THE BIRTHDAY BLOWOUT BLOG TRAIN IS COMING!

Get ready to download some fabulous freebies from me and my fellow designers at Digitals! We are celebrating Digitals 4th Birthday and we are going to PAR-TAY! Amanda's Scavenger Hunt is always fun, and the grab bags are stuffed with unbelievable bargains! Join in the challenges and receive posting bonuses that can only be described as THE BOMB! The more challenges you complete, the more posting bonuses you receive, and they all coordinate to make one GORGEOUS mega kit!

Mark your calendars -- October 1st thru October 8th!

Thanks to DeDe Smith for the ad.

DAY 7 FREEBIE & OTHER HYBRID TIPS

Wow! This week surely flew by! I hope you have enjoyed your downloads and have been inspired to try hybrid! If you would prefer to make your own layouts from scratch, I also have several Do-It-Yourself album kits in various shapes in my store at Digitals. These kits come with pre-shaped backgrounds and elements sized to fit the shapes. Of course you may resize them according to your preferences. Most of them are based on my 12 x 12 page kits and also contain the same elements, but in most cases many new elements have been added.

Feedback is important to me as a digital designer. Please feel free to let me know what you would like to see in the future.

Here is the LINK to Day 7's download. Now here is your surprise! For those of you who missed the August 18th download, I have re-uploaded it and am giving you that LINK also. You will now have 10 pages for your album! SORRY, THESE LINKS HAVE EXPIRED.

Thanks for joining me this week! Remember, there may be no freebies for the next couple of weeks while I work on finishing my contributions for Digitals' Birthday Bash #4! I hope you will stop by the site and check out all the activities we have in store for you all -- especially the Blog Train! I will post more information here soon!

Hugs to all............

DAY 6 FREEBIE & MORE ABOUT LAMINATING

I guess I should have said yesterday that you should only laminate your pages if you are NOT adding "real" elements made of plastic such as buttons or glitter. The heat from the laminating machine will melt them and the glue you used to adhere them to your layout. You certainly don't need to laminate them at all. The reason I do is because of the humidity and the dust where I live and also because I rarely use "real" elements. You can also laminate them using laminating sheets that you can purchase at office supply stores -- no heat or machine required -- just peel and stick! I haven't tried it, but there may be a glue that will stick the "real" elements to your laminated pages.

HERE is your download for Day 6! SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

MORE JOURNALING TIPS AND DAY 5 FREEBIE!

As I said previously, I personally like to do my journaling on the reverse side of the hybrid layout page. That is not to say that you can't put text on the layout side if you want to. Day 7's download includes 2 sets of journaling lines in both vertical or horizontal formats for you to use on the blank pages if you so desire.

I print the layout side and the plain side and then cut them out. I purchased one of those acid-free fine point pens made for scrapbookers and use it to write at least the name(s) and date on the blank page. I might also write the place the photo was taken (if known) and any other info I might have. I usually wait about 24 hours before doing this to make sure the printer ink is set.

If I am using a physical album, I then adhere the layout to one side and the journaling to the other side and let dry thoroughly. I prefer to use glue stics to do this -- especially if I have printed on lighter weight photo paper. After all my pages are complete, I take them to a local print shop and have them laminated. This can usually be done while you wait. When I get home I do the final trimming and punch the holes. I arrange my pages in the order I want them, add the covers and use either locking rings or ribbons to "bind" my album.

HERE is the link to Day 5's download. SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

DAY 4 & JOURNALING ON YOUR HYBRIDS

I can't stress the importance of journaling enough! I mean... these albums you are working so hard on, whether they be 12 x 12, 8 x 8, brag books or hybrids, are a chronicle of a person or event that you want to pass on to future generations. Photographs fade with time, but with today's technology many printer inks are guaranteed to last 100 years or more with the proper care. Imagine! But scrapbook layouts with no dates or names will mean nothing to our great-great-great grandchildren! So, as your family's historian it is imperative that you not only leave your beautiful layouts for posterity but relevant information as well.

Here is your DAY 4 DOWNLOAD! SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

HERE IS DAY 3!

Not enough scrapping hours in the day? I can certainly relate to that as I am sure most of you can. That is what makes these wonderful hybrid albums such fun! They are real time-savers when you need that special gift in a hurry! There are several different ways you can finish them. I personally like to have the layout page on one side and the journaling on the reverse side which I do by hand.

Here is your DOWNLOAD link for today! SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

BLOG WEEK FREEBIE: DAY 2

Since there seems to have been some problems with 4Shared yesterday (I had some too) I will leave the link to Day 1 up until tomorrow.

Ok, I won't beat around the bush today. Here is the download link for DAY 2! SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

However, I will tell you that on Sunday there will be a special download available along with Day 7.

Happy Scrappin'!

NEW BLOG FREEBIE WEEK: 9/15 - 9/21/08!!!

Well, Gustave and Ike have come and gone and I hope that is the last ones we see for this season! I was lucky this time and only was without power for 5 days -- some of my friends just got theirs back yesterday! Then they had to worry about storm surges from Ike pushing water out of Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain into the areas they live in. This has been a tough one for us all here in the southeast and southwest. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this time.




I decided to do another freebie week since I will be busy working on completing my contribution for the Digitals Birthday Bash #4 which will include another Blog Train! So my blog freebies will be suspended until after the Birthday Bash activities. This week I am giving an entire Luggage Tag Album based on my Heritage Collection: Dear Old Dad page kit. These albums are really a lot larger than they look on your screen. This particular album is approximately 5-1/4" wide by 7-3/4" tall! By the end of the week, you will have 9 pages, 9 coordinating plain backgrounds and 3 sets of front and back covers! I have also included journaling lines in both horizontal and vertical formats. See the preview below:

And if you downloaded the freebie from August 18th, you will have a 10th coordinating page!

Here is the link to TODAY'S download. THESE LINKS WILL ONLY BE VALID FOR 24 HOURS. The kit will be available in my store after September 22nd.
SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

FREEBIE: MISSING SCHOOL FRAMES PLUS 2!

Good Morning!

I checked all the files and there were 3 frames missing from the Back To School Week downloads -- #'s 5, 7 & 9. Also, there was a request for "Middle School" frames. So, I zipped them all up and am giving them to you today. Here is the link to DOWNLOAD. (SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED) I guess it was a little confusing -- frames with the same words but different orientations. Some had the words inside the frames and some had the words on the outside; some were portrait and some were landscape. You should have a total of 40 different frames with this download.

This set of frames is exclusive to my blog -- I have not put them in my store at Digitals. I have, however, added a set of the frames in a subtle white woodgrain that will go with any kit you choose! Use them as is or recolor them to your liking! The preview is below.

I hope you have enjoyed this gift and also that you have been able to take advantage of the Back To School Sale at Digitals!

I promise I will have another super-freebie next week!

Hi Ladies, I am back!

Well, Hurricane Gustave blew through here on Monday and really gave us a run for our money! Much more damage to our house and property than with Katrina 3 years ago! Nothing really major -- some shingle tabs, pieces of soffit and facia and the awning over our back porch are gone. Lots and lots of large branches laying around the yard -- just going to take a lot of time to clean it up.

The very worst thing was being out of power for 5 days -- 2 days less than Katrina. The upside was that we continually had a lot of cloud cover and rain so it didn't get up into the 90's like it did the last time which was definitely a blessing.

Someone asked why we couldn't evacuate. We have 3 dogs and 1 horse. We no longer own a horse trailer and so someone needed to be here to feed and care for him. Also, they really don't want you to bring your pets when you evacuate and there is NO WAY I am leaving my dogs! They did have minimal shelter provisions for pets and their owners this time, but I am not sure how that worked out -- I haven't heard any reports from people who used the service.

I checked out the files you all said were missing and you were right. So, I am uploading them tonight and will post the link tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers. I am so fortunate to be involved in a community where there are so many wonderful people!

HURRICANE WATCH

I am sorry to say that there will be no freebie this week. I have been so swamped trying to prepare for the hurricane (as we cannot evacuate) that I did not have time to make a freebie this week. We will probably lose power and, consequently, internet access. Don't worry my friends -- I will make it up to you as soon as I am able to power up my computer and get back online. Thank you so much for your continued support.