Stuff to Scrap blog train: Daddy and Me

Happy (almost) June 1st to you! It's so hard to believe that it's June already. What happened to the first five months of the year? I swear, the older I get, the faster time goes.

This month, I'm taking part in a blog train with a different group of designers, the Stuff to Scrap girls. I'm really excited to be a part of it. The ladies are all wonderful, supportive, and so much fun. I also really liked that were limited as to how large our kits could be (in terms of the number of items). It forced me to think carefully about what I wanted my portion to include. I think that's also good for you as it you'll see less redundancy across the entire train.
I gave my CT the mini-kit about three weeks ago and made doing a layout optional. Several of them opted to create one to share with you. They did a really good job considering I didn't give them any solid papers to work with! :)

Juli

Angela

And here is my portion of the blog train. My portion includes five papers and ten elements (not all of which are shown). I love these colors, too. So, like the colors in the May Miscellaneous mini-kit you got from me last week, don't be surprised to see them again sometime! :)

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If someone hasn't posted their portion yet, please check back. We're spread out all over the world. Everyone's portion of the kit will remain free for two weeks, so you have plenty of time to download it. And don't forget to leave love!
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Anyecs
Becky Young Designs
Dream Big Designs
Dreams Inspired
Digi-designs by Nicole
Eva Marina Scraps
Every EverAfter Moment
Flower Scraps
Jackie Torres
JenasisDesign
JW Digi-Scraps
KnittinJen
Mad Genius Designs
My Digaddiction
Nibbles Skribbles
Pure Pixel Designs
Resistance is Futile
Scrappin' Serenity
Scrapping Sisters
Scrapping Words
Scraps of Ellay
Seal Scraps
Sexy And Hot Mama Scrapper
Shel Belle Scraps <--YOU ARE HERE
Tanya's Crossbone Cuts
Tery Hooson
The Latest Scoop, Too
The Scrappy Kat

May Miscellaneous mini-kit

Kim has another wonderful color challenge going on at DSO. When I saw the colors, I knew I could come up with something fun. (If you want to check out other kits and layouts have been created with these colors, check out the May Color Challenge forum at DSO here.) Once I had the kit designed, I had the worst time coming up with a name so I settled on "May Miscellaneous". I know, I know, it's really generic but I'm afraid the "witty kit name" portion of my brain is on hiatus. :)

The mini-kit contains five papers and six elements (all shown below). Not a huge kit by any means, but I think there's a lot of possibilities there. I can't wait to see what you create from this.

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Have a great day and happy scrapping!

P.S. I really like this color combination, so don't be surprised to see it again!

Date stampes set 03 add-on #1

Wow, was it hard to get out of bed today. I had such a great weekend I never wanted it to end. Lots of fun times, some hard work, and a fair share of relaxation, too.

Today's download is an add-on to the third date stamp set I released a couple of weeks ago. I had some requests for days of the week and years before 2000. Those are included, as are the numbers 1-31 which makes this set perfect for those Project 365 pages you may be doing. I've included the brief tutorial I wrote about how to recolor items in the .zip file as well so that you can recolor these to match your project.

I do anticipate doing at least one more add-on to this set. That add-on will be of words (like happy birthday, brother/brothers, school, etc.). If you have suggestions for words you'd like to see included in that, let me know!!!

Later this week I'll have another mini-kit for you, this time using the colors in Kim B's Color Challenge at DSO. I've got a couple of elements to finish for it and then it will be ready to go. Next Monday I'll be releasing my portion of a new blog train, Daddy and Me, put together by a group of from Stuff to Scrap. I've seen quite a few of the previews and you're going to get some g-r-e-a-t stuff!

In the meantime, enjoy this latest addition to the third date set.

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See you later this week with a new mini-kit. Until then, stay safe and happy scrapping!

Happy Memorial Day weekend

Happy weekend to you! Yeah, I know, it's only Thursday morning. But, if you're like me, your mind is already starting to enjoy the long weekend ahead. I have big plans for the weekend including cleaning out my desk area and working my tail feathers off on some various scrapping & design projects.

In honor of our fallen service men and women, I put together a small kit (5 papers & 8 elements) to help you scrap pictures from the upcoming weekend (or from the 4th of July, Veterans Day, etc.) I only gave the kit to my CT last night (right after I completed it) so no layouts to share with you. (I also told them they didn't have to do a layout with this kit since it's a mini-kit.) I've done two other patriotic-themed/colored kits, which you can find here.

Kit is no longer available. Look for a revamped version of it in my Stuff to Scrap store soon!

To all those who are serving, have served, or have family members serving (or have served) our country: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your sacrifice is appreciated.

And to all my loyal readers: Have a great day, a fantastic weekend, happy scrapping, and stay safe!

Mother's Love QP

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes. I had a fantastic birthday: got some bright yellow ballet flats, a stylish little trench coat, and a super-cute haircut on Friday. A great day all around!

I had another layout to show you from a CT member. Juli created this beautiful layout using Mother's Love.

