on a dairy farm. One thing about it, you always learn to work hard when you are raised like that, right? I never did get the "early morning" thing going...I hate mornings with a passion. I am definitely a night owl.

Thank you all for your comments once again! Remember tomorrow is my LAST DAY as guest blogger! So be sure to come back for the last piece of the kit! I would love to send you off with a BANG, so if you have any questions, suggestions for kits, anything at all....please comment on the posting and I'll gladly answer you tomorrow!

I'm also working on several new kits at the moment and I'm very excited about what is coming together...so expect new things in the next few weeks. If I can just get over the little slump I'm in...I could get through my to-do list enough to get everything done. LOL Just a little hint at what's coming....THINK HALLOWEEN! I am updating my last halloween kit...BOO-BEAR TEARZ and so it will be coming out, along with some new stuff. So hopefully you will look out for that!

I want to share another kit with you today...it's called BUBBLES AND GIGGLES. I did this as a request from a customer and it turned out better than I could have imagined! I loved how I was able to make the mulberry paper have a towel-texture to it and just the animals turned out cute, I thought. What do you think? It also has an ADD-ON PACK...where you can create your own hooded towels! You'll have to check it out in the store!!!





Get them in the store here:

Bubbles and Giggles
Bubbles and Giggles Add-on Pack


Well, I guess I have probably shared a little too much with you today....with my little financial thing...so I guess I'll go! Please come back tomorrow for my last day! Have a great Friday!

Oh, and of course don't forget today's piece of FALL CIRCLES!


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Oops...I'm LATE!

Hi again! I'm sorry that I'm so late today on blogging. I have been staying up past midnight and then posting, but last night I actually WENT TO BED! That's right, and my children slept well and I actually got 8 FULL hours of sleep! This is a VERY rare thing at my house! So now, I am just getting to the blogging, so I'll leave up the download links for longer today! :)

Thanks again to all those who commented! Wow I love to read the comments, I truly hope after my week is over that you will come on over to my blog and leave comments too! :) I'm going to go into withdrawals without them now...LOL!

Tabatha-Thank you so much for the "old" remedy of honey for my son's eczema...next time it gets bad we will definitely try it! Thanks! Also, YES there will be 1 bear in the Fall Circles kit, so stay tuned. If you scroll down to my first posting (Sunday) you can see a preview of the WHOLE kit.

Sharon-Thanks for the digital hug! Sometimes we all need that!

April- You are so right. Having children with special needs is definitely hard work and some days are definitely harder, but it is the most important thing that I will ever do and I wouldn't trade my JJ for anything! Thank you for the reminder!

Dorann-First of all...thanks for the questions! I DID need something to blog about today! LOL

First, where do you get your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from many things. First of all my children and family and all of my memories and life experience. It comes from my stuffed animal collection. As you will notice, most of my kits are "themed", and mostly holiday related, so holidays definitely inspire me. And one of my most inspirational things is COLOR. I love color and I get so inspired by a good color swatch!

Next, what is your favorite kit that you've designed, care to share a preview.
This is a hard one....because it changes all the time. My newest kit is usually my new favorite. So my "new favorite" just happens to be FALL CIRCLES right now. LOL. I spend such a long time finishing my kits that I am very proud of them and I love them all. But I do have 2 kits that remain my true favorites after all this time. I kind of hesitate to mention them, because unfortunately they happen to both be exclusive to another site. So I won't give a link out but I will share the previews. :) I really do support TSG and all my stores, equally! I love each one of them for what they have to offer me as a designer and I love getting to know the individual customers at each store. So I hope you won't think bad of me, that my favorites aren't at TSG at this time. (sorry)

This kit is my VERY FIRST kit. It means so much to me because it was designed in tribute to the way I was raised...on a cattle ranch in Southern Utah. It also was created with my favorite colors (Navy Blue, Forest Green, Deep Red). I had seen many Cowboy-western digital kits, but I hadn't really seen one that I felt was "real," with real-life cowboy items and I felt as a real "cowgirl", I needed to create a kit. I used real imagery (hat, saddles, hay, boots, etc.) from my family's ranch, so it does have a special place in my heart.




