Okay, we're heading towards the final days before NSD weekend officially starts. For those of you who haven't been following the Enchanted Studio Scraps blog, our NSD Pixie Express Blog Train starts Friday, May 1 at 12:00 pm EST! We're giving away a complete Brag Book set created with a brand-new ESS Designer Collab Kit called Funky! It is fabulous and you'll love it, so don't forget to pass by, because the Pixie Express will be shutting down Saturday night, after which time the only way to get the Brag Book set will be to buy it at the ESS store.

Here's the ad:


And don't forget all the activities that are going on at Go Digital Scrapbooking! Besides the GDS Merry Go Round, we're hosting a Why I Scrap Layout Contest, where you could win a grand prize of $50 to the GDS store along with 5 free prints! Hurry and get started because all layouts must be uploaded by Friday, May 1st at midnight!


It's going to be a weekend packed with fun activities, so don't forget to pass by and join in on the fun and challenges!

And now, for the freebie! Here's a new mini-kit for you.


I hope you all enjoy the kit and if you download it, please leave a comment! Thanks!

Family Ties Papers

Family Ties Elements

Here's a bit more detail about the fun that will be going on at Go Digital Scrapbooking this coming weekend. I've looked at the schedule of events and it's going to be so much fun! Lots of contests, challenges, speed scraps, sales and prizes...come on over!

Just thought I'd pass this along--for those of you looking for a fun place to be for NSD weekend, check out Enchanted Studio Scraps where we have a weekend full of fun plans, contests, challenges and lots of prizes, including a blog train that I'll be taking part in. Go Digital Scrapbooking is also having a weekend of sales, contests and challenges that will be so much fun! And if that isn't enough, check out what's going on at Brownie Scraps!


See you all there!

Since some people have had issues getting the freebies, I've been relinking them, so here are the links to the second mini-kit I designed, Marco Island. Enjoy and please leave a comment if you download! Thanks!

Marco Island Papers

Marco Island Elements

I've also been working on a brand new kit by Kenna's Designs called Rainy Days Stormy Nights which you can get at Enchanted Studio Scraps. It's a beautiful kit, full of yummy papers and elements perfect for rainy spring days. I especially loved the raindrops!

Here's the page I made. How cute does Juan Joaquín look?:

This was such a busy weekend! After a very relaxing Saturday, cropping with Mami and Madrina (how nice to have no responsibilities other than scrapbooking for 8 hours!), where I finished a mini-album of Susy, Juan Joaquín, Richie and Lily's birthday party and 5 other pages (and Mami finished a whopping 15 pages!), we had another busy day with Mass in the morning, and then Adrián's birthday party in the afternoon. I was so beat by the time I got home (to a messy house, no less!).

Anyway, Spring Break is officially over in my home. Everyone went back to school or work today, so my days of sleeping in an extra hour are over. Sigh. It was so hard to get Carolina (and myself) up for school! Now, we're back on our early nap schedules as well. On the bright side, there's only a month left of school since Pre-K ends early! Then, we can start getting our beach time in! Woo hoo!

As usual, I've been busy, working on new mini-kits (I'll be posting another freebie tomorrow!) as well as new pages. I've gotten some beautiful new kits to work with. First, here's Spring Fling Easter by Majula Designs which you can find at Go Digital Scrapbooking. It's a beautiful kit with tons of fun Easter elements--I had such a hard time choosing what to use!

And here's the page I made with it:

Here's another beautiful kit that's also at Go Digital Scrapbooking: Christy Skaggs' 100% Girl. It has absolutely beautiful colors and elements and also has some add-on glitter pages and a mini kit.


And here's my page:


I've started working on my 4th mini-kit and will be giving you the next freebie links tomorrow!

For those of you who have had issues getting the first freebie, I've changed the links and they're now direct to 4shared.

In case you missed it the first time, here's the preview for my first mini-kit:


And here are the links:

Home is Where the Heart Is Solid Papers

Home is Where the Heart Is Patterned Papers

Home is Where the Heart Is Elements

Enjoy and be sure to leave a comment if you download! Thanks!

