Digi Pick of the Day

Digi Picks 6/24/08

Kit of the Day
I am now the proud parent of a pre-school graduate.  Yes, that's right, Gracie is starting Kindergarten in the fall.  Where does the time go?  To honor this major achievement, the first of many I hope, I have already scrapped quite a few pages and I haven't even gotten to the after party at Rainforest Cafe yet!  All of these pages are made using Melissa Bennett's L'il Grad , which even has a little red headed girl graduate in it!  Love this kit.  It has been so fun to work with and has everything I could look for to make great pages for a small album.  I haven't had to dig elsewhere in my stash, which is always cool. 





Element Designer of the Day
I have long been a fan of Kate Hatfield's gorgeous hand drawn art.  Not only does she come up with cute combinations, but the color and depth are gorgeous.  I have always wondered how she does it and today thanks to her blog I know.  Read this awesome post and get to know this amazingly talented lady!

Layout of the Day
You just have to check out Oh To be a Cat by Sorashell.  That is just the coolest darned thing I've ever seen. Okay, maybe bullet time in the Matrix was THE coolest, but this is close!  I just love the inventiveness of this. I've got to try it!  Adorable kitties don't hurt either.

Digi Picks 5/15/08

Well I survived Taste of the Nation NYC last night!  It was at the Roseland Ballroom and it was PACKED!  It was so hot in there at one point I had to get out of the crowd. Overall the food was excellent but the liquor left a little something to be desired.  I did discover one new wine from Sicily called Rocca something-or-other.  I'l have to look it up on Wine Library. My faves of the night were the two cheese tables.  Artisanal Cheese Center is on W. 37th but they also have a website!!!  I'm so excited!!!  Awesome aged sheeps milk cheeses and a very mild soft goat that I liked even though I like my goat a little funkier ;-)  The other cheese table wins hands-down for practicality and presentation. Vermont Butter and Cheese  had a little cardboard plate that held a slice of crusty bread with a bit of fresh butter, a communion cup with a creamy soft mild goat w/honey, an aged goat with raspberry chutney on a water cracker and a solitary mound of their aged goat.  A little cardboard plate of Melissa Heaven!!!!  I had 5 of them....not even remotely kidding.  With that wine from Sicily....YEAH BABY!!!

Element of the Day
Okay, I know you didn't come here to read about my love of stinky cheese.  So, here's a link to a very cool alpha in both png and abr format from Lisa Sisneros.  Her  Cracked Rub On Alpha  is a great realistic looking alpha that will mimic the effect you get when you use rub-ons that either don't quite go on all the way or have been in your scrap bag for way too long!  I'm one of those strange people who loves it when her rub ons look a little rough, LOL.

Need some NSBR Inspiration?
Don't forget about my new blog.  I hope it will bring you hope, inspiration and at the very least laughs.  For now I don't have a fancy name so you can find it at Melissa Thinks Out Loud. 

Digi Picks 5/13/07

Wow. The middle of may is already here!  How did that happen. I've been in my new office for 6 weeksish (that's so not a word) and I love it.  The hardest thing is finding ways to fill my day.  I should be writing or something because there's no way I can do 8 hours of solid work even if I network my brains out.  Once I start going out on the road, I'll get busier I'm sure.  It's just a very strange feeling after running a marathon everyday for 19 months!  The good thing is that I get to spend time checking out the digi galleries.  You've all been very busy!!!

Layout of the Day
I love it when Gracie butchers a saying.  We, of course, adopt her phrasing and a new family joke comes to life.   Cindys732003 has captured one of those great moments in her Perfect Makes Practice .  Great title work!  Also love the action shots coupled with the great shot of her looking at the camera.  We get a taste of the movement as well as a good look at the girl who finally accomplished a very hard motor skill.  My daughter still pumps her legs in the wrong direction, LOL.  I love how she used the sun element as the journaling spot. Great job!!!!

