My Poor Baby...

Well, this Friday is David's oral surgery (and no, he's not technically a baby anymore at nearly 18 years old). He has not three, not four, but SIX impacted wisdom teeth. How did that happen? I told him we can sign him up for the circus and make some money off this, but he didn't appreciate that thought. Sheesh, no sense of humor. So you know how I'm spending my weekend. Yep, nursing said son back to health. I still have to get the bags of frozen peas to use as ice packs.

Are you logging on to DSO's blog everyday to grab the freebies? You won't want to miss the cool stuff! And speaking of freebies, I'll give you a little advance notice of SAS' Trick Or Treat Blog Party. We'll be handing out the goodies on October 30 - not the 31st - so make sure to mark your calendars now!

Did you check out this week's SAS newsletter? There are some exclusive freebies in there!

My Too Cute To Spook collection is marked 30% off through Halloween. You can also pick up the TCTS Bitsy Add-On for only $1.00 - what a deal! Here's a layout of one of my boys when he was just a little guy, using Too Cute To Spook. Ain't he a cutie?

Here is a layout I made using my One Autumn Evening Quick Page set. (Yes, I know "pennys" is misspelled but that's how it is on the sign.)

This week's freebie is a sampler that coordinates with Merry Sunshine. It's still sunny in the fall here in California, and the colors in this kit also work well for autumn layouts. No hotlinking or sharing, please. Click on the preview to download.

Don't Miss This Month's New Challenges!

October means new challenges, so check these out along with the free posting bonuses. The DSO Quote Challenge will help kick-start the creativity for your autumn layouts, using a perfect fall quote. The posting bonus for this month is a pretty quick page using Lemon Sage:

I made this layout using my Falling Into Autumn mini-kit for this challenge. These are my stepsons when they were wee ones...

The My SAS-y Self Challenge at SAS is a fun one this month. I'm challenging you to create a layout about about your hairstyles over time. The posting bonus for this challenge is a mini-kit called Friendship Brew:

Here's the layout I made for this challenge. I had a lot of fun (and some chuckles!) going through my older photos. I used my Sunshiny Day kit for this page.

Because Halloween is this month, there are tons of digi-world "treats" going around. Have you been checking out the DSO blog every day? You simply must - there is a new treat EVERY day through the end of the month. Today's posting is an adorable "emotibuttons" set by Livia, so get it while you can!

This week's freebie is a sampler that coordinates with Lemon Sage. No hotlinking or sharing the link, please - send your friends to my blog to download. Click on the preview to download.

My Visit with Clint Eastwood

Okay, it wasn't a personal visit but I did get to see Clint Eastwood up-close-and-personal. A couple of weekends ago, I headed down to the Monterey Jazz Festival with my sons. David was scheduled to play with his old high school band, which he did - but unfortunately the photos didn't come out very well because the theater was so dark. Clint was on the schedule to appear at the festival, along with up-and-coming modern jazz artist Jamie Cullum. They were interviewed by a Downbeat magazine writer and talked about how jazz has influenced them and their work, and indeed they have collaborated on some film scores on a couple of soon-to-be-released movies. Clint Eastwood, by the way, is very musical himself (and so is his son Kyle) and in fact serves on the Board of Directors of the Monterey Jazz Festival. What a kick to see him in person - we were seven rows from the front.

Jamie Cullum, Clint Eastwood, and the Downbeat writer/interviewer

Here are Joseph and David while we're waiting for the interview to start. (Nice face, David - he's such a dork sometimes.)

So this week I was surprised to receive not one but two blog awards! My friend and fellow-designer Candee sent me this for Never-Ending Energy (yeah, right...)

Thank you, Candee - and now I get to pass this award on to three people.

Bunny Cates gets this award because she's such a support to the ladies who work for her. Bunny owns the DSO site and is always available to her staff. Seriously, I don't know when this woman sleeps. Everyone who knows Bunny knows she's a tough cookie but a total softie on the inside (shhh, don't tell her I said that). Bunny, thanks for all you do.

Julie Olree is another deserving recipient. Julie is the owner of SAS and is another real go-getter. She has worked tirelessly this month, revamping the site, moving to a new server, and hosting the biggest birthday bash ever! It's been a lot of fun but a ton of work and Julie really deserves this.

Lastly, the Never-Ending Energy award goes to Barbara (aka digiMom Designs). Barbara is extremely active on the forums and super-helpful to anyone who needs a hand. She's kind and an all-around good person, and I believe very deserving of this award.


The second award I received was a total surprise, especially because it came from someone I never met, so it means a lot. Anne sent me this "I Love Your Blog" award and said some nice things about me, so I really appreciate that! Thanks so much, Anne.

