Sneak Peek!

Hi everyone, I just popped in to give you a sneak peek of what's releasing on Friday, September 4th! It's my new kit I've been working SO hard on all weekend.

I'm so proud of this kit. It's definitely my first venture into finding my "style" and I think it turned out SO well. And it's pretty loaded, too. I haven't done a count on the elements in it, but I know it has over 10 papers and a full alpha, and at least 20 elements (more I'm sure). I think you guys will really like it.

This kit was mainly designed for my own personal use - I have some pictures from a town function that is held here every year, and I couldn't find any "country-western" themed kits that I really liked, that had all the elements I wanted in it. (There's hint #1!) So I decided to create one myself. I also have some pictures of my son in a cowboy hat (hint #2!) that still need to be scrapped, so those will definitely be scrapped with this kit! It has lots of grungy things, metal, gingham ribbons, and even some horses!

I have a dilemma, however...I haven't come up with a name. It releases on Friday and I have no idea what I'm going to name the darn thing because I've been so busy working on the actual kit that I haven't even thought of a name LOL. But I will eventually come up with something.

And don't forget, the Next SAS-Y Lady Contest starts tomorrow! I'm so excited to be able to bring you guys some wonderful mini kits. This will probably also spawn some exciting new products in the future, so keep checking back all month for my contest entries to be able to download them!

Bad Blogger!

That's me scolding myself for being such a horrible blogger. It's been over a week since my last post, so I guess it's time to get to posting something. I've got a lot of things on the agenda for September, so this may be a long post. You've been warned!

So all weekend, I've been a busy little bee. I've been working on a new kit which is almost done, I've got a couple of elements left, and I plan on doing an alpha, but I have to get a couple of things scanned in first. I've been holding off on finishing it, because last week my wonderful daddy ordered me a new scanner off Ebay for an early birthday present (my birthday is in January) and I've been waiting for it to come in. Well it came in today! I was so excited. I haven't gotten it hooked up yet, because I have family in town from Colorado all weekend - my uncle Gary came into town, they've been re-siding my grandmother's house all weekend long, so I've had my laptop down there finishing up the new kit. I think you all are going to like this one, it's done in a style unlike any of my other kits and I finally found a style that I really love. I love lots of grunge and rustic style anyway, so I really hope you guys like this one. I'll also hopefully have a freebie, my first CU freebie, to give away along with it. But it won't be coming for a few days, maybe closer to a week, so keep checking back.

Since family's been in town, I've been away nearly all weekend. Internet connection isn't the greatest down at my grandmother's, my dad has Internet right next door, but it doesn't reach very far so I'm constantly on "Very Low" connection. It's okay though, because it's given me more time to get my kit worked on (since I'm not chatting or procrastinating by perusing the wonders of the 'Net lol)...I've still had to run around chasing Isaac though, even more so actually, so I haven't accomplished much.

I've had one person email me about joining the CT, and I've also contacted two people I know from some forums to join my CT, so I will be announcing them soon. I need to get some pictures from them and then I will put them in my sidebar. I've also contacted a couple people who were willing to guest for a while and maybe become permanent, so we will see how that goes. I'm still looking for a couple of members though, so if you're interested, please email me at pixiemamadesigns@hotmail.com. I have very low requirements - one kit a month minimum, and one layout per kit minimum, so if you're looking for a CT but don't have time for a lot of commitment, please contact me! I'm also looking for some people to do some freebie quickpages or frame clusters for the blog, since I just don't have much time anymore, and also I'm hoping to add some challenges and contests to my blog very soon, so I need some members to help out with that! If you're interested, you can always reach me at the email address above, and I respond fairly quickly (except this weekend where I may not be able to lol). I respond to most emails within 24 hours!

