Once Upon A Scrap Time

WM [Squared] Birthday Festivities and Blog Train - Template FREEBIES!

2010-06-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

So today is Wendy of WM [Squared]'s Birthday (Happy Day, Wendy!!) and we are celebrating BIG because of it! Check out this fun ad to give you a tiny glimpse of the festivities:

I would definitely be checking out the Scrap Matters forum in the next few days - you never know what you might come accross! ;)

So on to the real reason why you might have stumbled accross my blog....BLOG TRAIN! WOOT WOOT!
You probably just left Kim's site ( http://sassysimpsonsisters.wordpress.com/ )
And are ready for my first ever template freebie?!? Yes, I said first ever! I have never made a template before! It was kinda fun and I see myself doing it again in the future!

BUT, before you get the template, you have to bear with me and hear about my favorite birthday! For my 29th, my hubby and I took a child-free vacation, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We went on our second Carnival Cruise to get there, and we went a little crazy and had a little too much fun! ;) Here are just a few photos from that birthday trip:

And now for your patience.....here is my Template Freebie! Click the link below the preview to download it!

Grab it HERE!!

The next stop on the train is Sarah - http://sarahs.homelinux.org/

And if you missed any of the other stops here is a complete listing:

1: Wendy: http://wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/
2: Heather: http://heatherw25.blogspot.com/
3.: Jennifer: http://notes4theheart.blogspot.com
4. Heidi: http://myfamilyscrappings.blogspot.com
5. Tiff: http://supermama101.blogspot.com
6. Liz: http://scrappinlegal.blogspot.com/
7. Jenny: http://thedaveydaily.blogspot.com
8. Tanya: http://crossbonecuts.blogspot.com/
9. Kate: http://knlchevysscrapbooking.blogspot.com/
10. Heather: http://heathersdigitalcreations.blogspot.com/
11. Ami: http://ofnofixedaddresscards.blogspot.com/
12. Erica: http://digitalscraphappy.blogspot.com/
13. Kendall: http://majorscrapitude.blogspot.com/
14. Rach: http://realrach.blogspot.com/
15. Whit: http://scrapinacan.blogspot.com/
16. Vicki: http://longhornscraps.blogspot.com/
17. Kim: http://sassysimpsonsisters.wordpress.com/
18. Niki: http://onceuponascraptime.blogspot.com/ <----YOU ARE HERE
19. Sarah: http://sarahs.homelinux.org/

Scrap Matters - Friday

2010-06-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

My two Creative Teams from Scrap Matters have been busy whopping it up lately!
Check out these 2 new releases from Amber of Stolen Moments...
First up is a Carved Template and Text Path pack, titled Bend In The Road:

My husband and I just celebrated our 12th year anniversary of being together, so I made this page for him using the pack as well as Amber's older kit, Yummy Scrummy Love:

Talk about busy! She also teamed up with Girl Boy Girl Designs to create this fabulous collab kit called Exit #3. If you have any travel plans this summer, you MUST have this kit!

I used this kit to document Alahna's first roadtrip to San Diego:

Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs has released a new template pack titled, Fabulously Negative V. 5:

I used one of her older kits, Viva Fiesta, along with these gorgeous templates, to scrap one of my 29th Birthday Memories:

Hope you are having a great week!!! I am thinking there are some good things going on in the next few days....so maybe, just maybe, you might want to check back and see what I am talking about! ;)

Elemental Scraps New Releases

2010-06-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! Can you believe I am actually blogging something on time?? I know! Me neither! I had a little hospital scare yesterday, so I am officially taking it easy - feet up and all!

I am excited to show you what Val of geniaBeana Scraps released yesterday! The first one is a super bright summery kit called Sun Shiny Day:

And I have to say, I like how my LO came out! I think the Black and White photos with the bright papers and elements of the kit go really well together! Well, you decide for yourself!

Next up are both items for Elemental Scraps June Color Play. The first is from Captivated Visions and she calls it Pink Lemonade:

And my layout of my little summer girl, which I titled Slice of Summer:

Finally, is Val's take on the Elemental Scraps June Color Play called, Just Peachy:

And my layout:

I hope to continue with this "on-time" trend and will be back Friday with more new releases! Happy Scrapping!

Stolen Moments - Blog Wear and Contest

2010-06-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

Amber of Stolen Moments has a brand new set of Blog Wear out this week at Scrap Matters:

And speaking of blog designs, how would you like to WIN a personal design of your very own??

All you need to do is snag this preview and post about Amber's service on your own blog - remember to link back to the product in the store - then head over to the Scrap Matters forum and leave her a link to your post. She'll come back June 10th and chose a random winner to receive their very own blog design!

More New Releases!

2010-06-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Good morning fellow scrappers!! Hope this finds you all good and well! I only have 2 new releases to share this morning but a bunch of layouts I did for the Queen of Scrap contest as well!

On to the goodies first though! This first one is a gorgeous collab between Lyndsay Riches and Simply Scraps, found at Scrap Orchard, titled 2 Peas in a Pod:

I did a layout of me with my best friend of over 20 years, with this super cute kit:

WM [Squared] Designs has a new Word Art pack and a Paper Pack out today called Brothers & Sisters:

I thought these were perfect for a recent photo I took of Alahna kissing my "big ol' belly!"

The next 5 layouts are the last of my submissions to the Queen of Scrap contest over at Scrap Matters. I am sad to say that they aren't my best quality - I kinda lost my mojo at the end and was trying to reach my goal of 35 layouts in such a short time. But I will let you be the judge of that! Thanks for looking!! ;) ;)

As the time comes near for me to have this baby, I will be scrapping less and less. And most likely will be MIA for a good part of July and probably August. But don't forget about me! Because I will be back with lots of new baby pictures to scrap!!!

Happy Friday!

2010-05-28T13:51:00.001-07:00

Wanna see some new goodies?? Check out this amazing set of fabulousness!

First up is a template set by Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs. Elements Included V2 is found at Scrap Matters:

I did 2 layouts with these stunning templates, both using Wendy kits.!

The next two items are from Amber of Stolen Moments. She has this fun Alpha set titled SewNon Kraft Alpha:

And a new template set called Scraps by Number: Just Call Me Amanda:

I combined both new releases to create this fun kit of Alahna with her baby cousin, Jessiah:

Next up is a collab kit between geniaBeana Scraps, Sherri Tierney, and Meredith Cardall called Beach Cottage:

Here is my layout using this jam-packed Beachy kit:

Last, but most definitely not least, is a Grab Bag by Rachel of Captivated Visions, called Footprints In The Sand:

I used the Worn Papers, Alpha Set, and kit portions of the grab bag to create a layout that I am really happy with:

That's all for now! Happy Scrapping!

Blog Blog Bo Blog....

2010-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

So I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in my blogging (what's new and different, right??), so I am gonna really really really quickly show you my CT's kits and my LO's with them and then at the end some miscellaneous layouts I did for the Queen Of Scrap contest at Scrap Matters.

So first up is a new collab kit from Stolen Moments and Graham Like The Cracker of Scrap Matters called Carry My Heart:

And here is my layout using this gorgeous kit:

Next up is a new kit from Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs called Tropical Paradise:

And my layout using the fabulous beachy kit:

Next up is one of my newest favorite kits by Rachel of Captivated Visions. You can find it at Elemental Scraps, and its titled Serenity:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE how my layout turned out. It's some of my favorite photos of Ryan and I dancing at my best friends wedding:

Next up is some new goodies from Val of geniaBeana Scraps - May's Artist's Palette at goDigital Scrapbooking, called Mango Berry:

My layout uses both the paper pack and the element pack, and is of my cutie-patootie when she was itty bitty!

The next item is a template pack that Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs released last week called Elements Included V.1:

I used one of Wendy's older kits titled Shamrocks, along with the template pack, to create this fun layout of Alahna this St. Patty's Day:

SuzyQ Scraps teamed up with AnnBV Designs this week to create this collab kit titled, Music In Your Heart:

I scrapped my little ham singing into her microphone with this kit:

Want to download a free kit?!?!? Then you don't want to miss this amazing FREE kit from SuzyQ Scraps called Heart to Heart. If you click on the kit preview it will take you to Persnickety Prints where you can download this kit and enter your layout into a contest to win fabulous prizes!

Here's a layout I made using this beautiful kit:

The final kit I want to share with you was released last week at Scrap Matters and is a collab between SuzyQ Scraps and Britt-ish Designs called Bon Appetit:

I love the rich colors and fun elements in this kit! Here is my girl making Mac and Cheese!

The next set of layouts I did were random ones I did for the Queen of Scrap Contest at Scrap Matters.

Now that I am all caught up....time for bed!! Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Scrap Matters - Friday New Releases

2010-05-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have 3 gorgeous new releases to share with you this morning!! I love all of them - and they all happen to be for sale today at Scrap Matters!!
First up is an Add-On by Stolen Moments to her last week's grab baby kit, called Makin' Me Happy: The Happiest Add-On:

It reminded me of Disneyland and I thought our recent trips pictures would look perfect with both the original kit and the add-on:

Next up is a set of fabulous curvy templates from WM [Squared] Designs called Got Curves? - V.1

The curves reminded me of the beach and waves, so I jumped on the chance to scrap Alahna's pictures of her swimming with a dolphin adventure.

The final kit I have to share is WAY too cute for words!! SuzyQ Scraps created this bright and fun kit called Giggle Monsters:

I LOVE how my layout turned out of Alahna and her sidekick Alexandria:

That's it for today!! Happy shopping!!

Queen Of Scrap??

2010-05-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

WOW! Has it been a busy scrapping week for me! I have done more layouts in the past 6 days than I typically do in 2 weeks! I have entered the "Queen of Scrap" contest over at Scrap Matters which has inspired me to get a little crazy! haha!
I have a few products to share and then a bunch of my layouts....
SuzyQ Scraps has been a busy designer bee this week and is selling at both Scrap Matters and Scrap Orchard for the month of May! I did a 2 pager of Alahna making her 3rd Birthday Build-A-Bear using the following of her products (all linked to their respective stores):

And here is that 2 page LO:

The next 6 layouts are ones that I did for the contest and aren't a part of my typical CT duties. I just wanted to share how busy I have been!

I will have 3 more layouts to share with you tomorrow when the kits are released to the store...so check back for another 3 pages from me! Good night!!!

Happy iNSD (Weekend!)!!

2010-04-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Happy iNSD!! Ready for all the goodies I have been working so hard with this week? I will try to make this short and sweet so you can go spend your money and participate in games and challenges!

Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs has been UBER busy this week and has not just one very full grab bag in the store, but 2!!!!
The first one has a summery beachy themed kit, a negative space template set, a gorgeous date stamp, a word art pack, and bonus alphas! Check out the preview:

Here's my layout using all of the products in the grab bag:

The second grab bag is a collab between WM [Squared] Designs and Haynay Designs with a wedding themed kit, a template set, a gorgeous set of date stamps, a word art pack, and 2 alphas! Check out the preview here:

And my layout with all the items included in the grab bag:

Check out this ad by Amber of Stolen Moments:

So hurry on over to her store and pick up this grab bag, which included a full kit, alpha bits, date blots, and a template pack so you can be entered for a chance to win!

Here is my layout with all the items included in Amber's grab bag:

Next up is a new kit by Val, aka genia Beana Scraps, called In Spring. You can pick it up at either Elemental Scraps or goDigital Scrapbooking.

Here is my layout using this beautiful kit:

Last, but certainly not least, is a kit by Captivated Visions called, Pure. You can find it at Elemental Scraps, Gotta Pixel or Rachel's new personal store!