I get to pass this award on and there are many blogs that I love, but I can't list them all - so I choose Nani. Nani is on my Creative Team and a terrific "cheerleader." She deserves this award in her own right - and if you check out her blog right now, she has graciously linked all top 11 contestants of the SAS Next Designer Contest, along with previews of their kits - which you all can download for FREE (but do it quickly - I don't know how long the kits will be available). Nani, you totally rock for doing all that work!!

Okay, quick update on what's new. The Halloween Mega Kit is up at SAS, and it's really cute. Right now it's 34% off, so you can get 127 elements and 85 papers for only $5.95!

And for more Halloween fun, don't miss the Trick-or-Treat blog event at DSO. Make sure to check out the DSO Blog every day in October to snag freebies! (Yes, they're all treats - no tricks!) These treats may or may not be Halloween-themed - you just have to collect them all to find out.

I have a new kit and coordinating Quick Page set at SAS (coming soon to DSO as well). You can pick up One Autumn Evening on sale right now for 30% off for a limited time. It's a pretty kit for all your seasonal layouts, even Thanksgiving. The colors will remind you of changing autumn leaves.

Finally... here's this week's freebie. It's a couple of flower elements that coordinate with my Sunshiny Day kit. Please, no hotlinking or sharing the download. Click on the preview to download and have fun.

This Week's Freebie and a Sale!

SAS' Birthday Bash is almost over and I have one final sale for September. Don't miss this opportunity to save 30% on nearly all my products in my SAS store. Note, this sale does not include CU and Bargain Bin items... BUT... I marked down many of my Bargain Bin items 10%-15% off, so you can grab a lot of items dirt-cheap!

I also want to remind you of the September challenges I'm hosting - there's still time to play and get the free posting bonuses. Don't miss the My SAS-y Self Challenge, where you can get this mini-kit just for participating:

At DSO, check out this month's DSO Quote Challenge Posting Bonus. It's a Quick Page made with What A Feeling:

Ready for this week's freebie? It's a sampler that coordinates with Island Getaway. Please, no hotlinking or sharing the download link. Click on the preview to download and have fun!

Looking for even more freebies? Don't miss this week's Stone Accents Studio newsletter.

Want a New Template? Or a ton of them?

If you love templates, keep reading...

I do want to let you know that right now my SAS store is on sale because the month-long birthday bash is still going on full-force! All my products (excluding bargain bin and CU items) are 25% off, so don't miss this savings! While you're at SAS, check out all the challenges going on and the download-a-day mega kit freebie. And if you simply cannot have enough templates, you won't want to miss Barbara's template exchange challenge.

I actually scrapped today and made this layout for my son's 20th birthday - no longer a teenager but a "twenty-something." I used my All The Elements mini-kit for this, which is only $1.50 and even includes a bonus Quick Page.

Take a look at this layout Livia made using What A Feeling. This page makes me laugh every time I see it. By the way, Livia does have twin kiddos but I think one of them has been replaced...

Poor little one - he's going to hate this when he grows up, but it's just so funny!

This week's freebie is a new template. Please, no sharing the download link or hotlinking. Click on the preview to download and if you use it anywhere, by all means send me the link - I'd love to see it.

Mini-Kits on Sale and This Week's Freebie

Hi everyone! I want to let you know I've uploaded nine mini-kits to my DSO store, and they are all marked 10% off. Prices are $1.25 - $1.50, and nearly all of them include a bonus Quick Page, so you can grab them all very cheap right now!

Lemon Sage is 10% off at SAS - check it out:

Look at this cool page Brenda made using this kit:

Those sand structures are so amazing in their details, aren't they?

Here's a heads-up on my upcoming sale at SAS:

Now, this week's freebie... drumroll please....

It's a Quick Page using my new Carmela kit. Please, no sharing the link or hotlinking. Click on the preview to download and have fun with it. :)

September's Challenges, Freebies, and a New Kit!

Each month we offer new challenges in the forums. Check out the new Quote Challenge at DSO - it's a happiness quote from Winnie the Pooh. Every participant will get this posting bonus just for playing:

This Quick Page was made with my new What a Feeling kit, now available at my SAS store and coming soon to DSO. Previews of this kit are in the post below this one. Here' a sample layout made with this kit, also using the Quote for September's Challenge:

The other challenge I'm hosting is the My SAS-y Self challenge at SAS. This month's topic is to create a Title Page for your All About Me album. Looking for ideas? We already have some layouts posted in the gallery for this month. Here is a preview of the posting bonus for this challenge, just in time for autumn:

Are you all taking advantage of the free SAS Download-A-Day Mega kit? It's really beautiful. Here's another peek at all the goodies:

This week's freebie is another sampler from my A Class Act collection. Tonight, in fact, is Back To School night for our family. Please, no hotlinking or sharing the download link. Click on the preview to download and if you use the sampler or kit, feel free to send me the link so I can see what you made with it!