I also have an announcement, and I think you guys will really love this one! To really test my skills and to get some more exposure, I've entered the designer contest at Stone Accents Studio. (It's not like my fellow designers at K-Joi Studios roped me into it either ;) lol) The contest runs all month and new kits will be released on random days during each week, so I'll have tons of new freebies coming in September! (Hopefully, this makes up for the lack of freebies I've had lately!) The contest starts on September 1st and the first entry is due by the 6th, so check back sometime during the week or on Saturday for the first freebie kit, it will be a mini of course but if I know myself, I'll get totally carried away and add too much stuff to it lol. But the blog will be the second place I post it, other than SAS! Also you can go and sign up at SAS so you can be in the know during the contest. The ladies are just great there.

I guess I'd better get my butt up and hook up my scanner so that I can get this kit finished. I definitely won't finish it tonight but I can at least get my stuff scanned so I can do some extractions tomorrow at my grandmother's - maybe, if Isaac will hogtie himself long enough for me to focus on even that. I'll be back soon with the freebie from the contest, maybe a sneak peek at the new kit, and hopefully by the time the freebie from the contest comes out I'll have a new kit! Have a good night everyone!

CT Spotlight @ JayaPrem's Hangout!

Hi guys! Just dropped in to tell you that Jaya of JayaPrem's Hangout is spotlighting me this week on her blog, as one of her and Tiffany's CT Leaders. She sent me a few questions to answer, so because I think you guys should get to know me a little bit better, I'll go ahead and post it here as well.

How long have I been scrapping? I've been scrapping since I was 13, so almost ten years now. I started out as solely a paper scrapper, discovered digi in 2007, and around the beginning of this year, I turned 95% digi. I just find I can get way more done in the amount of time I have. Plus, it's more budget-friendly for me, as I'm on a WAY tight budget for scrapping.

Program I use to create layouts - Since I started digi, I scrapped with Paint Shop Pro. I hated scrapping with Photoshop...I never could get the hang of it. But about a week ago, I was doing some layouts and I was trying PS, and discovered - I LOVE IT! I love using the clipping mask option, and it makes working with templates so much easier. I don't think I'll ever go back.

My scrapping style is - I'm a very clean, linear scrapper. I love using templates, although I don't use them often enough. I love fantasy pages, but I never was any good at that. Guess I don't have a good enough imagination for that. I'm not one for grungy layouts, but I love grunged up papers. I'm also very OCD about my layouts. They have to be just perfect, or I'm not satisfied. I love trying new things too.

I am a morning person/night owl/ other - TOTAL night owl! I could stay up until everyone else was headed off to work if I had the choice. I've been known to be up until 4AM working on something, if it catches my interest enough.

I get inspired by (what to scrap about) - Inspiration is a real big problem for me. I never seem to have any lol. My last scrapping binge I went on was inspired by a whole bunch of freebie templates I found. I scrapped at least 3 layouts that night. Other than that, usually I'm inspired by a specific kit that I'd like to work with, and if not that, I usually draw inspiration from my pictures I want to work with.

Things that make me happy are - I love working with pictures I love. I love it when I have those perfect pictures for a layout. In fact, most of the time, I find it very hard to work with older pictures, they don't hold the same excitement as newer ones do for me.

My fav thing to scrap with is/are - I can't live without ribbons in a kit. And not straight ribbons - curly ribbons. Even more than that, I love strings. Fluffy, curly, colorful strings. I love staples too...I think I have staples on at least 50% of my layouts. Shadows are big too...I can't have a layout with shadows. I'm getting more into the realistic looking shadows.

My fav techinque - I can't say that I have a favorite technique, unless the shadows count as one. I'll try almost anything once, and usually I eventually grow fond of it.

I pass my time when i dont scrap by - That's a lot of time to pass lol. Well I work part-time at a local restaurant, so that takes up about 20 hours of my week. My husband and I work opposite shifts, so when I'm home, he's at work and I'm taking care of our son. But usually after I get home you can find me sitting on the couch on my laptop, designing my own kits, talking to Tiffany or Jaya, watching a movie or TV. I eat a lot too, but that's unimportant lol. Oh, I write a little bit too.

