From Russia to Brazil.....

...everybody is scrapping.So am I:


Credits: kit Free Day by Malacima Designs

I haven't been having a particularly good time health wise,but gotta take things one day at the time, right?
I have been keeping busy though, as the scrapping in probably the best therapy, and luckily 2 of my favorite designers are having stores worth having a look.
One of them, Lilian, aka Malacima,is someone I have had the honor to do some CT work for, and one of the most original designers around.
You can access her store by clicking HERE, and here is HER BLOG.



Credits: kit Mother,my big Love by Giane Designs

And from Brazil and very, very much on sale comes Giane No Mundo do Scrapbook (Giane in the World of Scrapbook).
She had a break for a while but is back to creating with all her might.
You can check her stores HERE and also HERE , and for those of you who can read Portuguese here is HER BLOG
I will be updating soon, because honestly my general health state at the moment is not the best, and the energy required to write refuses to come together.
but taking one day at the time...I ll get there :)

Thank You for the Love (a freebie in appreciation)

Hi guys, girls....

I am lucky, I think.
Most of the people I am surrounded by at the moment are the most talented, inspirational, loving people in the world.
And this *in the world* isn't a mere grammatical construction, nope, is totally, tangibly literal.
Some in the US of A (I'm reluctant to call it America, sorry guys, but *we* are Americans too, the vast America has the North, South (were *we* belong) and Central, though most of that Central are moving slowly upwards,there are millions of them still there, right? LOL).
Some of them in the land of Oz (read Australia) and these are increasingly getting a deep imprint in my heart, and some in Europe, with my most favorite at the mo being in the Netherlands (that IS Europe, right? LOL I'm getting old and my cultural memory is being smashed by the political changes!)
In blogging scenes, I have to mention these women because they are worth reading, watching and listening:

Peggy, whom I had the pleasure,honor and delight of meeting in person and who, regardless of the distance, always finds a way to make herself present and supportive with a beautiful wake up call on my phone. She also has the MOST AMAZING music playing in her blog....

Annemarie and here I'm at loss for words...if I ever have found a synonimous for bravery, strength, capacity, talent and multitasking...well that's Annemarie. She also has some amazing music playing, and I'm hoping to be able to go meet these two girls in Norway in a near future (I'm working on it girls!)

The Netherlands girl is Marit (though her blog presents her name in lower case, I think she deserves upper cases, in shinning lights too). This girl I found through Annemarie, who sent me a link to her blog and I got hooked ever since. I m even gonna get my daughter to do one of Marit's courses in summer... yes, she is a master and finds the strength and wonders of passing her knowledge on, with very accessible prices, ones that even I can contemplate in spending!)

there is another USA girl whom I discovered lately and my heart was full of joy, not only because she is so generous with her (amazing!!!!) talent as to sharing her kits for free, but also because her blog is what it says on the tin: Every Day Mom's Ideas.... and her ideas are not only doable, but in budget and brilliant...plus her way of communicating is one I love....and her kits are original, something I have been getting more and more disappointed with in the more popular, profit gaining designers (but that would a whole new post, right?)

There are a lot more I could be naming, linking and...well, there is only a certain amount of time and I need to get on with life, but I have to mention the Brazilian girls or I wouldn't be making justice...I have made a post for them and that was what inspired this post...
Through a new, net acquired friend by one of those impulses that makes you click on someone just because you liked the comment they left in someone else's blog, I came across this wonderful woman, who also has this other recipe blog. Yes, I know, both her blogs are in Portuguese, but her Layouts are universal so, if you like them, go leave her some love, she speaks English :)

She introduced me to her scrapping communities which have in turn brought the most beautiful love into my life. But again, this would all be in Portuguese and they have an entire blog of mine for them, so, lets get to the last point....

I have no intention of becoming a designer at the moment. If I had any at some point, starting to do CT work for some of them plus my incursions on paying for kits (even if only in the 1 dollar/Euro sales) and looking into their rules and...well, lets say I'm a bit disappointed and don't think it's worth my stress.
In looking into their rules, combined with the amazing, wonderful program I use (I'm scared of scrapping with PSE, have I said that before? LOL), the Digital Scrapbook Artist by Serif (which deserves a whole review, I know) I started finding my way to create my own stuff for my own books.
Not much, nothing totally fancy, but I finally put together a mini kit.

After all the support I received from some of the girls of a freebie group I belong to through my breast cancer adventure, I gave the mini kit away to them, post it in the group.
Then when I went to check the amount of downloads and compared to the amount of *thank Yous* I got....well...this wasn't a case in which they would have to (like here, I m afraid) do a word recognition or register or anything costly of their time....it involved only clicking *reply* and typing *thanks*.
So I passworded the thing.

