Happy Monday all! This weekend was the wrap up of spring break in our corner of the world and I know Nicholas and I are happy to have our routine back. Madison wasn’t ready to go back to school, but she perked up last night when I pointed out how close summer vacation really is now. She’s such an easy kid to cheer up—we just have to help her re-frame her perspective once in a while. ;)

I know I haven’t been too regular on posting Cool Digi Stuff the past Mondays, but with the {near} completion of our office, the kidlets’ return to school and my improved health I’m ready to get back at it. In fact, today I’m pointing you toward some freebies that are going to keep on giving for a while! (Does that make up for a less than stellar posting record?)

In case you’re not aware, Little Dreamer Designs is running their apprentice program again and it just started. That means for the coming weeks you’re going to have the opportunity to download the great freebies these designers create as they move through the competition. The Round 1 freebies can be found HERE. Don’t wait around to download though, because I believe they’re available only for a limited time. Then keep checking back HERE for subsequent freebies from future rounds as the competition tightens!

It’s time for another Pixel Peek from me too! I have a new kit hitting my shoppe on Wednesday—here’s a little peek:

Oh, and hey—don’t forget about the 1-2-3 Challenge going on right now here on my blog. You still have until next Tuesday to whip up an awesome layout for yourself following the challenge rules and I’ll be picking a winner who will receive a free kit of their choice from my shoppe. Check it out if you haven’t already!

Until next time…happy scrapping!

So, Cool Digi Stuff is supposed to be posted on Monday, and here it is Wednesday. I apologize for the delay—profusely. Monday morning I decided it was time to finally “Spongebob-ify” Nicholas’s room (which had been on my to-do list for some time), including emptying the room and painting it. Somewhere in the midst of emptying his room (and getting rid of a few other things in this house we didn’t need), I did something horrible to my back. For the remainder of Monday afternoon as I worked painting the room (with the help of the super-hubbins—without him, the room definitely wouldn’t have gotten finished at the slower pace I was reduced to), I felt the pain every time I moved. By the time the painting was finished, I could barely move. There was no way I could sit and blog. Sadly,  going to the bathroom was difficult even. The spasms I was having felt much like the back-labor I experienced when having Madison. Unfortunately, this time I didn’t have a sweet little baby to look forward to and help me look at the positive side of the pain. Yesterday saw an improvement and today as well, but I know I won’t be spending much time here at my desk still because I’m starting to feel more and more uncomfortable as I type. So….on to the Cool Digi Stuff!

Drop Shadow Tutorial from Peppermint
Ok…I’ll admit it (and have admitted it to her)—I have a total scrap-crush on Peppermint. Now she’s gone and posted a tutorial on how she does her drop shadows, pushing her into the realm of total scrap goddess! You can find the tutorial here on her blog. I can’t wait to give her smudge and shadow duplication steps a try!

That’s all I’m going to post for you today. Now I’m apologizing for being late and only sharing one thing with you (but hey…it’s a real quality item!). Have a great St. Pattie’s Day!

Power Scrapping with Katie the Scrapbook Lady
I don’t often have an over-abundance of time to read digi scrap articles, but I came across Power Scrapping—Digi Style by Katie the Scrapbooking Lady last summer and thought the way Katie approaches tackling several layouts at one time to be very neat. In this article she covers her workflow for creating 3 layouts simultaneously. Check it out. You may find yourself adapting her power scrapping concept to your own scrapping!

Random Alphabet & Random Numbers
Check out these very cool products from Dysfunctional Design for original titles and numbering on your pages (images are lined):

Hope you enjoy this Cool Digi Stuff!

I’m not too fond of Mondays. In an attempt to give me something to look forward to so that I don’t dread Mondays so much, I’m aiming to post every week Monday about cool digi stuff that I use or find. There are so many things that I have or use (digi stuff and otherwise) that I never would have known about if it hadn’t been pointed out to me by someone else.

So…here it goes—my first Cool Digi Stuff Monday!

Winter Romance Kit by Amanda Carlson:

I’ve had the pleasure of working with this kit because I’m on Amanda’s CT and I had no problem creating a layout with it without pulling from other kits. I love the warm colors and Amanda’s quality is second to none.

Here’s my layout of the ever-impish Miss Madison using Winter Romance:

 

If you’re at all like me, you may not be exactly “caught up” on your scrapping. I’m more behind that I’d like to actually admit, but even if I were more current, now would still be about the time I’d be working on a year in review layout. So how about a template to make your ‘09 YIR layout super easy?

2009 Year in Review Template from Listgirl Designs:

If you’ve never tried a template from Listgirl Designs you really, really should! Christine creates some of the best layouts I’ve seen, with a strong foundation in shape and design—so I was naturally very happy when she decided to start sharing her wonderful layout design ideas in the way of templates. She also has a great knack for creating templates that help you pack a lot of photos onto a layout without clutter or chaos.

Well, that’s it for me today. I’m looking forward to a visit with one of my very best friends and her son tonight and I have a bit of house cleaning to do before they come over. Have a great Monday!