Have a good day and happy scrapping!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yep, it's my birthday. And since you all have given me so much joy from your comments and awards, I thought I'd give something to you today. Sound good? :)

How am I spending my birthday? I'm going to get some free stuff. Let me explain. My good friend Christina runs the site Northern Cheapskate. A while back, she had a post about signing up for offers so you could get free stuff on your birthday. Between the advice she gave, and being a loyal customer of a couple different places, I've got $30 to spend ($15 on clothes/jewelry, $15 on lunch) AND I've got a coupon for a free sundae at Cold Stone Creamery. So I'm going to do a little shopping at the Mall of America and get a much-needed haircut from Brent, my stylist at Euphoria.

Today's freebie is my third date stamp kit. I wanted to do something that was a little more in line with my design style and personality, so I ditched the Courier New Font and went with Broadway. (You may remember that font from the Swanky kit.) I also used a spray paint-like shape for it. The set includes all 12 months and years 2000-2010. Depending on how well this particular set is received, there may be add-ons to it in the future (hint, hint).

Since I know that black doesn't work with all kits, I've also included the "how to recolor" tutorial I wrote a few weeks ago in the download folder. The instructions were written for PSE6 & CS3. If you know of re-coloring tutorials for other programs (GIMP, PSP, etc.), please let me know. I'd like to be able to point readers in the right direction for assistance with those.

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Have a great weekend and happy scrapping!

Mother's Love alpha

Just a quick note this morning as I'm super busy today.

Thanks for all the sweet comments you left both here and on 4shared for me. I really appreciate them.

Here's today's download, the alpha. I used the Alpine font for this. It includes upper and lower case letters, numbers, and some punctuation.

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See you tomorrow with the BB pages. Have a great Wednesday and happy scrapping!

Mother's Love elements, part II

Wow! I am blown away by how many of you have downloaded this kit--and even more so by the number of people who have left comments. I love reading your comments. When I'm not having the greatest day, am totally frustrated, or feel like I've lost my design mojo, your comments make me smile. Thank you so much for those.

I realized that I forgot to tell you how we celebrated Mother's Day. My mom is a huge Twins baseball fan and has been making comments all season about how much fun it would be to go to a game sometime this season while they're still playing at the Dome. (They move into a new outdoor stadium next year.) Fast forward to last Saturday night: She got her wish. What made it even better was that the Twins won, 9-6, and her favorite player (Michael Cuddyer) crushed one w-a-y over the left field fence. Our seats were awesome, the hot dogs were tasty, and my favorite Twin, Joe Mauer, went 2-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs (not to mention 2 walks). All-in-all, a great night.

I have to issue another apology to a CT member today, this time to Angela. She had her layout to me last week and it wasn't until last night when I was getting ready to shut down my computer that I had forgotten to include it in my first post about this kit. I am so sorry I forgot Angela! Your layout is beautiful!!!

And here is today's portion of the kit, the second set of elements. Just a heads-up for those who have not downloaded from me before, you want to make sure that you get BOTH sets of elements. (I've noticed that quite a few people only get one of the two elements downloads.) The preview below includes ALL elements in the kit, but only half of them are in today's download. Click here to see all posts related to this kit.

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See you tomorrow with the alpha. Have a great Tuesday and happy scrapping!

Gentle reminder

Just a reminder that my kits are, unless otherwise stated, for PERSONAL USE ONLY and should only be downloaded via my blog. They are not to be shared in scrapbooking groups. I will consider S4H/S4O requests on a case-by-case basis.

Thanks!

Mother's Love elements, part I

Happy Monday to you!

I have to start off this post with an apology to Ginger. She sent me her great layout yesterday morning and I had a blonde moment when writing yesterday's post about the new kit. I totally forgot to include her layout in my post. I'm so sorry Ginger! I love the layout!

And Beth was on a creative streak with this kit.
And finally, the first half of the elements (as seen below).

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See you tomorrow with the second half of the elements. Have a great Monday and happy scrapping!

Mother's Love

To all those celebrating Mother's Day today: Happy Mother's Day.

This week's kit is a bit of a departure for me. Mary found this color swatch on Kuler, fell in love with it, and wanted to see what I could do with it. She used the words "soft" and "romantic" in describing what she envisioned. If you've ever seen my stuff or follow my blog, you'll know that "soft" and "romantic" aren't two words that usually describe my kits. :) But I was up for the challenge. Hopefully you'll like what I designed for this week's kit.

My CT did a phenomenal job with the kit, don't you agree?

Dawn

Michele
Mary
Beth

Juli and I will have layouts for you later this week.

Here is the a full preview of the kit. Be sure to stop by each day this week to pick up the entire kit.
And here is today's download, the papers.

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Have a great Sunday--Happy Mother's Day--and happy scrapping!

Sneak peek: Mother's Love

Before I forget, here's a sneak peek at next week's kit, Mother's Love. Have a great weekend and I'll see you Sunday afternoon with the first part of this kit, the papers. Until then, happy scrapping!