Fav movie, song and vacation place - My favorite movie right now is Twilight! I've been bitten by the vampire bug. It changes all that time, but I think this will stick a while. After New Moon comes out, that will change it though. My favorite songs change all the time...I couldn't possibly pick one. I've only been in 5 states in my life - Kansas (where I live), Missouri, Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma, and never been outside the country, so I can't really say too much about vacationing...but the first time I went to Colorado, I left my heart there. It's somewhere around there, probably high up on a mountain top, where I'll never get it back. Love Colorado!

My all time fav kit is/are - This is so hard to say, because I've only worked with maybe two of Jaya's products, since I'm so new to her CT. But I love Cat's Pajamas, and I'm sure she'll come out with more kits that I absolutely love. Next to that, it's probably Tiffany's kits "A Day Just For Dad" or Jamie's Rainbow"...I've done so many of my son's baby pictures with Jamie's Rainbow.

As her CT Spotlight for this week, I also have a freebie for you. I don't know how long Jaya would like me to keep it up, so grab it while you can. It's a quickpage made from her latest release, Garden Party. This is an awesome kit, and you can pick it up at one of her 3 stores: Scrapable, ScrapBird, and Pretty Scrappy.

Here's the preview to the kit:

And here's the preview to the quickpage you'll be getting from me today:



You can download the free quickpage here. It was created and saved at 300 PPI, 12x12, and is in .psd and .png formats.

Hope you enjoy!

New Mini Kit, A Freebie, and A Layout Made By Me!

Hey everyone! How is everyone's Tuesday going? Wish mine was going better. My jaw's starting to act up and I'm getting the beginnings of a horrible splitting headache. Heath had to go in to work for a couple of hours because someone called in, so I'm getting some things done so later I can do some scrapping and spend time with him.

I just popped in to let you guys know that I have another new product in my stores. My little hiatus did me quite well. :)

The new kit is a mini kit called Strawberry Margarita. Sound familar? It's one of my entries from The Next Best Thing contest, it's redone and way better. I tried out some new techniques I learned in this one, still perfecting them but it turned out quite well. As per usual, for the rest of August this mini is not the regular price of $3.99, but on sale for $2.99. On September 1st, it will go back to it's regular price. You can grab the mini kit at both of my stores, K-Joi Studios and Scraps With A Mouse.


I also have a freebie quickpage using some elements in the kit. There is one quickpage in both PSD and PNG formats, for use in multiple programs. You can only get the quickpage freebie at K-Joi Studios, so head on over there to grab that.

To wrap this up, I have some more new products coming out soon. Hopefully in the next couple of days. I have some CU products planned. :) Look for me starting to put out some CU overlays very soon. Keep checking back.

Also, my CT Call is still running. Come on guys, I need some CT members! I have lots of fun things planned for the blog and stuff, but I need CT members to help implement them. I'll be retiring some old products to possibly redo them, and putting up tons of new stuff before Christmas, so I need some CT members to help make layouts for those kits. You can grab the details in the last couple of posts. :)

Speaking of layouts...before I go, I wanted to show you guys this layout I made with Beachy Keen. This is my son, Isaac, right before his first birthday, enjoying a bath before bedtime. Doesn't he look like he's having fun?


I used a free template available at A Cherry On Top, and like I said the kit I used was Beachy Keen by me, you can pick that up at K-Joi Studios or Scraps With A Mouse (remember: it's on special as well, for the entire month of August it's only $2.99!). The glitter style used on the title is by Inspired By Dominic Designs, from her Storybook Slumber kit, which you can grab at any of her stores. (Links at her blog.) Coincidentally, some of the papers and elements in Beachy Keen were made using elements from her July CU Grab Bag. You get 5 product packs in her grab bags, for commercial use. Her July bag has already reverted to regular price, but you can grab her August Grab Bag right now for a FANTASTIC special for only the month of August. Some of the products in that bag were used to create Strawberry Margarita...you should go check it out, trust me it's a fantastic deal!

Alright I'm out to go work on some more stuff until Heath gets home. If you made it to the end of this post, you SO deserve that freebie. Head on over and grab that. Later!