My other favorite, I had a lot of fun with the colors, the theme, and all the bears that I created for this kit. I don't really have a real reason for liking this one so much, but I just do. Maybe because it's title is one of my favorite songs! This kit also has an add-on pack...and you can see those in the preview too.





The funny thing about this is that both of these kits remain my worst selling kits (some of my individual element/paper packs sell worse, but as far as kits these don't sell well)...LOL...but they just happen to be my favorites!


Finally, do you want to have more children or is your family complete?
We will definitely be having more children. We are hoping to wait another year or two (because of our financial situation), but then we hope to have at least 3 more kids. My husband and I both grew up in large families and we want to have a large family as well. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS-or Mormon) and I guess having large families is kind of in our heritage, LOL. But truly we just love kids and feel like there are more children coming to our family. We also want to adopt after we have our own children.


Well, I need to go get my son ready for school! Thanks again Dorann for asking those questions! It made it easy to blog today! So all of you are welcome to leave some questions in the comments so I have something to blog about tomorrow. :) Keep commenting! You are truly making my week!

Here is today's piece of FALL CIRCLES! Thank you all for your support!



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Halfway....

Hello again. You have now made it halfway through the week with me. :) And I have now run out of things to say. LOL But I'll try to scrape together something.

First of all, thanks again for all the amazing compliments of my work! Once again you have all brightened my day. And I especially needed it as I just had a bad day in general yesterday. Tossed and turned all night. Had to get up early and take my son to the doctor (he needed a higher prescription for his eczema cream). Then apparently my son (because he was tired) had a hard day at school and just layed down on the floor and wouldn't do anything. So I just didn't accomplish a lot and that made me feel like a failure as a wife, mother, and designer. I hate days like that! Hopefully today will be a brighter day and I will get some things off my list done (really need to do some cleaning, but I just might procrastinate that for another day. LOL)

Jen-I'm so glad you like my SCHOOL TEARZ Kit...I hope you find lots of uses for it! Sharon-I'm so sorry about your husband, but thank you for the reminder that family photos are so important! Tracy- Yes we are Colts fans :) GO COLTS! But can we still be friends? :) Diana-No, the kit will not be in the stores in the separate colors...the kit will be sold as a FULL KIT only. The reason being is that I can't sell anything for under $2 and I just wouldn't feel right about selling each individual color for 2 bucks. So the whole kit will be available for $5.00 after this week! Cindy-Sorry I confused you. Yes, our Blogger weeks start with Sunday and go to the following Saturday. So today is the FOURTH day! Thank you all for your comments!


Since become a digital scrapbook designer, I now spend all my free time DESIGNING and hardly ever scrapbook a page. I remember going into the designing that I was very hesitant, because I knew that would happen. Because I know my true love is design. I love it so much. Of course I enjoy creating layouts and I really want to keep up with all the photos I take of my growing family, but the love for designing ALWAYS WINS. I constantly feel guilty for this and I need to balance my time better, but I truly do LOVE designing more than doing layouts. I need to start making use of all the quickpages I have collected...maybe that way I would actually get caught up with some of my pages :)

But I did happen to do a page about me the other day, so I thought I would share it with you here. It was for a newsletter that was doing a feature on me as a designer and so it forced me to get it done, but I actually really like how it turned out.

I want to share another one of my newest kits with you. I totally love how the colors came together with this one!

You can get Summer Ending in the store now!

Well, that's about all I have today. I'll just leave you with today's piece of FALL CIRCLES! I hope you all have a marvelous day! Keep leaving those comments! :)

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More on my family....

