This Week's Freebie!

I'm having a great time with my (visiting) cousin and her little boy. Yesterday we spent the day at the local water park where it was just perfect - low 90's and not too many people since it was a weekday. Had lots of fun in the sun, except for when my poor cousin nearly had a heart attack by my sister and me dragging her on the water slides. I think she'll admit now, though, that she enjoyed it.

This week I have a template freebie for you. Remember, no hotlinking or sharing the download link. Click here and enjoy! If you use it and post to an online gallery, drop me a line because I'd love to see your page.

By the way, if you have yet to download previews from previous posts, please get them this week - I'll be cleaning out my 4shared account next week. :)

Vacation Pics and a Free QP

Well, I'm back from Australia where we had a fantastic time. Tough trying to get back into my regular routine. I've lost my momentum, oh no! And in a few days my cousin is coming out to visit. Haven't seen her in a couple of years and I'm so excited! So, I figure I'll get the mojo going sometime after Natalie leaves. Everyone needs some down time, right?

Thought I'd share some of our vacation photos with you. In my last blog, remember I said we went diving and snorkeling with the Minke whales? Here's a photo that shows you just how close they came to us:

Another South Pacific sweetie, a little clown fishy. Looks like we found Nemo:

This photo is one that was snapped at The Cod Hole on the Reef, during a feeding. The large fish is a potato cod:

Oh yes... here's the jellyfish that was stalking me. Bad, jelly, bad!

Okay, this week I have a quick page freebie for you made with my Birthday Mini Kit. (I celebrated my birthday - July 11 - while on vacation. Happy birthday to me!). Please no hotlinking or sharing - send your friends here to download instead. Click here to download and have fun!

Vacation Update and Your Freebie This Week!

Yes, I know I'm late posting this week's freebie, but I've been living on a boat over the Great Barrier Reef the past four days with no wi-fi access. I'm back in Cairns, but my head is still feeling the rocking of the boat. We all had a fantastic time, and I even got to snorkel with minke whales! And I mean they were swimming within a few feet of us, because they are curious creatures. Once I upload the underwater photos, I'll get some of those posted.

Here's a photo of the boat I've called home the past few days. Very small cabin areas and bathrooms, one common dining area for all the passengers (25 of us), and one shared living/hanging out area. We made some new international friends. There were ten Americans, some Germans and Swiss, a couple of Australians, one Japanese, one Korean, and one guy from Brazil (thought of you, Livia!). Two of the crew were from Ireland and Sweden.

Okay, on to the freebie... I made a quick page using my Sunset At Sea posting bonus (which you can get for FREE - click here for more information). Please do not share or hotlink the freebie link. Here is this week's freebie - enjoy!

What day is it, exactly?

I’m not sure, frankly… I literally lost a day crossing the International Date Line but between that and being in “vacation mode,” I’m not quite sure. I think it’s Wednesday here in Australia, so I’m down in the lobby of our hotel to catch some wi-fi (because it’s not working in our room – boo!!). I’ve got your freebie ready for this week – it’s a quick page made with my Sweet Liberty kit. Please don’t share the download link. Click here to download.

If you want to see a few photos of our trip, you can keep reading below the preview…

We’re in Palm Cove, about 25 minutes outside of Cairns. It’s winter here and slightly rainy, but rather warm compared to even California winters. Yesterday we drove to Barron Falls and Kuranda, a little village in the rain forest, to do some sightseeing. In Kuranda, we visited the Koala experience. Here are a couple of photos from our excursion.

The last photo here is a sign on the beach near our hotel. NO SWIMMING except for the netted area, which I estimated to be about 75 feet wide. Too many dangerous “critters” in the water… crocodiles, jellyfish, and oh yes – sharks! Needless to say, we’ll wait until we’re over the Great Barrier Reef to do our water activities.

We’re also getting a kick out of the Aussie terminology and phrasing. There are to be no “naked flames” on the beach (as opposed to clothed flames?). This is what we Yankees would call a bonfire. “No worries” means “you’re welcome” – “good on ya” means “good job” or “well done.” And I’ll sign off with a common Aussie phrase. Until next week, “cheers!”

Going Down Under! (And this week's freebie... )

Yep! We leave tomorrow for our trip to Australia. Hard to believe after all these months of planning, it's finally time. Hubby and I are going with 3 other couples, good friends of ours, for a dive vacation. Actually, this time around the whole vacay is not planned around diving but we'll be doing a lot of land stuff as well, since we'll be in... AUSTRALIA (did I mention that already?). DH and I will stop in Hawaii for a couple of days as well.

I am bringing my laptop and plan to find wi-fi to keep uploading your Humpday Hunnies freebies, so don't despair. I may be off by a day but check back because I'll have it for you, and maybe will even be able to post some photos of our journey as well.

Big news on the DSO front - the website is being completely revamped. It's down at the moment but will be back up soon, better than ever! If you completed the June Quote Challenge at DSO, I WILL get your posting bonus out to you as soon as the forum is back online. Stay tuned for the July Quote challenge, too.

I'm having a Fourth of July sale at my SAS store from July 4-6. Nearly all of my products will be marked 40% off, so don't miss this savings!

July's My SAS-y Self Challenge is up and running. This month's topic is to do a layout about your country (in honor of America's Independence Day). I know I have a lot of international readers so let's see what you can create! Check out the link to the challenge to see where to post your layouts. The posting bonus this month is really gorgeous, too - I LOVE these colors together:


I couldn't wait to work with this kit so I made a layout with it already. This is my hubby and me and one of our boys sailing on our Hobie Cat.




As a reminder, all the SAS designers make coordinating bonuses for the challenges we host, so every time you complete a challenge, you'll get a mini-kit that will be part of a MEGA, if you do them all. And it's all FREE if you do it while the challenge is running.

Okay, ready for this week's freebie? Remember, no hotlinking or sharing the link - send your friends here to download instead. It's a Quick Page that coordinates with Taste of Summer. Click here to download and have fun with it.