everything which is yes

playing with color

This weekend has been a positive whirlwind of fun and new experiences and SO much scrappy goodness I hardly know what to do with myself.  One little splice of the fun is a Color Challenge I'm hosting at The Lilypad.  I did this for DSD in the autumn and it was a huge hit.  I really love the creative inspiration everyone shares! 

It goes a little something like this:

Color can be used in so many crucial ways in a layout: as an accent, as a way to create a focal point and guide the eye, as a means to underscore the theme or emotion and tone of a page, or as a way to create a seamless and coordinated "look" for your page.

We are going to focus on using color as a subtle way to tie your page together and keep the focus on your photo.  And so we are going to pick a photo and draw colors *from* that photo and use them in our paper and element choices.

A fun way to do that is to get a custom color palette using a color palette generator  tool.  You can find one here: Big Huge Labs.  And also here: Kuler.   All you have to do is upload a photo (or photos) that you'd like to scrap, and this free tool will create a color palette custom to your photo.  Draw from that palette to create your page.

Here's an example.  I uploaded this photo of my Bugga and the fabulous Kuler tool generated this palette for me:




I especially love the blues and green here with the pop of pink...so I started thinking of what goodies could coordinate with my photo's palette.  There are TONS.  But here's a few I grabbed to create my page:














And then I used the palette and goodies to color coordinate my page!  I added the darker blue in my journaling as I wanted that aspect to be more subtle.  And here's what I created:

If you want to play with me this challenge is open until midnight tomorrow night (EST)--but it's also just a fun tool and something to consider when scrapping anytime.  :)

Hope everyone had a beautiful NSD weekend!!!

Happy Hopping and Happy NSD!!!

National Scrapbooking Day is a mere two days away (which blows my mind, by the way) and The Lilypad is having a HUGE--and by "huge" I mean GINORMOUS--celebration this weekend.  The forums will be full of fun and games and challenges, the BYOC is my favorite ever and it's just enormous.  And my most favorite thing about it all is that six, yes 6, previous guest designers are returning for the fun for iNSD.  So you can imagine the awesome.  It's a lot. Oh yeah, and there will be a sale.  So that's like 384 reasons you'll want to visit in the coming days. 

Incidentally all this includes another fabulous blog hop, which I imagine is why you've stopped by.  You've probably found your way from Jenna's blog, but if you've missed a spot or lost your way, head on over to Amy's blog to start fresh. The good news is fun has only just begun and there is sooo much gorgeousness ahead! 

Here's my little goodie for you...I was inspired by a moment of giggling with my Bugga..and the happy and sunny mood of this month's BYOC fit perfectly!  I so hope you enjoy it!!!  You can click on the preview image or the link below to download.

You can download HERE HERE HERE

Your next stop on this fabulous and fun hop is Lisa's blog.  I think you'll really love what she has created for you!  

Hope you have a fantastic day and a fantastic National Scrapbooking Day weekend!!!

Happy Scrapping!!

Getting Excited (Totally)....

For National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday!  I can't even begin to tell you all the fun that's in store this weekend!  The biggest bit of news I can't tell you or even tease about right now.  But it's really BIG for me.  And really personal.  And I'm really gooped up on the gop about it.  (Also a little nervous).

But there's more that I CAN tell you about.  There's fun to be had at The Lilypad.  TONS of it.  Here's a little peek at what's to come. 

I can't wait!!  More news to come soon too!  Woot!

Feeling Springy and Hoppy

I'm all kinds of gooped up on the springtime gop and I can add this to the pile of reasons why:  The Lilypad is full of fun this weekend with fresh BYOC products, fresh challenges and a superamazing sale.

And as a part of the springy mood we are celebrating with a fabulous blog hop!  Eryn probably guided you my way, but if you missed the start, feel free to head on over to Amy's blog for the first stop.  There are lots of wonderful quickpages and freebies to be had, so have fun hopping along!

I have a little something for you too!!  I was inspired by the springy sunshine and my beautiful Bugga when I created this little quickpage for you...I so hope you like it!  You can click on the preview image or on the link below to download.

You can download HERE HERE HERE

And your next stop on the hop is the fantastically sweet and talented Kate's blog where more wonderful goodies await.

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!  Happy Easter!

intermission

Ok so I keep living up to my self-label of the world's worst blogger.  I never intend to fall off the blogging so miserably.  I think it's some kind of bizarre self-fulfilling prophesy.  It's not just you, poor blog.  All my online loves (scrapping, blogging, and general time suckage) have fallen to the wayside recently thanks to my "real life" having more bumps and more fullness than usual.  For the most part that's probably a good thing though.  That means I have a life right?  Still that means I have lots of catching up to do.

Can we just call it an intermission?  You know like they did back in the golden age of movies where they flash "Intermission" in some fabulous curly font on the screen whilst they play the score so we can all get up and powder our noses?  Or like they do on Broadway between acts?

All this to say, sad blog, I haven't forgotten about you.  And actually I've still been taking photos every day.  And I will begin posting them afresh as I edit them.  I know that everyone is on the edge of their seats just waiting for these too, lol!  But they are coming.  I promise.  Seriously.

update 7pm:  See? It's starting now (just look below, the catch up is already starting!)...so finish powdering your noses...act 2 is coming.

31.365 :: er

Well, today was one of those days a parent dreads.  A day when your child is in pain and sick and you can't help them feel better with magic kisses, cuddles, rest, water, or over-the-counter medicines.  It was our first visit to the emergency room.  Poor Bugga has a urinary tract infection.  We had suspected this from the things she was telling us and I'm so glad we listened to our instincts so she could get treatment right away.  She was such a trooper at the hospital and (thank goodness) didn't need to be catheterized to diagnose.  We had a fabulous doctor who was thorough and kind. 

And once again we find ourselves counting blessings.  We are blessed that this is a relatively minor hiccup as far as health concerns go.  We are blessed to have health care coverage so our sweetie can get well.  And we are blessed with a strong and sweet little girl.

 

We brought her favorite animal and a few books to read which helped ease her anxiety.  LOVE this book, btw.  On Noah's Ark by Jan Brett who is just a spectacular illustrator.  Bugga is always mesmerized when we read Brett books to her.  This one is a special favorite these days thanks to Bug's love for animals.

30.365 :: fresh market

Even though we really don't, it sometimes feels like we live in the boonies.  We don't live in the country or anything but it takes a long time to get anywhere "good".  You know, the kinds of places that are in abundance in more cosmopolitan areas?  Places like Fresh Market.  Which we've fallen in love with.  And is totally worth the 50 minute drive. 

Oh the joyousness. 

29.365 :: so graceful and elegant

"So graceful and elegant".  That is Bugga's description of elephants.  Seriously.  Quite apt too, if I do say so myself. 

All that to say, the elephant love continues in this week's installment of Bugga-plays-director-of-photography.

26.365...28.365 :: sickies and foodies

26: 365

So we've been battling another round of sickies.  Seems to have been a more active season of germ-yness for our family.  Generally speaking, Bugga is a true champion of riding the waves of feeling unwell.  She somehow manages to remain cheerful, whereas I'm usually ready to snap heads off and/or wallow in a bed of misery.  This shot here is about as dazed as we will see Bugga when she's fighting a cold.  She rocks the snot nose beautifully, no?  I wish I looked this adorable when I'm sick. 

27.365

The sun was shining today which lifted our moods in this house of sick.  There's really nothing like sunshine..it's like a tonic for the blues.  And so we spent a little time outside just soaking it up.

28.365

So Bugga asked for a "strawberry ola bar" today (read: a Kashi Ripe Strawberry cereal bar).  She loves them.  A lot.  And thank goodness too because getting her to eat fruits these days is a challenge.  But that's a post for another day.  Anyway, point was we didn't have  any more.  All we had in the pantry was a Nutrigrain bar.  Which, are just fine by me, but apparently completely substandard for Bugga.  Because this is where we found it when cleaning up our tea party:

Note to self: only the goodness of 7 whole grains will do for our little picky foodie.

mmm..mmm..mscraps blog hop

I've been gooped up on the gop about something for quite awhile now and the time has officially arrived where I can share that excitement with everyone.  You may have heard a buzz here or there about the new shop on the block in the digiscrapping community and I'm happy to say  Mscraps (Memory Scraps) opens its doors today and I think you'll fall in love with the beautiful bevvy of products from the super talented designers debuting there today!!  

You'll see some familiar faces and probably some new-to-you fresh faces as well, but I think, like me, you'll be really excited about what you see.  Here's some more info about all that's in store for this weekend's grand opening celebration:

In fact, I have a little something for you too in celebration of the Mscraps opening.  As part of the huge (I mean ginormous) blog train, I've created this quickpage freebie for you using the beautiful Mscraps collab "New Beginnings".  I so hope you like it!!

You can click on the image above or download this page HERE ... and be sure to keep on hopping along the train by visiting Sasha's blog where she has another beautiful freebie for you.  And if you've missed a stop somewhere along the way you'll want to swing by the Mscraps blog to find the complete list of blog stops.  Happy hopping and happy scrapping!