Hi again! I have to say...being a guest blogger has been a really good experience for me. I have been truly sharing a lot and my own blog suffers because I usually just use it to advertise my new products and not really anything else...so this is good! Maybe it will help me to be a better blogger. :) Speaking of which...if you would like to check out my blog it is located at http://designsbydede.blogspot.com

Once again, I have to say thank you to all of you who left comments on my posting! It still feels amazing to have so many compliments on my work! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

For those of you who missed Day 1 of the Kit...I'm sorry to say but no, I am not going to hand that out...you might all think I'm a little harsh, but I feel like I specifically stated that if you missed it, you missed it. BUT the whole kit will be in the TSG Store after this week is over...so you can get it then! I hope I still have fans after this....LOL. I just want to get everyone back to the blog everyday! I hope you understand.


Suzette said: "As for your son, who is completely adorable, has anyone mentioned the autistic spectrum?" The answer is YES, we have gone through the autistic route. He has many autistic behaviors, but it doesn't narrow everything down. So it might still be autism, but right now JJ's doctors don't think so. But thank you for that.

Keep those questions coming!!!!


Since yesterday, I shared some more information about my kids, I thought today I would share a little more information about my husband and myself!

This is my hubby (Joey) and I this past Christmas. This is the last time we have a picture of us together....we need to remedy that. Joey is an amazing person. He has come through a lot of trials in his life and a hard childhood, but he has an amazing spirit. We met in college in St. George, Utah, when his best friend was dating my roommate. We dated for 3 months and then Joey moved 5 hours away to work. We continued dating for the next year-and-a-half long distance while I finished school and then we were married. We learned a lot through that, and it really helped us to be independent and yet still love to be together. Joey is so smart. He has not gotten his degree yet (due to financial concerns), but he has taught himself everything he knows. He is a computer programmer and works very hard to provide for us. He is always working on open-source projects and always willing to help someone out with computer stuff, whether it is his friends and family or someone online that is thousands of miles away. He really enjoys his job at Novell and finally has a boss that understands him, trusts him, and respects him, so everything is good. Eventually he will go back to school and finish his degree, but he has so many years of experience now that it really isn't NEEDED. Joey is the best dad in the world. He loves to be with his kids and from the moment he gets home from work, he is with his kids and helping me out in whatever I need. I feel so blessed to have a husband who respects me, loves me, and is so supportive of my designing. He is always giving me great compliments of what I am doing and doesn't mind if I spend HOURS doing it. He will go be with the kids or do whatever I need him to do. I'm very lucky. I know a lot of designers don't have that support, so I feel very grateful. He loves football and we are INDIANAPOLIS COLTS fans and so Sundays (after church) are spent watching football and cheering on our team! Our favorite thing to do together is watch movies/tv shows. We love movies...we will just spend hours watching together. All kinds of genres too. That is just "our thing." We also both love to read. Our living room is filled bookshelves and books. Someday we want to have a big house so we can have a TRUE LIBRARY. I just love Joey so very much. He is my true best friend. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

The last time we got a family portrait was at Christmas too (and it was in our Christmas PJs...LOL) We really need to get a new one, but I thought I'd share this with you anyway.

The product I want to share with you today is one of my newer kits. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should! :) It is one of my new favorites. With my son starting Kindergarten and everything I had to finish up a School kit that I had started last year and never finished! I loved how it turned out! What do you think?



Get it in the store now!


All right, that is all I really have today. I'm tired and I have a long to-do list of things I need to get done designing, so I better get to it! But before I go, here is today's piece of my FALL CIRCLES Kit! If you haven't gotten Day 2 yet, you better go get it...the link will expire tomorrow morning!


SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED


HAVE A GREAT TUESDAY! SEE YA TOMORROW!

Monday Ramblings....

