Going, going, gone...

Studio Janet is closing down shop on January 15. (*insert my sad face here*) BUT - she has one final grab bag, and it's a DOOZY! If you are a fan of templates, then you have to check it out, because she has some treats in there! In addition to the templates, there is a coupon for a FREE template set, AND a coupon for 70% off!

OH - and the shop says the grab bag ended on January 6, but I just read over on Janet's blog that she is extending that until her shop closes on the 15th. YAY!

I have a list going of my *must haves* from Janet's shop...I am for sure getting one of the Fat Packs, and I also have my eye on a few other template sets.



NOW - on to the GOOD NEWS! Janet is not leaving the digi community forever (YAY!) - she is embarking on a NEW endeaver at The Daily Digi! The site launched on Jan 1 and I am already a big fan - I can't wait to see what she has in store! Right now, it is getting started with lots of tips and tricks and general information - check it out, and add it to your faves!

Are you keeping up with project 365? I've been having so much fun figuring out what to photograph each day - I need to get organized and share my pictures!

Right now - it is back to the "grind" as I am lunch blogging, haha...

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

One little word...

Can one little word change your life? I think it can! Ali Edwards started a tradition in her January 2007 newsletter to pick a word, one little word, to focus on for the year. A few of my blogging friends have been participating in this, and I felt inspired to do this too. We started chit-chatting about it mid-November I think? Then I got caught up in the holiday chaos of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and set it aside (sound familiar? Haha!) Well - we started chit-chatting about it again right after Christmas, so I pulled out my sticky note.



Haha - just ignore that I had frumpy on there. I decided I *do not* want to be frumpy in 2009, lol...I want to be the OPPOSITE of frumpy, so I went with ENERGY for my word. I feel more energetic already! I was so energized, that I had to scrap a page!


I also treated myself to this (with my word "energy" of course). I've been a fan of Lisa Leonard's jewelry designs for awhile, so when Ali posted about the coupon, it was a no brainer. See how energetic I am? *snort*



Did you make any New Year's resolutions? This is the first year in a long time that I haven't actually penned my resolutions down. I guess, since they are the same every year, I feel I can just remember them, haha, insert rolling eyeballs here...you know how it is:

lose weight
drink more water
go green
recycle
give up caffeine (YA RIGHT!)
exercise
get organized
yada yada yada...

Do you see how most of these require ENERGY? Hmmmm...

One thing that I do want to focus on is more scrapbooking! I want to set aside time for this every week. I might even calendar this and set up reminder alarms. I did that with balancing the checkbook and I actually do that every week since it's on my calendar. The second thing I am focusing on is photography - I need to get back to using my camera (either the P&S or the DSLR will do) more often...

Thanks for stopping by - have a fabulous Sunday!

Baby it's COLD outside...

ACTUALLY - today's not too bad, lol. But we have had some C-C-COLD mornings this week! I'm hoping this nice weather holds out for trick or treating tomorrow night!

Just a quick share today, and then I am OFF AND RUNNING! On top of my regular schedule, my Mom (MamaFab) said she will be coming down for a visit - YAY! But that means I have to pack up my messy stamp room and presto change-o that back to the guest room! This will get me motivated to box up all the garage sale kids clothes that are piled high in there!

This card is using another one of Piney's Papertrey Ink stamp sets - Snowfall and Snowfall Additions - these coordinate PERFECTLY with the new Marvy snowflake punches! I thought I just needed 2 of the punches, but it turns out that I NEED THEM ALL! My last 2 came yesterday - don't be like me, and waste time, just order them all RIGHT AWAY, lol...

Have a fabulous Thursday! WHOOHOO - it's *almost* the weekend!

P.S. If you click over to Piney's blog, you will see her December Daily album - OMGOSH! It's SO FAB! This is inspired by Ali Edwards (you can see all about it HERE), and I will be doing this challenge, along with Piney, and my friends Mish and Kookie! I'll be sure to post my finished album - I have my supplies gathered, and I'm ready to get started!

Puttin' it to the test...

Lunch blogging today! It's my BIRTHDAY today - whooHOO! It's possible that I have been goofing off a *little*... heh heh...

Did you visit the Pioneer Woman's Blog this past weekend? Are you still over there, reading about Ree, her four "punks", and life on the ranch? Did you try the Marlboro Man Sandwich???

I had a busy weekend - we had Mad's swim party Saturday night, so there was LOTS of GIGGLY GIRLS at the pool! I didn't want to bring my big "fancy" camera, so I made do with my Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 point and shoot. It gets the job done, baby! And I love the 12x zoom! Off topic a bit, but since I bought my Canon 30D, I have really come to appreciate all the "bells and whistles" that are on this Sony point and shoot. I wasn't really using this little camera up to it's full potential! Now that I know a little bit about photography (lots to learn still, lol) I am glad that my P&S camera has some creative modes and settings to work with...

