Lori Wiley's newsletter...

Check it out - Lori Wiley is having a 30% off sale on all her Diamante Designs products in her SBB store. And she has some AMAZING things in there!!I just did a layout with her Moonlit kit - and, I'm so addicted to Lori's layout holders that I find myself wanting to use them on every layout I do!Lori also has a new newsletter - and make sure you sign up for it because if you do, you'll get this amazing freebie!!

Nina has a sale!!

OScraps is TWO years old and there is a celebration going on! Grab the OScraps fan blinkie here on the left and sport it during the celebrations!
And, in honor of the birthday celebration, Nina is having a SALE!! Go check it out and stock up on some of her gorgeous stuff!

Oh, and while you're at it, check out the GRIN blog for our challenge. Here's the challenge recipe:

Please create a LO about your most favourite place in the world, it could be a holiday destination, a restaurant, in front of your PC, absolutely anyway you would like to interpret it.

The rules:

• You must use at least 50% of Nina's designs.
• 2 frames and only 2 frames, but only one photo!!
• Doodles, as many or as few as you like
• A ribbon or bow or both - as many as you want to use
• Bling - glitter or gems, anything that sparkles
• Some sort of plant life, like flowers or leaves.
• Once completed please leave a link to your layout in the comments by March 17th and we will annouce the winner on the blog on the 20th! We would also love to showcase some of your layouts on the blog March 20th so please let us know if you are okay with us showing your layout as well. Thank you!

Here's my layout - of course, I didn't read the instructions through LOL, so to fix it, it shows my interpretation of my daughter's favorite place to be right now. Which is in her brand new, bright red BRATZ boots :D
Come and join us in the fun - it's so worth it, and the random winner gets a GC to Nina's OScraps store!

Lori's new collab...

Lori Wiley and Lauraskathi have joined together in an amazing collab kit called Colors of Spring. It's huge - and that's an understatement! Beautiful spring colors and elements - and papers like only these two amazing designers can make them! I'm completely blown away by it.Isn't it amazing!! I just finished this layout with it - and there are definitely more to come!
You can get the kit at Scrapbook Bytes and it's only $5,99

Heather's CT...

There is a new challenge up at Heather Manning's CT's blog. This time we are scraplifting a gorgeous layout from our own designer Heather! Come check us out - it's a really fun challenge!
I'm not much of a doodler when it comes to scrapping so here's my feeble attempt at lifting Heather's layout...Come and join in the fun - the prize is a $5 GC to Heather's store, if your layout is picked!

G.R.I.N. Challenge!

There is a new challenge up on the GRIN blog. It's a numbers challenge, Linda challenged us to use 1 alpha, 2 papers, 3 photos and 4 elements - all in honor of her daughter's 4th birthday today! Go check it out. It's fun - and a random winner will be chosen to receive a $5 GC to our wonderful Nina's OScraps store.
This is my take on the challenge.

The kit I used is Nina's Say It With Flowers and then I used the alpha and the wrap from her Madeleine kit. The photos are of my older daughter and were taken last summer when she was enjoying the warm weather and watering the flowers in the garden of our friends' house.

Sunflowers' Sale!

Sunflowers has a sale!! And not a small one either - you get 50% off all her stuff at her Hot-Spot-Scraps store!!I love her stuff - and it's not just because I'm on her CT, she just makes the most gorgeous papers and elements. I just scrapped a couple of pages using her Belle Affair kit

Here are my layouts with it...

The layouts are linked to my DST gallery for credits. Other links are to Sunflowers' store - go check out her sale, it's well worth it!

Just You...

Birgit Kerr released a new kit last week - and I have to say, it's absolutely gorgeous! The colors and texture and elements - just beautiful! Take a look - and the images are linked, just in case you get tempted to visit her store and purchase these amazing things. And you can get the complete kit - or buy the papers and elements separately. You could just check out her store too - her designs are always beautiful!

This is what I did with her kit :D

And Birgit has an offer for you. If you go and visit her blog, sign up for her mailing list and you will get a $1,99 coupon to Birgit's store! By signing up, you will also get updated on latest releases, news from Birgit's store and, as an added bonus, you will also get a special coupon for $ off new releases. This coupon will only be available to subscribers - so jump on over, sign up and get the best deals on Birgit's gorgeous goodies!!

Anja Jahn has a sale!

Anja Jahn is having a sale at her Elemental Scraps store!! Everything is 50% off - even her brand new kits!

I just did a couple of layouts using Anja's "Jenny" kit - it's gorgeous, I just loved using it!

The photos are from a trip we took in July 2004. Our older daughter was 19 months and this was her first camping trip. She loved it to pieces!! She had us at her beck and call 24 hours a day, she spent so much time outside and the weather was nice so most of the time she didn't even have to wear too many clothes LOL.

Today is the last day to take part in the scraplift challenge over at the G.R.I.N. blog. We are scraplifting our wonderful designer Nina and there is plenty of inspiration from the CT. Go check it out - it's well worth it and the prize is a $5 GC in Nina's OScraps store. Here's my lift...