Label for bubble bottles

Ginger's on a creative streak! She's created wrappers for 3 oz. bubble bottles. She got the bottles at her local dollar store (where they were 3 for $1). She made them using my Tropical Punch and Sunshine Beach kits. Click on either of the pictures below to be taken to her blog where you can download the label. Enjoy!

Orange Sherbet mini-kit

It's one of my favorite TV nights (I *love* Big Bang Theory), so I need to get this posted quick during the commercial break...

May's' Whet Your Palette challenge at Digital Candy is to create a mini-kit or layout using just one color. I love orange (mostly because I'm an Illinois alum) and thought I'd create a kit using that color. This month's mini-kit contains four papers and eight elements. The drop shadows shown below are for preview purposes only.

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Sunshine Beach play-doh wrapper

Did you have a nice weekend? Mine was great. The weather was perfect--lots of sunshine, comfortable temps (around 65F), and a gentle breeze. I got some spring cleaning done, started working on the May download-a-day kit (which will start the 15th...a very special day for me), and got some great deals on stuff during {inter}National Scrapbooking Day sales. I was bummed though, because I saw that Pamela of Digitreats is going to take a break from designing. I love her stuff; I totally understand her reasons for taking a break though.

This week is going to be filled with all sorts of little treats for you. Sandy (a.k.a. Louisiana Lady), who has been recovering from shoulder surgery, is back and has designed some fabulous BB pages and 8x8 QPs to share with you. Later this week, I'll also have a sneak peek at next week's kit, Mother's Love, and I have to tell you, it's soft and romantic. Did you ever think you'd hear those words used to describe one of my kits? :)

Ginger is working on some end-of-the-year stuff for her school's luau-themed party and designed a play-doh container wrapper for you using my portion of the Sunshine Beach kit. Click on either one of the pictures below to be taken to her blog where you can get the download. Enjoy!

See you later with some more goodies!

Announcing new CT members

I have to say, I never expected so many people to apply to be a member of my CT! It was nice to have such interest in being a member. It did mean, though, that the decision-making process was that much tougher.

Without any further ado, I am pleased to welcome three new members to the Shel Belle Scraps CT! Here's a little bit more about each new member:

Dawn has been scrapping for about a year and in her words, "absolutely LOVES IT!" She is on a couple of other CTs but has a lot of time on her hands. Her layouts are fabulous and often posted to her gallery at Hummie's World.

Angela is a stay at home who has complete over 200 pages of digi-scrapping in the past six months! She also hosts digital scrapbooking workshops in her home and she teaches others how to better use their digital tools. She says that if she had chosen to be a career woman she would have loved to go into graphic design. Her layouts are spectacular (as you'll see in the future).

Elizabeth started scrapping over a year ago when she started making a digital scrapbook of her family (which includes her husband, two sons, and two dogs). She loves making QPs, so you'll be treated to some of her goodies in the future!

A warm welcome to each of these fabulous ladies. I'm looking forward to working with each of you!

P.S. Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day!

May ADSD collab: Sunshine Beach

Yikes! It's May already! Time sure flies.

The first of the month brings another collab from many groups, including the ADSD group. This month's collab is called Sunshine Beach and features bright summery colors. I've seen some of the previews and you're in for a real treat--there is some great stuff out there!

I did a mini-kit this month (4 papers, 7 elements). I really love the frame I made. Doesn't it look like a life preserver? :) I didn't do an alpha for this kit but have created several that might work well for you including Celebrate Love, Hope, Just Because, and Tropical Punch.

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The designers who are contributing to this blog train are spread out across the world, so please be patient if someone doesn't have their portion uploaded yet. Each designer's contribution will be available and FREE for the entire month of May so you have plenty of time to download the entire collab. And please leave some love for us. We love sharing our stuff with you and really appreciate it when you take a few seconds to say thanks.

Now follow the TRAIN to more fabulous FREEBIES:

MagsGraphics
MoonDance Creations
Anne
Lisa
JaydensMama Designs
Digital-Keepsakes
EmCeeScraps
Panda Bear Designs
Wetfish Designs
Linda's Dream Designs
Broken Jar Creations
Heavenly Crafts
My Treasured Scraps
BeaconScrap
Crafters Boutique
Bonnie
Aubrey's Mom
Morgaine Creations©
BlueVelvet DeZigns
Wendy & Sarah
88 Designs By M
ScrapperGirl Designs
Foxy Lady Creation
FairyDustPrincess-MagicMaker
My Sweet Tater
Waite For The Moment Designs
JIC Creations
Grunge And Roses
KnittinJen
BoonieScraps
JanalynsPlace
ESNQueenKalo Designs
Mamadukez Creations
Disaster In Design
Beckmoore
Pink Mary Jane
Gail's Space
CandysTreasures
AbbaDabbaScraps
by God's design
Cre8ive Formula Designs
Becky's Scrap
Buzybee Hive
Tootle Bugz
Aisne's Creations
Allie Kat Creations
PinkuPixie
Purple Dragonfly Creations
Michelle's Digital Fun Place
Candy's Creations