My layout using this beautiful kit:

I hope you have a great weekend! Have fun scrapping - I know I will!!

The start of iNSD

2010-04-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

I have one new release to kick off the iNSD festivities. Lyndsay Riches of Scrap Orchard created this fun new berry themed kit called Berry Delightful. It's on sale for just a $1 this weekend, so you MUST head over to the orchard and snag it up before its full price!

She also created this matching Alpha set for just a $1 this weekend too!

Here is my layout using both the kit and the Alpha. I don't have any berry photos, so I made a layout that didn't use the themey elements!

I have 5 more goodies to share tomorrow - so don't forget to check back to hear and see the newest news!

Gotta catch up before the iNSD festivities begin!

2010-04-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this week preparing for all the iNSD sales, goodies, and treats that I almost forgot to blog last weeks new releases! So I need to get these out there before they are lost in the business of the weekend!

Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs came out with a new set of Project 365 templates called Day by Day V.4:

So I gave up on my Project 365 about 6 weeks ago...I know, I know - bad bad Niki! I have been so super busy and so super pregnant....well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! So I didn't scrap Project 365 but tried to catch up on my Pregnancy Belly Progression shots instead with this fun multi-photo template set:

Next up is a collab kit between Stolen Moments and Melissa Bennett, found at Scrap Matters, called Sweet As Sugar:

I just love this super girly kit and had to scrap photos of my super girly-girl:

Next up is one of my newest favorite kits, another collab kit, between Lyndsay Riches and Wild Dandelion Designs of Scrap Orchard, called Mommy Deerest:

This is my favorite photo of Alahna and I, taken on my 30th birthday, and I am so in love with how my layout turned out. If I had to explain my favorite scrapping style this would be it!

The last item I want to share with you are these fabulous word bit strips by SuzyQ Scraps of Scrap Orchard called Lifelines #1. They are the absolute perfect addition to any layout!

I used them on a layout I did of Alahna's 3rd Birthday party:

I will be sitting down tomorrow and setting up my ultra long blog post for the iNSD weekend! I have 6 new items to share - from HUGE grab bags to beautiful kits galore! Check back Friday morning for the news!

A few days later....

2010-04-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

and I am showing you last Friday's new releases!
Have you seen Amber of Stolen Moments newest collab kit with Britt-ish Designs? If not, you must head over to Scrap Matters and check out the theater themed kit, Opening Night:

I will definitely be using this kit again, but I just scratched the surface of whats included by scrapping my daughter being her cheesy ham self:

The next collab I want to show you is by Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs and Sarah Bennett, both of Scrap Matters. In celebration of Earth Day this week, here is a preview of their themed kit titled Go Green:

I don't have any Earth Day type of pictures to scrap, so I chose to use pictures of where our family considers this Heaven on Earth, Dinkey Creek, California!

The final kit I want to share with you is a super fab Earth Day collab between SuzyQ Scraps and Amanda Heimann titled, Going Green.

I just LOVE Suzy's doodled frogs in this kit, and it just screamed at me to scrap my daughter's Halloween costume from last year - yes, my daughter was a frog! I really love how this LO turned out!

Thanks for looking! I hope to be on time with my blog post on the MANY new releases this week!

Friday, again!

2010-04-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

I'm baaack! That cake sure was yummy! Ready for this weeks goodies?? Here we go!
First up is a collab between Stolen Moments and Stacy's Backdoor Designs called Boys in My Backyard. Check this super fun boy kit:

It really is a perfect kit for any outdoor photos you may have to scrap. I re-scrapped some of my favorite photos of Alahna that I had originally scrapped back when I first started playing around in Photoshop and looking back hated what I had done with them. I am happy with how this one turned out!

Next up is a super girly Spring kit by Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs titled, Spring Is Here.

And another set of fabu Templates inspired by fellow CT members, Becca and Wendy, called Be Inspired - Becca & Wendy:

My layout uses both the Spring kit as well as the templates:

On Wendy's blog, Jen D is hosting a Blog Template Challenge that I was able to play with. Click on the Template preview below to take you to Wendy's blog where you can download the template and play along!

Here is my sample of what you can do with the template using Wendy's kit, Happy Easter:

The last kit I was able to play with this week I was slightly unsure about before downloading. The reason being is that it is first of all called Talkin' About Boys, and the second being that I don't have any boys (yet!)!! So I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull this amazing kit off....but I was able to use the gorgeous neutral colors in this kit to showcase my little girl. Here is the kit by Lyndsay Riches found exclusively at Scrap Orchard:

And my layout of my sweet girl:

Whew! I am so happy to say I am officially caught up on my blogging all these gorgeous kits and my layouts. I hope you all have a great weekend and following week and I will try my best to stay on top of keeping you in the scrapping loop!

Uh oh! Need to update my LO's and catch up!

2010-04-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow scrappers! It's been a while! I have a lot of catching up to do! I will start by showing you last weeks kits that I was privileged to play with!

Unfortunately I had to end my guest gig with Rachel of Captivated Visions, because I have had some pregnancy complications which have made me have to slow down and rest more than I was. She is such a sweetheart though and I will be keeping in touch with my new-found digi-friend and talented designer! The last kit I was able to play with, is also my favorite, and is titled Very Cherry. Check it out at Elemental Scraps:

The layout I did with the kit won me Layout-Of-The-Day at Gotta Pixel!! I just love the colors and textures of this kit!! Check out my daughter and her cousin at just a few weeks old!

Next up is an April color-play kit by genia Beana Scraps, titled Spring Sunset. You can find the Elements, Paper Pack, as well as Card-Stock at Elemental Scraps:

I used the various parts of the Color-Play Pack to create this page of my sleepy little baby girl! It seems like so long ago!

I am super excited to share this next kit with you!! SuzyQ Scraps came up with the most fabulous idea EVER! Have you seen tons of wedding kits in the shops and always thought that there was nothing to match your wedding colors and pictures? Well now there is something JUST FOR YOU! She has created "Especially For You - Made To Order" which is a wedding kit that you order specifically for your pictures and colors! You buy the kit (follow the link by clicking on the kit picture), and email Suzy your color choices. Then she emails you back a custom kit of papers and elements! Easy-peasy and such a great idea!

I had a slower scrapping week last week so I was able to do 2 layouts with the custom kit she made just for me! I ordered neutral papers and then cream and red elements. Here is a taste of what I could do with this gorgeousness:

SuzyQ Scraps also had a different wedding kit in the Scrap Orchard store last week as well. Check out Especially For Melanie:

I did a wedding layout of none-other-than me with this beautifully elegant kit!

The final kit I want to share from last week is by Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs titled Vintage Spring. This beautiful kit is found at Scrap Matters:

I also used a new template pack from Wendy to create this layout of my Alahna!

I am going to go satisfy my pregnancy craving of chocolate cake right now and I will be back to update you with this weeks kits and layouts!

New Releases to Share!

2010-03-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, fellow scrappers! Ready for a ton of new releases?? I won't talk your ear off, but just get right to them!

First up is these super fun doodle borders by SuzyQ Scraps, called Oopsie-Doodle: Borders 1:

And this extravagantly gorgeous kit titled Indulge Me:
Both can be found on sale at Scrap Orchard by clicking the above previews. Here is my layout using both the borders and the kit:

Next up is an Easter kit from Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs. You can find Happy Easter at Scrap Matters, and on sale today!

And then check these out!! Wendy did a template pack inspired by none-other than ME! So fun, eh? They are titled, Be Inspired: Niki, and are also on sale at Scrap Matters.

I did a layout using both the Easter kit and the Template Pack:

Stolen Moments is also releasing a template pack today, based on fellow CT member Kim's layouts. Check out Scraps By Number: Just Call Me Kim:

I used the kit Ten Tiny Toes (also by Stolen Moments) along with this template pack to create this fun belly progression layout:

Next up is a beautiful kit by geniaBeana Scraps of Elemental Scraps titled, A Quiet Moment:

I stepped out of my scrapping comfort zone a bit to create this layout, and very pleased with how it turned out!

The last thing I wanted to share with you was actually a release from last week. Another template pack from WM [Squared] Designs called, Be Inspired: Tanya.

I used one of my favorite kits from Wendy called Beach Bum, along with the templates to create this layout:

Now what are you waiting for? Go check it all out and buy something in the stores!!!!
Oh, and have a great weekend!!! ;)

Easter Kits Galore!

2010-03-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring, gorgeous weather and the Easter holiday! I just love this time of year! It is always so busy, but so much fun too!
Ready to see the most gorgeous Easter kits out there right now??! I had the privilege of working with the 3 most beautiful kits this week!

First up is the collab Easter Morning by Stolen Moments and Man In The Moon Designs, found at Scrap Matters:

Here is my layout using this kit:

Next up is another collab kit by SuzyQ Scraps and Ziggle Designs titled Bunny Imposters. This super fun kit is found exclusively at Scrap Orchard, and has THE cutest hand drawn character elements!! Definitely a must-have for your scrapping collection!
Another layout of mine using the same pictures from last Easter. Here is a scared Alahna sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap!

The final Easter kit I want to share with you is by Lyndsay Riches of Scrap Orchard. I just LOVE these colors and the elements are perfect for both Spring and Easter photos. Check out Spring Flings & Easter Things:

I used photos of Alahna dying Easter Eggs last year, with this beautiful kit!

I had a super busy week, yet again, (does it ever slow down?) and was only able to scrap with one more new release. Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs released these fun templates titled Be Inspired - Melody. You can find them at Scrap Matters!

Along with the above templates, I used one of her older kits titled Shabby Chic. I just love this picture of Alahna and I! My little girl:

I really hope to have more scrapping time this week....I was in the hospital last week for Pre-Term Labor (nothing new to me, I've been there done that with Alahna) and so have been put on restricted activity. Needless to say, I will be doing less and hoping to scrap more!
Have a great week and see you back next weekend!!

Stolen Moments Birthday Bash!

2010-03-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this fabulous Birthday sale with you today!! Amber of Stolen Moments is turning 26 and wants to share the excitement with you!

Click the above ad to take you straight to her store!! There are so many gorgeous goodies that you NEED to stock up on!!

This Weeks New Releases

2010-03-08T14:47:00.001-08:00

Like I had mentioned in my last blog post, I didn't have much scrapping time this week due to being busy with my daughter's birthday extravaganza! But I was able to play with a few fun kits that I want to share with you!
First up is a collab between Lyndsay Riches and Ziggle Designs of Scrap Orchard, titled Squeaky Clean:

I had really wanted to use this kit more than once, but the week just got away from me! I LOVE the colors and beautiful elements in it - and just had to scrap Alahna's first bath:

The next kit I was able to play with this week was Serendipity from SuzyQ Scraps, also found at Scrap Orchard:

She also released this co-ordinating or extra alpha titled Lucky You:

My layout uses both the kit and the Alpha, and is of Alahna's very first St. Patty's Day!

The last kit I used was from Captivated Visions titled Bellis Perennis. She has it available at her various shops, but I linked it to her Elemental Scraps store:

I thought this kit was perfect for pictures of Alahna last Spring playing in her sandbox:

I have one more kit to post tomorrow - but after that, I will MIA for a few days while family is in town and we are celebrating my baby turning 3! Hope you have a great weekend!!

WM [Squared] Goodies!

2010-03-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

What a week I have had!! It is my daughters 3rd Birthday on Saturday, and I have been one busy mama getting ready for her big Princess party! I am behind on posting my blog entries (surprise, surprise!) and I also haven't had much scrapping time this week either.