Digi Picks 4/25/08

Project Pick of the Day
I am hoping to get some paper crafting time in this weekend.  I've got the itch to print, glue, sand and ink.  I went to Michael's today and drooled over the KI Memories Sassafras Collection again.  OMG!!!!  MUST HAVE!!!  Anyway, I was looking for some fun projects to do and came across Adobe*Addict's Gift Tags .  How cute and what a great idea?  I really love home made gift tags.  It's just that little extra something y'know?  If you've got the urge to create, but lack the  mojo to do a big full blown project, you could sit down and pre-make a bunch of cute tags for various occasions and stash them away until you need them!

Element Pick of the Day
How adorable are these little critters and Happy Garden - Living Things from Weeds n' Wildflowers?  I love that you can create all kinds of looks with these guys by switching around the trails and the styles of bug etc.  Just soooooo cute!!!! 

Digi Picks 4/23/08

Layout of the Day
I find that now that I am a parent I think more and more about the future of our world.  I wonder what the planet will be like for my child and her children.  My actions reflect these thoughts more and more each day.  As you probably know, April 22nd is Earth Day and this "day" has now grown into a month long look at how we can leave this planet better than it was handed to us.  Joanne Briesbois' I Owe You sums up what we as parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc. can do for the next generation.  We owe them a better world and we truly can do it if we all start by taking small steps.  When you go grocery shopping this week why not remove one small item from your list and replace it with re-usable shopping bags?  How about turning out the lights when you don't really need them or maybe choose an organic fertilizer for your garden this season?  Thanks Joanne for a beautiful tribute to the spirit of Earth Day.

Tool Pick of the Day
The truly obsessed blogger over at Scrapbook Obsession may be questioning whether or not she truly needs the new Slice from Making Memories (really none of us really need another scrap supply of any kind, honestly) but she and I both agree on the wanting of this wonderful little device.  Check this puppy out!! I have resisted getting a Cricut because of its size and the fact that I have to buy cartridges.  I keep holding out for a Wishblade, but maybe, just maybe the Slice could be the perfect thing for me. Small, and not beholden to a certain size of paper.  It also looks like you would waste less paper than with the other machines...good for Mother Earth.  I think if the device is priced properly and the cartridges have sufficient designs per cartridge I could be persuaded on this one.   Hmmmm....what do you think???  Want One?

Digi Picks 1/8/07

Is anyone else bummed that there will be no Golden Globes this weekend? I don't really care about the awards themselves, but the red carpet!!  Can't they just get together and do the red carpet somewhere?????

Paper Pack of the Day
I love polka-dots.  I mean really, really love.  I bought a whole paper slab this weekend because there were some polka-dot papers in it!  I also love grungy papers. Maybe it's because they match pictures taken in my home, LOL!!!  Finally someone has joined my two loves.  The result is Emily Merritt's Grungy Polkas. These papers will make a great background that combines the flexibility of a solid with the eye catching appeal of a pattern.  Gotta love a multi-tasker.  Love the colors!!!!

Element Pack of the Day
Wanna see something really cool?  Then check out Joanne Brisebois' Air Land and Sea . Vehicle themed corrugated paper cutouts?  How inventive is that?  Love it!!!!  These would be really, really fun on some of your vintage layouts in particular.  The balloon is my total fave!!!

Layout of the Day
I'm so glad I had time this morning to do my picks.  There is no better way to start the day than looking at your galleries!  You ladies never fail to make me smile.  JAnderson's Keep on Growing has totally captured my heart today.  How can you fail to smile when looking at these adorable photos?  There are so many great little touches on this layout.  The colors she chose compliment the photos so well and I love the way she clustered her elements.  Check out the "e" monogram.  Very well done!!!!