Hi all! Welcome back to my week of blogging! I hope you survived the rambling yesterday! :) I did get some rest and am feeling better now that I had a kit for you all to have this week. LOL

After I woke up (my hubby let me sleep in...he's a wonderful man!)..I was checking my email and got the sweetest message from Angie. Thanks girl, you totally made my day. I can't tell you inspiring and amazing it is to get "fan mail." :) Totally makes all my work worth it! And THEN later on when I started getting all the blog comments about the kit and my products...wow, I just felt so SPECIAL! So thank you to EVERYONE of you! You just made me the luckiest person and now I just hope I can keep designing well and living up to your expectations. :)

I did get one question from JAN through the comments, so let me make sure and answer her. She asked:
Question: By the way, for those of us who bought your last grab bag -- did we get the whole Scrapbook Essentials collection, or just parts of it? When I looked at the previews for the full kit, compared to what I had in the files, it looked like there were other pieces we didn't have, but I'm not sure.... Thx!

Answer: My last grab bag (at another store), did include PARTS of my Scrapbook Essentials Collection, but not all. It included Papers 1, Fasteners, and Embellishments 2! The other 2 packs (Papers 2, Embellishments 1) you will just have to head over to the store and buy. :)

Thanks for the question Jan. All of you are welcome to reply to today's posting and leave questions (and of course keep those comments coming. LOL)! I promise I will answer your questions in the next day's posting! So let me know what you want to know about me and my products! Anything at all!



When I am not designing, I spend most of my day being a mom! And as all moms know, your children become a part of you and you become a part of them. So I thought if I told you a little bit about my children, you just might know a little more about me too. :)

My family is struggling a little bit financially right now and I have really needed to get new portraits of my kids. So I finally broke down and decided to give it a shot myself. I don't have an SLR camera (on my wishlist) , but I still enjoy my good Olympus C-4000 Zoom Camera. It takes some good shots and I'm definitely satisfied. My kids do not hold still very long so I took about 50 pictures trying to get a couple that worked. None of the "together" shots worked out, but I was pleasantly surprised to get these 2 pictures that actually look pretty good? What do you think?


This is JJ (actually Joseph Clark Smith Jr.). He is named after his Dad and his middle name is from his Dad's best friend. He's 5 and he just started Kindergarten this year! When he was 9 months old we discovered that he was developmentally delayed. After much testing, no one knew what was wrong with him. He still progressed, but at a MUCH slower rate than most children. He didn't sit up by himself until he was a year old, he didn't walk until he was 2 1/2...his speech was delayed, his motor skills aren't up to par, etc. Basically in all areas of testing he rates at about a 3- 3 1/2 year old right now. Unfortunately, for us we still don't have a diagnosis after continual testing. But we have had him in the Early Intervention Program and now Special Education and he has come a long way. He started having grand maul seizures when he was 3 years old and after much testing again they think it is just fever-induced seizures...he has a very low threshold for sickness. He hasn't had a seizure for 7 months now, so we hope he has grown out of that one. :) He gets very overwhelmed and most of the time he has a hard time understanding and controlling his emotions. He lashes out a lot, but he can be a truly sweet boy. He is actually really smart and he will surprise me with things that he discovers and learns. Now he is in Kindergarten and we feel so incredibly blessed for the therapists, counselors, teachers and the Special Education program that helps him. I truly couldn't do it without them. He has an amazing imagination and I love the things he can play and do with simple things like blankets and pillows! His favorite part of the day is when he gets to ride the bus to school. I remember when he turned 3 and his first day of Special Ed Preschool...he was getting on the bus and of course letting go was very hard for me and I was so stressed over how he was going to be on the bus and at school without me. And then of course he just gave me a hug and got on the bus and was smiling so hard! He was completely in his element...he truly loves riding the bus. So now that he gets to ride the bus to Kindergarten, that is his favorite thing in the world! He loves watching the NOGGIN channel (Blue's Clues, Franklin, Diego, Backyardigans, etc.) and Disney movies. He loves Spiderman as well, really any of the action heroes and I think that is because his Dad is still into all that. :) Typical boy..he loves trucks, cars, and because his daddy and I are on the computer so much, he loves to pretend to have a computer of his own. It is really fun to see how much he keeps growing and changing!