Yeah, it's my birthday! I'm spending a quiet evening at home with Juan, and tomorrow, I'm spending the entire day at a paper scrapbooking crop. Fun! An entire day to relax and enjoy myself with my mom and aunt!

In other news--I'm going to be part of the Enchanted Studio Scraps Blog Train that is set for National Scrapbooking Day Weekend, so get ready! You'll be getting a complete Brag Book if you hit all the blogs in the train!

I've been very busy with all the Creative Team work I've been doing. Here are some of the layouts I've created and the kits that I used. Go check them out!

This first kit is Joy of Spring by Holly Ann Designs at Go Digital Scrapbooking. It's got beautiful Spring colors and lots of gorgeous embellishments!

I also worked with Lorie M. Designs' kit Everyday I Love You which you can find at Enchanted Studio Scraps. It has some beautiful lilac colors and gorgeous word art.

And here are two pages I made with it.

So that's some of what I've been up to--I'll try to post the rest tomorrow.

Well, here are some photos from the Easter Egg Dyeing eggstravaganza! Everyone had lots of fun, and, God knows, enough eggs were dyed. Most of the kids (and adults) dyed many eggs all different shades of color. Alex was the winner of the evening, though. He spent the entire time on one egg. He watched over it carefully, turning it slowly in the dye. His level of concentration was amazing! Of course, his egg turned a gorgeous shade of deep blue.

On Easter Sunday, after early morning Mass, everyone headed over to our house for an Easter Egg hunt and Easter lunch. I sent the uncles out to hide the eggs (not too well-hidden, since they're all so little). We had to hold back the kids, who were chomping at the bit, until everyone arrived, but finally, we let them loose! It was so funny to watch because most of them didn't have a clue what they were supposed to do and were just wandering around with baskets while their parents kept pointing out eggs to them. Juan Joaquín and Mikey were happy as soon as they had one egg in each hand. After that, they could have cared less about the rest of the hunt.

All in all, it was a wonderful, albeit hectic, Easter Sunday. I was so glad to be able to relax when it was over!

Now, on to what you've all been waiting for! I finished my 2nd mini-kit, Marco Island, which is where my family vacations every summer. It's a great kit for any summer or beach photos, and you can grab it HERE at Brownie Scraps. Here's the preview:

This was such an event-filled Easter weekend! My brother, Frank, and his family came down for the weekend, which meant that every possible minute was spent in some family activity, so that all us siblings and our kids could get together.

On Thursday morning, we all went to my sister Helena's house for a major playdate-15 cousins in total! Here are some photos:






The kids had so much fun! It was a beautiful spring day, not too hot, not too cold (not that it ever really gets that cold!) so everyone spent the morning outdoors, playing in the playground or on the terrace. It was a perfect way to celebrate the start of Spring Break!

On Saturday, we dyed some Easter Eggs at Becca and Richard's house. The men, of course, upon arrival began to play some weird combination of football, soccer and frisbee. The whole point was to be on your toes and catch whatever was being thrown at you without getting hit. It's definitely a guy thing.




While the guys were doing their thing, the kids were playing in the backyard (some narrowly escaping disaster by walking into the guys' game) until it was time for pizza. After the pizza, of course, it was time for the egg dyeing. The kids had such a great time, making a huge mess, of course. I'll post some photos of the egg-dyeing tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to bed!

In addition to being on my 3 CTs, I also decided to join Brownie Scraps' Design Challenge. It's a challenge with tutorials and no eliminations other than failing to upload your work on time. In other words, a perfect way for me to start learning how to design my own kits. I was unbelievably intimidated (still am, a bit) when I got the first assignment, but I'm happy with how the kit came out. We were given 4 color palette options, and then were told to design a kit with 6 solid papers, 4 patterned papers, and at least 6 unique elements.


The good news for all of you is that it's a FREEBIE! So if you want to grab my mini-kit (along with plenty of other free kits, head to Brownie Scraps. If you want to grab my Home is Where the Heart is mini-kit, click here! Don't forget to leave a comment if you download, please! Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!

