Well it was a very busy weekend. It would appear that this summer, the weather is determined to give us glorious sunshine during the week, followed by rain all weekend. Regardless, I took advantage of a rainy weekend to work on a kit that to me shouts "Sunshine, glorious sunshine!" from the rooftops. It's called Sweet Life. And it's at Plain Digital Wrapper right now. You may choose to buy the paper pack and the element pack as separate items too.





There's also a lovely new kit coming to my store at Scrapbook-Elements.com on Sunday, so keep your eyes peeled for some sneak peeks. I'll be posting layouts from that beautiful kit, just to tease you a little.


The left layout is from Laura, and the next two are from Mara.

Stay tuned to see more layouts this week. Have a great week everyone!

Desktop Calendar

Well, it's hard to believe that June is almost over. Where did the month go? That means one great thing - a new feature on my blog - Desktop Calendars.

I'm going to feature the work of one of my wonderful CT members, Rita (chantillylace). She's created an awesome July desktop for you using some of my fun products that you can find at Scrapbook-Elements, or Plain Digital Wrapper. I hope that you enjoy these goodies, and I hope that you have a terrific July!

You can download it here.

If you enjoy this gift, please leave a comment so that I can let Rita know how much her gift to you is appreciated.

I've been playing layout designer this week. It's high time I actually scrapbook my wedding photos. So I went surfing my digital wedding pictures, trying to find something that strikes a cord, moves me to scrapbook a moment. Only thing is, the quality of the pictures distracts me. Most of my wedding pictures were taken on a Kodak 3.1 MP camera. Very disappointing. We didn't pay for a photographer to take our photos. There were lots of friends and family with cameras that would send up pictures. I had thought up until then, that the posed photos were just that. Posed. Fake. Boy was I wrong. Candid shots have their place, and I do love them, but the problem lies in the fact that most people don't take very good candid shots. Because they have taken them haphazardly, and not thought about the shot. So you might end up with lights over your head that look like alien spaceships are ready to decend upon your wedding. Or you may have lipstick smeared on your face by that warm kiss from Aunt Nelly. The situation is not hopeless for me. Thank goodness I have something that allows me to edit and blur out backgrounds, alien spaceships and lipstick smudges.

All the same, this weekend, looking through the photos, I determined to get to know my 8.1 MP camera better and save up for next year's anniversary gift (which I'm getting whether hubby knows or not) is a DSLR. Which one, I don't know. But I know that along with the camera and basic lens, I will be enrolling for a basic photography course. Scrapbooking after all, revolves around your photos, your memories. So I want those photos to be crisp, and clear, because these days, my memory certainly isn't. Ha!

So on the last day of my 30s, I decided to complete a scrapbooking challenge to try and get me out of my "oh lord, now I will need yearly eye exams and the dreaded mamograms!" funk. So I got out my camera, and shot myself in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Let me rephrase that. I took a photo of myself in the bathroom in front of the mirror. Here's the result:

I think it's not all that bad a photo, considering my mood at the time. And it was a good challenge to do. I don't think I've ever done a "me" layout. So thanks for the challenge Nicole! Incidentally, this is Paper Garden by Sugarplum Paperie and Franziska Altmann. Gorgeous kit. Simply beautiful.

Now, where are some of my reception pics....off to scrap some more.

What a week!

Well, it's been quite the week for me. Earlier this week, we found out from our bank that we had been defrauded of every penny in our bank account. Fortunately the bank is insured and we got our money back by Friday. Phew! Why am I telling you this? As a public announcement to be careful where you use your bank cards. Do not use just any ATM in any mall. Be safe. Use only bank machines that are connected to banks, and have security cameras. It is an unfortunate reality of the times we live in, but yes, common criminals now have a means of getting your personal information, including bank accounts and PINs from using a very tiny card reader that they can insert in any bank machine. So be careful out there folks.

Now, since my week ended on a better note than it started, I wanted to show you a little freebie that you can find at Plain Digital Wrapper this week, because I'm the Featured Designer there this week. So on top of the freebie, you'll find my products on sale there too. I hope you enjoy this little gift. It's a nice soft mini-kit that would be awesome to use for nature layouts.

Come and get it here.

On another note, this week, I hit a milestone. My late 30s will be over. I'm getting older. It's sad when you wake up on Sunday morning, turn on the radio, and find that your favourite songs from the 80s are now being called "oldies". But I've heard some pretty awesome, strong women say that life gets better in your 40s. I have a feeling it's true. In your 40s, you have life experience. Hopefully you know what you want out of life, and what you are willing to take, and what you aren't willing to take. You become more assertive (not aggressive) I suppose. And that's always a good thing.

So I hope that you've enjoyed your weekend, and that you'll have an even more amazing week!

Plain Digital Wrapper Grab Bag Revealed!

Have you been curious about what was in my grab bag for June? Well here's what you'll find in my store. It's my grab bag revealed. I tried to put together a pretty summery bag, with some boy items, some pretty feminine items, and a classic mini-kit that can be used for any special occasion layout. Take a look!

Want to see what Mara, CT coordinator has done with the grab bag items? She's a a very talented layout designer! The layout is linked so that you can go and leave her some love!

I hope you enjoy the grab bag items. They are all linked up for you, so that you can find them easily at Plain Digital Wrapper. Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Ready for a treat?

To celebrate the last few days of my 30s...here's a special treat for my blog friends!

It's Here!!!! 20% off today and Monday!

Well, it's finally here! My newest kit at Scrapbook-Elements.com! Neopolitan Sundae. I adored making this kit. First off, I think the colours are so soft and pretty. I really love this colour palette.


It's a kit so big and yummy it could only be called Neopolitan Sundae. Chocolate and strawberry with a cherry on top! Deliciously textured papers that you can use over and over again. Unique soft elements, with a twist of bling! You'll love the layered flowers, one so soft you'll reach out to touch it. The fuzzy fibers give this kit a warm cozy feel. You'll find unexpected touches of sparkle in the butterfly stamp and stained glass flower. Beautiful elements that add a unique flavour to your layouts. Don't forget the sprinkles – adorned across some luscious pink papers.
9 luscious papers

• 9 luscious papers
• 4 fuzzy fibers
• 4 swirls
• 3 circle charms
• 3 grosgrain ribbons
• 2 square charms
• 2 satin ribbons
• 2 folded ribbons
• 1 butterfly glitter stamp
• 1 tied button
• 1 layered felt flower
• 1 chipboard and paper frame
• 1 stained glass flower
• 1 cardboard heart with glitter
• 1 journal tag
• 1 layered journal paper
• 1 metal wire
• 1 old frame
• 1 rose
• 1 tag
• 1 layered silk flower

Phew! Told you it was a lot. Go pick it up at Scrapbook-Elements.com and enjoy this yummy delight!

So excited!!

I'm so excited about tomorrow. My newest kit, Neopolitan Sundae is coming out at Scrapbook-Elements.com. It's a wonderful mix of pinks and browns and it was so much fun to make. I had a special gift made for my blog readers by the wonderful Stephanie (aka ReednOwensmommy). I hope you enjoy it. This is just a small sampling of what's in store for you with Neopolitan Sundae. And don't forget that it will be on sale for the first couple days.

You can download it here. Hope you enjoy!

It's Grab Bag Weekend at Plain Digital Wrapper.com!!

Now you can get five new summer products for less than the price of a Tall Frapuccino people! What are you waiting for? These new products are great for boys, girls and grown-ups. I've got a mini-kit that I think will become one of my classic products. You'll see what I mean. Go pick it up before Sunday, so that you save over 80% of the retail price!

New Everyday Living Challenge at Scrapbook-Elements.com!



Are you looking for some inspiration to scrap something a little different? I find that whenever my mojo is running low, a little challenge usually sets it aright. I've got a bi-weekly challenge at SBE called the Everyday Living Challenge. Check this edition out.

This challenge is about scrapping everyday moments. So for the next two weeks, your challenge is to scrap something about ...

a family pet!

Scrap something about a family pet you have, or would have chosen if you don't have one. Use mostly SBE products and that's it.

I've changed things up a bit and am creating an exclusive kit just for participants of this challenge! Summer Sherbet will only be available to ELC participants!

Have fun everyone! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

These are the solid papers for Summer Sherbet, the kit made just for you! (And if you missed this challenge last week, you can get the papers if you participate in this challenge). If you have your settings set to receive private messages here, you'll get the solid papers and the new patterned papers when you post your challenge layout!

Could this weekend be any muggier? You just know that we are going to get a mega storm today by the way it feels. Don't get me wrong...it's beautiful outside. Sunny, white fluffy clouds. But the humidity is high, and there's lots of wind. Typical of a day that will end with a huge thunderbumper!

So, I've been trying to stay indoors this morning and have been finding some fun colour schemes to work with for the next few kits. One was inspired by my friend's daughter, Olivia. So I decided to play around a bit this morning and ended up with this mini kit. The best part - it's my gift to you!

Dowload this freebie here. If you like it, please leave me a comment.

I'm also going to be releasing a cute kit at Scrapbook-Elements next week, so come back soon for a peek at the kit before it hits the store. It's yummy. There! That's your clue.

Have a great weekend folks!!

Hi everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend! The Grand Opening of the Sunshine Studio Scraps was amazing. It's still going on, so get there!

Also, I've got a name for my paper pack - Aqua Cabana. It's available at Plain Digital Wrapper! If you like it, go grab it. I'm giving my blog readers a special treat. A coupon for 25% off your Aqua Cabana purchase. Use coupon code KikiBlog25off for your discount.

I've also extended my CT Call for one more week. This week was crazy and I need a bit more time, so get those applications in. I'm still looking for guests too.

Alright! I'm having a great start to my weekend. My Photoshop CS3 finally arrived, and I'm so anxious to get started with it! Should be quite fun.

I spent some time last night working on a pretty paper pack and for the life of me, cannot come up with a name for it? Think you can help me out? Give me a suggestion for a name and I'll pick a winner by Saturday night and that person will get the paper pack as a gift from me before it hits the store.

So? What do you think?

Throw your suggestions my way, please! I'm looking forward to seeing all the fun names for this one! Thanks for looking!

Come play with us! I'm looking for new team members to join a fun, active team. If you are interested, be sure to get your application in before May 31st. You can start apply for a guest or regular CT position. Get those applications in soon before the opportunity passes you by!

Great news that I want to share with everyone! I received an email from Blog Carnival letting me know that our carnival, the digital scrapbooking blog carnival, is going to be the featured carnival on June 1st, on the Blog Carnival home page. I'm so happy about that because it means that we'll get lots of traffic to that issue of the carnival! I know that you'll find some very interesting blog links for that issue. The current issue is jam packed with great links - which reminds me, I have to visit them all!

I picked up quite a few things this weekend (like I needed more products. LOL) I think it's no surprise that I picked up most of Flerg's new wonderful products:

And have you seen her new yummy papers?

And I've been template shopping to try and get some wedding photos scrapped and our vacation pics done too.

Here's a layout I've done lately!

Don't forget too that there's a Memorial Day weekend sale going on at Scrapbook-Elements.com!

Wow, it's been a while since I've visited my blog. Time for a long update. Well, we just got back from vacation, which was totally amazing. The Oregon Coast is so beautiful. But after 2 weeks, it's both hard to come back from vacation, and at the same time, I was anxious to get back home to a normal routine. Not to mention the computer withdrawl!

Now, the news is...I'm the Designer of the Month at Scrapbook-Elements.com this month, which has me really excited. My interview can be found here, at SBE. That also means that some of my products are on sale at 25% off all month! Take a peek!

I've also got some lovely new kits and paper packs in the store. I hope you enjoy them.

Not Easy Being Green is a new favourite of mine. It's a great kit for masculine layouts, or nature shots.

And here are some awesome layouts done using this kit. It's so versatile!

And here's a new favourite paper pack, Rain Down on Me:


I just love the artsy feel of the papers. You can use them for feminine layouts, or even print them and frame them, or use them as a matte for your photos for hybrid projects.

I hope you take a look at my store and pick up some great deals. Have a great long weekend to my friends and family in the USA, and be happy that spring is finally here!

Okay, so I was early announcing Earth Day. :) But hey, that's just me. I jump into things head first, on time or not.

We are getting ready for our first real vacation together, and things are starting to get real for me. We leave next weekend. Not this one coming, the following. Yikes! I really have to try and find my spring clothes. It's still spring out there, my father-in-law tells me. And there is still snow in the mountains, so I need to figure out how to pack for 2 different seasons. What a task. The last time I was in Oregon in May, it was the same thing. I had come from Arizona on a conference where it was 102 in the shade, and then went into the mountains in Oregon, where I needed warmer clothing. Layers. I keep telling myself, dress in layers.

So what's on the design front? Funny you should ask. I have a new kit that I've been working on for the guys in your life. Hope you will enjoy that one. Comes out the day after National Scrapbooking Day. And there will more new products in store at SBE before that for sure. I'll leave a little peak here for you tomorrow. I know you'll love it.

Happy Earth Day!

Well, it's been an interesting week. We are finally settling into our new apartment, boxes everywhere still, and I find myself realizing that we still need to purge more. How did I fit all this into a one bedroom apartment? I really don't know.

It seems that Spring has decided to boycott the Ottawa area this year. We went straight from Winter to Summer. It has been 26 degree Celsius the last few days, which is clearly summer weather. So, skip unloading the Spring wardrobe, and pull out the summer stuff. Which kind of bums me out a bit. I was just dying for a pretty, slow spring this year. I love the time of rebirth in this area. Great picture taking opportunities everywhere. Especially the Tulip Fest. All the same, the flowers and plants and trees still have to come out, so I'll have lots of photos to scrap!

Want to see what Spring inspired for me lately?

These are both at my store at Plain Digital Wrapper. I was feeling very springish before the move. This kit took a long time to design, but it was so worth it. And one of my lovely CT guests, Meredith, did an awesome job designing this bracket album don't you think? It just says spring is here!

I'm working on some more mature kits again, for men and older boys. Not having children, I am happy to scrap my husband's adventures, and we'll have plenty of photos to scrap of our trip to Oregon, coming up in 2 weeks. So I'm trying to get a head start on designing a few kits for those pics.

I hope you'll have a lovely Earth Day! Get out and enjoy it!

I've been tagged! My first tag! Thanks Patricia!

Just copy paste THIS and everything below up until my Five links.
I thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links.
We can post up to five.
Then we tell five more people to share their links.
If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!
They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…
There are Five Rules:
1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you
5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator. (an active link is appreciated)

Here is my list in no particular order.

Blog Carnival: I'm now the coordinator for the digital scrapbook carnival, which is a great resource for digital scrapbookers. You can find links to tutorials, trends and other interesting articles all on one blog post. The next edition is on Flerg's blog.

Our Little Universe: A great general board for gals who are big chatters like me. I found it from a wedding site where I was a member when planning my wedding, and it has a great forum for life journals, photography, finance, home decorating - just about everything.

Sunshine Studio Scraps: Let me just say that you should keep your eye on this site. What a fabulous team of designers and CT members. There's a weekly challenge too.

SJH blog design: This site was given to me as a reference for prettying up my blog. Haven't used it yet, but have every intention.

The Photoshop Roadmap blog: What an awesome site if you are interested in Photoshop resources.

Four people I'm tagging? Well now, that would have to be Amanda Kay, Monica, Nicole and Flergs.

Can't wait to see what's happening with those gals!

ACK! Just when you think things are finally looking up, life throws you a twist...or two. Wait, maybe there's one more!

Yes, my last few weeks have been nutso! I expected some downtime from the internet with my recent move. Who doesn't. We can't honestly expect a well-paid, over-charging internet/telephone service provider to be anything but punctual and courteous now do we? :)

I didn't have internet or phone service at my new apartment for nearly a week. I was informed that they don't do Sunday phoneline transfers, when originally I was told they did, and then they apparently had trouble reading my file or something, because I was told that the line would be activated Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday. Come Wednesday I was informed that I had an inactive line and a technician would have to come to the neighbourhood to install a new line, but I wasn't required to be home. Good thing. I am NOT taking a day off work to have someone take all day to get there, take 5 minutes to work on the outside of the house, and then pull every last hair out of my head because I really wasn't required to be at home. Wednesday I asked to speak to a supervisor, because I certainly was not going to be inconvenienced for one more day. I was promptly put on hold, and not so promptly (30 minutes later), cut off. Nice. Finally they sent someone to my home on Friday. I was told I would need to be home, so I arranged for a 5:00 p.m. visit with the supervisor. Upon arriving at home at 4:30, I picked up the phone, and voila! We had a line. Apparently, as I suspected, I didn't need to be home. The line was fixed from the outside at 9:00 a.m. that morning. Internet connected, I frantically surfed. :) Until the next twist came along.

The next twist was the demise of my LCD monitor. It started to flicker, and then wave, and then by Tuesday, it started doing the Macarena. Icons were no longer visible. Text was unreadable. I frantically backed up my hard drive to my new EHD (remind me to buy a computer with eSATA next time), and hoped for the best when bringing it into the shop last night. Turns out, it's not my motherboard, as I suspected. It's definitely the monitor, which is still under warranty. My sweet brother lent me his humungous 19 inch CRT monitor until I get mine back. So I am once again with internet, able to read, see icons, and heaven forbid, I might actually get to scrap today.

The reason I am so anxious to scrap? Well, I recently was announced as one of the Sunshine Sweeties!!! I'm one of the lucky ones, and I'm dying to work with Ellie Lash's products and also enjoy some of Monica's lovely stuffs.

Now, onto the blog carnival news. The next carnival is being hosted by none other than the lovely Flergs. You'll really enjoy the next edition, and remember, if you find any great articles on a blog somewhere, submit the article using the widget on my blog here so that other can enjoy it as well.

Thanks for reading my internet/phone rant, and keeping up with the news! Have a great weekend!