SHINES and Glittery Photo Frames FREEBIE!

YEP! it's SHINE time again here at my blog!! (and yes.. I have yet another format for showcasing them - LOL... this one definitely takes a bit longer so we shall see what format I have them in next week.. stay tuned - hee hee) There's lots to showcase today.. so let's get going!!

First of all - here were my favorite 3 sent in this week. This one by Christy is pretty swass! She used the Pink Candy papers (that were last weeks shines gift) and this weeks Freebie template - Great Job Christy!

and this one sent in by Chrissy W. using tropical resort and a Template from the GOT SHAPES? pack -- this one came together so beautifully!

and this one sent in by LouAnn using the Swass borders -- yep... LOOKS TOTALLY SWASS to me!!

These next 2 were sent in by Traci V. first one using Nature papers (LOVE that arrow!) and the second using Jumperoo (both Freebies - with the links still active :)

Michelle (Shelbe) was busy working my goods this week! She created 5 LO's with my designs! I especially like this first one (Swimming) -- it's just so bright and fun and the Coral Reef papers are perfect! she's also used Jumperoo, Golden Wash Trio, Vintage Floral Add on and If you Dare (and yes, all of the links to these freebies are still active as well).

This one is by Kelly! I think we can totally relate to her journaling about how no matter how many pictures you take - there's always someone with a goofy face! LOL. Used Jumperoo papers.Here is a beautiful heritage one by Ginger using Island Woods and this weeks freebie template :) Next up we've got 3 C.O.O.L. layouts by Julie! She's been a busy little scrapper this week! First one features Island Woods and a GOT SHAPES? template. Her second one uses the new Utopia papers and the third is using JAMS mini kit and a template from GOT PIX? thanks Julie :)
Just look at this little cutie that Dara sent me! how adorable! this was a perfect LO for the glittery photo corners (no longer a freebie but can be purchased at my store)
Kori has also used the new Pink Cany papers for this first LO she sent me -- look at that cool photo treatment she's got going on! and the second is a 2 pager using Island Woods.
Chisty also created this LO showing off her new skirt that her mom made her! It uses my Nature papers and a freebie template (from last week.... both still have active links)
and here are 2 additional LO's sent in using some templates of mine! the first is by Kara (and what a cutie pie she has!!) and the second is by Lynn -- how REFRESHING is this!! Lucky girl already having summer weather!

Each of this weeks SHINES will be recieving the CONFIDENCE paper pack! so check your emails ladies and thanks for participating this week!!!

and last, but not least... today's FREEBIE! The photo corners with the seperate glitter overlay went over fabulously so took that as my inspiration and came up with 2 cardboard frames (yeah.. they started out as the polaroid frames... but evolved into this!) I hope you all like!

Download here

and just to report back in about the Pinewood Derby -- August (my oldest ds) took 3rd overall and Seth took 5th. There were 11 boys participating so they were both pretty happy! I was a bit surprised just becuase they were literally working on them up till the time we left - LOL!

bringin' it back BABY!

LOL You guys are a hoot and a half!! I was just reading through all of the comments left here and had to giggle at how a good percentage of you used the word SWASS (just FYI: it ryhmes with "moss") in your comments! I especially liked the one left (well.. it was an anonymous comment) from a teacher that said in return she'll try to get her High School kids on the bandwagon as well - hee hee!! That's awesome! when my dh gets home from work today (and after the Pinewood Derby -- yep, my 2 oldest will be competing against each other.. they have high hopes.. yet their derby cars are sitting here on the counter with sticky paint and no wheels! We've got a lot of work before 5pm! YIKES!)... anyway.. after the Derby, I'll have him read all the comments and I'm sure it'll make his day! ... yep, you all are helping him achieve his dream of seeing Swass make a comeback! - LOL

NEW STORE... and Grace Bennett rocks!

Yes... you're at the right place :) I've just been updating my look and getting things a bit more cheery for the Spring weather that is about to be here (HOORAY FOR SPRING!). I just wanted to say that -- since sometimes when I go to a blog I frequent and things look different, I have to do a double take and make sure I'm at the right place - LOL

I know I've been a bit scarce around the digi community and here at my blog (Ok.. just since like last Thursday) and I'm so excited to tell you the reason why.... I've been working with GRACE BENNETT to set me up with a *real* store. I feel a bit like Pinnochio when I say "I'm a real store owner!" - LOL

First thing -- I've gotta give props to Grace! (For those of you who might not be aware of this incredible designer.. she has a shop set up here at Elemental Scraps. She just uploaded some WAY COOL items into her store and you won't be dissappointed if you check her out! some really unique designs and awesome templates! I totally had to snatch some up and can't wait to play!) Well, she saw my blog/store last week, contacted me and offered me something I couldn't pass up! She has worked her little buns off putting together my NEW STORE - so now it will be much easier for the checkout of my items and a smoother navigation! Last weeks GRAND OPENING sale here at my blog was a tremendous hit! I absolutely LOVED giving away the prizes to the "Lucky 13" gals... I loved logging into my email and seeing all of these wonderful emails from all of you. I SOO appreciated them all - each and every one of them! They got me through a long week :)

Now you know I couldn't open up shop and not have another Grand Opening shin-dig, right - LOL. So right now the entire store is 50% off (this sale will last through this Saturday - April 28th) so if you were hesitant about purchasing through my blog I hope that this new arrangement will be a bit more comfortable.

Also, I asked Grace if it would be cool for me to put her contact info here in case any of you new (or veteran) designers were interested in contacting her to see what she can do for YOU! She agreed... so if anyone's interested - here's her email: gabenn2@msn.com
For a funky swass freebie.... keep scrolling down :)
Also... if you usually look for my freebies in the Member Giveaway section at http://www.digishoptalk.com they will no longer be there (due to the rules of store owners not posting freebies there) but they can be found in their Digital Site and Designers Announcements forum... so be sure to keep checking back. I'm still planning on my freebies and MOST DEFINITELY keeping up with my SHINES! (which BTW -- keep sending me your LO's! I've got some fabulous creations sent to me already this week and can't wait to show them off to you on Friday!)

Happy Scrapping! :)

SWASS BORDERS

LOL.. see, I told you guys that I was going to help my husband in his efforts to bring back the word "swass".... but really... I thought they seemed quite appropriate for these edge borders :) It's a set of (3) 12" swirly, flowery borders. These were made with the Commercial Use brushes that I purchased from Jason Gaylor :) Take a peek and if you like download them here.

SHINES & Template

What a week! It sure has been fun! I really hope those of you who have done business with me are pleased with (1) your PRODUCTS and (2) your SERVICE... (on a side note.. I have gotten about 2 emails returned to me as undeliverable.. so if you haven't received your item(s) PLEASE email me!) OK.. on to the SHINES of the week! ooooh.. there were absolutely fantastic ones submitted! Some with even the new kits released in my store! :) You gals are too awesome! Alright.. let's get going:

The top 2-pager LO was sent in by Lynn L. using the new Utopia Papers. The bottom 2 LO's were sent in by Kori B. The left one also uses the Utopia Papers and in the bottom right one, she used the new If You Dare (to be a baby) papers! Great job ladies!! These 2 LO's were sent in by Christy S. She pulled out one of my older freebies (Golden Wash Trio -- link is still active -- go to the archive) and the right side features last weeks freebie (link also still active) Jumperoo! Awesome Job Christy! Both of these LO's use my freebie kit TROPICAL RESORT (you guessed it.. the link is still active). The one on the left was sent in by Ebie - how cute is this!!!! and the one on the right is one I did (yep.. I actually found time to scrap this week - LOL) Dara used another ealier set -- BASKETBALL (altered to enhance her photos better) and I think she did a SUPER JOB! These last 2 LO's feature Templates of mine. Kara S. is the fabulous creator of the LO on the left and Erin D. is the artist for the one on the right :) You guys rocked these templates! Now, you probably all know by now that my SHINES get a little extra something from me -- and today is no different :) Each of these talented ladies will receive this new paper pack -- PINK CANDY! how delicious is this! I hope you guys enjoy them! (check your emails :) If any of you others would like to have this set as well... you can purchase it for the same $.99 deal that I have going on in the store right now (until Saturday at midnight) - just indicate PINK CANDY as your desired item to purchase. :) Be sure to send me in your LO's this week -- you won't want to miss out on another great freebie exclusive to the SHINES! and... no, I haven't forgotten about all of my faithful readers (who BTW landed my little ol' blog here at the #2 spot at the DigiTopBlogs earlier this week -- made me smile!) Anyway.. here's a Swass new Template for ya! ENJOY!

Download here

LUCKY 13 GALS!

Just wanted to come here and announce the LUCKY 13 GALS of the day!!
First of all... the 113 winner was TANYA D. and the lucky 13th customer was CYNTHIA S.
Both ladies now are the lucky owners of my entire store! Plus, their full purchase price was refunded to them! HAPPY SCRAPPING GALS!

Again.. thank you so very much for all of your support... I've loved all your emails and notes and comments... (one can never have enough of those, right? LOL)...

No freebie today... been a busy day...
oh, but I DO have a freebie tip for you:
Driving on a Closed Road is Against the Law! Spent the afternoon in traffic court attempting to get my ticket dismissed (comming home from church last month I drove on 100 yards of a closed road - although the signs were MOVED and no constructions crews were out and no obstructions that I had swerve around, etc...) anyway... after the judge told me I was wrong and had to pay (he ended with "and I can't say it's (driving on that particular section of road) is not something I wouldn't have done myself..." I was bummed. This was my frist time at traffic court and we actually did the whole *trial* thing -- so i got all sworn in and was called as my own witness -- out of my comfort zone.. but hey, I can scrap about it, right? LOL

also.. don't forget to keep sending me LO's for this weeks SHINES! Friday is quickly approaching! :) Hooray for the weekend!

Lucky 13 (round 2) & FREEBIES!

First off -- CONGRATULATIONS TO MARY F. who was the lucky 13th customer of the day! That's right... she received the entire contents of my Store (and a refund of her purchase price!) WOOHOO Mary! Well, since that was so much fun, I thought I'd go for round 2 of lucky 13's - but with a twist this time! Over 100 items have been moved from the store so far - but I'm thinking that at least 113 items want to be gone - LOL! Soooo.... whoever purchases the 113th item (to be clarified this way: as long as their purchase includes the 113 item) they too will receive a refund and the VAULT of my store! Yep.. this one is geared for my EARLY BIRDS who want a deal! and hey, since I do love the #13 so much... I'm going to go ahead and say that the 13th customer will get a little extra something from me as well! Just a little payback for all the wonderful words of encouragment and support I have gotten from all of you!

Also I've got these 2 little goodies for everyone today. I made them to go with my If You Dare (to be a baby).

Download Baby Xtra's here

Download Baby labels here

a thousand THANKS!

Wow! I feel so loved! So much positive feedback I've gotten from everyone about my STORE (plus I don't think it hurts that everything in there is under a buck!). Thank you for your kind comments both here and via email. They are very much appreciated! I'm so grateful that this has been a positive experience for me (and hopefully for those of you who have already purchased from me). I have to admit that I've been a bit nervous on how it would be recieved - so THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! For a little payback, I've got 2 fun things for you today - a Freebie and a Reward! First, the Reward... I'm not much of a lucky individual. I never win anything! My husband, on the other hand, is very lucky. When there's contests on the radio for the 100th caller... he'll be the 100th caller. If he puts him name in a drawing... it gets chosen! I'm just glad I'm married to him so I can reap the benefits as well - LOL. So today I want one of you to FEEL LUCKY! I'm going to REWARD the 13th customer (that's my all time favorite number!) of today (starting the count now at 1am MST) with the links to my ENTIRE VAULT! Yep... you get the entire store! Not only that... BUT I will refund your entire purchase price as well - so you will be receiving everything for FREE! I hope today is your lucky day!

Now on to the 2nd thing - the FREEBIE - Hooray! I really think these turned out kinda Swass (on a side note: this is the term my dh is determined to single handedly bring back - LOL... oh, it means Funky, Cool, Hip, etc). There's a variety of photo corners. Some with glitter accents... some just plain and I've also included a glitter outline that you can recolor to match whatever you're working on! Have fun with them!

(the link has expired but they are available for purchase at my store)

Going LIVE (wish me luck!)

Phew! I have been a busy little bee! Over the past couple of weeks, I've been adding to my "inventory" and decided it was about time to launch my STORE! I know that the majority of my readers are all about the freebies (I think we all are...that's why most of us stalk Ikea Goddess and Amy W. and Selena you get the idea, right- hee hehe) but just want to say that I've got the Frugal Digi Scrapper in mind and for this week (until Saturday at midnight) I've got everything in the store priced at just $.99!

Ok.. now I'm going to feel like I do whenever I host a Pampered Chef party or Stampin'UP party... I always tell my friends "Just come! You don't have to buy anything... just stop by and visit! It'll be fun and then I won't be there all alone - LOL"... so that's what I'm going to tell all of you (my cyber friends!)... Just go check it out and have fun! I would really love to hear any comments you guys have about it...

For stopping by today, I've got a little Island Woods Add on that includes the 2 papers and a frame (and yep, you guessed it... the full kit is over at the store). It's a beauty! After I packaged this up, I thought to myself how it looks like it could be the cover of a book.. perhaps a Shutterfly one - how fun is that! Wouldn't you agree?? :)
downlaod here

SHINES...FREEBIE... & GIFTS... oh my!

Hi and welcome to another edition of the Weekly SHINES of SVdesigns! oooh.. that's sort of fun to say... try saying it out loud. Doesn't that roll off the tongue quite nicely? Anywho... LOTS of submissions this week! I'm going to start off by showing these 4 LO's that were created with the Free Gift Kit (Plum Goodness) that I sent out to last weeks SHINES (yep.. these girls are repeats... guess they knew there'd be another free gift for participating this week as well - which we'll get to later on...) But for now let's focus on these ladies T.A.L.E.N.T.!

Starting from top left (and going clockwise) we have "Berry Good" by Traci V. what a great upclose berry shot she got! The next one is by Lynn (chslynn) and what a sweet pic of her dh and girls! Kori's LO is beneath that one -- documenting her dd's obsession with toe jam! LOL and then the bottom left is another one by Lynn -- how soft and pretty this is! Love how 3 of the 4 incorporated the GOOD into their titles! WTG ladies! Set 2... here we go! These top two LO's have such INCREDIBLE photos!!! top left is by Traci V and to the right is Lynn's... both using my Tropical Resort kit. Bottom left is another one by the talented Lynn (who BTW just made Dana Frantz's CT over at Scrapbookgraphics.com -- GO LYNN!)... and have to say that Lynn's a FAST scrapper... just put this Jumperoo kit up this morning and here's a LO with it! Jolie M. sent me the bottom right LO using my Monday's freebie template. She created this LO using the Scraps for Charity kit and it came out awesome! Next batch starts off with another GORGEOUS LO by Kori using Monday's template. Next up is this creative LO by Desiree! Love her artistic use of tools here. She took me up on my dare and used my first set of "if you dare" papers for this one. Bottom right features a LO by Leslie (go check her out.. she is VERY GENEROUS with her designs and does some awesome work!) She made this LO entirely out of all my past freebies! Vintage Floral meets "if you dare" meets ribbons, etc, etc.. you get the picture - she brought it all together most wonderfully! And to the left of her is a beautiful LO by Kathy. She took on the dare also and used the original set. Our last set starts off with a POWERFUL LO by Lynn. Her dh served our country over in Iraq and her journaling brought tears to my eyes. It was about how she didn't take any pictures of them saying goodbye because it was a moment she didn't want to remember but how it is burned into her memory forever! It's going to make me cry just thinking about it! She created this with my JAMS kit. Top Right features a grunged out cool LO by Christy S. showcasing her sons first soccer game! Glad she took me up on my dare and used the papers! And last (but certainly not least!) is a totally cool LO by Dara. She used the "if you dare" paper and turned it to an overlay to accentuate her gorgeous flowers!!!

So now that we've all had some wonderful inspiration it's FREEBIE TIME! woohoo! oh, wait.. before I get to that... here's what the gals who made this weeks SHINES receive (check your emails ladies... Leslie I didn't have yours... if you could send it my way.. it'll be off to you -- and LVMOMMY2 is receiving this as well.. she sent me a link to a LO, but I couldn't get it to work... but I'm a generous lady and so she gets one too for attempting :)

OK... now it's the FREEBIE time. Promise! After showing you the Glittery Girl pack I figured I'd better give you guys something along the same line... so here's a glittery star frame. It's 5x7 and in png format...ENJOY! Hope you all get some great scrappy time this weekend and don't forget to send me submissions for next weeks SHINES!

download Glittery Star Frame here (just FYI - I didn't zip it up.. so you'll just be DL a png file... just scroll down past the preview once you're at 4shared and you'll see the "download image" button at the bottom right.) ENJOY! :)

Jumperoo Freebie

Guess what today is?? Today I register my little boy for Kindergarten! How did that happen?? Now, he's not my first to go off to school... nor is he my second - he's the 3rd boy that has gone through this milestone! It just doesn't seem possible! On the positive -- Nathan (my youngest ds) and I will have special "mommy time" each day. :)

Well it's time again for another freebie. I've actually had these papers sitting on my HD for a while now... guess I'm not doing anything else with them so here ya go! Hopefully some of you can use them. So after packaging this mini kit up, I've come to the conclusion that my best genre is definitely G.R.U.N.G.E.! It's so much fun to create and the end product is always so striking and cool. I totally love my "if you dare" series (and what a cool name, if I do say so myself - LOL)... So a little teaser here -- been working on another "set in the series... it's "if you dare (to be a baby)" and I think it's sooooooo cool! Look for it next week (hopefully :)

oh, and yet another teaser... I've got something cooked up special to give to all my SHINES this week! Got some new faces that I can't wait to show off! Remember you can use any of my designs and just shoot me the link :) I'll need them by the end of today (Thursday) if you want them included this week :)

Download Jumperoo here

Scraps for Charity...

I'm sure a lot of you have heard about this but to others, it might be new... so just wanted to post this here at my blog. It's an awesome cause and the whole idea is BRILLIANT! here's a link for more information and to support the cause!
Scraps for Charity

Date night and Template Freebie

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! I was hoping for a nice picture of my boys all dressed up for Easter before church -- but instead I came downstairs to crushed up eggs ground into the carpet! Yeah... so needless to say, no picture was taken and we were late to church. Afterwards we went to my dh's folks for Easter dinner. My MIL is a fabulous cook and I ended up over-eating a bit and have felt sick ever since! Trust me... not a good feeling! But hey, besides that... it's been a terrific day! Oh, and on Saturday my dh surprised me by getting a babysitter and taking me to a fancy Fondue restruant. We decided to take in the whole dining experience and got the 4 course meal for 2 - which included the salad a bread, followed by a pot of Cheese fondue with an assortment of breads, fruits and vegetables. Next came the main entree that was a selection of meats (like chicken, shrimp, filet mignon, pork tenderloin and alligator. Yes, you read that right -- ALLIGATOR!). I'm so not adventurous when it comes to food but I did have to have a bite of the gator -- just to say I'd eaten it. Then finally out came the Turlte a'la flame -- a rich chocolate with pecans and caramel -- Mmmm.. Yum! They serve this with brownies, cheesecakes, macaroons, lady fingers and then an assortment of fruits and such. Unfortuanetly by this time I was completely stuffed so just had a bite of brownie and cheecake. The whole dining took several hours and my dh and I had a wonderful time just reconnecting.

Alright, now that you've followed me along on a recap of my date - LOL... lets get on with another MGM post. For those of you perhaps just finding my blog now, MGM stands for My Giveaway Monday -- and just like the name says, each Monday you'll find a little goodie free for the taking right here at SVdesigns :) I know I say this pretty much in every post, but I really mean it!... THANK YOU guys for leaving me such wonderful comments. Reading what you write is such an uplifting part of my day! I thought I'd share another template today. This was actually taken from a paper LO that I had created a year or so ago (ya know.. in my "Pre digital" days when I was on the DT for the LSS) and recently made a digi page with it... so here it is for all of my cyber friends :) I hope you have as much fun with it as I did! Remember to keep sending me links (or even just the jpg's) of LO's you've done for inclusion with the weekly SHINES. Have a happy Monday and KEEP ON SCRAPPIN'!

download Template #1 here

SHINES and a FREEBIE

ok... first things first -- I was SOOOOOOO excited about all of this weeks SHINES! I'm telling ya, you guys are such talented scrappers!!! and I've been waiting all week to showcase these (and maybe that's why I'm getting a little jump on it - starting Thursday night :)

I realized that my previous format on showcasing these, wasn't really the best so I'm trying a different layout... we'll see if we like this way better. So with no further delay...

These 4 layouts were sent in by Kori! Aren't her layouts so wonderful! I especially love the way she used the Tropical Resort kit -- that picture of her little girl is simply adorable!

The top 2 and bottom left layouts were all sent in by Lynn (aka chslynn). I LOVE how she used the "if you dare" papers (on the bottom left LO) and cut the flowers out of it! How cute! The bottom right LO was sent in by Ramie -- what a precious photo she has there of the cousins! Too cute!This third set of layouts were sent in by Heather (aka Scrappy Pony -- top left LO) using the gift paper from being featured in last weeks SHINES. You can't get much cuter than this! The bottom 2 layouts were created by Traci V's! The "if you dare" papers really fit the theme and mood of the HOLES LO!

I'm just so tickled pink by everyone's LO's that I wanted to give these gals something extra special... so... here's a little preview of what this weeks SHINES will be receiving (just as a special "thank you" gift from me -- so ladies... check your emails!) It's full of yummy *goodness* and includes the 5 papers, coordinating ribbon, 3 chipboard elements and 2 overlay frames. The *cleaner* crisp one is 5x7 and the more grungy one is 4x6... so ladies... HAVE FUN!

alright.. now on to the FREEBIE for everyone! I had some "high hopes" for this one as well... but just wasn't turning out quite like I had envisioned... I had taken this gorgeous photo of my plum tree out front and it totally inspired me to make an "if you dare (to see spring) pack... yeah.. just got these 2 done and just wasn't "feelin' it" -- didn't want to force it, so am just offering this small pack with a ribbon. It's still pretty cool, though and hope some of you enjoy it! :)

Download here

Tropical Resort - oooh la la

First of all.. I have seen several people who say how blogger "ate" their post after they'd spent so much time writing, etc and I have to say -- I always felt bad for them, but somewhat happy that it didn't happen to me (you see where I'm going with this, right??). Yes, I have joined the ranks! I had inserted all the links and was just about to hit "publish" when it happened. Do you all feel sad for me (but secretly relieved that it wasn't you?) LOL... ok.. on for the second encore.
Well... just wanted to update you all on my happenings this week (as I know you are all so interested - hee hee)
* I am still just feeling great about doing lots of freebies from my blog!
* I am still feeling great about doing a bit of selling from here as well :)
* I am reallly excited about a new addition to these. What addition you might all be asking. Well... ealier this week I received a message from Grace Bennett (who is currently having a CT call - the details of which can be found here). Anyway, she invited me to join the Element Team over at Elemental Scraps. Which I gladly accepted! So basically I'll be working on monthly collab kits with some other fantastic designers that will be used as prizes to the participants of the monthly challenges. There is LITERALLY a challenge for pretty much anything you can think of! So I *encourage* you all to head over there and check it out. What can be easier than getting freebies just for participating?? oh yeah, I guess comming here and just clicking on the "download" button - LOL. I'll keep everyone updated on this new adventure :)

Let's see... what else had I talked about in the original post (you know.. the one that got eaten?) oh yeah... I also wanted to say that I'm sooooo excited about the SHINES this week! There have been some FABULOUS ones sent to me and I can hardly wait till Friday to showcase them! I'll also say that those of you who have already submitted for this week are going to be pretty happy come Friday (hint: check your inbox for a special surprise!) If you don't want to feel left out on this, you still have 'till tonight (Thursday) to send me a LO using any of my products :)

OK... so on to the freebie. When I started out with this, I had such big dreams for it! But after I got working on it, it just wasn't turning out the way I had envisioned it... so, here it is for your free consumption. You know what I love most about this kit?? it's name - Tropical Resort! Isn't that sooooo fun?!?!! I absolutely LOVE that part of designing... coming up with the names - LOL.

(the link has expired but this set is available for purchae at my store)

NATURE & TEMPLATE Freebie

Another week... another Monday! but wait... Monday's are FUNdays here at SVdesigns :) Before I get to the freebie, was just going to give everyone an update. Remember how a couple of weeks ago, I announced that I'd accepted a position at a new store that would be opening up... well, shortly after that "announcement" the store owner emailed and decided to bail on the project. I have to admit that I actually felt relieved. Even though the terms were to "design at your own pace" and there were no deadlines or commissions, I still found myself working into the wee hours each night trying to design the "next best thing" and was putting so much pressure on myself. (Not to mention, I was wanting to go down to Utah for Women's Conference the first week in May, but that interfered with the grand opening of that new site and so I wasn't going to be able to make it... happy to report that now I can! hooray!) Anyway... I've been soooooooo torn on what to do and where to take things from here. I’m sure my sweet DH is getting tired of me "discussing" my options with him pretty much everyday! I WANT to keep designing – I find so much satisfaction in seeing an end product all packaged up and ready for all of you - but I keep asking myself why I put forth so much time and energy into it and is it worth it? And what if I put this much energy into other aspects of my life? So here's the truth of the matter...

* Would I LOVE to see some monetary benefits from my hard work - CERTAINLY!
* Do I think I could find another store to sell at? DEFINITELY
* Do I really want to at this point? here's where I'm unsure...

So, for the time being - I'm just going to keep giving out my work for free here on my blog (and put up an occasional kit, paper pack or template pack for sale here - like I did with my Vintage Floral kit a few weeks back – which I feel went over fairly well ) I really do get pleasure in seeing my designs in "action" in the different galleries and reading all of the comments that you guys leave me here and at 4shared and the emails I receive. I think I've got an awesome group of fans :) - so feel free to wear my new blinkie I created over the weekend for all of you :) ok.. back to my little "vent" to my captive audience (the captive audience who is probably most excited that I'm just going to be doing freebies - LOL) I could go on a bit longer... but think I'll go ahead and end it for now (although part 2 might be in a later post - hee hee).

On a lighter note, my dh and I have been watching the first season of Freaks & Geeks on DVD and I'm a bit inspired to make some retro 80's papers - LOL! We'll see where that takes me... But for today, I've got a 12 piece paper pack for the taking. There's 5 solids and 7 coordinating patterns. Remember to email me your LO's (or links to the LO's) so I can check them out and include them in this weeks SHINES.
Alright... thanks for making it THIS FAR! Here's what you've all been waiting for..

(link is no longer active... if you'd like... this paper pack is up for sale at my store)

Also... just for kicks.. here's another template for you guys! I think there's lots of potential with this one - can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Download Template #5 here -- I know, I know... my template titles are sooooooo original! LOL