Today was a special day for the kids. When Juan came home from work, he brought home early Easter presents for the three kids. Each of them got a small stuffed puppy. The girls (especially Carolina) flipped for them. They immediately started preparing little beds and food for them and when we went outside to play (We had a cold front come in today--I think we got down to the 60s! It was a gorgeous day!) the puppies had to come along. Of course, I had to take photos of them (I'll post some tomorrow). Even J.J. was carrying around his puppy, holding on to it for dear life, as he climbed the mini rock wall. The puppies were introduced to the swings, the slide and the playhouse. Too cute!

It's so nice that I'm on Spring Break and don't have to worry about rushing playtime outside so that I can leave for work. Too bad it's so short!

Anyway, right now I'm working on some layouts for my CTs, but here are a couple of layouts from this past week.

First, Go Digital Scrapbooking has a fabulous Collab kit called Spring Blessings. It is huge! The color palette is gorgeous--perfect for all your spring and Easter photos. There are also some templates included, and the best part is that it's free with any $10 purchase! So hurry on over to snag it before the end of the month! It's so worth it!


And here's my first layout with the kit. I made this during last Friday's Speed Scrap. They're so much fun! If you haven't done one yet, definitely sign up!:


Enchanted Studio Scraps also has a wonderful April Mega Kit called Overboard. It is great for all your summer and boating photos. The colors are bright and vibrant and the elements are just adorable!


I've made two different layouts with this kit so far--one for a Speed Scrap at ESS (are you seeing a pattern here?) and the other for this month's Mystical Mottos Challenge.

Okay, I know it's been a long, long time, but I decided that it was time to restart the blog. First, a bit of an explanation for my absence. Right around the time of my last post was when I discovered that I was pregnant with Juan Joaquín, and right on the heels of that exciting news came the dreaded and very expected, ubiquitous morning sickness. Then, as if that weren't enough, I got the one-two punch of extreme exhaustion. I don't remember ever being so tired before--but then again, I'd never been pregnant while raising two toddlers before. Then, the next thing I knew, I was giving birth and, well, newborns and blogging don't mix very well, either. Now, Carolina is almost 5 and is in Pre-K, Susanna is 3 and J.J. is 15 months old. I'm still at home with the younger two, and finally feel the motivation to get re-started.

Despite the tiredness and pregnancy and newborn stage, I still found time to scrapbook, of course! Besides traditional paper scrapbooking, though, I also discovered digital scrapbooking. I, who had always insisted that there was no way that I could ever like digital scrapbooking, am now addicted. I started digi-scrapping as an easy way to make gift albums. I was tired of always making albums for people and never keeping one for myself. Then I discovered how easy it was to use quickpages. Soon, I realized that it wasn't very difficult to create my own pages.

For the past year, I've been spending more and more time digi-scrapping. Besides being able to create multiple albums quickly and easily, I found that I had much more time to scrapbook when I didn't have to worry about taking out and putting away all my supplies. Everything is nicely organized on the computer. No fuss, no muss, which means that I started getting a lot more done.

In March of this year, I decided to check out some digital scrapbooking sites to see if I could learn more by participating in different challenges. I always work best when I have a specific task and deadline. I had so much fun and learned so much that I decided to enter into a contest at Go Digital Scrapbooking for a position on their Creative Team. Amazingly enough, I made it! I also applied to a few other CTs and accepted positions with Kenna's Designs and Enchanted Studio Scraps, all three of which officially began this month. I'm so excited to be working for all of them and have already met some great people. The next 3 months will be busy but so much fun.

So there you go. A general overview of what's been going on scrapping-wise with me since last we met. I promise I'll be updating regularly now.

Before I go, over the next few days, I'll be posting some of the kits I've been working with and the layouts I've done with them.

Here's the first kit I worked with for Kenna's Designs. The kit is called Afternoon Playdate and is great for scrapping photos of your kids!


And here are two layouts that I made with the kit: