This Life I Love

Lower Case Alpha

2009-08-25T00:08:00.004-04:00

I feel like I haven't blogged anything important lately, but everything has been just so busy these past two weeks with the girls' swimming classes on top of everything else. By next week, with Carolina in school and swimming classes over, we should be able to get back to our regular schedules. I sure hope so, because I'm exhausted!

Anyway, here's the lower case alpha. Come back tomorrow and I'll post the numbers and punctuation.

Download HERE.

Time for the Alpha!

2009-08-23T22:37:00.005-04:00

Since I had made the I Love Watermelon kit a while back, I thought I'd make an alpha to go with it. I'm going to be giving out the uppercase alpha today. Come back tomorrow for the lower case and on Tuesday, I'll post the numbers/punctuation.

You can download the uppercase alpha HERE.

I Love Watermelon Elements

2009-08-22T09:32:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I meant to post this yesterday, but it was a hectic day. Anyway, HERE are the elements.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow and I'll have an alpha for you!

Now, I've got to run because I'm taking the kids to see their aunt and play in the pool!

Long Time, no Freebie!

2009-08-20T15:44:00.004-04:00

I've been slacking lately, I know, but we've been in full summer swing, and the fact that it's fading fast has meant that I've abandoned the blog a bit. To make up for it, I'm going to be giving away some more freebies. The first one is a mini I made a while back called I Love Watermelon.

Download the papers HERE and come back tomorrow for the elements. I'll have an alpha for you the day after that.

Christmas in July Scrap-a-thon!

2009-07-27T21:27:00.004-04:00

Wow! I scrapbooked so much this past weekend! On Saturday, I went to the Creative Memories crop at St. Timothy's with Mami and Madrina and got 11 paper pages done, and the rest of the weekend, I did 12 digi pages for the Christmas in July Scrap-a-thon at ESS! I busted my behind this weekend to finish them in time to get the goody prize--but if you haven't finished, you're in luck, because the deadline has been extended to Wednesday at 9 pm!

Here are some of the layouts I made:

I had so much fun and it gave me the excuse to try out all these new kits that I hadn't gotten around to using yet. I'm about ready for the next scrap-a-thon!

The rest of the weekend was great, although completely jam-packed. On Friday, we took all the kids to the beach--it was perfect and the kids had a wonderful time. In the evening, we celebrated Marcos's first birthday at Alexandra and Juanjo's house and managed to get some photos of all the cousins together. I still have to go through them but will post a photo when I do. On Saturday, after scrapbooking, we had a surprise birthday party for Ginny, who's turning 30 this week and then on Sunday, we celebrated Nicole and Jonathan's birthdays. We were birthdayed out!

Cool de Sac Fun!

2009-07-23T20:26:00.004-04:00

Since Francisco and Alex are in town, we've been doing our best to plan a fun vacation for them. Most days, we've planned different outings. Today, we took all the kids to Cool de Sac in Sunset Place. It's a mix between Gymboree/My Gym and a Kindergarten classroom, with different stations for crafts, Legos, Dress Up, Computers, and physical activity. The kids had such a good time! They kept running around from one activity to the other, not wanting to miss anything. Susy and Carolina got their nails painted (I told them they could keep it on until tomorrow, since neither one of us is too keen on little girls with painted nails) and dressed up and J.J. spent the majority of his time climbing the indoor jungle gym and sliding down the tube slide.

And what was the best part of the entire day? That I forgot my camera at home!!!! Grrrr! I can't tell you how upset I was when I realized that I had left it. I lost so many photo opportunities--12 of the 13 cousins together and I missed it!

On a happier note, this weekend is Christmas in July at Enchanted Studio Scraps! From 7/24 till 7/26 there will be 12 challenges posted in the Christmas in July forum. Your mission is to complete all 12 challenges by 9 pm EST on Monday July 27th! If you complete at least 10 of the 12 challenges you will receive this mega grab bag for free!!

To top it off, Danimoy Designs is having an awesome sale!

If you complete all 12 challenges you receive the Mega Grab Bag AND a coupon grab bag from some of the awesome designers in our store!!

Okay, today it's GDS' turn to get its layout shot! I've worked with some fabulous Christmas kits for Go Digital Scrapbooking's Christmas in July celebration. For the entire month, all Christmas kits are 50% off, so if you haven't picked checked out the store yet, hurry up!

First, I worked with the July Collab Kit, We are One

Next, I used Making Spirits Bright by Dancing Princess Designs:

And September Morning by Maria Designs:

Comfort and Joy by Dancing Princess Designs:

Morgenduft by Majula:

(Seriously, how funny is this last layout of my niece? I think she's convinced that she's a model!)

Well, I think this post was long enough. I'm going to do my best to update more often, so that I don't have to do these ridiculously long posts!

Some recent layouts

2009-07-21T21:47:00.004-04:00

Hey, everyone! First of all, I just wanted to let you all know that it's Christmas in July at ESS, so head on over and get some of those Christmas photos scrapped! It will be lots of fun!

I've been getting lots of layouts done lately--especially since I haven't been designing. I've come to the realization that I really like creating layouts much more than designing kits. I'll still do the occasional kits, but right now, I'm enjoying getting back to making layouts for my family.

That being said, here are some of my recent layouts. I've been working with some absolutely gorgeous kits this month.

Here are some layouts I've done for Pixie Perfect Designs, my new CT:

This is Dinomania, PPD's newest kit. It is absolutely perfect for your little boys.

See what I mean?

Here is Fairy Godmother, which is perfect for all your girly pages--especially if you have princessy girls! :)

Then, there's Sweet Cherry Pie which is just such a bright, happy kit!

Danimoy Designs has also been whipping out new kits faster than I can even work with them! I've got 3 kits that I haven't even gotten to yet! She just signed on 10 new CTMs to help handle the load!! Here are two of her latest kits:

How perfect is Aloha for summer?

And how cute is Susy?

Funky Christmas, a collab with A+ Designs, will be coming out this weekend for Christmas in July, so you'll be able to get it this weekend!

Enchanted Studio Scraps' July Mega Kit, Love Story, has made me all sentimental in these past couple of weeks. It's a beautiful kit for anniversaries and weddings:

Here are two of my pages with it:

I've got plenty more goodies to show you from GDS and some RAKS tomorrow!

Pixie Perfect Designs CTM!

2009-07-15T21:58:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to post before, but somehow the days keep slipping by. Susy's had a bit of a cough and so have I--in addition to very annoying tooth issues. I really hate going to the dentist. I'm pretty good about dealing with pain, but in my mouth, not so much!

Other than that, we've all been enjoying our summer. Yesterday, I took the kids to Toys R Us to buy a new board game to play with Carolina. Since she's the only one not napping, it's been really nice to get some one-on-one time with her. Most afternoons, we'll play a game or two, but I figured it was time for something different, so we chose Payday. I'd forgotten how much fun it is! Even though she's only 5, she's a pretty smart cookie and plays well (with some assistance, of course!). I'm really going to miss the mother-daughter time when school starts again, although on the plus side, I'll have some more scrapbooking time!

Speaking of which, I am now officially a CTM for Pixie Perfect Designs! Holly had a CT call, and I couldn't resist sending in an application. I'll post some of the layouts I've done for her tonight.

Happy Belated 4th of July!

2009-07-07T21:23:00.004-04:00

First of all, I just want to remind everyone that Digi Town Square is re-opening and is having a Town Square Carnival. Hurry on over there to win lots of prizes! Here's the info:

Well, I've been very busy and have been having a ball happily scrapping away this month. I'm working with Designs by Helly at Enchanted Studio Scraps and have started with a fabulous kit that I had been drooling over called Good Morning, Sunshine.

Here are two layouts that I made with the kit:

I was also able to scrap ALL of my 4th of July photos already with Danimoy Designs' gorgeous kit, Oh My Stars, also at Enchanted Studio Scraps.

Dani also has an absolutely adorable new kit called My Pretend Friend that I had so much fun working with.

I've got more layouts that I'll post tomorrow. Good night!

Amazing sales at ESS!

2009-07-01T14:45:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know that Enchanted Studio Scraps is having a major 4th of July sale. For one week, each of the following designers has put her entire store on sale at 50% off!

There are also some fabulous 1$ Fairy Finds in the store--beautiful kits for $1. Happy Shopping!

This week, I completed two kits with Chris Greiser's gorgeous kit, Flirty.

Book of Me Blog Train!

2009-06-30T21:20:00.005-04:00

Well, it's time for a new blog train! Here is the July installment of the Half-Baked Girls' Book of Me Blog Train.

This is my portion of the kit:
Download it here! (Download link removed.) Your next stop is Mad Genius Designs.

Here is the complete blog train list:

FlutterbyeFaery Designs
Design by Sonja
Mariposa Designs (You are here!)
Mad Genius Designs
JewelScraps
Today's Scrap

2009-06-29T22:37:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to remind everyone that there's going to be a lot going on over the next few days. I just finished up my kit portion for the Digi Town Square Carnival blog train, and it's going to be a huge kit! To be able to download the free kit and participate in all the fun challenges and prizes, go HERE to sign up. Here's the information:

And here's my portion of Town Square Carnival:

Another reminder: on July 1st, the Half-Baked Girls' Book of Me Blog Train starts. We're going to be creating a ridiculously huge kit over the next couple of months. Each month, we're going to focus on a different subtopic of our Book of Me (AAM) kit. Here's my portion for this month:

A couple of weeks ago, I got RAKed by Scrappyweiss Designs with this fabulous kit, Funky Monkey but didn't get a chance to work with it until yesterday. How awesome is this kit? It's on sale right now, so go check it out!

Here's the layout I made with it:

I've also been working with Danimoy Designs' kit A Day at the Beach. It's a fabulous kit for any beach photos with tons of beautiful elements.

And here's a 2-pager I made with it:

Okay, that's enough from me. I'm going to go work on some more pages!

LOTD at Brownie Scraps!

2009-06-27T22:47:00.002-04:00

I'm very excited, because I got LOTD yesterday at Brownie Scraps. I used this gorgeous kit, Springish Notion, by Chris Greiser.

Here's my layout:

And here's another one I made for Father's Day, using the same kit:

I've also been working with a beautiful kit by Danimoy Designs, Missing You.

And here's a layout I made for Charlie's Digiscrap's Speed Scrap at Enchanted Studio Scraps yesterday.

I'm off to work on a couple of layouts as well as the Digi Town Square blog train which is starting on July 1st. It's a carnival theme and is looking fabulous!

Also, don't forget that I will also be participating in the Half-Baked Girls' July Blog Train which will be showcasing a wonderful Book of Me kit which will be added on to next month.

Childcare Emergency Kit Blog Train

2009-06-27T00:31:00.005-04:00

This is going to be a fun week, everyone! I've got 3 blog trains coming up. The first starts tonight! It's called Childcare Emergency Kit, and it's a perfect kit for anyone homeschooling or running a childcare service. My portion of the kit contains a full alpha with upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers and symbols; a flash card set to match upper and lowercase letters; and a kit comprised of 12 papers and 18 elements. Here's the preview!

Ohana Designs
Inspired by Dominic Designs
Jacabean Designs
Designs by Sonja
Mariposa Designs (you are here!)

Here are your downloads:

Childcare Emergency Alpha
Childcare Emergency Alphabet Matching Cards
Childcare Emergency Papers
Childcare Emergency Elements

The Next Best Thing Week 2

2009-06-18T22:44:00.004-04:00

I finished my 2nd week's entry to the contest. It's an All About Me kit, focusing on childhood. I'm really happy with how it came out. I made an alpha to go along with the kit and a sheet of journaling titles for the labels.

If you'd like it, you can download it all HERE!

I've also made 2 quick pages with Danimoy Designs' new kit, Dino-Mite. It's a fabulous kit for boys and it's on sale, so grab it now!

Here are the two QPs. You will get both, one with the title and one without.

To download them, go HERE!

Enchanted Pixie Call

2009-06-15T21:43:00.005-04:00

Enchanted Studio Scraps is having a CT call! Here's the information:

Definitely send in an application! I have absolutely loved working as an Enchanted Pixie with them and have signed up for another term. It's a wonderful site. Go check it out if you haven't already!

Besides working on my next kit for Digital Scrap Ink's Are You the Next Best Thing Contest (which is going to be an All About Me kit) I've been getting lots of pages done. Here are some kits I've been working with:

Sweet Pea by Carena Designs at Go Digital Scrapbooking:

Gavin's Toy Box by Danimoy Designs and A+ Designs at Enchanted Studio Scraps:

Put the Lime in the Coconut by Danimoy Designs at Enchanted Studio Scraps:

Sweet Summer Afternoon, the Mega Kit by the Enchanted Studio Scraps Designers:

At the Beach by Maria Designs at Go Digital Scrapbooking:

Catch the Day, the GDS June 2009 Collab Kit:

Yep, just a little behind in posting those!

Anyway, I'm going to get back to working on my new kit. I'll link up the freebies directly as soon as I can!

New Designer Contest

2009-06-13T09:30:00.004-04:00

I've been so busy this past week! I decided to enter another Designer contest, The Next Best Thing at Digital Scrap Ink. For my first kit, I created a great kid's kit, Old Macdonald Had a Farm.
It's a great FREE kit, so if you're interested, head on over to Digital Scrap Ink and download my kit HERE!

Finally, the Alpha!

2009-06-05T13:52:00.003-04:00

Well, it's the last download of Popsicle Dreams! Here is the Alpha! You should now have 4 separate downloads for the entire kit. Enjoy!

Download it HERE!

Time for Popsicle Dreams elements!

2009-06-04T15:24:00.004-04:00

Before I give away the freebie, I just wanted to show you all a new kit, Put the Lime in the Coconut by Danimoy Designs. It's on sale now at Enchanted Studio Scraps, so be sure to go get it! (Image is linked.)

I love it! This is the first page I've made with the kit:

And now for the freebie. By now, you should have picked up both Popsicle Dreams paper packs. Now, here are the elements.

You can get them HERE! I love reading all your comments! Thanks! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Popsicle Dreams Alpha!

Freebie part two!

2009-06-03T16:30:00.002-04:00

Hopefully, all of you remembered to come back for the 2nd paper download for Popsicle Dreams. Tomorrow I'll put up the elements and on Friday, the alpha. In case you stopped by for the first time today, go to yesterday's post for the first download and don't forget to check out my other freebies!

Download HERE!

New kit--Popsicle Dreams

2009-06-02T14:00:00.005-04:00

Well, no one can complain that there aren't enough freebies this week! Now, get ready for Popsicle Dreams! Over the next few days, I'll be giving out pieces of my latest kit. It includes 21 papers, 40 elements and 1 alpha. Each day I'll be giving out a different link, so be sure to check back. Here are the previews.

Today, I'm giving out the first set of papers. You can download them HERE!

Enjoy and don't forget to comment if you download! Thank you!

Also, I just wanted to share that I got LOTD at Enchanted Studio Scraps, using this gorgeous new kit, Inspiration, by Bucket of Butterflies Designs.

Half-Baked Girls June Blog Train

2009-06-01T00:01:00.005-04:00

Hello, again! Yep, you're not going crazy, that's 2 blog trains back to back! Now that I finished the Brownie Baker's Designer Challenge, I joined the Half-Baked Girls for the June blog train. I have to tell you that this is a gorgeous kit! In honor of Father's Day, we made a kit just for Dads.

You are not going to want to miss out on this, so jump on board and travel from blog to blog collecting the freebie mini kit from each blog to make up a fantastic #1 Dad MEGA kit containing more than 40 papers and more than 60 elements! These mini kits will be available until June 7th 2009 after which they will be collected and sold at Brownie Scraps with all proceeds going to the ALS Association.

Here's my contribution. (DOWNLOAD EXPIRED)
And here's a sneak peek at some of the other minis:

If you just came from Miss Trishs Digi Designs , your next stop is: Digi Dandy Designs . Otherwise the complete list of stops is below.

FlutterbyeFaery Designs

Remember ME Digitals

Ohana Designs

Wyld Web Designs

Snuggle Berry Pie Designs

MissTrishs Digi Designs

Mariposa Designs

Digi Dandy Designs

Mad Genius Designs

Paper Ma Chez Designs

I hope you enjoy your mega kit and please don't forget to leave comments if you download! Thank you!

Daddy's Boy Blog Train has arrived!

2009-05-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, here we go!

On this stop in the blog train, you'll be picking up these 2 Brag Book pages:

You can grab them HERE! I read all your comments, so please leave some love if you do! Thanks!

The next stop on the blog train is Dolbydawgs!

Just in case you missed a stop, here's the blog train list:

Danimoy Designs
Deansmommy
Loumaroo
Shmooangel
You are here!
Dolbydawgs
Mjtsmami
Grannynky
Adronscatherine

Have fun and I hope you enjoy your Brag Book set! Don't forget to head on over to Enchanted Studio Scraps to pick up Dani Moy Designs' kit Daddy's Boy!

Blog Train for Danimoy Designs!

2009-05-29T08:27:00.004-04:00

Here's a heads up! Starting tomorrow, Saturday, May 30th, we'll be having a blog train for Danimoy Designs using her new kit, Daddy's Boy, perfect for your Father/son photos. The best part is that the kit is on sale for only $1 ONLY THROUGH THE END OF TODAY so go pick it up here as quickly as you can!

The blog train will give you a Father's Day Brag Book set which will be perfect for Father's Day gifts. Here are the brag book pages you'll be getting in the blog train:

Goof!

2009-05-27T13:05:00.004-04:00

Sorry, everyone. Apparently, I'm losing my mind and never posted the link to the freebie quick page. I fixed it in the original post, but just in case, here it is again.

Grab the quickpage HERE!

Catching up and a freebie Quick Page

2009-05-23T21:30:00.007-04:00

It seems as if there are just never enough hours in the day. I keep meaning to post and update the blog and somehow, between CTing and designing, the days pass by. But tonight, I'm going to play catch-up as best as I can.

First, some exciting news--as of last week, I am now also on Danimoy Designs' creative team. I am so happy to be working with her and the other CTMs, and, of course, the added bonus is that she's exclusive to Enchanted Studio Scraps. Her kits are marvelous and I'm having an excellent time making layouts with her kits. Here are two of her latest kits and some layouts I've made with them (the kit images are linked):

This month, I've also been working with Bucket of Butterflies Designs at ESS. I've worked with two gorgeous kits, Spring is in the Air and Sweet Pea (kit images are linked).

And now, after looking through all that, comes the freebie. I made a QP for you today with my Family Ties kit. If you haven't grabbed the kit, it's free, so have fun with it. I hope you like your quick page--and I love reading comments, so please leave me one if you download! Thanks!

Grab the quickpage HERE!

Lots of new layouts

2009-05-13T08:37:00.005-04:00

Wow, I've been busy! I've been creating lots of layouts with so many different kits but haven't had a chance to post them but will do that in the next few days. And for those of you waiting for the next freebie kit, you're going to have to be patient for one more week. Right now, I'm working on my new full-sized kit (yeah!) and am loving it so far. This is my last kit for the Brownie Scraps Design Challenge, but it will most definitely not be my last kit. I'm planning on going back through my first few kits and making some add-ons, alphas and QPs, before starting another kit, so there should be lots of goodies in the next few weeks.

For now, I have a wonderful deal for all of you. The designers at Enchanted Studio Scraps have created a fabulous charity kit called Earthy Crunchy. It can't be bought, but is free when you make a $5 donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Believe me, it is an amazing deal! But wait--it gets better! If you make a $10 donation, you will also receive a 20 page QP set as well created by all of us CTMs at ESS.

It's a wonderful value and it's for an excellent cause. For full details, go here.

Here's the page I made for the kit (you'll get this as a QP minus the word art).

Make a Wish Freebie

2009-05-07T23:57:00.002-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been incredibly busy the past week playing around all the sites for NSD. I participated in so many speed scraps and challenges, shopping and chatting, and then had to get back to my CT work. You can tell I've been busy since I've done 22 layouts so far in the month of May!

Luckily, I had already finished my portion of the latest mini-kit--but more on that later.

I have a new mini-kit for you called Make a Wish. It's perfect for your birthday boy!

Here are the links--please don't forget to leave a comment and if you make a layout with this kit, I would love to see it! Thank you!

Make a Wish Papers

Make a Wish Elements

Pixie Express Blog Train!

2009-05-01T12:04:00.007-04:00

It's here! Time for the Pixie Express Blog Train!

If you missed any part of the Pixie Express Blog Train, then go to the starting point at the Enchanted Studio Scraps Blog.

Here are the pages I made:

My portion of the NSD Collab Kit Funky Brag Book set is here (link expired)! Enjoy!

The next stop on the Pixie Express is Christy's blog.

Have fun and don't forget to come check out all the fun activities going on at ESS! It's an entire weekend full of fun, activities, freebies and lots of prizes! Go here to see the schedule of events.

NSD Celebration at GDS!

2009-05-01T11:14:00.002-04:00

Make sure you drop by Go Digital Scrapbooking on Saturday, May 2nd to participate in all of our NSD activities. It's going to be so much fun! I'll see you there!

NSD alerts and a freebie!

2009-04-29T12:41:00.008-04:00

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

NSD at GDS!

2009-04-26T09:57:00.003-04:00

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!

NSD Alerts!

2009-04-23T10:09:00.003-04:00

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!

Relinking Freebie and a new layout!

2009-04-22T20:59:00.010-04:00

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?:

Happy Birthday, Adrian!

2009-04-20T21:58:00.011-04:00

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!

Updated Freebie Links

2009-04-19T09:35:00.005-04:00

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!

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-04-17T19:03:00.013-04:00

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.

More Easter photos and a Freebie!

2009-04-15T23:39:00.027-04:00

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:

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T23:10:00.013-04:00

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!

My first kit!

2009-04-08T15:42:00.009-04:00

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!

More plugging

2009-04-07T21:16:00.010-04:00

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.

Yes, I'm back

2009-04-06T22:21:00.015-04:00

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:

Another crafter in the family

2007-04-20T18:08:00.000-04:00

Carolina has always loved drawing with crayons or markers and writing her "letters", but today she officially stepped into the title of "crafter". I went to Joann Fabrics today to get her and Susanna some large beads and lanyards to string them on. Carolina and Susy had a great time making their necklace (granted, Susanna was in charge of handing over the beads while Carolina was the one who actually strung them up).

When they were getting ready for their naps, I asked Carolina to get in bed and wait for me to tuck her in while I put Susy down and when I came into the room, I could tell something was up. I asked her what she had under the covers and she pulled out one of my spice jars filled with buttons that she wanted to play with. I put them on the shelf and told her that she could play with them when she woke up from her nap. The minute she was up, she decided that she wanted to make a necklace out of the buttons. She strung the buttons through the lanyard ALL BY HERSELF! All I did was tie on the first button so it wouldn't unravel. After that, she sat quietly on her bed for over 45 minutes (!!!!!!) stringing her buttons to make a necklace for Abuela Mary. (I was told more than once that the necklace was NOT for me. Eventually, she said she would make me one later. Apparently, her grandmother is more important! )

When we left to go visit Abuela, she took more lanyards and MORE buttons from my stash so she could make another necklace. Helena was there with the kids, so Carolina was so excited to "share with Nicole." (She loves to say that she's sharing with Nicole. She always says, "Nicole is my friend and we share.") When I left to come to work, the two of them were having a blast making their necklaces.

Needless to say, I took tons of pictures of my little crafter and some close-ups of her works of art.

Looks like I'm going to need to buy some more buttons!

Introspective

2007-04-13T19:38:00.000-04:00

I've neglected the blog this past week, but hope to make it up in the following weeks.

I have been having such a wonderful time working on my altered journal. Writing about my life has really made me remember so many wonderful memories. It's so nice to just look back at my life and remember all the good times I've shared with my family. It also helps that I've been going through my parents' photo albums (secretly, of course) so that I can scan photos for the scrapbook I'm making them for their 35th wedding anniversary. It's so amazing to think of 35 years. It's not easy, I know, but they have definitely made it look easy. I am so grateful to them for their example of a loving marriage and for their example of parenthood. If Juan and I can be half the parents that they were, I'll consider myself blessed.

Creative Play

2007-04-04T11:18:00.000-04:00

I read this on the Donna Downey blog. How wonderful an idea!

"we went to Kroma, a fabulous little hidden treasure. used his paints today and they are FAB-U-LOUS!! dare i say i am a Canadian paint buyer from now on! kevin the owner kept the store open late for us and i am so glad he did! the experience and meeting him inspired me beyond compare...let me tell you why.

so his store was super cute and how could a store of paint NOT be inspiring, but he had a huge roll of canvas suspended from the ceiling, silly me says, "what do you do with that? do you pull it down and paint?" he said no he just pulls it down and cuts it for his customers. then he told us this story!

he had a teacher in college that every night before he left his studio he would gesso a piece of canvas. the next day he would not leave his studio until he completed a painting on it...no specific style or design, just painting for paintings sake and place it on the pile of paintings. gesso a new canvas and start again the next day.

he never assessed grades to his classes, but instead gave them the opportunity to grade themselves citing that if he was not to be judged by his art, they were not to be either.

I LOVE THAT!!

when the teacher retired his stacks of paintings were bought and shown as a collection by an art gallery.

why am i so inspired? i am going to paint a painting everyday, just to paint, just to creatively play, just for me.
what do you think?
lets start a new movement!
a painted page a day!
are you in??"

I love the idea of creating, just to create. What an inspiring way to view art!

Altered Book Project

2007-03-28T14:05:00.000-04:00

I’ve just started my first altered book. Actually, I’m heading an altered book project at scrapthemoment.com. I’m so excited to be heading a project that I conceived of and have set up, and I can’t wait to get into it in full force. The whole idea is to turn an old book into a journal where I can answer questions about my life, hopes, dreams, memories, and goals. Basically, a way to record all the stories and thoughts that I want my children to know. I’m hoping to create several books—enough to answer all the questions I love that Angel has in the Journaling Junkies section. I realized that there was so much that I want my girls to know and that I’ll never get to answering those questions if I leave them until I can make them scrapbook pages. This way, I still get to be creative while writing about my lie. I also plan to make a book (or several) to ask my daughters questions about their favorite memories. Actually, it occurred to me that it would be a nice idea to give an idea jar with different questions as well as an altered composition book to my siblings so they could record their memories as well. Of course, the big question is, will they? I hope so.

Wicked!

2007-03-26T20:23:00.000-04:00

I had the most wonderful weekend! Juan and I went to see Wicked at the new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. That had been my Christmas present this past year and I had been looking forward to seeing it for 3 months. We were so excited to have a night out without the girls, just the two of us. God knows, they’re few and far between! We got all dressed up and left the girls with Papi. The only problem was that there was a Heat game the same night and we got stuck in the most horrific traffic jam, 15 blocks away from the theater. It took us an hour and a half to go those 15 blocks, so we got to the theater 45 minutes late. We were so upset. We missed half of the first half and had to stand in the back until intermission. The show was so wonderful, though, that it made up for our being so late. Absolutely loved it! Both leads had the most amazing voices, and the songs were wonderful. I’ve been singing (God help everyone!) the songs from the show all weekend. I got the soundtrack today and have been listening to it non-stop!

Beautiful Quote

2007-03-23T19:16:00.001-04:00

Just saw this in Ali Edwards' blog. Beautiful.

"There is an article today in The Oregonian by columnist Margie Boule talking about the 20 years of journals at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon (a wonderful coastal town)....The article today all about the words people have left in the journals that are placed in each room over the last 20 years. All kinds of things. Life things. Good and bad things. Private things and silly things.

At the end of the article was the following quote left in one of the journals by a visitor:

'It's been so long since I picked up a pen and wrote more than everyday necessities: a grocery list or a phone number. But something about this place, authors alive and breathing within its walls, reminds me that I am writing because I must, because it is how I am supposed to experience the world. And if my words never glimmer longer than a moment, it doesn't matter. Because in that moment I am living and my words are lighting my jouney.'"

What a beautiful idea!

2007-03-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

Confession

2007-03-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

It was a pretty calm, quiet day today. Susy is better, thank God. Went to Michaels--ostensibly to get a wood box to make a memory box for Ofelia, but also to check out the clearanced patterned paper and hopefully find some of the acrylic stamps that are supposedly in the dollar bins (yeah, Chatterbox for the former, but no dice on the stamps). In my defense, I wasn't really shopping for myself. I thought I'd introduce Mami to Chatterbox papers. She loved them! She's been scrapbooking so much lately, but I've been trying to get her to try some new things--mixing patterned papers, inking, stamping, painting, using flowers and brads...I've been giving her some of my older magazines so that she can look through them for ideas and inspiration, but shse hadn't been using them yet.

Yesterday, she told me that she wanted to start experimenting a little, so I got all excited. I happened to have the April issue of CK and we started going through it, pointing out different ideas that she could use. She mentioned that she wasn't using ribbon on her layouts because she needed to buy some. I told her not to worry, that I'd give her some ribbon.

This is where the confession comes in.

After I got home from work, I sat in front of the TV (watching Poker, hee, hee) and started going through my spools of ribbon. Depending on how much of each ribbon I had, I cut out anywhere between 1/2 a yard to 2 yards. I knew I had 4 photo boxes full of ribbon spools (once they're small lengths, I put them in embroidery floss boxes), but I don't think I really understood just how much ribbon I own.

Oh...my...God.

I separated almost 100 different ribbon lengths on clothespins for my mother. I never even opened the floss boxes, but I know there have to be at least 100 more different ribbons in them. I gave Mami a tin bucket filled with the ribbon clothespins, a stack of Chatterbox, some chipboard that I diecut for her, and some flowers for her pages. She was very excited, and I love to share.

But I'm still stunned by the ribbon.

So what did I do when I went to Michaels? I bought 2 more spools!

Obsessed? Not at all. :)

Figuring Things Out

2007-03-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how much time I've spent trying to set all this up. There are so many other links I want to add, but I thought I'd update.

Today I had planned to go to the park with the girls, meeting Mami and Richie, and most likely Helena, Veronica and Nicole, but I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of major raining. Finally, we got some rain! We've been so dry here that water restrictions were supposed to begin today. Instead, I took the girls to Richie's house where they all had fun playing together.

Poor Susy is sick, though. She had major stomach issues this morning--both ends. Had to give her an immediate bath and remove the seat from the exersaucer (God only knows how I'm going to get that thing back on!). She's had nothing but applesauce, bananas, gatorade, water, juice and bread today, poor baby. I hope she starts to feel better tomorrow, otherwise, I see a doctor's visit in the afternoon.

Here we go!

2007-03-21T21:10:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd step into the world of blogging. I spend so much of my time online--mainly at scrapbooking sites and other blogs, that I thought I'd join in the fun. I'm hoping to use this as a journal of sorts, reminding myself to take stock of my life and record it. Of course, scrapbooking is a perfect medium for that and I hope to share my love of scrapbooking with all of you as well. So here's to recording this life I love.