Family Fun Page Kit by Julie Marie Designs

The kids got Bendaroos for Christmas - they both wanted them very badly.  They are not quite as much fun or quite as easy to use as they are on TV.  Imagine that!  They still have fun with them but the biggest hit of the season is probably all the Nerf guns.  They each got a 2-shooter rifle and then Josh got one that holds a magazine of like 20 and an automatic that holds like 34.  So there are Nerf bullets all over the house.  Good thing the cats found a new home before Christmas!

Here are a couple of layouts I did using Family Fun by Julie Marie Designs.  It's a really fun kit and I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of it if I remember to start taking photos of Family Game Night.  Right now, it's available only at The DigiChick where Julie is guesting for January.

 

 

Close to My Heart - Hearts to Haiti Campaign

Give & Get Back: Announcing the Close to My Heart “Hearts for Haiti” Campaign
Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, and like so many of you, we’re eager to help. We’re excited to announce Close To My Heart’s February Constant Campaign, Hearts for Haiti—where you can get a great deal while doing great good for those affected by the devastation in Haiti.

From February 1-28, 2010, our 12” x 12” textured cardstock combo packs are buy one, get one FREE—and with every offer purchased, Close To My Heart will donate $2 US to Operation Smile’s Haiti relief efforts.

Operation Smile is always a fantastic charitable partner—offering free facial reconstruction surgeries to needy children throughout the world. They’ve currently marshaled their medical teams and resources to provide emergency relief in Haiti, and the donations given as part of Hearts for Haiti will be used exclusively for Operation Smile’s efforts in Haiti. For more information on their on-the-ground response, you can visit www.operationsmile.org/haiti.

That means that for $14.95 (US), you get two packs of textured cardstock (a great deal at about $.30 per sheet!) and Operation Smile will receive $2 to benefit this urgent, important cause.  Stock up on every color combination: Basic, Spring Harmony, Summer Celebration, Autumn Harvest, and Winter Cozy.  See pages 100-101 in the Spring 2010 Idea Book (click here to see it online).

If you'd like to take advantage of this opportunity, just let me know. 

Blog Design Woes

I'd love to drop by here sometimes and read some comments from my few blog friends but, as you can see, there is no comments button to click on.  It disappeared a long time ago and refuses to return even though it looks to me in the html code like it's there.  The only way to see it is to click on the individual post and then it appears on the bottom.  But if you're just here at the main page, nothing.

If anyone wants to look at my code and help me see where I've gone wrong, I'd love you forever.  I might even take my Project 365 photos off my camera and post them here!  But alas, how can you even tell me you'll help me - because there's no stinking comment button!!  (And why are my post titles so tiny?  Where's the Blogger for SuperDummies book?)

Services

You may not know this, but I originally started this blog to promote the services that I have to offer.  I never quite got around to saying that though!  So I wanted to let you (and all your friends!) know that I would love to work with you whenever you need:



Custom hand-made cards or paper crafts
Personalized party invitations, decorations, thank-you's
Birth Announcements, Wedding Invites, Wedding Announcements, etc.

Personalized Christmas card service
(I'll even mail out your invites, cards, thank-you's, etc.  You give me your list and I'll send them out with your return address.)


Scrap-for-hire services - paper and digital
If you'd like a scrapbook of your memories but you don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself, I'd love to do it for you!  I can create your memories digitally or with paper.  If you have tons of digital photos and you don't particularly want to print them all out, digital is the way to go.  Check out some of my layouts on my blog and look at my gallery.  We can print your memories out as a bound book or print out each page and make a more traditional scrapbook.  If you're a film-lover and have your photos printed and in-hand, paper may be your preferred method.  Either way, you'll have a book in hand and a file on CD for you to put in a safe deposit box as a back-up.  


If you're interested in any services, please let me know!  And if you have friends that you think might be interested, please let them know!  You can contact me at chbranch at yahoo dot com.

New Gotta Pixel RAK Fairy Dustings

OK, as an official Gotta Pixel RAK Fairy, I get to have fun by giving away free stuff!  I have 2 different RAK's going on right now.


The first is from Spinky Dink Scraps - win a $5 coupon to her Gotta Pixel store!   Check out these threads at DST and DSA and leave a post for a chance to win.

The second is from DustyBear - win a $6 coupon to her Gotta Pixel store!  Check out these threads at Gotta Pixel, DSA & DST and leave a post for a chance to win.

And don't forget the last days of Gotta Grab It.  There is some gorgeous stuff in there and it's all only $1!

Gotta Grab It Time!

It's Gotta Grab It time at Gotta Pixel!  That's when the designers create all sorts of wonderful things, all using the same color swatch, and put them up for only $1 each!  So you can create your own mega kit.  It runs from January 9-12th only so run over there quick!


Kristmess Designs has a gorgeous kit called Fairytale Wedding but it's not just for wedding photos.  It's very elegant and subtle.  And remember, each piece only costs $1!

Click here for Element Pack

 

Click here to for Paper Pack

Click here for Booster Pack

Click here for Word Art

Here are some layouts I made using Fairytale Wedding. 

 

(The background paper on this one is from Fairyland, also by Kristmess Designs.)

(Also uses Fairyland Alphabet by Kristmess Designs.)

I'll be back next week with another RAK too so stay tuned..

DSA Scrap Off 2010

Yes, I've been taking my photos for the 365 Challenge, I just haven't gotten them off my camera yet!

I'm also participating in Scrap Off 2010 at DigiScrap Addicts (DSA).  Here is my Week 1 layout:

And Julie Marie has a new kit exclusive to the Digichick during her month there as Guest Designer.  The kit is called Color of Life and it's full of vibrant colors.  It's perfect for 365 layouts too.

Here's a layout I did with it:

She also has another awesome kit at The Digichick called Snow Berry.  I love the colors and the cute little scarf.

And here's a layout I did with it:

365 Challenge

We'll see how long I can keep this up!  The challenge is to take a photo every day.  I already missed Day 1 but here's my Day 2 photo:

Visit the 365 Challenge thread at Gotta Pixel for daily prompts and to see what others are doing.  I'm hoping this will  help me learn how to better use my camera and also take better pictures in general.

New Blog Design

I got this new Blog Fashion from Connie Prince's store at Gotta Pixel.  It was created using Connie's Sunnyside Up kit by Chelle and the directions that came with it were so awesome that I was actually able to get my blog back to looking not just decent, but pretty awesome!  Thanks for the fantastic directions.  Connie has all sorts of Blog Fashions in her store so check it out if your looking for some new blog duds.

I also wanted to share a layout I just finished because I love the kit so much.  It's by Bella Gypsy and is called Mr. Cuddle Monkey.  If you like sock monkeys, you need to check it out.

Click here to check it out in my Gotta Pixel gallery.

Lastly, I will have an awesome RAK (Random Act of Kindness - or, in simple terms, freebie giveaway!) on Monday at Gotta Pixel.  It's the newest kit from one of our newest designers, Shawnery Mathis.  She's not releasing the kit until Tuesday (in time for $1 pixels) so you'll have to wait a little to see it.  But it's super cute - that's all I'm sayin'.