A Christmas 2008? layout already??????

I've never done a layout this fast after the holidays in my life. By the time I usually get around to them, I've forgotten all the little things that made it so special and I just slap some pictures on a page and call it a day. I think I procrastinate on holiday scrapping because I've scrapped for over a decade, and just how many Christmas pages can you do without it feeling cookie cutter? This year, I really loved this imperfect picture of my little 'maters on Christmas Eve and felt it was enough to tell our story this year.

Credits: green paper(by Me-recognize it from my free sampler?), frame by Ashalee Wall (OScraps Moonrise collab kit), Katie Pertiet-Letterbox holiday corner, wooden ornament, and staple. Fonts: happy daze, carpenter, and century gothic.

I hope you are having a safe and festive New Year's Eve!

Merry Day After Christmas to You!

Link has expired, but don't worry there will be plenty of Xmas goodies next fall for you!

Are you suffering from a holiday hangover? Exhausted from those 5:30am sales you had to get to today? Already tired of leftovers? Well, the best cure for almost anything is a few hours to yourself, listening to your Rascal Flatts CD Santa brought you, drinking some English Breakfast tea, and scrapping about the amazing memories your family made this holiday season(at least that's what works for me). As promised, I have my elements kit for you to use with the papers if you wish. Now, please know that these elements are some of the first I've made and I'm offering them as freebies because well you're awesome, and because I need to practice how to size everything, when to add shadows and not to add shadows, how to create good preview, and how to put good kits together, etc. So, any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. I wasn't planning on making a kit with these, so it's kind of a mish mosh of ideas I was practicing. Also, some of the elements will definitely need to be resized slightly to look more realistic (one lesson learned today), but everything is 300 dpi, so you'll lose nothing in the process. A big shout out to Emma at DigitalScrapbookPlace for her amazing classes, and to Atomic Cupcake for her epoxy action that I used. I truly hope you enjoy using these, and please remember they are for personal use only. If you get a chance in your busy schedule, I'd love to see what you've created with these...email me a SweetTomatoScrapper@cox.net.

the elements are coming, are coming, are coming

eventually. The papers were such a hit, that I thought I'd share a couple of my elements I've been practicing on with everyone, too. Unfortunately, our whole family was struck by a wicked stomach bug this week and I'm still recovering. As soon as I can carve out some time to put it together, it'll be on here. Keep checking back. Enjoy all that shopping chaos out there this last weekend before Christmas!

My 1st Mini-Kit Freebie!

Link has expired, but don't you worry, there will be some awesome Xmas kits coming your way next year.

Well, please bear with me as I negotiate how to get you your freebies. I've created this little Christmas mini-kit to get you started on those photos you've been taking. I hope you put it to good use. Please remember that all these papers are for personal use only. Please do not share, copy, or resell these images in any way. Enjoy (and keep your fingers crossed this works!)

Ahhhh, the joys of Christmas,

let me count the ways you inspire me.

1. Watching the kids run around the tree lot (although picking out a tree was a bit harder this way).

2. Drinking hot cocoa and staring at the Christmas Tree at night.

3. Seeing my giant handmade stockings hanging on the mantle of our non-working fireplace. (At least Santa won't get a burned bum)

4. Playing Christmas music all the time and singing to it at the top of our lungs.

5. Seeing the excitement in my son's eyes as he watches Polar Express.

6. Shopping for cool toys I (oh, I mean the kids) can't wait to play with.

7. Making my first Xmas card this year.

8. Getting those mysterious packages each day after online shopping binges last week and I'd already forgotten some of the things I bought.

9. Driving around looking at all the fantastic lights, and thankful that even in this economy people still feel festive.

10. Hiding presents from everyone (this is the first year we've had to do that).

Here's a picture of my little darlings and our own personal xmas card. I hope you are able to take some time out to experience your own joys!

Little things

make me happy these days. I feel very overwhelmed right now with all the grand ideas I have for my new business: a new website, a forum, challenges, freebies, advertising, creating new product, and so on and so forth. I took a little time out today and created the "ribbon" that will go around my digital scrapbooking products, and it made me happy. I'm working on my Terms of Use page next, and then I get on to the business of making some holiday papers for everyone. It felt good to start and finish a project on the same day. I hope you get a moment to create something today!