To catch you up, here are last week's releases from Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs over at Scrap Matters. First up is a collab with Simply.Scraps titled Where The Heart Is:

My layout of my little family about a year and a half ago:

She also released these fun templates last week titled Be Inspired: Becca S.:

Also this St. Patrick's Day inspired kit titled Shamrocks:

Here is my layout using both the templates and the kit of Alahna at last St. Patty's Day:

I will work on my next blog post now, in hopes to catch up to what has been released to date!!

Blog Train - WOOT WOOT!

2010-03-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

As promised, I am back today as part of a Blog Train! WOOT WOOT! This blog train is for Stolen Moments newest collab kit with Jessica Edwards titled 10 Tiny Toes. Check out this gorgeous new release:

And before I give you the goods, I wanted to share my layout with you so you can get an example of what you can do with this gorgeous kit:

Now on to the goods! I created these Word Art's for you to co-ordinate with the kit. Click the link below to download them!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the Stolen Moments and Jessica Edwards CT blogs and snag all of the goodies! (Keep in mind we are in different time zones, so if any one's post isn't up yet, be sure to check back later.)

Jessica – http://mydigiscrapblog.blogspot.com/

Melissa - http://www.mamamelissa.com/

Anne Katherine - http://www.looooooooovetocreate.blogspot.com/

Tricia - http://theseoultosoulconnection.blogspot.com/

Dana - http://tatefamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/

Sasha - http://www.parteeof5scraps.blogspot.com/

Nikki - http://nikkisdigilayouts.blogspot.com/

Lisa - http://www.kelseyll.blogspot.com/

Wendy – http://www.neverlandscraps.blogspot.com/

Niki – http://onceuponascraptime.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE

Kim – http://kim21673.wordpress.com/

Stephanie – http://stefgonedigi.blogspot.com/

Tanya – http://crossbonecuts.blogspot.com/

Lisa – http://aprilisadesigns.blogspot.com/

Amber – http://stolenmomentsdesign.blogspot.com/

I also wanted to mention that Jessica Edwards (who Amber collabed with on this kit) has a brand new facebook page! Check it out HERE

Thanks for stopping by our blog train! I would love to hear any feedback or comments you may have! Have a great weekend!!

XOXO,

Niki

Scrap Orchard's Fresh Fruit:

2010-03-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday, and do you know what that means? New release day at Scrap Orchard! I had the privilege to work with 2 of the Fresh Fruit releases today! First up is a beautiful kit from Lyndsay Riches, called A Cherry On Top:

I just love all of Lyndsay's drawn elements! She has such a unique style that is absolutely beautiful! I scrapped a few pictures of Alahna getting messy with a chocolate treat:

The next kit I was able to play with is a collab between SuzyQ Scraps and Kristin Aagard, titled Vroom Zoom Chugga Choo:

This kit has Suzy's hand drawn elements combined with Kristin's cartoony ones, to create a beautiful must-have kit! I scrapped Alahna's very first road trip to Dinkey Creek when she was just 4 months old:

I hope you check out these fabulous new releases! And don't forget to check back tomorrow....a little birdy told me I might be a part of a blog train, or something like that! Have a good night!

It's Friday!!!!

2010-02-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, yet again! Ready for a ton of beautiful new releases? I told you I was stuck at home this week with a sick kiddo! I was a busy scrappin' fool! haha!

First up is a collab kit by geniaBeana Scraps and Christy Skaggs of Go Digital Scrapbooking, titled Blossom:

My layout of my little girl who has already grown so much since I took these pictures over a year ago!

Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs has been super busy lately and I had the privilege of using a bunch of her goodies this week! First of hers is a new template pack titled Be Inspired - Bexy:

I also used her Project 365 Pregnancy Jumbo Kit on my layout of my growing baby boy!

For my next layout I combined these gorgeous new templates from Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters titled, Just Call Me Keyr:

And this beautiful collab kit by WM [Squared] Designs and Sya's Blueprints, both of Scrap Matters, called Forever Treasured:

Here is my layout using both those great products, of my 2 most favorite people in the whole world!

Last, but most definitely NOT least, is a kit from SuzyQ Scraps of Scrap Orchard titled, No Monsters Allowed. It is absolutely perfect for those pictures you have of your terrible two-er (I have a ton of those!).

And here's my little tantrum thrower (although she has been getting better about them in the past month or so!):

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I will be back next week, as always, with new goodies to share!!

Sunshine This Week? ;)

2010-02-23T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well maybe there was, but I have been cooped up in the house with a sick child - so I sure didn't get to feel it! But I did get to work with these 3 beautifully sunny kits!
First up is a kit SuzyQ Scraps created for the Daily Digi, called none other than Sunshine:

And here is my layout of my little sunshine:

Next up is another sunny looking collab kit by geniaBeana Scraps and Albums to Remember titled, A Super Special Day. Check it out at Elemental Scraps:

My layout using this bright kit got me a gallery standout at Elemental Scraps!

The final kit I wanted to share today is a March Grab Bag by Captivated Visions which can also be found at Elemental Scraps titled, Oh Sunshiny Day:

I scrapped one of the very few family pictures we took on our last trip to Hawaii with this kit:

I hope with the start of all these beautiful summery and sunny kits that Spring and Summer arrive soon!
Check back tomorrow for some more new releases!

WOW am I behind on posting my layouts!!

2010-02-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

I am just a tad behind in my blogging!! I have had a crazy past couple of weeks (and that's different from when??!!)....
So let me try to catch you up with my latest scrapping adventures!
I will start with the most recently released and work backwards...
First up is a collab Kit and Add-On by Stolen Moments and Scrapmuss Designs of Scrap Matters titled Lucky U:

I have been wanting to scrap this moment of Alahna for a long time now. It was the St. Patrick's Day right after her first birthday, and I was wanting to capture her getting all messy in the cake....

Next up is another collab kit by SuzyQ Scraps and Jady Day Studio of Scrap Orchard titled Ouchies & Ickies:

Another moment I have been wanting to scrap is of Alahna's first cold at just 5 weeks old. My little preemie was barely 5 pounds old when she got so sick that we had to put her to sleep sitting up in a chair. Such a sad moment for a new mommy!

Next up is another fabulous template pack from Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs. She has the best Project 365 Templates! Check out Day by Day V.3:

I made a 2 pager with these templates! I am soooo far behind in scrapping my 365 Journey!! I don't think I will make it the whole year...

Next up is another collab kit - this time by SuzyQ Scraps and Amy Sumrall of Scrap Orchard, titled Forest Frolic:

I am very proud of this layout for a number of reasons....I love how I edited the photos (my least strongest area of Digi-Scrapping), the composition feels right to me, AND I got the fabulous honor of Layout-of-the-Week at Scrap Orchard for it! That's the first time I have received that honor at their site - so that's huge to me!

The last kit I want to share with you is also a collab between Captivated Visions and Connie Prince titled Forever. It can be found at Scrap Matters, Elemental Scraps, and Gotta Pixel.

I scrapped a picture of Ryan and I on my 29th birthday, when we took a Cruise to Cabo:

I have a bunch more to show you later in the week....so hopefully now that I am caught up on my blogging I can stay caught up!

Happy Friday!

2010-02-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ready for today's new releases??? There are some fabulous new goodies out today!
First up is a bright and bold new kit from Lyndsay Riches of Scrap Orchard titled, I Got A Feelin':

I also used Captivated Visions new All Stacked Up V.1 Templates, shown here and found at Elemental Scraps for only $1!

Here is my layout using both Lyndsay's kit and Captivated Visions template of my hot tempered 2 year old and her daily temper tantrums:

Next up is a new Alpha from Amber of Stolen Moments called Beat Up and Screwed Up Alpha:

I used this new alpha along with an older kit of Amber's, Pure Perfection, for pictures of our recent trip to Disneyland:

Last, but most definitely NOT least, is this stunningly gorgeous Valentines-y kit from Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs. She calls it Love Potion #9, and also has coordinating Alphas (in MANY colors), and a HUMONGOUS Word Art Pack!

My layout using all 3, is of the very first time I got to see Alahna - after being wheeled down to the NICU after spending hours in recovery....such a precious moment!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Elemental Scraps New Releases

2010-02-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

Once again I am a few days late on this post....don't know what it is about blogging on time, but its become harder - for sure!
Today I have 2 new releases from Elemental Scraps Designers which both released on Monday. First up is a kit from Captivated Visions titled, Sweet As Mallow:

Here is my layout using this tender kit:

Next up is geniaBeana Scraps new release for Elemental Scraps February Color Play. Her portion is titled U Rock, and can be bought for a limited time for a $1 each!

And my layout of my almost 3 year old:

The last LO I want to share is my final submission to the DSA Scrap Off Contest, last week. I ended up tying for 3rd place in the competition and won a one month guest spot on the DSA Creative Team! It was the first contest I have ever entered in the Digi-Scrappin' world and it sure felt good to do so well! Here's that final LO:

I am going to type up my blog post for tomorrow right now....so come back in the AM for more new releases (on the day they release!!).

Happy Friday!!

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!! Here are those last few new releases I teased you with yesterday...
Wendy of WM [squared] Designs created another set of Project 365 Templates titled Day by Day V.2:

I got caught up with my Project 365 layouts this week by sneaking in a 2 pager with these fabulous templates:

Amber of Stolen Moments is releasing these fun cutting templates titled Paper Punches V.1:

I used these along with her Tenderly kit to create this sweet layout of Ryan with Alahna when we first brought her home from the hospital!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! xoxo

Sick week, rainy week....ready for some sun and health!

2010-01-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

It's been another week of sickies in our house. Alahna has had this nasty cold that she just can't shake, Ryan seems to be getting sick again, and I have been busy taking care of both of them! On top of all that it has been raining again! I seriously can't wait for sunshine and health - bring on Summer!!!!!!

Before Summer comes Spring and all the holiday's that come with that. The one that most designers seem to be focused on the past few weeks is Valentines Day. Lyndsay Riches of Scrap Orchard has created the most original Valentines Kit titled Crosswords of Love:

I feel as I haven't scrapped Ryan and myself as much as I have in the past few weeks!! Here is the latest one I did of us:

geniaBeana of Elemental Scraps teamed up with JennCK to create this masculine Valentines Collab Kit titled Change of Heart:

Another layout of Ryan and I!

The last kit I want to share with you today is from Captivated Visions of Elemental Scraps titled Travelogue. It has fabulous elements and papers to scrap any and all travel photos you might have!

I have over 700 pictures of our trip to Europe in 2006, so I thought I would start at the beginning of our trip in Paris. Here is our first day at the Notre Dame:

I will be back soon with Friday's new releases!!

Friday's Releases....

2010-01-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

on Monday! Life got in the way once again of posting this on time! We had "stuff" going on from last Wednesday through Sunday - from art classes to dance classes to playdates and Disney on Ice....and finally on Monday I have a free moment! But sadly from all that "stuff" my little girl got sick once again! Will it ever end? *sigh*

On to Friday's new releases at Scrap Matters. First up is a fabulous new template pack from Wendy of WM [squared] Designs:

And she also made my latest favorite bundle (which you can also buy each part separately if you would like) - Month by Month Pregnancy! I am pregnant now, so this kit will be my definite go-to for the next 5 months!

