National Scrapbooking Day

May 3 is National Scrapbooking Day, and to celebrate I'm having a sale in both my stores. ALL my products will be marked 35% off, including commercial use items! This sale will only run May 3-4, so don't miss out!

I want to tell you about the new mega kit available at SAS - April Showers. It's so cute and sweet and FULL of goodies - 83 papers and 163 elements! You can grab this kit on sale for $6.95 now but act soon because the price will be going up.

I just got back from Reno this weekend where David's jazz band competed, and took first place in their division. Yay!! They're finishing the school year with a bang. They played in the command performance at the big arena (at the university) in the evening, and here's a photo I snapped of David playing his solo on "the big screen."

David's the last trumpet player on the left. (Weird lighting because of the stage lights.)

I've been having so much fun playing with my new camera. Huge THANKS to my friend Jenn, who spent about 2 hours giving me a crash course on photography and showing me the bells and whistles on my camera. I took a field trip to my backyard, and here are some photos I took. They are unaltered. I am loving the detail, crispness, and depth of field going on here:

I still have so much to learn and much practicing to do, but it's a start. :)

Well, it's Wednesday and you know what that means... a freebie! I have a mini-kit for you just to celebrate spring. Enjoy this gift and please don't share the link. Click here.

Beep...beep..beep... this just in!

So I get on my blog yesterday afternoon and see that I've been nominated for an award! Naturally, I have to post about this so here I am, writing posts two days in a row. Go, me!


Here's my award:

I've receieved this most honorable Arteypico Award from:
Sherah at http://skrapperdigitals.blogspot.com/

"I'd like to thank the Academy..." Oh, sorry, wrong organization. Seriously, thank you, Sherah!

Now, the rules state that I have to nominate 5 deserving buds for this wonderful little trophy and that has been no easy task, let me tell you. If you were nominated, here are the rules for you to pass it on.

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/
Make sure you visit the link above. There are crafts of all kinds shown; you are bound to come away inspired!

5) Show these rules.

Here are my five favorites:
1. KimB - http://kimbsdesigns.blogspot.com/
2. Bunny Cates - http://www.bunnycates.com/blog
3. Kristine - http://wenchdgrafix.com/yakkin
4. Beckie Wallace - http://beckiewallacedesigns.blogspot.com/
5. Nani - http://chroniclesofnani.blogspot.com/

Happy Wednesday

This time of year gets so busy - end of school (and two seniors graduating in early June), concerts and competitions, finales, parties - the "season" has kicked in full swing. This week, the band David plays in (Todd Morgan and the Emblems) were on KCRA television mid-day news, and they got a lot of airtime. They were promoting a gig for Kids Art, a huge event intended to expose children to the Arts. The band performed at the event, and part of the promotion process was to plug the event on television, so David and the guys performed at the mall (where KCRA is filmed). This is a 50's-style rock band and here are a couple of photos to show you (David is playing the bass guitar):

And here's a clip from the actual event. The audio isn't the greatest because I just taped it on my camera (not through the sound system):

These guys are three seniors and the drummer is a junior. Aren't they talented (and cute!)?

I am excited to let you know I have FINALLY finished the two companion kits I've been working on, Boylicious and Girlicious. These are colorful and fun, and both are very versatile. There is also an add-on kit for each collection (for those who just can't get enough, or simply may want a smaller kit). And... I'm also making this available in a Bundle Package for those who really want to save money! ALL these items are being offered at 25% off right now in both my stores. Take a look:

My wonderful CT has been busy making layouts with these new kits, and I'd like to show you a few.

From Brenda, using Boylicious:

And from Livia:

Here's one I made, which David and Joe are going to hate if they see this... but that serves them right for not letting me get a good photo!

Here are some using Girlicious-

From Debbie:

And from Marilyn:

Aren't those layouts awesome?

Okay, okay, I know... where's the dang freebie already! Ready? Here it is, a coordinating sampler to Merry Sunshine. Please, no sharing or hotlinking. Enjoy!

The most exciting news this week is...

I bought a new camera - a Canon Rebel xTI! Woohoo!! It's my first camera where I had to buy the lens separately, LOL. Hubby and I said this would be our birthday gift to ourselves, which is a good thing because we're now both off the hook trying to figure out what to get each other. Now I just have to figure out how to use it. I need to get my friend Jenn (who is a professional photographer) to give me a Quick Start lesson. Jenn, if you see this, I'm going to call you soon...


For today's freebie, I have a template for you. Please don't hotlink or share the link - send your friends here to download. And after you're done downloading, hit the other Humpday Hunnies blogs for more goodies. Click here.





Here's a layout I made using this template. These photos were from our dive vacation two years ago. My DH is the one on the left (with his hair sticking straight up, hee hee!). The bubbles and bubble paper came from Fishinmom Designs' Just Ducky kit:

Enjoy the template!

Download-a-Day at DSO

I just wanted to remind you all about the FREE Download-a-Day at DSO. Today's download was contributed by yours truly, and it's the 8 papers shown in this preview:

Check it out here! And don't forget to check the forum EVERY day to collect all the parts of this pretty kit, including all the Quick Pages.

California Dreamin'

Hey, I just heard the weather forecast from now through the weekend and it's going to be in the mid-80's - can you believe that? It's only April, for Pete's sake. You simply cannot beat springtime California weather. I, for one, plan on having a really good weekend - going to another crop, so it will be productive, too.

I'd like to present a plea for a truly worthy cause. My friend, John, is in training for the Team in Training fundraiser, part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He will be bicycling 100 miles at Lake Tahoe (through the mountains). How many of us have been affected or have loved ones who have been affected by cancer? Just this year alone I've had 3 close friends and family members who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease. Won't you join me in supporting John in this fundraiser? Every little bit adds up and no amount is too small. If you can't afford to donate money, you can also offer support through your prayers. You can donate directly here, and thank you so much!

John and his girls

This weekend I went to Monterey, one of my favorite places in the world. David's school band had another competition - and they took second place! Woohoo! This national festival only invites 12 high schools to compete, based on auditions, so it was quite an honor. They are also invited back to perform at the big Monterey Jazz Jubilee in September, so you know I'll be there! Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Right after the awards ceremony

Beautiful Cypress tree and Monterey shoreline

Photo snapped from the Wharf, where I always get a bowl of fresh
clam chowder in a round sourdough loaf - yum!

On the digi-scrapping front, I want to let you know that two of my kits are on sale right now at 30% off. You can save right now on Merry Sunshine and For My Mother.


I have an Island Quick Page freebie for you today - remember, no hotlinking or sharing the download link. Send your friends to my blog to download. Don't forget to check out the other Humpday Hunnies for more goodies (see sidebar)! Click here for the Quick Page link.

Got the last kid off to school...

... Cup of java in hand, and I'm ready to go!

I have some exciting news on the DSO front. Bunny doesn't like things to get stale and sometimes likes to change things up a bit, and this is good news for you all. We're revamping the way the monthly mega kits are handled. Before the megas go into the store, you will have a chance to collect all the parts - FREE - simply by going into the DSO store every day. It's kind of like a download-a-day, but it's much more because you'll get between 5-10 papers, at least 6 elements, OR an assortment of those. Every day, more parts will be available for download, you just have to look for it in the store. I'll let you in on a secret: I happen to know that today's freebies are in Kimberly's store (Fishinmom Designs). If you download each day, by the end of the month you will have a HUGE kit. Head over and grab it while you can! At the end of the month the mega kit will go in the store and it will no longer be free.

I want to let you all know I hired one more lady, Debbie, to join my Creative Team. I'm familiar with Debbie's work because she has already been very active at SAS. I know you'll enjoy seeing her layouts - check out her gallery (link in my sidebar). As always, I'm so grateful for my wonderful Creative Team... they keep me on my toes, especially that Oase!

Today's freebie is a Quick Page made with my Shelle-Belle kit. Remember, no hotlinking or sharing the link - send your friends to my blog to download, please. Click here for the download link. When you're done, don't forget to check out the other Humpday Hunnies (links on sidebar) for more free stuff.

Look at some of these wonderful pages made using Shelle Belle:

Hug by Livia

Chillin Out by Heather (SAS CT)

Waiting for Ava by Brenda

One note about the freebies on my blog: I need to do some spring cleaning on my file-hosting site, so I will be deleting the freebie links off my blog on April 14. Make sure you go through older posts and grab anything you want before then. Have fun!