This is Beth (actually Elizabeth Colleen Smith). Elizabeth for our (my husband and I) favorite character in the book, Little Women. Her middle name is for my grandmother who died when I was in high school. She is 2 1/2 and typical for that age she is emotional, stubborn, and vibrant! She has the sweetest smile and can be the cutest little girl in the world, or can swifly change to be mean and violent LOL. She adores her brother and they share a typical LOVE-HATE relationship. They will protect each other from anyone, but they fight constantly. Yet, they still enjoy playing together and I love to see their imaginations work as they create adventures and play around the house. Beth is a little bit tom-boy and a lot of a PRINCESS. She hates her hair being worked with, but when it is actually done, she loves feeling "pretty." She likes to wear nightgowns at night, because then she is a princess. :) She loves her Daddy and I can see a definite Daddy-Daughter friendship as she gets older. But she is quite a Mommy's girl too. When Beth was born, we were struggling even worse financially and my husband was working 5 hours away from us. So for her first 2 years of life, she only saw her daddy on the weekends, so Mommy was her life. Now we are finally back together again, she of course has developed that relationship with her Dad. She adores horses and My Little Ponies and of course has claimed my collection of Teddy Bears. She has to drag about 3 of them around with her all the time. And the bears she chooses are usually about her size...LOL. She too loves watching movies with her brother. She loves to have people sing to her and play with her. I really need to get some play dates set up because she loves having friends and playing with them. I grew up with 2 sisters (1 older and 1 younger) and 4 younger brothers. My older sister had 3 boys, my younger sister had 2 boys, I had a boy...so I was used to having boys, so when Beth came along, I didn't know what to do with a GIRL! I still feel that way sometimes, but life wouldn't be the same without her and I do see a lot of me in her. I just hope I can deal with all those emotions. :)

I don't know what I would do without my beautiful children. Most of the time, I get so caught up in designing and my computer world that I really struggle with finding a balance between designing, housework (which I LOATHE), and spending time with my children and my Joey. So I know that I don't spend the time that I should with them, but I just hope they know how much I love them. Because when it comes right down to it, they are the most important thing. They are my inspiration and without them I truly would have no reason to be here.


I wanted to let you all know that I am looking for 3-4 more members for my Creative Team!


If any of you are interested, please send me an email with links to your galleries, why you want to be a part of my team, and a list of other teams you are on!!! Deadline is October 1st!



Well It is almost midnight here and I should probably go get a couple more things done and get to bed, so I guess I will finish up with giving you today's link to my FALL CIRCLES Kit! If you haven't gotten yesterday's link yet, please scroll down to get it. It will only be available for a few more hours (I'm going to expire the link in the morning)! :)

Here is today's part:



SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED

Well that's it for me today! I'll see you tomorrow! Don't forget to reply to this posting and leave some comments/questions that I can use for tomorrows Question/Answer Session!

Start of another week......

Hello! I'm DeDe Smith and I get to be your blogger this week! :) Jen's a hard act to follow! She was right on the ball and I hope you'll forgive me, if I'm not quite so organized. Hopefully you'll put up with my ramblings! In fact, it is now after 4:30 am (my time) right now and I just finished the kit that I want to share with you this week. I was going to have it done last week, but the time got away with me and I didn't get it done. Hopefully you will think of it as DEDICATION rather than NEGLIGENCE on my part! :)

Anyways, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to talk about this week yet, we will see how it goes. But I would love for you to get to know me a little bit and I would love to share with you my products! I hope you won't think of it as bragging (well maybe a little), but it is a chance for me to show you my products and how proud I am of them. I really do put everything that is in me to create these kits and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer!

I LOVE to hear from my customers so if you ever have any requests, comments, suggestions, questions, etc...please feel free to email me at dedesmith32@gmail.com. I really would love to hear what you have to say!

Here's a little bit about me....I am a 28-year old graphic designer and digital scrapbooker. I am the wife of a wonderful man (Joey) who is a computer programmer at Novell, Inc and we have been married for 8 years. We have two children, J.J. (5) and Beth (2). We live in Utah, where we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am an freelance graphic designer, as well as a digital scrapbook designer, so I spend much of my day (and night) designing. I LOVE designing and scrapping (obviously), reading, being with my family, and watching movies/tv shows.