All images are linked...

G.R.I.N.

Nina's CT girls (NinaScraps Designs) have a new blog. It was opened this morning - and it looks GORGEOUS!! The acronym GRIN stands for Girls RockIn for Nina. You can grab the blog blinkie here on my blog - and a little bird told me that if you are seen wearing it around you might get a little surprise in your mailbox!!
We are kicking the blog off with a challenge. You get this template:

Download the template and make a beautiful LO using at least 50% of Ninascraps' products to be eligible for a prize. It's really simple! When you're done post a link to your LO in the comments section of the GRIN blog before February 13th and you will be entered to win 1 of 3 prizes!!
The winners will be chosen randomly and will be announced on the blog on Valentine's Day.
So go ahead and play with us!!! Here's my layout using the template and Nina's goodies:

Heather Manning's CT's Blog Challenge

It's Valentine's month and everywhere I look in digi land, everything is red or pink and there are hearts and "I love you's" floating everywhere. This is the only time of year when we can get away with scrapping our masculine loved ones with pinks and reds as well as using lace and cute glitter and all that romantic stuff :D

We don't celebrate Valentine's day in Iceland and I've been using the red and romantic kits to scrap my girls. I couldn't resist scrapping my husband, though, when I did my layout for Heather's blog challenge. It's called Everyone Loves a Love Song:Heather's actually got the perfect kit for the most romantic layouts. It's called Con Amor and it's just gorgeous - well all of her designs are, but this one is just amazing!

I used it to do a layout of my older daughter. She has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. They are big, brown and you can just tell how beautiful her soul is by looking in her eyes. The photo is taken in January 2005, she had just turned 2.

And here's my layout for the Love Song challenge. The text is from a song by Nat King Cole and it's called "The More I See You"

All the images are linked.

Birgit Kerr has a competition!

Birgit Kerr has the most amazing stuff - and now there is a chance to win up to a $15 GC in her store!
Basically, she is giving away her gorgeous Newpaper Cut-Outs in exchange for a layout about LOVE. You can use any product your want to. However, if you want to win the gift certificates - you have to use either HIS HEART or HER HEART. They are both gorgeous and available at Birgit's store at SBG.

See more here!

I did this with HIS HEART
and this with HER HEART
They really are beautiful kits and very versatile!

Reading the paper...

My big girl has always loved to read. Or, more accurately, she loves to PRETEND to read and she loves to be read to :D Her facial expressions, while reading, have always been so amazingly cute (and I'm not saying that just because I'm her mom - it's a fact LOL!). The night I took those photos, she was 19 months old and she had just spent half an hour trying to get her PJs on correctly. Obviously, from the photos, she hadn't succeeded yet, but then she got a little side tracked by the newspaper, which I had been reading on the floor. She started reading it too - and it wouldn't have ended up as a scrapbook page, hadn't it been for HOW she read the paper! Wouldn't it have been easier to just pick it up and hold it? LOL. Then her face just got so cute - it looks as if she is seriously considering what was happening to the world!!

I used Kiki Halbert's new kit. It's called Twinkle Toes and it's just gorgeous!! Nothing new, really, since all of Kiki's designs are gorgeous. But this kit is so girly and pretty. Just perfect for the day to day things my girls do :D Oh, and do you see the wordart? Just in time for Valentines day are Kiki's beautiful Lovely Swirls. I just love them - and we don't even celebrate Valentines day. I think they are just perfect for all layouts of the ones you love.

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Kiki's SBE store - and clicking the Lovely Swirls brings you to Kiki's PDW store. She does have some amazing stuff in her stores. Check them out :D
Oh, and the layoutbook is by Blushbutter.

The Waterfall

We went to visit friends at the beginning of August last year. On our way back we stopped really quickly by this waterfall that's right by the road. I just wanted to take pictures and Lovisa Lin wanted to go with. Matthildur was sleeping in the car so my husband stayed there with her. Lovisa and I just went really quickly to a place where I could get somewhat decent photos and where it wasn't swarming with tourists! It's a popular tourist stop here in Iceland and all the buses stop here, as well as privately travelling tourist since it's a really beautiful waterfall and easy to spot since it's right at the roadside.

Anyway, I managed to get a couple of photos of the falls and then a couple of photos of Lovisa Lin with the falls in the background. It was one of those stops where you can say "I was there" because you have photos, but you haven't really BEEN there :D

I used a lot of stuff from Janosch Designs, but most of it is from her gorgeous Jana's Dreams Collection.

As usual, clicking the layout book brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Janosch's store at Hot-Spot-Scraps. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Hello!!!