Maybe not worth the bother to some.
Well up to *some*.
If you are not the *some* kind, and just happened to stumble across this blog and like what you see in the preview, just leave a comment, tell me you want this, I'll pass on the password :)
If you are a Facebook buddie, I'll be posting the password there.
If you are a friend of mine but are not in Facebook, email me, I ll get the password out to you.

Here are the previews:




now, this lower case was my very first try, I have no idea how designers make their alphas, but as I haven't connected my tablet to the Mac yet, I draw these with the mouse...so...well LOL


So, if you like what you see, and you have the password, this is where you get it:

Click here to download the ALPHA

Click here to download the PAPERS

Click here to download the FRAMES

And now I have *talked* enough, I'm gonna go back to our intensive movie watching program with my child (who isn't much of a child no more, but hey, she still enjoys her time with mum, gotta take advantage of that!)
I recommend LOVE FILM to anyone in the UK (if you are a friend of mine in *real life* I have 2 cards that will give you two months for free) we pay £9.50 per month, no late fees, they are quick in getting films back to you (2 days maximum) which means if we want, we watch more than 4 films a month, and there are a lot of films one can watch online as part of the subscription....great deal :)
(gonna get them to pay me for the advert LOL)
Ok, enjoy, I'm gonna go enjoy my saturday!
:)

Some things are designed to make you happy....

...like achieving things like these, let me show you and then I tell you the story :)





Remember how lucky I was feeling and how happy when I met, just before Christmas Karen from SnikerdoodleDesigns and she invited me to be part of her CT?
Well, I am now (and in one way or another again, I have Karen to thank) creating for 7hump3rs Designs too.
Long story, but these people are like a lil ray of sunshine in the grey skies (hopefully not for long) of London...
These first couple of LOs I made with her new kit, coming soon, so keep an eye on her store @ DigiScrapsDriveIn, as the kits is totally cute!!! have a look at these now and I tell you a bit more....





These two I made with the All Sass kit, and as I was posting a description when in the DSDO galleries I realized I was in fact posting about how I made the LO...sooo.... if you are new to digital scrapping and would like some guidance, a bit of ideas or just some technical questions, for these you can see it explained at the galleries HERE, but if interested I can start posting the tutorials here.





These two were done with a kit called Cute Little You, and funnily enough, Sarita and I had our eyes set for this kit, as all her nicknames online have to do with Dinosaurs and she wanted an avatar or two...that's why these are slightly different, are these just the cutest dinos or what?

So, in other words: I am creating away, happy and surrounded by the most beautiful people (not surprisingly the girl from 7hump3rs are Australians!) and, as a plus, I got the call from the secretary of that private doctor I went to see after all that hospital/breast cancer fiasco, she gave me an appointment for next week, meaning he is keeping his word...
Now the only thing is left (well, for the time being at least!) is get Sarita to finish with her bedroom so we can paint...summer is almost there, after all,and they say is gonna be hot... I would like that to happen, very, very much.

On the other hand, there is something that is saddening my happiness, and I am gonna ask now here for all of your prayers/good vibes/thoughts, spiritual strength for the people of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, who are suffering from severe flooding that has taken, at the last count last night, 184 lives....and it isn't only the disadvantaged who are suffering..lots of people who live hill side are at risk, with many having lost everything..
Thank you so much, and see you soon!

Puppy Love!!!!

is the new kit, wonderful kit from SnickerdoodleDesignsByKaren
these are my take on this great kit,which is very complete and also has a great alpha...
there is also a freebie Quick Page, just visit the blog by cliking in the highlighted link to get it..!
I tried to use the alpha in this next LO, but my program started behaving a bit weirdly...
The kids here are my cousin's daughter's children, aren't they just the cutest!!!????

and this is Lua, *daughter* to my friends Dilma & Lars, who own the place where we have stayed in North East Brazil the past trips, you can have a look at their place by clicking in the highlighted link...place is called Pousada Mundo Verde.
Pousada means small hotel,though this has nothing of *small*, it is, indeed, the most amazing *Green World*

aren't they cute?
yeah, I know, I just said that again!
things are relatively calm around here,,,so not only had I have time do to my CT *homework* for Snickerdoodle, but also found a couple of amazing places, will be back soon to share with you!

Waiting for Spring...

..literally, as the weather isn't collaborating here in London.
That is also the title of SnickerDoodleDesignsByKaren's last kit, a gorgeous one, and there is a freebie QP in her blog, if you would like to have it, just click in her link, visit her blog.
Here are a couple of pages I made with it...





I have followed Karen to the DigiScrapsDrive store & forums, a great place to be if you like freebies, challenges, talent and great company,so, maybe I'll see you there?

You can find Waiting for Spring HERE and the word art HERE , or you can save some money by getting the BUNDLE

There is a SnickerDoodleDesignsByKaren's gallery @ the DigiScrapsDriveIn, so, if you are looking for more inspiration, there are some ladies there that can provide some really good one (inspiration!)

See you there!