I had an idea...and I'm not sure exactly if it will work, but I'm going to try it anyway...I would love to share my life and products with you...so everyday if you have a question...please comment on that day's post and ask me a question! I'll try and answer the questions in the next day's post on the blog!!! So go ahead and get to know me! I'm an open book!

Okay, well as it is almost 5am now, I just have a couple of things I want to share with you and then I will sign off for today...I'm tired and I need to get rest because I know my kids are going to wake me up in about 3 hours! LOL As you can probably tell, this is the case most nights...I get going on designing and I can't stop until I have finished a kit!

Okay, so the first kit (actually kit collection) that I would like to point out to you...is my newest products. If you haven't seen it yet, you have got to take a look! I spent a long time on this one and I'm quite proud of it.

SCRAPBOOK ESSENTIALS COLLECTION:




And here's the great deal about this one! Buy 4 of these packs, ,email me the invoice, and I'll send you a coupon to get the 5th pack FREE! So it's an amazing deal!

Okay now for the kit of the week! I have just finished creating this fabulous kit. It was going to be just a little mini kit for the blog, but I just loved the colors and I kept creating and it has turned into a full-blown kit. So here's the deal...come back EACH day this week and at the end of this week you will have a full kit free! This kit is then going to go into the store so get it now why it's FREE! But here's the kicker! Each download will only be available ONE DAY...24 hours...and then it will be gone. So that means each one of you have to come back EVERY DAY to get the next piece! I have color-coordinated it so that all 7 color swatches in my kit have a day to its own and so you can use all these little mini-kits separately if you want to...but I hope you will want the whole kit and come back and hear my ramblings!

Ready to see it? So here it is...

FALL CIRCLES




And here is today's piece:


Sorry this link has expired

Well I'm headed off to bed! Talk to you tomorrow! I hope you will come back after reading the ramblings of a crazy, tired woman! :)

Wrapping Up the Week

Well, you all have survived your first week here with me. :) Thanks so much for helping me kick off the opening of the TSG Blog. I hope you will continue to drop in here. Next week we will have the pleasure of DeDe Smith chatting with us. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.

Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day for us. Drew had school in the morning, during which time Zach and I ran to wash the van, went to spend a gift certificate at Borders bookstore, returned videos to Blockbuster as well as a couple other stops. Then it was back home to pack up the van and make our little road trip.

So since I am here visiting with family, I am going to just get to the final pieces of the “Baby Plaid” kit from DeDe Smith.

Sorry, this link is gone.

And with that, I wrap up my week – I know not the most impressive way to end…but I figure you all are busy spending your weekend with family or scrapbooking. Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

TGIF

Happy Friday to all of you! With the crazy schedule I’ve had lately, the weeks just seem to be flying right past me.

Yesterday was Drew’s swimming lesson day and it ended up being a private lesson. Usually there is one other boy with him, but he wasn’t there for some reason. It really was great for Drew to have a private lesson so they could work on helping him over come his fear of water and not wanting to get it in his face. I was so excited when he dunked himself under! That is a MAJOR accomplishment for him. I think we all had the same shocked look on our faces after he did it. Usually it is his swimming teacher sneaking in a quick dunk. An even better part is that I caught that first self dunk with my camera. Not a really great picture since I was using my little Cybershot without flash and the overhead lights cause some glare off the water, but I still got it! :) His swimming teacher probably thinks I’m crazy since I have a camera with me every week.

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and starting to pack for our little out-of-town weekend. I have a cousin getting married on Saturday, so we are going to my parents and then will be drive to the wedding with them. It will be nice to see all the extended family. Especially since it has been over a year since I have seen some of them. Which means the last time they would have seen me I was VERY pregnant. Lol

I hate to say it, but I failed at getting a layout done again today. I had started the week out so well. I am still hoping to get a chance to participate in Linda Cumberland’s “Blueprint of My Garden” Challenge. You can see the details HERE if you would like to participate. She has a great sketch that I am really anxious to use.
Since I need to finish packing so it will all be ready to load up in our van later this afternoon, I will leave you with today’s pieces to the great kit DeDe Smith has so graciously shared with all of us. Sorry, this link is gone.
Talk to you all tomorrow. And hey! It will be the last time for awhile that you all will have to read my rambling. Remember, next week DeDe will be your host. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us!!