Digi Picks 12/26/07

Well, we survived Christmas!  It was actually a great long weekend.  Saturday we did our kids Christmas where we get together with my brothers and their children to exchange presents.  We had a great time as always and it was great to hang out and be total goofballs together.  Two of my nephews got Guitar Hero and I have a really embarrassing movie of my husband that I won't share unless he is mean to me, LOL.  Chrsitmas Eve was very subdued as we shared a wonderful and filling meal with my in laws and my mom at my place.  Christmas Day we were visited in the morning by one of my brother's and then headed over to Bill's sister's to celebrate.  Back home at 3:30pm to my house and my mommy and we spent the night chowing down on appetizers from Appetizers To Go and watched Ghost Rider.  Gracie has a cold so she fell asleep early.  While Ghost Rider kind of sucked, it was nice to actually watch a grown up movie, LOL.  So, enough about me, how about some picks?

Kit of the Day
I'm totally digging the vintage feel of Beth Rimmer's Shake Yer Bon Bon Embellishments and Papers.  The name totally cracks me up too.  Anyone love that Ricki Martin song as much as I do?  Anyway, the colors are classic and a very nice respite for my eyes which are very tired of red, green, gold and silver at this point.  This would obviously be a great kit for your heritage photos, but I can also see this being fun for some about me pages and moments with the girls pages.

Layout of the Day
Well it's time for me to start making those New Year's resolutions again.  You know, those things you swear you are going to do this year and forget about by January 15th?  Yeah, those.  Anyway, one of my resolutions is going to be to do more scraplifting.  I get so little time to scrap nowadays that when I sit down to get to work I'm fumbling like a newbie trying to figure out what goes where and it takes me a painfully long time to get my stride.  Maybe if I started out with a little scraplifting that would get my juices flowing again.  After all it's just inspiration, not outright copying.  Take the following example, my pick of the day, Heart To Heart from DogwoodMama. Isn't this just adorable? Love the colors and the way they all work so well with the sweet photo.  Now checkout the original from Jacque Larsen called Cowboy Up .  Two very different themes, two totally great layouts!  Love Jacque's original title and I love the way DogwoodMama continued the mix and match alpha idea.  These are both great! 

A little bit of news...sort of....
Don't you hate it when people post on boards or blogs th at they've got something really cool happening and they are not able to share it just yet?  Yeah, me too, but I'm going to do it to you anyway ;-)   Altered Art Chicks has recruited someone totally cool and very well known in the community to partner with on some awesome projects for you.  We will be unveiling the collab on January 7th, but I believe we will start dropping some hints as we move into the New Year so be sure to stay tuned!!!!

And Finally...
A little bit of Gracie goodness to cheer your day...pardon the red eyes..no editing time yet...




 

Digi Picks 12/19/07

Well, we're almost there!  I'm running ragged doing year end stuff at work and holiday stuff for home!  I'm going to be so wiped out by next Wednesday!!!  Luckily I have a weekend crop on Jan 3&4 to look forward to ;-)

Kit of the Day
Do you have any boys in the house?  Do they like robots and gears and stuff?  Good!!  ManadaBean and Lauren Grier have teamed up on a 2 Scoops called Bob and Willis. This is such a fun kit with wonderful bright colors and truly cool elements.  I love the comic book-like word art and the robots themselves are too cute for words!

Layout of the Day
Does your family do those annual newsletters at this time of year?  We don't because almost everyone we know and love live here in NJ, and we stay in close touch with those who don't.  We have toyed with the idea of doing a completely silly version, but with all the real work to be done, we never get to it.  If you do in fact send one out each year I hope you are using your mad digital skills to make yours stand out among the crowd!  That's what Paisley did with her Family Newsletter and I think it looks awesome.  Remember what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words ;-)

Digi Picks 12/17/07

We're coming into the home stretch!!!!  I have all of my shopping done, my calendars are almost finished and now all I need to do is wrap, wrap, wrap!!!!  I'm so excited.  I love that feeling of being done.  Soon I'll be able to just enjoy the holiday ;-) 

Whole Bunch of Stuff Pick
Jackie Eckles is having a sale today at Little Dreamer!  30% off all her stuff!!!  So I'm going shopping.  I'm getting Mass Transit Paper Pack and Quirky Stitches Vol 1 and I really want to get Dingy Boy but I really and truly have no need of it anymore. Where was this 5 years ago when my nephew Matt was Dino obsessed?  Clippings looks like fun and Chirpy Days has my eye too!  Fairy Tales 1 is even on sale and that is one of my favorites of the year!!!  Check it out...I was playing with it yesterday ;-)