We went on a camping trip with some friends of ours in August. We met up at this place in the north-west of Iceland and my younger daughter was seeing some of them for the first time. She took an instant liking to this one guy in our group and tried her hardest to get him to notice her - but he didn't! At one time he was on the ground talking to us and Matthildur tried everything to get his attention. She talked to him, she knocked on his forehead with her fist, she slobbered into his ear - but nothing! He just kept on talking, we watched in amusement and Matthildur was just amazed that there was someone she liked - that just did NOT notice her!! Amazing - but funny to watch :D

I used a new kit by Simonetta Rossi Designs. It's called Bohemian Bliss and it's gorgeous. Bright, grungy and beautiful!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Sue's shop at Sophia Sarducci's.

Another walk...

One of the perks of living in the country side is that we are always close to nature. When we take walks we only have to walk out of our house and we are there :D So, we take quite a few walks - and I have tons of photos of my daughters those walks.

These photos are from this past summer. My older one keeps finding treasures under each and every stone so walks can take a long time! It's ok, though, we discover new and exciting things every time, through her. My little one spent last summer watching her big sister and wanting to do everything she did. She turner 1 at the end of June, so all she had was the wish - her ability was a bit limited :DI used quite a bit of things from Natalie Bird, available at Color Line Design. She has some beautiful designs. The papers are from a paper pack with "extras" called Unlock the Secrets. I just thought it was perfect for this photo of Lovisa Lin exploring nature!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Natalie's store at Color Line Design. The layout book is a template by Blushbutter which you drop the flattened jpg layouts into. I just love the way it looks and since I always scrap a 2 page layout, this format helps me figure out if the 2 pages actually look halfway decent together :D You can find Blushbutter's layout book template here.

Embrace the World

My big girl is not a very outdoorsy type. If she got her way she would stay inside her whole life, warm and cozy, preferably in front of the TV. No such luck :D We try to go outside as much as we can, it's sometimes difficult since we have strong winds here two out of every three days, but we try anyway. When we do get her out the door, she usually enjoys it. At least until she decides she has walked enough and starts whining for one of us to hold her. I never give up, I usually make her walk the whole way, but my husband has a "slight" soft spot for his girls and usually gives in at some point :D Oh, well, if you can't have your dad wrapped around your little finger - you're definately not playing your cards right (LOL).

These photos are from Christmas 2006. We went for a walk on the 26, after having been inside and eating too much heavy food on the 25. The weather reminded us of spring so we didn't need too heavy clothes, and Lovisa Lin was in her element. She was in her own little world, enjoying everything around her.

I used Birgit Kerr's new kit called His Heart plus a few other things of Birgit's. She has the most amazing designs and I can't believe how lucky I am to have gotten on her CT!

As usual, clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits. Clicking the kit brings you to Birgit's shop at Scrapbook Graphics. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.

The Faces...

My older daughter has entered her early teens. VERY early teens since she only recently celebrated her 5 birthday. However, attitude-wise, she could just as well be 15! Granted, I can easily be a huge pain in the backside when I'm working my camera in everybody's faces - but she hasn't yet discovered that giving me the "attitude face" only makes me want to take MORE photos! She has such an adorable attitude face :D

I took these photos within a timespan of couple of minutes. She was getting really fed up with the camera (LOL).I used Monica Verkland's (Flow) kit called Powder. She is just an amazing designer and you can get her stuff at Digital Candy.As usual, clicking my layouts brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits (you might have to scroll down a bit, I've been uploading a LOT to DST lately!). Clicking the kit brings you to Monica's store at DC. The layout book is by Blushbutter.

Reiman Gardens

There is a wonderful butterfly garden in Ames where we stayed for the holidays. On December 31 we went there for the second time during our stay - and this time I didn't forget my camera :D It's fun to be inside a steeming hot greenhouse with tropical plants and all those gorgeous multi-colored butterflies of all sizes - and then look outside and see all the snow and people in arctic clothing walking by outside!

My girls loved being there. My little one was just in awe for the longest time, just looking at all the butterflies swirling by. My big girl had one wish, and that was for a butterfly to land on her and sit there for awhile. She stood still in awkward position, trying to get her hand close to the flowers where the butterflies were feeding themself - but they never did land on her. I did manage to get a photo of her where it appeared as if there was a butterfly on her hand - and here it is :D

I used Mistica Design's gorgeous Last Summer Days with a couple of butterflies from her newest kit, My Secret Garden. It's available at her store at Digital Scrap Girl.

As usual, clicking my layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credit. Clicking the kit brings you to Monja's store. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.

I feel pretty...!

No one is more into Matthildur Inga than Matthildur Inga herself. And that's saying a lot because I'm pretty sure she is the cutest little thing on earth along with her big sister :D But give her a mirror and she is all smiles and adoring faces! But I guess all babies are like that, aren't they?

And here she is, admiring herself immensely! I just had to use these lyrics from West Side Story - they just fit the layout to a tee!

I used Lauraskathi's Suzie kit and her Suzie glitter. This kit is filled to the brim with all kinds of goodies.

As usual: Clicking the layout brings you to my DST gallery for details and credits, clicking the kit brings you to Kathi's store at Funky Playground. And the layout book is by Blushbutter.