I combined both the templates and the Pregnancy Bundle to create my very first layout of the little baby in my tummy:

Next up is a gorgeous Valentines kit from Amber of Stolen Moments titled, Yummy Scrummy Love:

There is also a matching Alpha in the store titled Red Hot Alpha:

And these beautiful accent labels to match:

You can get all of these (among some other goodies such as a brag book, and hybrid goodies) in a bundle for a discounted price as well! Here is my layout (which BTW I have to toot my own horn and brag that I was honored with Layout Of The Week at Scrap Matters for this!):

And the last thing I want to show you is my Week 3 submission to Digiscrapaddicts Scrap Off contest. I really like how this one turned out and am hoping my score reflects that as well!

I have a busy scrapping week ahead of me.....I will be back with new goodies soon!!

Thursday Releases!

2010-01-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

I told you I would be back today! I have 2 new kits to share with you today! First up is a collab kit by Captivated Visions and Michelle Batton Designs titled From Boy to Man and can be found at The DigiChick:

I obviously don't have any boys, so I tried to use the earthier side of this kit to create my layout of my girl:

The next kit is THE cutest Valentines-ey (is that a word?) Love Monster kit from SuzyQ Scraps! You have to check this one out!!!

Here's my layout of my little Love Monster when she was just 7 months old!

I will try to be back again tomorrow with yet another new release!

Collab Charity Kit Coming Soon

2010-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

New Goodies

2010-01-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry I am almost a week late with this...I haven't been feeling 100% the past few days. My hubby gave me his yucky cold!! Let me get straight to the goodies! First up is this amazing, jam-packed, Journey 365 kit by Wendy of WM [Squared] Designs. I will be using this over and over and over again throughout the year!

I also used her templates, Day by Day Version 1 for my first weeks layout for Journey 365:

And my week 1 layout:

The next goody I want to share is these fabulous Big Picture Templates from SuzyQ Scraps at Scrap Orchard:

My layout of my little family using a big picture:

Another Scrap Orchard goody is from Lyndsay Riches titled Love & Lullabies. This kit is perfect for all of those sleeping baby pictures you know you have in your stash!

I scrapped Alahna at only a few weeks old using this beautiful kit!

The next kit I want to show you is a beautiful Valentines Day kit by geniaBeana Scraps of Elemental Scraps titled, Love Sweet Love.

I really like how this layout turned out - Alahna's first Valentines Day, in 2008:

And the final layout I want to show you is my Week 2 submission to DSA's Scrap Off 2010. I did really well the first round but didn't do as well with this layout. I did receive some great CC though and hope to use it towards creating a better layout this week! Wish me luck!

I will be back tomorrow with some more new stuff! Have a great night!

Happy Friday! Templates Inspired by ummmm, me!

2010-01-07T15:59:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday fellow Scrappers! Ready for those other 3 goodies I have to share?? The first up is from SuzyQ Scraps from Scrap Orchard. It is the most fabulous, jam-packed Journey 365 Kit there is out there! If you are doing Journey 365 this year (which I know a lot of you are!) this is the perfect kit to get you through the year:

This week she also came out with a bunch of different date bits and Alpha tags in various colors to coordinate with the Journey 365 Kit. I played with the ones in "Rainbow" colors:

My layout is using all 3 - at the Sesame Street Live show last April:

Next up is a Winter/Snow themed collab kit by WM [squared] Designs and Purple Tulip Designs of Scrap Matters:

And a set of Templates from Wendy of WM [squared] Designs too!

My layout using both:

And the last new release for today is from Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters. She created these templates based on my very own designs! How fun is that? So hurry on over and pick them up!!

And my layout also using her Date Bits:

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Happy Scrapping!

New Releases and a Contest Entry

2010-01-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Good evening!! I hope you are all having a fabulous week! I was a busy bee this week getting my scrapping groove back on! Wanna see a few of those new goodies I was able to work with?? First up is a new kit from my January and February guest spot for Captivated Visions. She is guesting at the Digichick this month. Check out her latest titled Spearmint Infusion:

I did 2 layouts with this kit - both of an impromptu photo shoot with Alahna in November of 2008:

The next kit is from geniaBeana Scraps and is part of January's Color Play for January. She titled it Hazy Shade of Winter. Check it out (linked to the Elements Pack in the store):

And my layout is of Alahna playing in the snow last January:

The last thing I wanted to share today is my submission to DigiScrapAddicts ScrapOff 2010 Contest. This is the first contest/competition I have ever entered! I am hoping it is good enough to win the judges eyes! What do you think?? It's linked to the gallery at DSA if you want to leave me some love!

I will be back tomorrow with 3 other new releases! (I told you I was busy this week!) Have a great night!

Happy New Years!!! Welcome 2010!

2009-12-30T15:36:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to you!!! I hope you all had a fabulous evening and are ready to start the new year out by scrapping away! Wanna see some fabulous New Years kits that I had the privilege of playing with??
First up is a great resolution kit by Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters, titled, Resolutionary:

I don't typically make New Years Resolutions because I am a naturally motivated person (I know, it pisses people off!) and if I want to do something I just do it right then and there....so I made a page of myself (which I NEVER EVER do!!) about change and all the changes my body and soul and life are undergoing right now with being pregnant...well here it is:

The next kit being released today is absolutely STUNNING and FABULOUS!!! I love this kit! It's a collab between WM [Squared] Designs and Jennifer Barrette Designs of Scrap Matters, titled It's Gonna Be A Happy New Year:

And my layout is just a Welcome to 2010 Layout! With that being said, its 2 minutes til midnight in NYC so I need to go pour myself a glass of sparkling cider and enjoy the moment! Happy New Year!!!

Rainbow of Flavor

2009-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hello!! Long time no "talk!" Hope you all had a fabulous holiday and have survived the craziness it all brings! I have one new release to share today from SuzyQ Scraps over at Scrap Orchard. Her latest is titled Rainbow of Flavor and is a super cute candy themed kit! Check it out:

And my layout of my little sourface girl:

1 week til Christmas!

2009-12-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

Good morning fellow scrappers! Are you ready for Christmas?? I can't believe it's only a week away! I honestly can't wait for this next week to be over so I can relax and enjoy my holiday! Well I am actually almost on time this week, and ready to show you the latest new goodies I worked with this week. First up is Cotton Candy Christmas by Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters. It was originally a free Daily Download from our CT blog, but now is packaged up in its whole form (hehe) and ready to show you:

And my layout using this fun kit:

Amber (Stolen Moments) teamed up with Digi-Designs by Nicole to produce this bright kit titled U Da Bomb:

My layout of my 2 Kul 4 U daughter!

SuzyQ Scraps is bringing back one of her older collabs that she did with SaraAmarie, titled Desert Sunset! I just loved this kit because I live in the desert and I could see myself using it over and over and over again! (Love when that happens!)

My layout is of a day we spent at Red Rock Canyon last Spring....such a beautiful day at such a beautiful place!

And last but definitely not least is a fabulous Bundle Pack by WM [Squared] Designs of Scrap Matters. The kit is titled Vintage Christmas and has a fabulous color palette that you could scrap so many things with!

My layout is of another trip we took to Opportunity Village/Magical Forest! It's a Vegas hotspot at Christmas for the family!

I am thinking by the way things look that I might have this next week off of scrapping....so if I am not back next weekend, I hope you have a fabulous Christmas holiday!!
xoxoxo,
Niki

Just Call Me A Blog Slacker!

2009-12-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

So I am officially a certified slacker when it comes to blogging the latest kits I have used, these days. I am going to chalk it up to 1st trimester pregnancy blahness. So please forgive me for at least a few more weeks til I am feeling better!

So 4 things to show you and I will make it quick and painless! First up is a new set of template's by Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters:

And my layout is pretty simple, for the most part stuck with the template, and wanted to showcase the photos and journaling of more of our trip to Hawaii:

Next is a fun Christmas kit by Lyndsay Riches of Scrap Orchard titled, Joyous Christmas. I am in love with her doodled elements! She totally rocks at them, eh?

And one of my first layouts of Alahna's first Christmas. After going through all 200 photos of the day, I realize there aren't very many good ones worth scrapping. Such a bummer when you want to remember your first child's first Christmas!

Next is a kit by SuzyQ Scraps, also from Scrap Orchard, titled Gadgets and Gizmos. She also has a fabulous Add-On to this kit with all the doodled robots and tools! I think they are both a must if you have pictures of your child building something or trying to help build something!

My layout is of Alahna helping Daddy build her tricycle. I was wondering if I would ever get to scrap these photos and am happy Suzy came out with the perfect kit!

And the 4th and final kit to share is absolutely stunning and beautiful! It's titled Dream A Little Dream, and is by geniaBeana Scraps of Elemental Scraps:

I just LOVE how this LO turned out! This kit is definitely a must-have for your collection because we all have pictures of sleeping kids!

That's all from me for today! Hopefully I will blog on time this week and will have a few new releases to share on Friday! Have a great week!

It's Friday!

2009-12-03T19:22:00.001-08:00

I am almost completely caught up with my remaining CT's, and can't wait to show you a few more goodies I got to play with this week! The first up is a Collab between geniaBeana Scraps and Dylabel Designs (both are at GDS) titled Holly Jolly:

And my layout is of Alahna's very first Christmas present ever!! Such a fun memory to scrap and treasure!

The next kit is from my newest Creative Team, SuzyQ Scraps!! She teamed up with Amanda Heimann (both at SO) to create this super fun Snow/Winter kit titled Snow Peeps:

And my layout is of a very rare occasion here in Las Vegas - a snow day! I just love the little snow-people in this kit!!

That's all I have for now!! I will be back in a few days with more!! Happy scrapping!!

Happy Black Friday!! WAAAAAY LATE!!!!

2009-11-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

So for some reason I had this blog post mostly set up and mostly ready to go last Friday when it was supposed to, and for some reason I never posted it!! Oops!! Does better late than never apply?? Well let me just share you what I worked with last week and give you the links, cause you can still buy the kits! ;)

First up is Autumnal by geniaBeana Scraps. Fun for all those Thanksgiving pictures you just took last week!!

The layout I did was of Alahna's First Thanksgiving:

Next up was a grab bag by WM [squared] Designs of Scrap Matters which features this Christmas kit titled Santa Baby:

My layout used one of the templates in the Grab Bag along with the date stamp and bonus alpha:

And the final kit I want to share is by Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters. She teamed up with Graham Like The Cracker to create this Christmas collab titled, One More Sleep.

My layout (which earned me a treasured GSO!) is of our day-trip to the Bellagio Conservatory last Christmas season:

I am slowly but surely catching up on my Creative Team duties! I am sad to say I had to resign from a few of my teams - I didn't have the time to devote to being a great team member and didn't want to be a slacker! I am no longer on the Bella Scraps, Kimi's Kreations, K2 Kreative Krew (Kari Quinto and Kris Myers), and Desytka Designs teams. Thank you to all of you for allowing me to work with your designs!!

I will have a few new releases to share on Friday - so check back then!!!

So glad this week is over!!!!

2009-11-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday once again, fellow scrappers!! Let me just tell you how glad I am that this week is over! It has been a rough one in our household! We were supposed to be on vacation this week - a 5 day Cruise ended with a few days in San Diego and a few days in LA which included Disneyland. Well my 2 and 1/2 year old came down with a nasty bacterial infection which caused us to cancel our vacation. The poor girl had a high fever for 5 days with other bad tummy issues. I felt so bad for her. But this momma is exhausted!! Thankfully she is feeling much better and we will get on the road this morning and do the second half of our trip in LA and Disneyland!! WOOT!

Wanna see a few new goodies?? Stolen Moments over at Scrap Matters has created a fabulous new snow/winter kit, titled Chocolate Frosted Snowflakes:

As well as these fabulously layered templates titled, Just Call Me Lori:

Here is what I created using both of her new products:

The next new release is a collab between Lyndsay Riches and Wild Dandelion Designs of Scrap Orchard! They titled it, Sweet Sugar Holiday, and it is full of sugary sweet holiday goodies! Check it out:

And my layout of my little girl last Christmas!! This kit is way too cute for words!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I am going to be computer free til next Tuesday.....going to enjoy the rest of our vacation!!

Happy Friday!

2009-11-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, fellow scappers! Did you all make it through DSD?? After having had such a busy 2 weeks prior, it was nice to only have a few new releases to work with this week! The first couple are from Stolen Moments at Scrap Matters. She has these fabulous new templates today titled, Just Call Me Y:

And these cut-out family templates:

And my favorite of the three are the date bits titled, Date-Go-Round:

Here's a layout from me using all 3 of those as well as Stolen Moments kit titled, Pop & Fizz:

The next kit to share is by Wendy of WM [squared] Designs. She teamed up with Mickey B Designs to create this super fun dino themed kit titled, Extinct:

And obviously I don't have a boy (yet, hehe!), so I scrapped about one of Alahna's favorite books about Dinosaurs and how she likes to run around the house screaming ROAAAARRR!

The last kit I scrapped with this week is from Kari Q Designs over at PDW. It's called Color Me Autumn and is absolutely beautiful! Check it out:

And my layout using it (and also Stolen Moments date bits again, too!):

I am leaving on a jam-packed vacay on Monday and will be gone til at least Tuesday the 24th. So there will be nothing from me next week!! I will try to make up for it by creating a little freebie for you the following week! Have a great weekend!

Happy Kick Off to DSD (Friday!!)

2009-11-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Because I have so many fabulous Creative Teams that I have worked oh-so-hard for this week, I thought I would break my kit previews and layouts out by store. And it just so happens that the next store to be releasing their goodies for this major weekend is Scrap Matters! I am on 2 CT's who design for that store - Amber of Stolen Moments and Wendy of WM[squared] Designs!

So first off let me share some Scrap Matters store news with you....

{click the image to be taken to the forums to start joining in the fun}

Also, Stolen Moments now has a Facebook Fan page!!!

How fun is that?!?! Become a fan and get all the updates you want - right at your fingertips.. Streaming blog feeds, sneak peeks, exclusive coupons, you name it! So go! Sign up! If there are more than 50 fans, Amber might even up the prize level.. Heck, if she get more than 100 she may even up it some more... you never know.. So be sure to tell your friends, too! :D

And of course... it wouldn't be DSD without a grab bag, right? This is Stolen Moments very first one, and I'm so excited to show you how it turned out... Take a look...

Wanna see what I did with these fabulous new products??? I made my favorite LO I have ever made!!! That's a huge deal because I haven't said that very many times! Here it is:

And can you believe it?!? There's MORE!!! Our CT has a contest going on over at the CT blog right now, too.. Anyone who purchases Stolen Moments DSD Grab Bag this weekend just needs to leave a comment with their order number, and you'll be entered to win a $5 GC to her store.. Just think - if you won that and the Facebook contest, that's $15 in Stolen Moments goodies - FREE! {Maybe more, depending on how many FB fans she gets.} ;) Check out the CT blog for more details.

I also have a fabulous grab bag to show you from Wendy of WM [squared] Designs!!

If you click on the Grab Bag Preview, above, it takes you straight to the store with previews of exactly what is included in this fabulous kit! Just for a quick heads up though there is a full kit, a Template Pack, Date Stamps, and her famous "Just Sayin'" Clips! Here is a layout I did with all of it included!!

That's all from me today!! Happy Friday and have a ton of fun tomorrow at the stores and in the forums!

Happy Pre-Pre-Pre DSD!!

2009-11-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

So it appears that a few of my Creative Teams have kicked the DSD festivities off early!! I was browsing the stores and saw their kits and grab bags were already available! And instead of procrastinate and wait til the last minute to post this, I wanted to get it done early so I can play this weekend in all of the fun contests and events planned!
So on to the new goodies that are such a steal this weekend!!

First up is a collab at Dreamland Digital Designs. This kit is PACKED full of beautiful elements and gorgeous papers.

And my layout using a picture of Alahna last winter:

Lyndsay Riches at Scrap Orchard has 2 new releases for this weekend! The first she titled, Kissing Frogs, and is absolutely adorable!

A layout of Ryan and I kissing (I know, ewwww, groossss! hehe!):

Her second release for the weekend is a re-release of her submission in the SYTYCD contest, titled Mr. Kite:

I scrapped Alahna's first Carousel Ride with this bright and fun kit!

And the last release for today is from Kimi's Kreations at Go Digital Scrapbooking. She created a jam-packed grab bag full of fun stuff! Check it out by clicking on this preview:

And my layout using 3 of the items from this grab bag:

Please check back tomorrow for some other fabulous new stuff!!

Almost a week late, but better late than never - Right??

2009-11-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

With all the upcoming events and such this weekend for DSD (Digital Scrapbooking Day, for my non-scrapper friends!) I haven't had a chance to post last weeks kits and layouts. I have been SUPER busy with some great products that are coming out this weekend.....you won't want to miss my Saturday post for all the info!!

So Val of geniaBeana Scraps released Some Enchanted Evening this week for the Color Play over at Elemental Scraps. You can't buy the entire kit as a whole, but it is available to purchase separately as papers, elements, alpha, or glitter. Here's the preview:

And my layout of Alahna and her big ol' wide baby eyes!

Last week I got to play with my newest CT's kit, Boo Bash, by Wendy of WM [squared] Designs.

I did a layout of Alahna's Halloween costume this year!! I couldn't resist with these colors!

My last 2 layouts to share are from Wendy's latest Template Pack, titled "Fabulously Negative." The preview is linked to her store at Scrap Matters.

The first layout I did with the template pack used her kit, Beach Bum. It was PERFECT for Alahna's Hawaii pictures at the beach!

And my second layout using the templates also used Boo Bash:

I think I may be caught up in blogging for now. I have a TON to share this weekend!! Some major fun, beautiful, amazing, and CHEAP stuff to share!!! Hope you have a great few days and I will be back on DSD!!!

Blog Train - Word Art Freebie!!

2009-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

As promised, I am back with another Blog Train! WOOT WOOT! (I just love saying that! hehe!) This one is for Amber's collab with Laura of Simply Scraps, A Little Spacey!

I know I already showed you my LO, but just in case you forgot what you can do with this super fun kit, here it is again!

I whipped up some fun word art's for you to coordinate with this great kit! Wanna see?? Well here it is, and you can download them with the link below!

Download Word Art HERE

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the Stolen Moments and simply scraps CT blogs and snag all of the goodies! (Keep in mind we are all on different timezones, so if any one's post isn't up yet, be sure to check back later.)

Stolen Moments: Amber -- http://stolenmomentsdesign.blogspot.com/
Simply.Scraps: Laura -- http://www.simply-scraps.net/
Yolanda -- http://yoli-scraps.blogspot.com/
Bree -- http://breezybutterflycreations.blogspot.com/
Niki -- http://onceuponascraptime.blogspot.com/ <----YOU ARE HERE! Aimee -- http://polkadotscrapper.blogspot.com/
Lisa -- http://aprilisadesigns.blogspot.com/
Jen -- http://jensscrapjournal.blogspot.com/
Kim -- http://kim21673.wordpress.com/
Lori -- http://bearycutecreations.blogspot.com/
Jewelle -- http://jewelleslayouts.blogspot.com/
Amanda -- http://photocowgirl.blogspot.com/
Keyr -- http://dreamsinspired.blogspot.com/
Kate: Stolen Moments CT Blog -- http://stolenmomentsct.blogspot.com/

Alannah {reloaded}

2009-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm baaaaack, and promise I am announcing this on the right day this time! hehe!

Lyndsay Riches over at Scrap Orchard is releasing a new kit today (I promise its today!) and is titled none-other than Alannah (Reloaded). I say none-other because I was joking with Lyndsay that it was named "after" my daughter, who's name is Alahna (spelled a little different!). This kit is absolutely stunning! The patterned papers were my favorite with all the beautiful and feminine elements! Here is the kit (which BTW is on sale today!):

My layout of my "Alahna!":

Happy Friday! New releases today!

2009-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, fellow scrappers!

So I just realized that I posted a LO and kit that wasn't releasing until tomorrow! UGH! SOoooo my bad for not following and reading directions!! It threw me off cause new releases at Scrap Orchard are normally on Friday's! I'm so sorry Lyndsay if you're reading this....I took it off and will set it up for tomorrow. Soooooo....

I have one new release I want to share with you today and it is from Stolen Moments of Scrap Matters. Amber teamed up with Laura of Simply Scraps to create this fun space-themed kit, titled A Little Spacey.

I did a layout of Alahna with my journaling about her favorite CD in the whole world: Laurie Berkner's Rocketship Run. The song which the CD is named after is what I titled this LO, 5-4-3-2-1 blast off! Another Rocketship Run! I will forever remember this moment of her life thanks to this kit!

AND!!! I have more fabulous news to share!! I was accepted to be on WM[squared] of Scrap Matter's Creative Team! WOOT!! I am super excited to pick up another team at Scrap Matters and am happy that I get to spend more time at one of my favorite stores and forums! I can't wait to be a part of Wendy's team and share all her fabulous goodies with you!! Here's the announcement in case you want to check it out! ;)

So I will be back tomorrow with that new release I accidentally posted this AM, again, tomorrow! haha!! And a little birdy told me that there might be a blog train coming through my blog on Monday....so you might want to stop by then for some fun freebies!

xoxoxo!

Dylabel Designs Debut

2009-10-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

I will have some new releases to show as always, tomorrow, but wanted to pop in tonight to announce a fellow CTM of mines debut at GoDigitalScrapbooking! Dylabel Designs is now up and running and she has some beautiful kits that are at a steal of a price! She was so kind to share some of her creations with us, and I was able to play with one of her kits titled Berry Pistachio:

I just loved the colors of this kit and though this picture was absolutely perfect for it:

I will be back in the morning with 2 new releases and then again on Monday with some free goodies! Good night!! xoxo

Journal Challenge, LOTW, New Store Opening, New Collab Kit - WOW!

2009-10-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow scrappers!! I hope this finds you all well. I am having some seriously bad allergies here in Nevada, with all these horrible winds we have been having!
Enough of that boring stuff though....it has been a busy weekend in my little corner of the scrapping world! Can I brag for just a second? Well I did the layout below for a Journal Challenge on our CT blog for Stolen Moments (here) and guess what?? It won me Layout Of The Week (LOTW) at Scrap Matters!! That seriously made my month! I feel so honored to have achieved that title!! Here's the Layout, and don't forget to stop by the blog and play along in my Journal Challenge so you can win some free goodies to Amber's store!

The next bit of news I want to share is about another CT of mine, geniaBeana Scraps! She just opened up shop at Elemental Scraps and with that she is releasing a gorgeous new kit, titled Sweet Memories. I have to share with you how much fun this kit was to play with. You know how sometimes when you scrap you stare at the screen and it just never seems right? And then there are those kits that just flow so perfectly for you and you love how easily it goes together? Well this kit flowed perfectly for me! It is available at both Elemental Scraps and Go Digital Scrapbooking - and it is on sale too!!

And my layout using this kit, which I call "Remember." It is a picture of Ryan and Alahna on our recent trip to Hawaii.

My final bit of news for today is a new Collab Kit by the K2 Kreative Krew - Kari Quinto and Kris Myers of Plain Digital Wrapper. It is titled My Dad & Me, and will be available at PDW tomorrow (10/21/09). Here is the kit preview:

And to honor my husband as a father, here is a layout of him and Alahna (again!):

I will have some beautiful new kits to share on Friday, and another blog train is in the works. So check back in a few days for the news and goodies!

Templates and Templates Oh My!

2009-10-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!! Do you like Templates? How bout' blocking Templates?? Amber of Stolen Moments has released 8 new blocking Templates today at Scrap Matters! The first set I am going to show you is titled R.O.U.N.D.E.D.:

I did a LO with one of them using Stolen Moment's kit, Into The Night:

Here is a preview of the second group of templates, titled B.L.O.C.K.E.D.:

And for my layout I used one of the block templates as well as the kit, Everyday Elegance, and Phrases [Framed] - all found at Stolen Moments store at Scrap Matters.

And guess what? You can get all 8 templates in THIS bundle pack for a discounted price!

That's all for today! I hope you have a great weekend and I will show you even more new goodies next week!

*hugs* Niki

Template Challenge and Spooktacular New Release!

2009-10-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday, fellow scrappers! If you have made it over to my corner of the blogging world you must be bored (hehe!) so how bout you try your hand at the Template Challenge on our Stolen Moments CT Blog???!!! It is being hosted by Yolanda and is open to entries til November 15th....so head on over to our blog NOW and pick it up!! Here's the Template you get for FREE:

And the layout I did using the template and Amber of Stolen Moments kit, Helping Hands:

Wanna see the Spooktacular new release now?? geniaBeana Scraps teamed up with Snowflake Beach Designs to create this bright and fun Halloween collab. Check it out at GDS, and for a limited time you can find it on sale!!! Here's the kit:

And my layout of Alahna's first Halloween....I titled this Baby's 1st Boo!

I will have some more goodies to share on Friday!!! Until then, xoxoxo, Niki

Some new goodies to show!

2009-10-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have a few more kits to share with you today! The first is another collab between Kimi's Kreations and GeniaBeana Scraps of Go Digital Scrapbooking. It's a follow-up to their previous collab, this one is titled Who's My Girl and is 30% off this week only! Click on the kit preview to take you straight to the store:

And my layout is titled, In My Daughter's Eyes because I love the way Alahna's eyes look in these photos and that song is just perfect for how I feel about my special little girl!!!

The next kit I am going to show you is from Kari Quinto of Plain Digital Wrapper. This kit was released last year, but as you can tell is timeless for all of those Halloween photos. (The store is temporarily down for maintenance, so I will link when it is back up and running!)

I thought this kit was perfect for my DD's first trick-or-treating aftermath pictures (she went candy crazy!! hehe!). The journaling reads: "These pictures were taken right after your first real experience trick-or-treating (I say real because it didn't count when you were a baby!). You were so candy crazed it was hilarious to watch! You kept going through all of it over and over, analyzing the stash! You would count each piece into the bucket and then dump it all out and start over again!"

Friday New Releases....

2009-10-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!!! Remember that sneak peek I showed you a few days ago?? Wanna see the beautiful kit it goes to?? Amber of Stolen Moments totally outdid herself on this one!! I can honestly say its the most beautiful kit I have ever seen let alone got to play with! She titled it, Into The Night (did you go guess on our CT blog??), and it can be found at Scrap Matters.

And of course my layout to go with this gorgeousness. I have to brag for a moment....I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned on here that my husband, Ryan, is an artist. Well his opinion means the world to me, because, well, I am not! hehe! I always show him my layouts because this is my creative outlet, and as an artist he can truly appreciate that. Well he fell in love with my layout! He said I picked the perfect colors to go with those pictures because of the hues in her face....well you don't care about all of that, but it sure felt good coming from him!

The next new release today comes from Lyndsay Riches and is a Halloween themed kit titled, Something Wicked (fun name, eh!?). The colors in this kit are so bright and the elements are so fun! Lyndsay did a great job making this kit her own unique style! You can pick it up at Scrap Orchard and will be 20% off for today only!

And my layout is of Alahna's first pumpkin carving experience back in 2007. It's crazy to think this will be her 3rd year of carving pumpkins! *sigh* Where did my itty bitty baby go??

That's it for now. I have a few more layouts to complete this weekend, and I am taking a Photoshop Class through GDS that I have to do one more lesson in as well.

Have a great weekend!

Bake Your Birthday Cake!

2009-10-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Guess what? It's one of the designers of my CT's birthday and do you know what that means? It means a new kit and a great birthday sale! Desytka Designs created this fabulous, dreamlike, birthday kit to celebrate and you can find it at NDISB, Scrapbird, or Dreamland Digital Designs on sale til the 10th!

And here is my layout I did with the kit using pictures of Alahna opening up her 1st Birthday presents on the morning of her birthday!

Check back tomorrow for a few more new releases!

Sneak Peek of Stolen Moments kit to be released on Friday!

2009-10-07T14:37:00.001-07:00

This Friday, Amber of Stolen Moments, is releasing a new kit to her store over at Scrap Matters. This kit is stunning - both beautiful and elegant! Here's a little sneak peek for you:

Don't forget to check out Amber's store on Friday to catch this gorgeous kit! AND if you check out our CT blog and leave a comment on the post HERE, you could win this gorgeous kit for free!! Hurry on over and reply to the blog contest!!

An Announcement and Catchin' Up

2009-10-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have last blogged! Before I go into my latest layouts, I have an announcement to make! Amber of Stolen Moments is closing up shop at Sunshine Studio Scraps. Which means a HUGE sale on all of her products over there!! Everything will be 20% off Oct. 5th-10th. She will also be retiring several products, and those will be marked down 40-50% off.
All coupons or other discounts will be disabled during this time. Here is an ad to her closing sale linked to the store!!! Hurry on over because you don't want to miss these deals!

Okay, now time to catch up on a few of my latest layouts (I have about 3 others I can't share yet until the kits are released later this week!). The first I did to support our CT blog for Stolen Moments. If you head over there you will see that we are running tons of different challenges for prizes, and I tried my hand at Lori's template challenge! Here is the kit I used, titled Holding Out:

And my layout using Lori's template:

The next kit I played with this week was by Kimi's Kreations of GDS. It is titled Doodlebug and was sooooo super fun and cute to play with!!! Don't let the colors fool you, it was extremely versatile and absolutely gorgeous!

And my layout using a picture of Alahna when she was just 4 months old! I titled it Cuddlebug instead of the kits title Doodlebug because we used to call her that when she was itty bitty!

And my last layout that I am going to show you (for now!) was just a kit I bought last week because I thought it matched Alahna's 1st Halloween costume perfectly. It was fun to actually buy a kit and scrap at my leisure! I had a down week last week with Creative Teams and needed my scrap fix! hehe!! Here's my little bunny rabbit:

Check back in the next few days, I have some fun new kits that are releasing towards the end of the week that I want to show you!

*hugs*

Niki

BLOG TRAIN! WOOT WOOT!

2009-09-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Ready for some fun news and some fun freebies?!? Well I am going to start out by announcing Stolen Moments newest kit, titled Helping Hands, available and on sale at Scrap Matters today! Check out this gorgeous kit which can help you showcase your little helper(s):

And of course I had to use a few of the million pictures I have of my little helper, to show off this beautiful kit:

So on to the freebies, you say....

Well let me just tell you why Amber has so graciously allowed us to create these fun freebies for you...because we are starting an official CT blog for Stolen Moments! You should go check it out because there is a coupon over there, and a chance to win a $5 GC to Amber's ScrapMatters store just for becoming a follower! We are going to have TONS of contests and prizes, so you don't want to miss out in all the fun we have planned! The blog is here: http://stolenmomentsct.blogspot.com/
Bookmark it, Favorite it, Follow it! :)

Now on to my part of the blog train! I created 4 separate wordarts to go along with the Helping Hands kit that was released today. Here is a preview of the WA and you can either click the image or the link below to download them in png format!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the Stolen Moments CT blogs and snag all of the goodies! (Keep in mind we are all on different timezones, so if any one's post isn't up yet, be sure to check back later.)

Stolen Moments: Amber -- http://stolenmomentsdesign.blogspot.com/

Lizzy -- http://my-scrap-escape.blogspot.com/

Niki -- http://onceuponascraptime.blogspot.com/ <-------YOU ARE HERE!

Stacy -- http://stacysbackdoor.blogspot.com/

Jen -- http://graphics-galore.blogspot.com/

Yolanda -- http://yoli-scraps.blogspot.com/

Kim-- http://kim21673.wordpress.com/

Jewelle -- http://jewelleslayouts.blogspot.com/

Stolen Moments CT Blog -- http://stolenmomentsct.blogspot.com/

Happy Friday!!

2009-09-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Cup of coffee in hand, and daughter is fed....time to share my Friday scrapping news! (This is becoming part of my Friday morning routine!)

The first kit I am going to show you is super yummy and super cute and definitely ready for fall (even though we don't really ever get a fall here in LV - I still love this kit!). Amber of Stolen Moments titled this fabulous Autumn kit, Sweater Weather, and its found at both of her stores - Sunshine Studio Scraps and Scrap Matters (click the store name to take you right there!) AND for today only you can get it for a steal!! It's 20% off so hurry over and take advantage of that deal!
The kit:

And my layout....I used pictures of our first day of cold last October. Alahna looked so dang cute in her hoodie that I just had to break out the camera! hehe!

The next item is an Alpha that is actually a re-release from something Amber originally put in SUN, and is now available at SM. It's called Hodge Podge Alpha Stamps - Primary, and I used her kit Play All Day (also shown below) to create my layout.

And my layout....I used pictures of Alahna playing with our best-friends daughter, Alexandria, last December when they visited at Christmas time. I thought the colors in the pictures matched the kit and alpha perfectly!

Remember my post yesterday about my first Speed Scrap ever?? Well I participated in one at GoDigitalScrapbooking hosted by one of the Designers I CT for, Val of geniaBeana Scraps. I used another Designers kit though (hehe - good thing they are friends and like to collab together!), Kimi's Kreations newest kit titled Country Caramel. It is perfect for those fall pictures with the beautiful earthy tones, AND it is also on sale right now for only $2.40!!!! You seriously can't beat that - so hurry over and get it now!!!

The kit (linked to her store!):

And my speed scrap LO! How do you think I did for my first one ever?? I hope to do another one next week! It was fun and I like the social aspect of it!

Well I need to get my butt in gear and go shower so we can leave for a Birthday Party today. I am super excited also because I have a Birthday present arriving in the mail for me today....we ordered a brand new IMac computer for my present!!! Our current desktop has been giving me tons of grief by freezing constantly! So this is what I wanted for the big 3-0! I can't wait to play!!!

That's all my news! Have a great weekend and TTYS!

*hugs*

Niki

Autumn is quickly approaching!!

2009-09-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

What a week I have had! Between getting back in the swing of "normal" life after vacation and getting back in my groove of scrapbooking - let's just say I am one tired momma! I am going to make tonight my TV night and crack myself open a bottle of vino and just veg! I think I have a couple of my guilty pleasures in my DVR, hehe!

So onto the scrapping. I have done 6 layouts in the past 6 days! I don't normally scrap that much in one week, but lets just say I was making up for missed time! I also did my first ever Speed Scrap this week, and had a ton of fun! I can't wait to try my hand at another one next week! Because I have so many layouts to share I am going to do 3 today and 3 tomorrow (2 of them don't release til tomorrow anyway!)

The first is a re-release from Stolen Moments and now can be found in both of her stores at Scrap Matters and Sunshine Studio Scraps. I will link the kit to her Scrap Matters Store. The kit is titled, Hopeless Romantic, and I HAD to scrap one of my favorite wedding photos with this gorgeous kit. I based it off of our first dance and even included the words to the song on the LO.

And my layout with our first dance song, Testify by Phil Collins:

The next kit is from Lyndsay Riches over at Scrap Orchard. She titled this one, Little Angel, and I thought it was perfect for Alahna's Valentine's Day photos. I love the doodley (is that word?) elements and the bright colors! Here's the kit (on sale Friday only!!!):

And my Layout:

And here is the start of my Autumn Kits and Layouts (I have 2 more to show tomorrow). This bright and whimsical kit is by Desytka Designs and she released it at her newest store first, Dreamland Digital Designs. Check out her latest, Autumn Wishes, at the brand new store:

And my layout of my little pumpkin (it seems like just yesterday she was as small as the pumpkins in the patch!):

I will show you my Speed Scrap LO tomorrow with a new release and a re-release from Stolen Moments. Have a great Thursday night and TTYS!

*hugs*

Niki

Stolen Moments Re-Releases!

2009-09-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!! I am officially home from my super long vacation and extremely exhausted! It was a long day of travel yesterday and it feels good to be home! I am happy to have Alahna back in her OWN bed and me back in mine! hehe!!

Now on to my Friday scrapping news!

Amber of Stolen Moments has re-released some of her products into each store. I was able to play with two of these products! The first is being released today at SUN and will be 20% off only today!!

The next one is a kit that she originally sold at SUN and is now selling at SM - and is also 20% off today only!!

And I did a LO using both the template and the kit together:

I am glad to be home and happy to be able to scrap again! I missed my favorite hobby and can't wait to get creative again!!

Got one more LO done while on vacation....

2009-09-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to pack up my things and we are heading back home to Las Vegas tomorrow. We have had a great time in Hawaii, visiting with my family and old-school friends! I will miss them all dearly, but it will be nice to be back in my own bed and have Alahna back in hers!! ;)

I was able to do one more LO this week while on vacation using Kari Q's fabulous new release (well I guess not that new cause I have been away for 2 weeks now!), titled Mixed Up Heart. Here is the kit preview (as always linked to the store):

And my LO...I kind of stuck with the theme of the kit and used some of the wording from one of my favorite books I read to Alahna, "I'll Love You Forever."

Two new kits released today!

2009-09-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

You know what I was thinking earlier today?? Good thing I brought my lappy on vacation with me!! There has been so much exciting news in my little digital scrapbooking world this week that I would be completely out of the loop if I wasn't "plugged in!"

The first is that fun little sneak peak I showed you a few days ago....Well it's a collab between Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana scraps (my 2 CT's that merged, remember??) titled, "Hoo's My Boy!" It is their first official collab and is exclusive to their new store, GoDigitalScrapbooking. Click on the image to take you straight to the store!! OH, AND....it is only $2.50 right now!! HURRY and get this fun kit before it goes up!!!!

And of course my LO (which I did before I left for Hawaii!)....I thought this kit was perfect for our family camping pictures. I am sure I will be using it again real soon considering I have a ton of Dinkey Creek pictures to scrap!

And the second kit is by one of my newest CT's, Amber of Stolen Moments. She previously released this one at Scrap Matters, and is releasing it today at Sunshine Studio Scraps for the first time. A funny story (okay well kinda crazy! hehe!) goes along with my LO on this one...I was having some serious scrapping withdrawals and felt guilty about being accepted to this new and fabulous CT and not producing any work yet, so I downloaded Photoshop Elements on the laptop and played with this beautiful kit! I don't love how my LO turned out b/c the program is unfamiliar to me, and seems much more basic, but it was fun for me to play while Alahna slept!
You can get this kit HERE for SSS and HERE for SM. (Just a hint though...it's on sale today only, Friday, at SSS!!)

And that LO I was talking about:

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday weekend and take tons of pictures!! You know I have already and will share them with you very soon!
*hugs*
Niki

Lotsa big news again today!!

2009-09-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is the week of big news it seems in my digital scrapbooking world! And I am all the way on the other end of the US still enjoying my 2 week vacation in Hawaii. I still have no access to my obsession of scrapping, but I can share all the big news with you on my lovely blog! hehe! ;)

So the first is just an extension of yesterday's fun blog train (which, BTW, you can still take advantage of!!)....
As you know, Kimi and Val (geniaBeana) will be collabing at their new store (GDS) on a regular basis. Their first collab is ready to go!! It's called Hoo's My Boy, and it's awesome! The best part? They're giving away two FREE copies - one at DigiScrapAddicts (hosted by Super Spy Zeee) and one at DigiShopTalk (hosted by Super Spy AZK). You can post in both threads for two chances to win! Here's a sneak peek:

I will post my layout using this kit once it is released on Friday!

And my second little bit of good news is regarding my newest CT - Amber of Stolen Moments has been offered a permanent spot at Scrap Matters and is celebrating my offering 20% off her entire store through September 3rd!! Check out her blog HERE for more info, and her store HERE for the beautiful products!

BLOG PARTY!!! WOOT WOOT!!

2009-09-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

Sooooo it's officially September 1st.....are you ready for my big news?????

I am now part of the combined CT for geniaBeana Scraps and Kimi's Kreations -- KgB Scrap Kreations! Both designers are opening up shop TODAY at goDigitalScrapbooking.com and BOTH of their stores are 35% off until September 7th! Be sure to take a peek!!Both Val and Kimi have created new kits for this special occasion, and as part of the celebration, we're having a BLOG PARTY! We've made a huge set of quickpages, wordart, and other special freebies for you to download, and they all coordinate with geniaBeana's "It's A Party" and Kimi's Kreations' "Girls' Night Out," so be sure to check out the whole blog train!

Here is my contribution (don't forget to Download both of them and some love would sure be awfully nice! *wink, wink*):

Download It's A Party QP HERE or image.

Download Girls' Night Out QP HERE or image.

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the KgB blogs and snag all of the goodies! (Keep in mind we are all on different timezones, so if anyone's post isn't up yet, be sure to check back later.)

geniaBeana Scraps (Val)
Kimi's Kreations (Kimi)
Zeee Pink Boudoir (Zeee)
AZK Dreamin' Big (Angie)
Miss Mis Design (Misty)
Once Upon A Scrap Time (Niki) <-- you are here!

Dylabel Designs (Belinda)
Scrapping Chel Creations (Chel)
The Cluster Queen (Mar)
Digital Scrappin' Rocks (Neeny)
Mamabear Scraps (Mamabear)
These Are My Moments (Brandi)
Laura's Daily Madness (LauraLea)

More Good News!!!

2009-08-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

So this isn't the good news I told you to check back for on September 1st (cause its not the 1st yet, hehe!) - but this is good news to me! Remember how I was a guest on Lyndsay Riches Creative Team for the month of August????? Welllll.....she asked me to stay on as a permanent member!!!!!! I am, well, ecstatic!!!! Boy, am I gonna be busy when I get home mid-September!! Two new, awesome, fabulous, amazing CT's to create for!!! I can't wait!!!! I NEED PHOTOSHOP NOW!!! hehehe!

A quick ad for you too:

Click the ad's image to take you straight to the sale!! A bunch of Lyndsay's beautiful kits are included so hurry on over before the 3rd to take advantage of this steal!

New Creative Team!!! New Creative Team!!

2009-08-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

I am writing this on the sunny island of Oahu, in Hawaii!! I am on vacation visiting my family, but had to write this blog entry because I am soooooooooooooooooo super excited!! I applied to be on the Creative Team for Stolen Moments of Sunshine Studio Scraps and Scrap Matters - and guess what?!?!??! I made it!!!!! I am still in shock that I made it, but couldn't be more excited!! Amber has the best designs and I am thrilled to help her promote them and play with her amazing kits!! Here is the first layout I did for her using her Polka Dot Bikini kit:

And here is the kit preview which you can purchase at Scrap Matters (kit image is linked to the store):

AND if you check out her blog HERE, you can win a gift certificate to her store for $5!! Also, there are little bio's of each of her new CT members there as well! Don't miss this fabulous opportunity to win!

I am logging off for now - gotta go get ready for dinner with my best friend and enjoy this beautiful Hawaiian weather!

Come back on September 1st for a few freebies from me and some BIG news!!

xoxoxox,

Niki

Guest Spot for Lyndsay Riches coming to an end....

2009-08-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

August is nearing an end, so that means my guest spot with Lyndsay Riches over at Scrap Orchard is too. I would probably have another week or so if it weren't for the fact that I am hopping on a plane on Wednesday night/Thursday early early AM for home. I am originally from Hawaii and haven't been there since I was pregnant with Alahna, nearly 3 years ago. This will be her first trip, and she will be able to see the Grandparents for the first time in many years. I am looking forward to this long trip (2 weeks!) but know I will be going through some major scrapping withdrawals!! I have a few more LO's I need to get done before I leave (some fun news will be announced while I am gone....) so I can be prepared to keep up with the fabulous teams I am so blessed to be a part of.
Here's the kit I worked with by Lyndsay - it's a bit older, but absolutely gorgeous and super fun to work with:

And my LO using it, which I titled "Adorable!"

Head on over to Scrap Orchard today!!! Her fabulous birthday sale ends tonight!!!

I will update and upload here while on vacay, so don't forget to check back for the news!!

Playful kit released at Scrap Orchard

2009-08-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lyndsay Riches over at Scrap Orchard released her latest kit, titled Playful, today! Hurry on over to her store because she is having a huge sale on her products from now until August 24th!! She just turned 33 and in turn is marking 33% off of all orders til then! Click on the kit to take you right to her store!

And my LO using this fun outdoor-play kit:

Cool Summer by Lyndsay Riches at Scrap Orchard!

2009-08-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

So it's still August, so that means I am still having fun playing with Lyndsay Riches kits over at Scrap Orchard!!! I am not lying to you when I say she has the easiest kits to scrap with!!! They are so amazing to work with and I have been super happy at how each of my LO's have turned out. I got to play with her kit titled, Cool Summer, last night....and LOVE how my LO turned out. I'm not gonna lie though....I am super bummed I haven't got any "love" at any of my galleries for this one. Cause that's how much I like this LO! I would truly appreciate any comments here.....ever?!? Is anyone reading this????

Here's the kit:

And my layout of Miss Nah-Nah eating Popsicles!

Oh, and one last thing before I lay on the couch and become one with my TV....I am on a new Creative Team! WOOT WOOT! Genia Beana Scraps over at Scrapable!! She and my other CT, Kimi's Kreations, have merged to become one fabulous scrappin' team!! LOVE these girls!! There are only good things to come from these ladies!

Good night for now! *hugs* Niki

My Motto Challenge using Paper Packs Vol 1 by Kris Myers

2009-08-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm back, like promised! ;) I finished that challenge I was talking about briefly yesterday. This subject is very near and dear to my heart. The challenge was to scrap words you live by or your motto of how you live life. I call my motto of life, "One Love."

The journaling of my layout reads:
I live my life by what I call the "One Love" principal or motto. What that means is that all people are created equal and that no person should ever be judged by another based on race, age, gender, sexual preference, ability, religion, etc. One of my favorite songs by the Black Eyed peas says it best:

"One love, one blood, one people.

One heart, one beat, we equal.

Connected like the Internet.

United that's how we do.

Let's break walls, so we see through.

Let love and peace lead you.

We could overcome the complication cause we need to

Help each other, make these changes

Brother, sister, rearrange this

The way I'm thinking that we can change this

bad condition.

Wait, use you mind and not your greed.

Let's connect and then proceed.

This is something I believe.

We are one, we're all just people!"

Here's the Paper Pack found at Kris' store at PDW:

And my Layout I created for this challenge:

Credits:
Painted Paper Vol 1 by Kris Myers of PDW
Flourish and Ribbon from Infinity & Beyond by Kari Quinto of PDW
Word Art from I'm Yours Kit Collab by DeCrow & Britt-ish Designs at Scrap Orchard
Tiny Hearts from Into My Soul Kit by Madame Wing of TheDigiChick
Fonts: Trubble and Sweetheart Script.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-08-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

What a busy week it has been! I have tried my best to keep up with all my Creative Teams - but haven't had the chance to post what I have done so far!!

A few days ago Desytka Designs came out with her latest kit titled, Sweet Little Dreamer. I've linked the kit preview to her store at NDISB but she is now also at ScrapBird as well!

Here's this beautiful, dream-like kit:

And my Layout using the kit:

And today Kris Myer's Designs over at PDW released this eclectic kit titled, Peace, Hope & Love:

And my LO....I titled it My Wish and used the song lyrics to Rascal Flatts song with the same name. For those who have never heard the song it says:

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

And the last LO I have to post is one I did for myself (not part of a Creative Team), and I call it Pretty Girl....I just love Alahna's eyes in these pictures!

Credits: Love and Lemonade by Tracie Stroud. It's A Date by Tracie Stroud. Doodletime border by Tracie Stroud. Template - Blueprints No. 6 by DeCrow Designs. All found at Scrap Orchard.

Stay tuned b/c I have a pretty big to-do list of LO's for my Creative Teams. My next project is a challenge that I am super excited about!! :)

Flowery Earthy Goodness = Blessed

2009-08-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing on a Friday night used to be have a few glasses of wine and watch my DVR-ed episode of Grey's Anatomy. Well this summer my favorite Friday night activity is to have a few glasses of wine and create a Scrapbooking Layout! I know this will change once my shows are back on, but for now that's what I like to do! Call me old (I turn 30 next month!), call me boring, or just call me a home-body....whatever it may be, that's what I like to do!

I am guesting on Lyndsay Riches Creative Team this month and the sweet girl has been feeling miserable this past week! She sadly wasn't able to do a new release this week, but graciously gave me one of her past releases to play with. It's called Flowery Earthy Goodness, in which she teamed up with Simply Scraps to create this warm, bright, and super fun kit! I had a blast playing with it and hope you like my creation!

Here's the kit (as always linked to the store....so hurry over and buy it!!!):

This kit made me think of Autumn, and Thanksgiving, and then led me to think of everything I am blessed with.....which always makes me think of my daughter! So this Layout is appropriately titled, Blessed:

First Food

2009-08-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

I bought this fun kit called, Munchkin, a few weeks ago and I finally had the chance to scrap with it. We took a million pictures of Alahna (who, me?) when she was first trying new foods - so I thought it would be fun to capture a bunch of her different facial expressions. It was nice to scrap something that I had been wanting to for a while now....and here is my final product:

Credits: Munchkin kit by Julie Billingsley of SSD
Template: Sya's Blueprints - "Coined" at SM
In Stitches by Melissa Bennett from SSD

Guest Spot for August

2009-08-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that I am now a Guest for Lyndsay Riches Creative Team....well check out this AMAZING kit that she teamed up with another of my fave designers, Tracie Stroud, called Rejuvenate:

And my Layout using pictures of Alahna when she was just 5 months old. Hard to believe my big girl was this small not too long ago!

I am sooooo excited to be part of this team for the month of August! I can't wait to do another LO with Lyndsay's fab stuff!! I need to get my fix before I leave for Hawaii for 2 weeks at the end of August! I am LOL because I sound like a true addict!!

Kimi's Kreations and Mama Mia Collab

2009-08-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Kimi released yet another fabulous kit yesterday! This time she teamed up with Mama Mia (both at MLAS) for this fun kit. They called it "Tweenage Crisis" - but as I will show you it works for non-Tweens as well! (hehe!)

Here is the kit (which is on sale, btw, for only $3.75!!):

And my Layouts:

Stay tuned for possibly one more post today (or maybe tomorrow!)....I am guesting on Lyndsay Riches CT for the month of August and I am already playing with her latest kit!! Sooooo excited!!! She is an AMAZING designer over at Scrap Orchard (one of my absolute favorite stores!) and I am THRILLED to work with her kits this month! I hope the month lasts forever so I don't have to stop! hehe!

New Release Thursday

2009-07-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

2 of my Creative Teams have fabulous new releases today! I am so excited to share both of them with you!

The first is for Kimi's Kreations over at My Life and Scrap. Her new kit is titled My Darling (thanks to those of you who voted and suggested names!) and is on sale until August 5th!! It is more than worth the money - so hurry on over and get it before the sale is over!

Here is the kit (image linked to store):

And I did two Layouts of Alahna as a baby with it - I am loving this kit, can you tell?

The other new release is for Designs by Sarah Bennett, for whom I have been a guest of for the month of July. She has such beautiful kits, and I had the privilege of playing with them this month! Her new release is called Remember Me, and is found at Funky Playground Designs.
Here is the kit (image linked to store):

And my Layout:

Serenity kit by Kris Myers out today at PDW!

2009-07-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

Kris Myers at PDW has come out with a new kit titled, Serenity, today!
Here is the kit:

And my Layout using pictures of Alahna when she was about 6 months old:

A few non-CT LO's

2009-07-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

So it seems I have had some free scrapping time this week and I did 2 layouts for fun!

This first one is with a kit I won yesterday (I enter these contests to win free kits, hehe!) called Ugly Duckling. It's this fabulous collab kit between Faith True and ViVa Artistry at Scrap Orchard.

And the second one I did a few days ago with Tracie Stroud's latest release called Cake & Ice Cream (she's at Scrap Orchard too! - That's my favorite store if you can't tell! ;) ) I used this fun, fun, fun kit for Alahna's 2nd Birthday pictures!!!

I really wanted to play along with the Sidelines challenge at DigiScrap Addicts again this week, but the challenge is to use song lyrics in your layout. Sounds easy right? And I have totally done this already...but the 2 songs I really want to use, I don't have a kit for. I could probably make one that I have work, but I haven't figured it out yet. I'm hoping it comes to me by this weekend.....because we just got a new computer desk that we are setting up tomorrow....which means I am out of a computer for the next few days. *sigh* I might go through withdrawls or something!!

New collab kit from Sarah Bennett Designs and Valorie Brown!

2009-07-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

So I am nearing the end of my Guest CT spot for Designs by Sarah Bennett and she let me play with this fabulous collab kit that she made with Valorie Brown. It's called In A Boy's World - but that didn't stop me from using Alahna's playground pictures with it! I tried a new technique that I had never done before, called text paths....you'll have to let me know how you think I did!

Here's my LO:

And here's the fabulous kit linked to the store:

Kimi's Kreations Blog Contest!!! And FREEBIES!!

2009-07-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Kimi's Kreations is having a contest! Kimi needs a great name for her newest kit, so she's having a contest to pick one. If you submit a name and win, you could win the kit for free! Runners-up will win a little something, too ;) So head over to Kimi's Blog and check it out! You could win THIS!
Either way, you'll get to download an awesome freebie sampler from the kit, so head on over!

Digi-Scrap Addicts Sidelines Challenge and new kit by Desytka Designs!

2009-07-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

So DSA (Digi-Scrap Addicts for all my non-scrapper friends!) is holding a competition of the Creative Teams.....well unfortunately I am not in this due to this reason or that, but they are having a Sidelines Challenge for those that aren't part of a team. I thought I would play along and see if I can hang with the big girls! Hehe!

My first LO is from a new kit by one of my CT's - Desytka Designs over at NDISB. The challenge was to make a LO using "white space" or "negative space" (my husband's favorite concept in art, by the way!). So here is what I submitted to DSA using Desytka's brand new kit titled, "Ocean Dream." (As always the kit is linked to her store!)

And I linked my LO to the gallery in DSA....so if you are a scrapper friend and registered there, a little love would be super nice! ;) Thanks! Lubba!

Seriously Spotted Paper-Pack (again, tee hee!)

2009-07-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

I did another LO using Sarah Bennett's Seriously Spotted Papers.....it has proved to be a go-to paper pack for all types of LO's. I love the bright colors!

Tea Party kit by Desytka

2009-07-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Desytka Designs over at NDISB recently released a kit titled, "Tea Party." (image is linked to the store!)

Here is my LO using this elegant kit....the journaling is the country song lyrics of "Let Them Be Little."

Seriously? Spotted and Solid!

2009-07-09T13:36:00.001-07:00

Sarah Bennett released a fun and bright new bundle pack of papers and alpha's today at Funky Playground Designs! Click on the image to take you right to her store!

And my LO using both the bundle and her blog freebie of Solid's:

Kimi's Kreations - New kit released and on sale!

2009-07-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Kimi's Kreations has released a new kit, Little Man! Both the kit and the matching CU glitter are 20% off until Wednesday, July 15th, so go check it out!

You can head over to Kimi's blog for an awesome matching quickpage!

And here are my LO's using this fun kit!

New CT!

2009-07-06T16:58:00.001-07:00

Crazy me added a new CT today! Yes, I know, I am over-ambitious! I am proud to be creating for Desytka Designs over at NDISB. I just finished a LO with her Energy of Summer kit (kit image is linked to her store!).

Bought a fun kit

2009-07-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

So I have been so busy with all my Creative Teams that I haven't bought a kit in forever it seems. I have a HUGE wish list and bought one that I had been eyeing for weeks called Splish Splash Girl by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs.

Here is what I created with it:

Relaxing Backyard kit by Kari Quinto

2009-07-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Kari just released this super gorgeous new kit yesterday at Plain Digital Wrapper called Relaxing Backyard (the kit is linked to her store). I loved using Alahna's Birthday Present pictures for this fun LO!

Guest Spot on Designs by Sarah Bennett for July

2009-07-02T07:10:00.001-07:00

I would like to think I started my Guest Spot for the month of July with Sarah Bennett, off with a bang! (Yes, I know, bad joke....) ;)

I was lucky to work with her newest kit, titled Let Freedom Ring, released today at Funky Playground Designs! (the kit is linked to her store) This was so much fun to play with....it got me in the mood for one of my favorite holiday's! I can't wait to get pictures of Alahna in her cute dress I bought for her this year!

2 new Creative Teams added last week!!!

2009-06-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

So I applied to one Creative Team last week and somehow ended up with 2! LOL! The one I applied to is Kimi's Kreations, at My Life and Scrap. I am so happy she accepted me to be part of her team!! She has such fun kits with bright and bold colors - just what I love to scrap with! I did 2 LO's with her latest kit titled Sidewalk Chalk (image of kit is linked to her store):

And the other Creative Team I am officially on is for Bella Scraps Magazine!!!! I am so honored that they sought me out to be part of this amazing group of talent! This is going to be such an amazing experience for me because I get to work with different Scrapbooking Designers every month! Once July's issue is released I will share my LO's with you! But I was so excited, I had to share the news!

Oh, and one more thing, starting July 1st I am a Guest on Designs by Sarah Bennett's Creative Team!! So look for my LO's featuring her beautiful kits next week!!!