Last Minute Gifting

Didn't get someone a present yet and running out of time? Didn't get me a present yet and you are a family member who reads my blog?  Here's some ideas:

The amazon gift certficate is ALWAYS a welcome gift.  You can print out the code and slip it into a cute card or even make a little scrapbook page including the code.  You can always just email it with one of Amazon's adorable e-cards as well.  I'm not picky, just send me the code, LOL!!!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love appetizer night!  That is my favorite thing to do especially when I'm feeling down.  Instead of eating dinner I just make a bunch of yummy appy's and have a party...even if it's just me!  This is what we are going to do on Christmas night since we eat an enormous meal on Christmas Eve and then head over to my SIL's on Christmas morning for yet more food.  By dinner time on Christmas day we're not up for another meal, but some puff pastry goodies are a welcome sight!  Appetizers To Go was featured in Oprah magazine and darn they are good!!!!!!

If you really, really, really love me and you won the lottery you can get me this from the Black Hound.  Go ahead and click.  It's pretty funny.

Not quite that wealthy?  How about anything at all from their amazing collection of goodies.  Ever since their shop closed in the Short Hills Mall, Bill and I have been in a kind of dessert mourning.  We used to stop there all the time for their amazing tiny cakes.  They really cool cake samplers online that you can ship to friends or yourself. 

Oh, Santa (aka Bill), one other thing.  You know how we talked about me getting back some space in the home office for my scrapbooking stuff?   These adorable clip organizers from Simply Renee would be perfect for keep the clutter organized yet handy!!!!   

Also to the person who invented the Croppin Cutie Snack-n-Scrap I say "Way to go girl!!!!"  You clearly go to the same crops I do!!!    Check this out...(too bad it doesn't come in pink).

So there's my last minute wish list!!!!   Feel free to shop till you drop ;-)  As for me I'm going to hop on over to Shutterfly one last time to order another copy of my Gracie Year in Review photo book for my step-mom.  I think she'd like it.  For those of you who are running late with your projects here's a reminder of the shipping timelines.

Digi Picks 12/14/07

I haven't slept well in quite a few weeks now.  It's not a good thing.  I'm really starting to get cranky as all heck and very forgetful.  First it was my back then Gracie's growing pains returned. Ugh.  Tomorrow is my day to sleep in , but I've got nothing wrapped and my calendar gifts aren't even printed yet!  I'm trying not to stress and I know I should probably sleep but then I'll start feeling guilty so I won't be able to fall back to sleep.  Merry Christmas, right?  I'm so tired and stressed that I actually cried myself to sleep last night.  Not over anything in particular.  I guess it just needed to come out.  Oh well....if I had time tomorrow what I'd really like to do is scrap!  Here's something I'd love to play with tomorrow.....

Kit of the Day
I love collaboration kits.  I love making them and I love buying them.  When they are done well they are huge and so full of elements in different yet totally compatible styles.  I've got my eye on the collab between Amy Hutchinson, O.N. Designs and Two Sisters Designs called Festivities.   There's a ton of really cool looking extractions in this one and they look like things that I could use any time of the year as well.  Always important.  I mean how many Christmas kits do I really need?  Really?  What could it be 5, 10, 11.??  Anyway, I also like the deeply saturated hues of the papers.  These would be great for heritage Christmas photos.  I always think of those shades of red and green as being more vintage for some reason. 

Layout of the Day
I am still working on our Disney album and maybe by the time we go there next October it will be done.  Maybe.  One of the best parts of the trip was watching Gracie fall in love with Buzz Lightyear.  So when I saw To Infinity and Beyond from Vanessa I was all excited.  This is a great and fun layout that captures this photo op.  I really like the brush work she did on the papers to subtly bring out more of that space feeling. Great job! I love the part in her description where her son was annoyed because the characters don't talk.  That bugged Gracie too!