ANYHOW... I wanted to mess around with the Pioneer Woman Action Set, so here are some more "real life" examples of how these can help you out in photoshop.

Here is my SOOC shot of the girls at the pool - yeppers, that is the unflattering, dull indoor swimming pool lighting. Nice, huh? Notsomuch. It probably wouldn't have been so bad, but it was a cloudy and gloomy and snowy stretch of weather we have been in.

Here is my edited version, cropped just a smidge, and applied the Pioneer Woman Fresh and Colorful action. Very subtle, but very nice color improvement. Not too much...JUST RIGHT.

And for another play - here is the same photo, with the same Fresh and Colorful action, PLUS the Pioneer Woman Boost action applied over top of that, and then finally the Quick Edge Burn action. See how the Boost action gives it even more vivid color saturation? I like it. A LOT! And the Quick Edge Burn makes the "busy" background seem to disappear, and the focus is on the subjects.



What do you think? I think I will have a *LOT* of fun playing with these actions, in lots of different combinations! Thanks Pioneer Woman, for this great set!

Hope you all are having a FABULOUS DAY!

Are you lookin' for some ACTION?

ROFL. How's that for a title to GRAB YA' and REEL YA' IN? Heh heh heh...I'm talkin' about PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS here people! Git yer minds outta the gutter!

Have you been reading The Pioneer Woman's blog? If you are new to The Pioneer Woman, grab your cuppa (joe, or whatever your sipper of choice is) and settle in for some FUN READING and then allow time for daydreaming about life on a ranch with cute cowboys and FABULOUS eats!

I've been a fan for awhile now, and she has just reworked her website, and it's now really super duper easy to surf the various sections. I love her recipes (even though I don't cook, lol) and am DYING to try that Marlboro Man Sandwich! Does that not look OVER THE TOP YUMMAY??? I think I could rope a steer if I had a few bites of this sandwich. (Okay - maybe not, lol).

ANYWAYS...I have been spending some time in her photography section, she has a LOT of great photoshop tips if you are a newbie. I have learned a lot of little tricks for improving my photos just from reading her blog. And yesterday she introduced her Photoshop Action Set (and I love that it's called "Set 1", which *totally* implies that there will be more! YIPPEE!) Sorry though, the actions are not available for use in Photoshop Elements, but stay tuned, because she is working on an action set that *will* work in Elements. The best part? YEPPERS. This action set is FREE. Is that not FABULOUS??? Be sure to leave her some love if you download the actions! (And no - I'm not affiliated with her, just a fan of her blog...)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Now, I've been using various photoshop actions for awhile now, and I am BY NO MEANS an expert, but please be aware that you will achieve varying results depending on what your original sooc (straight out of camera) photo looks like in terms of exposure and etc. Actions will not "fix" every problem. They should enhance your original, which hopefully already has a lot going for it! Have fun playing around with them, and then make use of the "Start All Over" action that she has included in the set, which will take your photo back to it's original state, if you need to. LOVE THAT ONE! Thank you. This concludes the public service announcement portion of the program. Ü

Have a FABULOUS SATURDAY people!

P.S. Here is my example, using the Soft and Faded action included in the set on one of the photos from yesterday...what do you think?

Birthday Bowling!

SO. There is this DARLING NEW KIT called Bowlorama by the fabulous Dani Mogstad and Traci Reed at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Well the timing *could not be better* as we had just had Wyatt's bowling birthday party 2 weeks ago. Is this not the CUTEST BOWLING KIT you have ever seen??? Seriously. You have to check it out! Of course I had to splurge on this, to make this cute page of Wyatt's bowling buddies. I would buy this kit JUST FOR THE CUTE BOWLING SHOES that come in the kit. There is a "boy" pair AND a "girl" pair. SO FUN! (Wouldn't this kit be cute for Wii bowling pages???)

The boys had a fab time at the party, and after a round of bowling, we headed into the arcade for a finale of video gaming. I wish I had my camera ready to snap the boys' faces when they got their tokens for the games. Six boys scattered in six directions, lol. I sugared them all up with cupcakes and candy, then got them on electronic overload just in time to get picked up by mom and dad, heh heh heh. We all had a fun time!

SO. Speaking of birthdays...my friend Mishie (who's birthday is May 19) is having her blog birthday this week, and she is doing a little blog hoppin' scavenger hunt over on her blog. If you are peeking in here from Mishie's scavenger hunt, WELCOME to my little blog! I hope you are having fun on your hunt! For those of you who don't know Mish - WHERE have you BEEN??? (Haha - KIDDING!) But if you don't know Mish, you have to check her out! She is a FAB paper crafter with a fresh and fun style all her own. I'm so glad we're friends, because she inspires me so much AND she is just SO FUN! I am determined to get her digi scrapping, because she'd be AMAZING at it! ANYWAY...Mishie is having a little scavenger hunt with TONS of great prizes over on her blog, so you just *have* to check it out RIGHT HERE! You will be off in search of the right answers to Mishie's secret questions, and along the way you'll get to meet some more of Mishie's bloggin' friends! GOOD LUCK and HAVE A BLAST!

It's the last day of spring break here so the kids and I are going to goof off and do a little shopping today - maybe even have lunch out! I've been putting in extra work-time this week, so that I can afford to relax, and enjoy the weekend. I hope I find time to scrap!

Page Credits: Bowlorama kit by Dani Mogstad/Traci Reed of Sweet Shoppe Designs, Add a Border and Bend n Stack actions from Jen Caputo at Scrapbook Graphics, Peeled n Revealed Template/Action set from Traci Murphy/Marcie Reckinger at Funky Playground Designs, [ank]* font.

Sweet Serenity...

I thought this was a good page to post for a busy Monday morning! I found some time yesterday to scrap and play with some new things.

Do you know Flergs? Do you like sparkles and glittah? Then you *HAVE* to check out her store at ScrapbookGraphics! I have had her glitter styles in my Kaboodle wish list FOREVER, and finally grabbed a few last week. Well, fast forward, I have used them, and played with them, and...ummm...I *will* own them all!

On this layout, I used the pastel glitter style to sparkle and gittahfy my title. Is that not the COOLEST THING EVER?

Right now, the *HOT* items in Flergs store has to be the Grab Bags. I grabbed them both (lol) and they are an EXCELLENT value! She has a Grab Bag for Girls and a Grab Bag for Boys each for $5, and it's easily $20 worth of products in each grab bag. And don't be worried that your going to get all sparkly for boys. It's definitely a BOYS kit, ykwim? Lost of rusty and grungy stuff in there, with a fab "boy" color scheme.

Page Credits: Background paper, glitter swirl, photo frame, and stitches from Grab Bag for Girls at Studio Flergs, Pastel Glitter Style from Studio Flergs, MaSexy font.

Eight about Eight

I am determined to stay focused today and burn thru a ton of client work and piles that have mysteriously formed on my desk. BLAH! I hope to have time for more scrappin' later this afternoon...(I'm bloggin' on my lunch!)

MEANWHILE...here is a page that I haven't shared yet from Wyatt's birthday.

I'm pretty new to digi scrapping, and still trying to figure out what my own style is, but so far, I am gravitating towards layouts with lots of "white space" and only a few elements for impact. I'm also loving the Quick Fill templates I've been using from Heather Ann Designs, especially for getting *a lot* of photos on a page (like my Disney pages).

Take a look at KSharonK's blog, Artistic Musings. She is a MASTER at creatively using "white space" on her layouts for impact. I am trying to get a feel for "white space" on my layouts...how did I do with this layout?

Page Credits: Quick Fill #31 from Heather Ann Designs, Silly Boy CuddleBug kit from Shabby Princess, Handstitched Alpha from Dani Mogstad, Times New Yorker font.

Cute Freebie!

OK. This might be old news, but just in case you missed it...I was blog hoppin' and stumbled across this darling Love Actually freebie over at mgl scraps blog. Be sure to give her some love if you download this kit!

I hope to be back later today with a page - I'm itchin' to scrap, but the weekend has been too busy so far, so hopefully today!

Hello, My name is AngFab...

And I am a FONT-A-HOLIC.
Seriously.
I have a PROBLEM.

My favorite fonts? The FREE ONES, lol.
No really, right now, I seem to be gravitating towards "typewriter" style fonts, and "handwriting" style fonts in my digi scrappin. Lately, Times New Yorker and Old Typewriter (both from dafont) are getting lots of play in my layouts.

SO ANYWAY. In my quest to read blogs all day long (*eyeroll*), I stumbled upon Allie's blog, and GUESS WHAT??? She designs custom handwriting fonts!!! AND GUESS WHAT??? She has a set of fonts available for FREE!

FREE FONTS!

Here are some of my faves:






Which ones are your favorites? There are so many to pick from, I love them all! Be sure to give Allie some love for sharing her free fonts! If you have fabulous handwriting (I do NOT...), you can even have Allie create a font for you!