Beachy Keen Mini Kit

Hi everyone! Just popping in to let you know that I finished a kit that I'd been working on for a while and it's in stores now. It's perfect for scrapping all those beach or swimming pictures you have from this summer. It's also on special for the whole month of August...normally $3.99, for the month of August it's only $2.99!

Escape away to the beautiful colors of the beach with this mini kit. Included is all the elements needed to scrap those summer vacation pictures at your favorite beach. Mini kit has 7 textured and patterned papers, and 26 elements including: - 2 flowers with buttons and ribbon - 3 epoxy circle frames - 10 epoxy beach-themed words - 1 leaf - 1 paper wave - 2 curly ribbons - 5 sea pebbles (epoxy dots) - 2 paper seashells All elements are created and saved at 300 DPI. This mini kit is s4h/s4o friendly. Please refer to my TOU included in download.

You can grab it right now at K-Joi Studios only, but it should be up at Scraps With A Mouse within the next couple days. I just wanted to get it up in time for the newsletter at K-Joi tomorrow. If you haven't yet, you should go sign up for it. Mars from CactusMango Designs is giving away a whole mini kit in 5 seperate downloads this month, and you can only get the code to get them in the shop from the newsletter. This mini kit will be gorgeous, you should check it out.

Also, remember that my CT Call is still going. I need some scrappers to start my CT. I've got some great new ideas for kits planned in the next few months. Including some holiday kits - a Halloween kit, Christmas, possibly a birthday kit since Isaac's 3rd birthday is coming up, and an autumn-themed kit. So don't be fooled by some of the kits I have in my shop now - they are kits I did as a brand new designer and they will probably be redone after the beginning of the year. So please...if you're looking for a creative team to call home, apply for my creative team.

The email to contact me is pixiemamadesigns@hotmail.com, you can contact me at that email to ask questions or for more information. If you can't read the ad, please click on it to make it larger or you can contact me at the email address and I will send you more info.

I don't know how long it will be before I have another new kit. I have a kit that I'm working on right now but I've hit a road block with some extracted elements so I'm not sure how long it will be. I'd like to have it out by next Thursday, so look for that maybe around that time. I hope to have at least something out by then.

Choo Choo!

The August Blog Train is coming to the station!

The theme for August is Back 2 School and you will be so thrilled. The blog train is huge (again) and filled with tons of stuff for your kids going back to school.

Here is the entire kit you will be getting when all the stops are made:



And here is my contribution, hope you enjoy! (Image is clickable, to get to ADrive.com where the file is hosted.)

Elements included are: 1 photomask, 2 paint strokes with glitter, 2 word arts, and 5 different papers.

Your previous stop should have been DIGI_licious Designs, and your next stop should be Gabby Palmer Digitals. Please keep in mind, we are all in different time zones. The train is not scheduled to go live until noon on 8/1 but I'm posting early, out of pure excitement. :) So if you visit the blogs, most pieces probably won't be there. You can always go to the Blog Train Blog and bookmark their website, that way you can keep up with this train, and also any future trains!

Also, I'm holding my first CT call!

Pixiemama Designs is having a
CT CALL!

I'm looking for a few great scrappers to
start my Creative Team.
REQUIREMENTS ARE:

*Check out at least 1 kit per month (if circumstance prevent this
I am very flexible, I know real life happens)
*At least 1 layout with each kit checked out (more are ALWAYS welcome!)
*Basic advertising - post on blogs, in forums, tell your friends, etc.
*Wear my blinkie in your signature at forums that allow it
*Posting layouts at K-Joi, SWAM, and DST are required, more welcome!
*I would love to have some team members make freebies for my blog on
occasion and host some challenges on my blog. Please mention
in your email if you are interested in this.

For more information or to apply please email me at
pixiemamadesigns@hotmail.com with the subject "CT Call". Please
include links to your best gallery, samples of any other works, some info
about yourself, list of other CTs, and anything else you think I should know.

I'm looking forward to some awesome entries and choosing some great CT members! I'm also looking for a CT Leader. Unfortunately I can only choose one since this will be a short team to start out. But if you are interested in the position let me know in your email, so I know who's interested and who's not. And good luck everyone!