Feeling Like Fall

The other night I couldn’t believe how cool it was when Drew and I ran out to purchase his soccer equipment! The thermometer in our van said it was 68 degrees. Then last night, while driving home from church, it said it was only 62 degrees. Ah! I LOVE fall! I love stepping outside in the evening and feeling a chilly breeze. It is by far my favorite time of year. Colorful leaves; high school football games on cool evenings; digging out the blue jeans and sweatshirts yet still warm enough during the day to wear shorts if you would like. Fall can’t arrive soon enough for me.

We actually had a pleasant afternoon yesterday – in the mid-70’s here (just about perfect to me). So the boys and I went outside to play in the backyard after Zach’s afternoon nap. We even got a chance to use the new wagon they received from my parents for their birthdays last month. It was a nice little walk around our neighborhood. I hope to be able to take them on more walks as the weather continues to cool down.
In relaying the story of his ride in the wagon, Drew told his dad that “We went anywhere!” I was completely confused at first and even had him repeat what he said. He said the exact same thing. It then dawned on me that he was trying to say “We went everywhere!” lol It is kind of like how he ALWAYS uses “I amn’t” instead of “I’m not”. Gotta love what they come up with at this age.

Between taking and picking up Drew from school, running to SAMS to do some shopping, enjoying the outside and then church tonight, once again I didn’t get a chance to create a layout. I will try my best to get something put together by tomorrow showing you one of the GREAT kits available in the TSG store.

Even though I don’t have a layout to share, I DO have the next pieces of the adorable “Baby Plaid” kit by DeDe Smith for you!
Sorry, this link is gone.

We’ve Made It Halfway

Well, you have reached the halfway mark of having to listen to my rambling for the week. I hope I don’t scare you all off because next week you will have one of the wonderful TSG Designers, DeDe Smith, here to chat with you.

I had a nice and pretty relaxing Tuesday. The boys and I spent the day hanging out at home and then Drew and I ran to the sporting goods store after dinner to pick up the things he needs for soccer. His little soccer cleats are SO cute and so is his little size 3 soccer ball (I never even knew there were different size soccer balls until the other night)! I can’t wait to see him all decked out in his uniform now.
Speaking of Drew…that boy can come up with some of the craziest things! Just the other day, he had been eating a snack and when he got finished, he said his tummy was all filled up. So I mentioned that was a shame, since I was going to let him have hotdogs for lunch (something he doesn’t get real often), but I guess he didn’t have room for them. He turned to me, and with a very serious look on his face said, “Oh no Mommy. The area for the hotdogs in my tummy is all empty!” Where does he come up with this stuff! He certainly has an imagination.

My poor husband walked in the front door to be greeted by this today Yes, while I was busy trying to get dinner together, Zach and then Drew got into the pan drawer, took out lids and proceeded to bang them together. My theory was they weren’t hurting anyone or anything, they weren’t tearing up anything, and they were completely entertained…so all was good. lol My husband didn’t agree upon entering a VERY noisy house.

Even with all the unstructured free time today, I wasn’t able to get a layout done today. So, here is a 2 page layout I completed a few weeks ago and never got around to posting until now. I used the great August Daily Download “Another Year” & also “Another Year Add-On” by Keli Carter. Your can grab both of them in the TSG Store HERE To see larger and view the credits here for Page 1 & Page 2

Don’t miss out on this month's Daily Download “A Confused Kit” by Karen Wallace. You can find it in the TSG Forum HERE

And not to forget the next part of DeDe Smith’s “Baby Plaid” kit. Sorry, this link is gone.

Hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday!