Like a Chicken...

...with it's head cut off! That's how I feel lately--running around like mad, flopping this way and that, with so much to do that I can't get anything done! KWIM? I have so much going on since the beginning of July, that it seems I can't stay focused long enough to complete a task because I'm always rushing off to check on something or thinking ahead to other projects I need to get done. And this is EXACTLY why I haven't come on to post recently.

I have tons of new products out, however, so I hope you'll head over to Designs In Digital to checkout my complete store. And I have numerous things in the works! I've left Hot Spot Scraps due to time constraints, but I still have my other 2 stores open and running!

I also have a new blogs in the works, and I'll hopefully be switching over to that real soon. So stay tuned, my patient and loyal fans (how many of you are there now...2, 3? LOL) and I'll post regularly again ASAP!

Birthday Bag #2 Revealed and Birthday Bag #3 in Store!

Yipee! I've made it to Birthday Bag #3!! Check it out in my Designs In Digital store!

I hope to fit one more bag into this month (although it's going to be cutting it close!), so you'll only have until maaaybe nxt Tuesday to snag this goodie bag! After that, it will be revealed and you can still save on getting them all together, but it will be at a bit higher price.

Since I had to make room for this bag in my store, I decided to reveal Birthday Bag #2!!

Want a better look at the products inside? Well, ya know I'm gonna show them to you!

I had so much fun creating these items! Now that I've revealed Birthday Bag #2, maybe you've seen a trend in the types of items I'm sticking inside? Hmmm...maybe that will give you a clue as to the types of items I have in Bag #3?? Still don't like surprises? E-mail me and I'll give you sneak peeks!!

Birthday Bag #1 Revealed & Birthday Bag #2 Available!

Have any of you been over to Designs In Digital lately? If not, you might want to head over...I revealed Birthday Bag #1 and it's still for sale at a discounted rate!

Want a better look at what's inside? Here you go:

For the rest of the month, you can get ALL these goodies in a sort of Bargain Buster pack for only $6.00. That's still a HUGE savings over regular store price (especially since I've been toying with the idea of increasing my prices by a few cents), and now you can SEE what you're saving all that money on! After the end of July, however, everything goes into my store as separate items for regular price.

And while you're over there picking up Birthday Bag #1, don't forget to snag Birthday Bag #2!

This one is jam-packed full of more great products, but you won't have as long to snag this one as I plan to reveal it sometime next week in order to try to get back on schedule with this Birthday Bash business!

I'll let you know something else...I'm almost done with Birthday Bag #3 as well! I'm hoping for a release sometime this weekend! So make sure to check back soon!

What a Super-Duper Deal!

Have y'all seen this?

I know what you're thinking...just what I need, another digital place to spend money at! But let me tell you, this is a fab deal! And there's always a lot of fun stuff going on. No don't think that I'm just saying that because I design there! Designs In Digital is fast becoming one of my favorite places to be online. The designers in the store are way talented, the CT does amazing things with the products, so you can see everything "in action", there are TONS of challenges during the month (which works on a point system, so you don't get TOLD what you're winning by completing the challenges. You earn points and then go shopping and decide for yourself what you want!) Don't forget that there's a sale every Friday and, of course, I'm having my own birthday bash celebration there all month long with my own forum for challenges and special grab bags!

It really is a neat place to come visit and this sale for first time shoppers is a perfect excuse to finally come check it out for yourself. And you might want to stick around after the sale because you never know what kind of give-aways or special deals might pop up in our forum just for members! Interested? Send me an e-mail telling me that you're a 1st time shopper and I'll send you the coupon code!

Nicolina's Big Birthday Bash!!

Guess what? My birthday is tomorrow (July 1st)!!! I'll be 33. I just can't believe it because I certainly don't feel that old! OK, OK...so 33 isn't old per se, but the point is that I certainly don't feel as if I'm in my 30s!

I want to celebrate. Will you celebrate with me? Great! I'm having sales at 2 of my stores (which reminds me that I need to get my ad together for Bits2Kits! Oops!) Anyway, at Bits2Kits, you can anything and everything in my store for 33% off July 1st thru the 8th. And that includes brand new releases that you can ONLY find at Bits2Kits! I'll have 2 Grab Bags offered there as well...one for July 1-15 and one for July 15-31! Don't miss out!!

The big Birthday Bash will be at Designs In Digital. Check it out:

Woohoo! This is going to be SO much fun, and I hope you'll all join me as I celebrate all month long! As the ad above states, I'll be taking 33% off everything in my store from July 1-8. There might even be a surprise sale later in the month, so you'll have to keep an eye open for that one!! Tomorrow, don't miss out on the RAK at DST. Look for a thread called "Scrap Me A Birthday Wish & Get RAKed" in The Happy Place forum and 3 lucky people will be randomly chosen to receive a $5 coupon to my DID store. There will be random RAKs and Give-Aways all month, so be sure to check back here frequently as I'll be posting a heads-up before I start a new thread with the Give-Away info.

I'm going to try to offer a new Grab Bag with never before seen products each Monday (except the first Grab Bag will be released tomorrow, of course!) in my DID store. Notice I say try because, let's face it, life happens and with everything that happened at the end of June for me and my family, I got WAY behind in this Birthday Bash planning and wasn't able to get all my Grab Bags completed. I will be trying my hardest, however, to make sure I get them finished in time to put in the store...even if it means lowering the price of the bag because I only have a couple items inside instead of the 4-5 I'm aiming for! After the Grab Bag's week in the spotlight in over, I'll be revealing it and, for the rest of the month, you can buy it as a bundle at a discount from the normal store prices.

What else is on the agenda? Meg, the awesome new owner of Designs In Digital, has given me a whole forum just for me to host some Birthday Bash Challenges!! I have 10 challenges planned and, after I post them this evening, you can find them under "Nicolina's Birthday Bash". Here's the rundown on the challenges:

1. Template Challenge (I'll provide the template, you do the layout)

2. Flatter Me Challenge (pick a layout from my gallery and scraplift it)

3. Green Goodies Challenge (use at least 1 of my products on your layout)

4. Birthday Bag Challenge (use an item from one of my grab bags to nake a layout)

5. Photos On Strike Challenge (no photos allowed! Use altered art, digi items and journaling only)

6. Font Challenge (I'll give you 2 of my favorite fonts; pick the one you want to use on your page)

7. Quote Challenge (use my favorite quote and create your page. I might even provide the quote as wordart for you to make use of, if you so wish)

8. Nicolina's Favorites Challenge (I'll give you a list of some of my favorite things; use 1 or more to include on your page)

9. Count Down Challenge (I'll give you 2 possible lists with specific quantities of items to include on your layout. Choose the one you want and use it as a guideline for your page)

10. Celebrating Myself Challenge (a special AAM challenge that you'll have to visit the forum for more information!)

The challenges will be going on all month long. Your deadline is July 31st and you can do some or all of them! Each challenge will have a separate prize...some will be QPs and some will be a piece of my brand new kit! If you complete ALL the challenges by the deadline date, you'll be entered to win my entire store for free! And that includes all new releases from July AND August! What an awesome deal for one lucky individual!

Later in the month, there will be a scavenger hunt hosted right here on my blog with 3 winners getting $10 coupons to Designs In Digital. Who knows what other surprises I'll come up with along the way for you? I guess you'll just have to stay tuned to find out! And here's my Fan Of blinky because, if you wear it, who knows when, where or with what you might get RAKed !!

Apologies, Explanations, & My New Wacom

Once again Nicole had gone MIA with not even a note of explanation! What happened to blogging at LEAST every Monday? What happened to making sure I stayed in touch and let everyone know what was going on? It all flew out the window once we decided to sell our home and move into a new construction. Let me tell you, it has been nothjing but one HUGE headache!

The people who bought our existing home bought it for the husband's mother, whom they wanted living closer to them. isn't that sweet? I thought so too....until we realized they are selfish, petty people who are unwilling to give even a little. We did everything we could to make things easier for them, bending to almost their every whim. Won't make that mistake again! They gave us nothing but grief, made unreasonable demands, failed to get their paperwork done on time and kept pushing back the closing date. Now Thomas and I only had 2 days off from work. We were supposed to close at 10am on the first day which would have given us all that afternoon and the whole of the next day to unpack. Yeah right. They pushed back the closing until we threatened to call off the sale and sue them. Then, all of a sudden, the paperwork was magically completed! Unfortunately, that didn't happen until 4pm on the last day we had off. And can you believe the b**** (excuse the language, but I'm still angry) never once apologized? All she did was whine about how she had to pay for us to stay in a hotel overnight (yes, that's only right since it was HER fault we weren't able to close. The time and date was set up because the closing attorneys were told that everything was complete. It wasn't until 4pm the day before we were supposed to close that the woman's lender woke up and realized she didn't have all her paperwork in!) and complain about how inconvenienced she was!! Excuse me, but SHE still had a house to live in! WE were the ones who would be living out of boxes in a garage for the rest of the week because we had to go back to work the following day!!! How was she inconvenienced by this? Other than maybe she had to reschedule her manicaure.

OK...off my soapbox now. That's my explanation for why I went MIA. There was just so much to be done between getting all our ducks in a row, packing, and then living in limbo for a while (oh yeah, did I mention I ended up with food poisoning from the hotel room service? That was loads of fun.), and then trying to get somewhat unpacked so I could get my family comfortable in our new home. I'm a Cancer, a crab, my home is everything to me and I'm not doing real well without everything being in its place! I hope to have most of it done by the end of this week. Of course, all our spare cash is gone, so I'll have to wait indefinitely to decorate.

My good news is that I was talking to our custom sign guy at work and told him I was saving up for a graphics tablet. Leter, he came up with a Wacom Graphire 3 and told me I could have it because they bought it to try ages ago and no one liked it! Hoorah! I know nothing about this tablet and it's not what I was going to choose myself, but it was free! I downloaded the driver upgrade for Windows Vista and the tablet DOES work...I just have yet to play with it. Can't wait until I have a free moment to play! I also ordered a 500G EHD, which I found for just under $87!! That's my b-day gift from my parents. Yippe! I can FINALLY have all my purchased kits unzipped and in one spot. no more shuffling through disks, unzipping and erasing once I'm finished! Now I just need to find the time to do all THAT too! LOL

Well, that's it for now. But I'll be doing another blog post in a few moments with big news!!

50% OFF???!!!

Now's your chance! This is the lowest price I'll probably ever have in my stores...and it's in honor of Bits2Kits 1 year Birthday Bash! But it's only for 3 days, so you gotta hurry! From today, May25, thru May 28 you can take half off ALL my products at Bits2Kits. I uploaded my new kits, so the store is full of great scrapping treasures!

While you're there, don't forget to head over to the grab bag area. I also have a Birthday Grab Bag for sale for only $1!! It's a great little Birthday/Celebration mini-kit and it WILL NOT be released anywhere else after the grab bag sale is over! This is your ONLY chance to get your hands on it!!!

Bits2Kits has a lot of fun stuff planned for their birthday celebration...the grab bags, awesome sales everyday and even a scavenger hunt with lots of great prizes! And did you know that you can get your name entered for an awesome prize drawing just by shopping! Go check it out!

Anniversary Freebie!

4 Years...that's how long my hubby and I have been married! Today is our anniversary!! I have a freebie for you, but first I want to remind everyone about the big sale over at Hot Spot Scraps in celebration of my anniversary:

Remember, it's only from May 22 thru May 31! And at 40% off, there are some really great deals! So hurry over there and check out all the new goodies I managed to get into the store before the sale started!!

Now, onto the freebie (because I know that's what you'r really waiting for! LOL). I whipped up 4 (for 4 years together!) little love and marriage wordart doohickies for you to use. Hope you like 'em!

Pick it up here and happy scrapping! (Don't forget that sale now, OK? You can really give me a nice anniversary gift by picking up a few items! LOL)

Busy Bee, Me! And A Big Sale!

I've been the proverbial busy bee this past week trying to get ready for a big sale! I tried my best to get a bunch of new products into my store and I think I succeeded!

First up are some new colors in my Glassy Alpha series. I heard so many good things about these, I just had to make more colors available! There are now 12 colors to choose from: black, blue, brown, gray, green, orange, pink, purple, red, turquoise, white and yellow! Each download comes with both the silver- and gold-edged versions, of course. For the sake of saving space on this blog (lol), I created a preview showing ALL the colors (they are each sold separately, however).

These are gorgeous alphas, if I do say so myself, and I'm quite proud of them! I love the colors and the slightly transparent nature. I think there real fun and very versatile. I hope you'll all check them out at one of my stores (click on a blinky to the left) and buy a couple to try!

I also have 3 cute little mini kits available. They're just the right size when you have a little project to do...you know, a gift page for someone or maybe you need to make some party invitations or little bag toppers. Each mini kit has 4 papers, 2 ribbons, 2 buttons, a flower, a frame, a journal plate and a decorated flourish.

Aren't those great colors?? My CT had lots of fun playing with the Frou-Frou kit. Right now, these are ONLY available at Hot Spot Scraps, but they'll be in my other stores soon.

Speaking of Hot Spot Scraps, get ready for a big sale starting tomorrow! It's my 4 year wedding anniversary, and I'm celebrating by having a sale from the 22nd thru the 31st! I'll be posting this again tomorrow, but here's the sneaky-peak of my ad:

Goodies From My CT Team and Some New Products!!

Well, well...so it's been quite a while since I've posted you say? There's a reason for that, but I'm not telling you yet! I will, however, finally reveal what was in my Hot Spot Scraps Grab Bags!

Here's what was in the Boy Bag:

And here's what the Girl Bag had to offer:

Although these grab bags were only available during NSD weekend at HSS, now that I've unpacked them, they are available at all my stores! And I heard so many good things from my CT about the glassy alphas, that I decided to make a whole bunch more! I won't post all the previews here, but her's a list of all the colors you'll find once you head over to the stores (I have yet to put them in at Designs In Digital. They're uploaded, I just have to put them into the store. it's on my To-Do list tonight!): Black, Blue, Brown, Gray, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Turquoise, Yellow, White. Each has a complete uppercase alpha, a complete set of numerals, and a lot of symbols. Each download comes with both the gold and silver edged versions! The possibilities are really endless with these, so I hope you'll grab 'em all!!

And since it has been quite a while since I've offered a freebie, two of my CT gals have put together some goodies for you! Michelle has made a darling little element cluster made from my Girly-Girl Ribbons pack and Melanie has created 3 fabulous QPs...2 from the Girl Grab Bag and 1 from Nicole's Coffee.

Pick them up here and here. (Make sure to get BOTH links!)

There's more to come in the follwoing days (if I get off my bum and actually BLOG!!). I'll be uploading 3 cute little mimikits into the store soon and I hope to have a couple frame sets for you. And there's a big sale coming up in one of my stores. Which one and how much will you save on my goodies? Stay tuned to find out!

B2K Birthday Celebration!!

Have I told y'all that Bits 2 Kits is turning 1 year old this month!! And they're having a huge celebration all month long! First of all, a different designer's kit will be offered daily at awesome sale prices (50% off). Second of all, spend just $5 by May 27th and get entered into a drawing to win...

1st Prize = $100 graphics tablet (can you believe that??!!!? Awesome!)
2nd Prize = $10 store coupon
3rd Prize = $5 store coupon

There are also gift cards of various amounts from different designers, challenges, games and a scavenger hunt planned. Be on the lookout later this month for grab bags and freebies as well! Lots going on, so make sure you pop in every day!

NSD Events

(Inter-)National Scrapbooking Day is May 3rd and, to celebrate, Hot Spot Scraps is having a Grab Bag Sale! The designers have each out to gether 1 or more bags and they're on sale for only 2 Euro each! But you better hurry because this sale is only 3 days long...May 3-5.

Wondering what goodies I have out there for you? Well, I managed to put 2 bags together. One is geared towards the little girls in your life and one is geared toward little boys! Here's a look at the grab bag reviews:

Can't get enough of an idea from just the previews? Well, I'll let you in on a secret...just because I like to give you a peek at some of the goodies inside, I've asked my Creative Team to prepare some pages using the grab bags. They'll be releasing them throughout tonight and tomorrow. So if you know where to look, you're sure to figure out what's inside!

Designs In Digital is also having funa and sales on Saturday, May 3rd. Join them for a chat at 10am (keeping in mind that they are in Australia/Brisbane time zone, which is GMT+10) and get a prize just for being at the chat. Then have fun with the scavenger hunt. A picture will slowly be revealed, piece by piece, figure out the kit and you have a chance at winning the big prize! 6 photos total will be revealed. PM Peta with the correct answers for all 6, and if you're the first to do so---you win!! There will also be various prizes handed out (I'm giving away a 50% off coupon for a kit of your choice from my store!). Don't forget to check out the store while you're there because all the designers are having their own sales (mine will be 33% off) and we have lots of new designers to check out!

I love NSD as it comes each year. There are so many fun events and so many sales. My only 2 problems are #1-Keeping track of all the sites I just HAVE to visit and #2-Finding enough money to pay for all the goodies I just HAVE to buy!!

Hope you all have a fabulous day and happy scrapping!

Emerson's 2nd Birthday!!

My little boy turns 2-years-old today!! I can hardly believe it! Is he that old already??!!! Thom remarked just a few days ago that it seems as if we just brought him home from the hospital. So true.

I was looking at the walls in his bedroom this morning, looking at the pics I have of him in there from his first few weeks of life, and started getting misty-eyed. How tiny he was, how helpless, how much in need to be taken care of. Certainly that's not the same baby who has turned into a little boy overnight and no tells us "No!" and "Em-son do it". Certainly this little boy who now cries "Down!" when I hold him is not the same baby who use to want to be carried next to my bare skin while I paced up and down the floors all night.

Now don't get me wrong...I absolutely adore my little man...of course I do! I love the things he says now that just make me laught right out loud. (After getting an especially irritating knot out of his shoe laces while trying to undress him, Emerson gives me a big smile, claps and says "Yay Mommy! You dood it! Good job." or while standing next to daddy in the kitchen and hearing daddy "break wind" for the first time, Emerson turns to me, waves his hand in front of his face, wrinkles up his nose and says, "Smelly noise!"). He amazes us with his ability to speak so well and clearly, and with the things he just seems to know without us telling him (like "smelly noise"...he knew exactly how to express his thoughts, his observations...and that incident happened when he was only about 18 months or so!). But there's a part of me that does, and probably always will, miss that bitty baby and his dependence on me...on ME!! Maybe it's time for another baby...you think?

Before I wax nostalgic anymore, let me get to the real point of this post....a freebie! And because I got caught up last night with baking and decorating cupcakes to bring to daycare today, it's something I had to throw together something pretty quick last night at quarter to 11! maybe that's OK because I happened to pull things (with the exception of the paper-fold flowers) that I created around the time Emerson was first born! They're in shades of orange and blue...2 colors I LOVE to dress him in...and, since Emerson is 2 today, everything y ou'll receive is in the same quantity! 2 solid papers, 2 striped papers, 2 polkadot papers, 2 grosgrain ribbons, 2 ricrac ribbons, 2 buttons, and 2 folded flowers! I hope you enjoy it. Download it here!

(And because I had some pircay issues, I had to remove all my old freebie links. I changed things around a little and will be fixing past posts with new links. So don't worry, if you didn't get them the first time around, they'll be available again soon!)

Please leave my little boy some lovin'! Happy Birthday, Emerson!

And I'll let you know something else, go to Designs In Digital, (see the Interesting Things thread) because Emerson is giving away 2 coupons for his Mommy's products! 22 people will receive 2 coupons for 25% off anything in my store!! And if you hold onto those coupons for a bit, I'll be uploading new things real soon!

My Super-Duper Creative Team!

Hooray! I have a Creative Team!! And they are WAY more efficient than me. LOL

While I've been taking my sweet time announcing them here, they have already scrapped a few layouts using the free mini-kit I sent them, spotted a couple files of mine that had been pirated and made me aware of it, and created a total of 6 layouts from my kits already! Talk about a fantastic group of women I have been lucky enought to find!!

So, without further ado, I'd like to announce the women who are going to make you all want to run out and buy my kits! Andrea (Arizona, United States), Angie (Queensland, Australia), Ann (Arizona, United States), Helen (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand), Lisa (Michigan, United States), Melanie (Texas, United States), Misty (Texas, United States). Apparently, SouthWest U.S. likes Green Elephants! lol

I'll be updating my blog here with links to those CT members who have blogs of their own. And you'll soon (OK...you all know me, maybe not-so soon!) notice both a CT blinky and a Fan Of blinky floating around out there. I'll make sure to post the "Fan Of" blinky here for y'all to snag!) I'll also be posting a link to the Green Elephant Designs CT blog, but in the meantime, you can check it out right here and see what they've been up to!

I also have been lucky enough to find someone who is willing to put together my previews for me! With all 3 stores requiring different previews, and hating to do them in the first place (simply because they take SO long and I have such little time as it is), previews have always been a thorn in my side. Luckily, Michelle enjoys doing them! She herself is a designer, Mellow Butterfly, and you can see her store right here!

With all these talented women on my side, how can I go wrong?!!!

Piracy Stinks

Just a quickie to let you know what you already know...piracy stinks! I have been lucky so far and haven't had a problem...at least not one that I knew about. Until this morning.

While trying to get my new CT going, I uploaded links to a kit into 4shared. That sucker wasn't up for even 10 hours and when I checked it this morning, it had been downloaded 9 times already!! Obviously, someone got it somehow because I only e-mailed the links to one person. These people work fast! There must be a team of them who regularly go through checking for new things that have been uploaded. It makes me sick.

So, if you have files that belong to me, Nicolina, or you've seen them someplace, PLEASE do the right thing and notify me! If you see my kit Black Tie Affair somewhere other than in my stores, PLEASE leave me a message here on my blog.

And if you're the person who stole this from me...just who do you think you are? How would it be if I came over and stole something belonging to you? Something you created, something you spent hours on? You're an ass, and I hope someday you get what you deserve.

A Whole Lot of Rambling & Some Exciting Store News!

I really and truly meant to post all this last night. However, Sunday night is Masterpiece Theatre night on PBS and I try to never miss it. I usually work on the computer while I watch, but last night was different. For one thing, Emeerson had gone to a birthday party in the afternoon for his bestest little buddy, Hunter, who turned 2! There were lots of people, a fun jump, dogs, things to ride on, push around and get pulled in...all of them things Emerson is NOT used to (nor is his Mama! I'm one of those people who gets absolutely drained by having to spend any amount of time with a large group of people). And even though Emerson was the one who was playing hard all day (he would NOT get out of the fun jump...even when it was time for Hunter to open presents!), I was just as exhausted as he was (and he didn't get to nap, so he was pooped!) Being outside all day wreaked havoc on my sinuses (due to allergies) and I felt miserable with watery eyes and congestion that made my head feel like a boulder. Here come the meds!! I was still hurting and did NOT feel like sitting in front of a computer screen, so I sat down to start watching Masterpiece Theatre. "My Boy Jack" was on...the story of Rudyard Kipling's son and WWI. Fascinating and very well done, BTW. Towards the middle of it, the meds began to work and my sinuses were clear as clear could be, but I was so enthralled with the show that I couldn't tear myself away. And by the end, I was bawling so hard that my sinuses filled up again! (And I am NOT one to cry, usually, but having Emerson obviously did something to my hormones because there are times now when I cry during diaper commercials!) I completely forgot about the computer. I turned the TV off, got my luch ready for today, and went to bed on the couch (so I could sleep semi-erect....my head was pounding was pounding so much that sleeping prone was not even an option!). So, the point of all this rambling is that I'm not getting to posting until this morning!

Now on to some store news! And I have news/info for all of my wonderful "homes" today! First, let's start with an unbelieveable sale....

From now until the 27th, Hot Spot Scraps is having a 1 Euro sale. On what? On the ENTIRE store (OK...with the exception of the Mega Kits)!! Can you believe that? It's unheard of!! You have to hurry over and check it out. There are so many talented designers there. I'd spend a small fortune if I let myself! The last time they had a sale, I snagged a lot of great stuff, but they keep coming out with more and more that I add to my "Must Have" list! Don't miss out on this deal, folks! A sale like this doesn't come by everyday!

And after you buy a bunch of new goodies, you'll need to do some scrapping to justify all your purchases! Did I tell you that I'm one of the challenge hosts over at Designs In Digital? Go check out the challenges! They're loads of fun. The challenges I host are the Monthly Color Challenge (I give you a color swatch and some kit suggestions that match the swatch and you scrap something fabulous!); the Bi-Monthly Photo Challenge (twice a month I give you a photographay theme and you use the theme to come up with photos for your page); the Weekly Scraplift Challenge (I provide a link to a member's gallery, you go search for some inspiration and voila! you have the basis for a page); and the Weekly Font Challenge (for all you font junkies out there! I find a font and all you need to do is incorporate it somehow on your LO). Janie hosts the Bi-Monthly What's My Theme Challenge (she provides a theme--right now it's scanned items--you use it for your LO, and you can even discuss the theme in the forum thread) and Kirsty hosts the Monthly Sketch Challenge (where you get a template for free and all you need to do is scrap a page using it). The prize system is a little different...all you need to do is complete 3 challenges for the ENTIRE month, post your links in the appropriate thread, and you get a free kit from the month's featured designer! It's a great deal and a super easy way to add some really fab kits to your stash! Head on over and check it out!

Lastly, keep your eyes open for an exclusive kit I'll be adding to my store at Bits 2 Kits! You won't be able to get it anywhere else! I'll be going through my contribution to the March Mega Kit along with the bonus freebie I offered to anyone who e-mailed me the special code (provided in my TOU when you purchased the kit ) and choosing papers and elements (and a complete alpha!) to create an entirely new kit! The color theme is so pretty and perfect for Spring that I'm calling the kit Oh So Springy. But remember...you'll ONLY be able to find it at Bits 2 Kits! I'll post, of course, once it's in the store. So check back soon!

That's all the news for now. But I'll give you a hint for an upcoming post....I've e-mailed invitations to a few of the gals who applied to my CT call! I've heard back from 3 (out of 8) and I'll be announcing them soon!! I am SO excited and the gals I chose all do awesome work. I can't wait to get to know them better and to see what they'll be able to do with my lil' ol' kits! Oh gosh, this means I need to do a CT blinky...and that will get my butt in gear for finally doing a "Fan Of" blinky as well! Have to start brainstorming.....

Bits 2 Kits April Mega Kit

Ladies and gentleman, I am so sorry that I am a forgetful person who is super-behind in her posting! Can you remember way back to the beginning of the month? Well, I can't! And apparently I couldn't remember that a new month was even STARTING because I completely forgot to post previews for the Bits2Kits April Mega Kit!

It's bad enough that I was having...well, let's just call them "issues"...in my personal life, but I really neglected my posting in my stores and the responsibilities I have with them as far as helping advertise and whatnot. I feel bad about it, but I guess "real" life often interferes with what we'd rather be doing. So, without further ado, and with many apologies to Sarah and the terrific designing crew at Bits2Kits, I give you....dum-da-dee-dum...the Bits2Kits April Mega Kit! Pick it up here!! It's a HUGE download! You get SO MUCH for your money. It's truly a fantastic deal!

And I can tell you something, boys and girls, the designers at Bits2Kits just can't be beat. They are not only talented, but also extremely friendly, supportive, and more generous than I can even say! I'm honored to be among them.

Tune back later today or tomorrow for other news that I really should have posted at the beginning of the month as well! (I promise that I'll try harder to be more timely with this stuff, o ye faithful blog readers! Look...I've already gotten better about posting more regularly!)

Black Tie Affair QP Freebie

I did it! I finally managed to get a new kit into my stores! Woo-hoo! I'll let you in on a secret...I was a little preoccupied with the Amazing Digi Scrap Race...shhh. Put that on top of health, family and work issues (which I'm just NOT going into!) and it was almost a lethal combination for my poor fledgling designer career! I'm ready to get back on track, though, with tons of ideas written down (or I'm liable to forget them!) and lots of creative energy!

To celebrate my new kit, Black Tie Affair, I'm giving you some QPs I made with it. If you like them, and I hope you do, please head over to one of my fabulous stores and pick it up! I'll let you in on another secret...it's on sale until next Thursday at Bits2Kits! And all my goodies are on sale every Friday at Designs In Digital for their Friday Frenzy sale! Here's a preview of the QPs:

There's 4 total and you can download them here and here.

Don't forget to leave me some lovin' and let me know what you think of the new kit! Here's a peak at the full kit (scroll down to see previews of separate packs, which are also in my stores).

And don't forget to check back later for an announcement about my new CT and for some exciting sales news!

Happy scrapping!

My Very First CT Call!!

I've finally realized that I need a Creative Team! I really should have known better right from the start because I have such precious little computer time as it is that there was NO WAY I'd be able to do everything on my own! C'mon, Nicole! Try to be a little realistic about this! With only 2 to 3-1/2 hours per day (depending on how tired I want to be the following day!) to do ALL my computer duties, which includes designing, advertising (which I've done practically NOTHING with so far!), my own CT layouts (for DF), posting to forums, freebie assignments, collab kits, "research", not to mention trying to scrap my personal pages and return personal e-mail....well, you can imagine how much I would appreciate a Creative Team helping me out a little!

So, if you read this blog, or were directed here by one of my CT call ads, here's the scoop. Requirements would be at least 2 layouts completed from each kit/alpha, paper or element pack that you're assigned or choose posted to at least 4 different online galleries (one of which would be DST for sure). I'm not a very prolific designer--at least I won't be until I figure myself out and find my designer's legs so to speak!--so the work shouldn't be too difficult! This is perfect for those of you who want to be on a CT, but don't have a lot of time on your hands either. The demands definitely will not be great (except maybe at the start when I would like a bunch of stuff done to start getting it out there!) I'd also love for my CT to do quality checks, offer suggestions for improvement, point out problems, give ideas for new products, etc. I'd also love to have someone do my previews for me. All 3 of my stores require different preview formats and it eats up A LOT of my time, as you can well imagine!

So what do you get out of this? Well, you'll get the kits that you work with for free, of course! And I'll give out store coupons that can be used for any of my stuff you don't use. I also plan to offer Thank You freebies from time to time that won't be issued in my stores. I would also love to form a deal with another designer (who has yet to be approached or even found, truth be told!) where their CT gets coupons to my products and my CT gets coupons to theirs! How cool would that be?

So, a little about the gal you would be working for....I already told you that I have very little time to design, so I don't have a lot of stuff out there right now. That's not to say that I don't have a billion ideas written down! I just don't have a lot of time to create them, unfortunately! I don't think I have a "style" yet, I'm still too new to really find my digi niche. I try hard to come up with new ideas while still trying to provide trendy items. I have a fabulous sense of humor (if I do say so myself!), I'm lots of fun, very easy-going, and I don't make a lot of demands!

So, please help out a newbie! Short of getting on my knees and begging, I don't know what else to say. Don't make me look pathetic and needy! (even if it IS kinda how I feel in regards to trying to sell my products!) Send me an e-mail to greenelephantdesigns @ yahoo dot com with a little about yourself, a link to your most up-to-date online gallery, along with any CTs you're currently on. I look forward to hearing from lots of you. I'm going to start by carrying this to April 19th to see what kind of response I get by then. All e-mails will be responded to!

Thanks everyone!

New Kit Coming Soon!

Wondering what I've been up to? Well, I found my desigining mojo--briefly--but enough to finish an entire kit, complete with alpha, in only 2 days! OK...the alpha took another day, but that's still REALLY good for me! Since then, my mojo has been a little down due to family and work issues, but I feel it stirring deep inside, ready to awaken and send me into another designing frenzy, so I'm going to try to complete all the collaboration kits, freebie obligations, sales flyers, donation kits, CT assignments, etc that I have lurking around so I can get to work on the billion and one design ideas I have finally gotten written down on paper (before I forget them) and get those puppies into my stores!

Back to the issue at hand! I'm really proud of this kit, which I'm naming Black Tie Affair...not only because I was able to finish it so quickly and still produce what I think, at least, is beautiful work, but also because I have created something simple yet elegant, sophisticated yet fun. It was a blast to create, and I was really challenged trying to stick to a black and white color scheme and still produce something interesting that really "works". You know what I mean??

I'll be selling it as a complete kit, a paper pack, an element pack and an alpha pack. With the complete kit, you'll receive 2 solid papers, 10 patterned papers (all with a light satiny texture), 2 glittery border overlays, 2 glitter swirls, a bookplate, 2 half-knot bows, 2 full bows, 3 cufflink brads, 1 closed envelope, 2 pieces to make an open envelope, 1 invitation with a cut-out design, 1 eyelet, 3 flowers, 1 oval frame, 1 square wrapped frame, 2 decorative journaling tags, 1 silver key, 4 photo corners, 2 prongs, 2 wide ribbons, 1 thin ribbon, 1 ribbon wrap, a complete alpha with upper and lowercase, numerals and some symbols! Wow! I think that's everything.

Here are some previews. First the Complete Kit:

Here's the Alpha Pack:
And now for the Element Pack:

And lastly, the Paper Pack:

I'll post again once I get it into my stores. I hope to finish the previews and get it uploaded this week. Please check back so you know when t go buy it! LOL And here's a little insider info just because you're kind enough to read my blog...I already have plans for a companion kit to this! It's one that can stand alone--like BLack Tie Affair--or it can be combined with this to create countless beautiful pages. More on that later (as I actually get something other than IDEAS down for you to see!).

Thanks y'all and good night!

Challenges #11 & #12

Well, I'm posting the last two layouts for the Amazing Digi Scrap Race. I can't believe it's over already! It went very quickly. Part of me is gald because I can now focus on other things (designing and something I almost forgot about--my "real" life! I need to get back on a regular schedule), but part of me is sad too. It will feel as if I'm forgetting to do something! LOL Anyway, here's #11:

The only requirement was to use wings. This is a pic of my granmother as a babe. Cute, huh?

#12 was for both partners. Since my partner was unable to complete her layouts and was disqualified, I had to find another. Luckily, one came to my rescue. One of us had to provide pic(s) and journaling and the other did the layout. So, I did the journaling and found a pic (the theme was "A Great Moment In My Life") and sent it to my new partner (whose name is also Tanya!) and she did the page. Here's the result:

The journaling reads: Meeting my future husband was the catalyst for a major accomplishment in my life--growing up! Before Thomas, I was stuck in a life of parties. I had no direction, no goals. Relationship after relationship was with the wrong man, the wrong friends. Most of my friends wanted to do nothing more than drink and party. My boyfriends were either losers, users, beaters or cheaters. Meeting Thom changed all that. He didn't put up with my temper tantrums, my attempts at picking fights. He told me that when I was feeling adult enough to talk, I would know where to find him. He taught me how to control my temper and deal with our problems in a calm and collected manner. He explained that my low self-esteem was what was unattractive--not me. He taught me how to find my self-worth. He was an example of someone who could do for himself and didn't need to rely on others for a good time. He showed me that I could stand on my own two feet. He taught me the meaning of trust--a hard lesson for me to learn.Meeting Thomas brought me direction, it set me moving forward. At the same time, it brought me stability, a safe haven. Meeting Thomas was the cornerstone of my change from an immature youth to a promising young woman!

Well, that's all folks! The next post should be back to designing! (And maybe a little freebie, if I can get my act together!)

Challenges #9 & #10

Here I am back again with Challenges #9 & #10 from the Amazing Digi Scrap Race. They were both challenging for me because they required things I normally don't do!

Challenge #9 was an altered art challenge. We could scrap whatever we wanted as long as it included altered art. Now, mind you, I've never done altered art before. Had no clue how to even begin! I've always admired the altered art items I've seen, really admired them, but have never tried any on my own. I really like Alice In Wonderland and I imagined this awesome page of ALice from Through The Looking Glass with the Red Queen, the talking flowers, a rockinghorse fly, and verses from the Jabberwocky poem. OK...so the actual page turned out nowhere near the way I imagined (!), but it sure was fun. I think I'll try my hand at it again sometime. Take a look:

Challenge #10 was another tough one. It required the use of 50 DIFFERENT elements from at least 10 DIFFERENT designers! I'm just not used to that. I use 2 or 3 designers per page and always have trouble including lots of elements. Messy is just not my style forte, although I love how a lot of other people's "messy" layouts turn out. I saw tons of great designs for this challenge (several of which I saved in my "Favorites" so I could lift them later!). Here's my attempt:The journaling reads: Where is my life headed? What does the future hold in store for me? It’s something I often wonder about. Wonder and worry. My life seems so chaotic most of the time...with things that need to be taken care of and things that constantly need attention. I feel overwhelmed most of the time as I try to fulfill all the roles that I’m expected to play...mother, wife, daughter, friend, designer, secretary, creative team member, financial organizer...and those are just some of my duties, not any of my hobbies! Sometimes I feel as if my life is out of control...something I have a lot of trouble with because I’m a bit of a control freak! There are days when the chaos seems to overrun everything and I just can’t seem to catch-up. Then there arethe rare days when it all seems to go my way. I know I worry too much. I know that my future, which hopefully includes another child and a larger home, will turn out just the way it’s supposed to whether I choose to obsess about it or not. I know that whatever the future holds for me, I’ll be able to handle it. And I’ll set it to order...one day at a time.

I can't believe there are only 2 more challenges to go!

Challenges #7 & #8

Where have I been? It seems like forever since I've posted last. I'm definitely falling behind on that, but I have an excuse...Emerson and I flew up to Wisconsin to spend Easter with my parents and sister.

I'll make this a short post. I really just wanted to come on and show you my LOs for Challenges #7 & #8 for the ADSR. I had to do them on my sister's computer, which is slower than I'm used to, so it took a long time.

Challenge #7 was a tough one. Each member of the team had to scrap in a different style. Mine was to a messy style, no journaling (just a title) and everything had to be from the same designer. We had numbers as guidelines (1 paper, 2 ribbons, 3 buttons, 4 bling pieces, 5 frames, 6 pics, 7 different alphas, 8 flowers or cardboard pieces, 9 staples, 10 misc. elements). Whew! Here's mine:
Challenge #8 was MUCH easier. We had to scrap a meaning ful trip (or fantasy vacation), use black & white photos, and include at least a few lines from a song. Here's mine:
Obviously, mine is a fantasy vacation because I've never been to Italy. I had to use stock photos, which is a shame because my sister is going at the beginning of May and I could have used some of her pics!