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{heartsong} revisited

As some of you may know, our family has called the Gulf Coast "home" for
many years now.  And we love it so. It
is beautiful. It is vibrant. Tomorrow we drive away and head to westward for a fresh adventure.  But we will think of this coast home so fondly.  And we will remember how We took our daughter to the beach, we will remember the sound of the waves crashing on the sugar white sands, the smell
of the air. How we would see dolphins at play, view all manner of beautiful
sea birds and sea life. We
have enjoyed the shade of the majestic live oak trees, we have
appreciated the vitality and beauty of the wetlands. We get to enjoy
the people who live here. They are warm and genuine and kind and
totally full of life.

Gulfreliefinspirationmosaic

And I remember with a fresh ache, when the Deepwater Horizon disaster happened on April 20, we could not have imagined the heartsickness that would follow.  For
more than 90 days, oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico before the leak
was finally "capped" in late July.  It is estimated that approximately
4.9 million barrels (or 205.8 million gallons) of oil spilled into the
waters.  It has been one of the biggest environmental disasters in
decades.   Hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands, and estuaries along
the northern Gulf Coast have been impacted.  The spill, though
temporarily "capped", continues to cause extensive damage to marine and
wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. 
Families are without work and marine and land animals continue to
suffer.  And there are still many unknowns about the long term effects
of the oil and of chemical disbursements used in attempts to curtail the
flow and impact upon the regional coastline and waters.


Gulfreliefinspirationmosaic2

In the face of this uncertainty, this loss, this "stain", I just ached.  And I felt it on my heart to try to do something, any
some small something to try to help raise awareness and support for the
region.  And so as I say "goodbye" to this land I love, I wanted to remind you that today is the last chance to support the cause of gulf restoration and wildlife and family support, which is all still so so very needed, with a purchase of Hands Across the Gulf.

I
got together some of my most dear and favorite artists in the community
who shared the same tug on their hearts for this disaster. 
In the
works for weeks and available for nearly a month so far, Hands Across the Gulf is our heartsong for
this cause. 


Hatgpromotwo

Forty-five
designers across the digital scrapbooking community have united with
one shared cause:  to raise awareness and to support recovery efforts
for the environment and those impacted by this tragic disaster. 

Participating
designers include:  Aja Abney, Amy Martin, Biograffiti, Boutique Cute
Dolls, Createwings Designs, Deena Rutter, Designs by Cindy Schneider,
Designs by Crystal Livesay, Dido Designs, Dunia Designs, Emily Merritt
Designs, Fiddle Dee Dee Designs, Fizzy Pop Designs, FruitLoOp Sally
Designs, Laurie Ann (Heaven's Gate Designs), Holliewood Studios, Holly
Designs, Holly Spring Designs, Jazzmin Designs, Jennifer Barrette
Designs, Jacque Larsen, Juliana Kneipp Designs, Kay Miller Designs,
Kaye Winiecki, Kitty Designs, Kristin Aagard Designs, Lauren Grier,
Leora Sanford, Loreta Labarca, Micheline Martin, Nikki Beaudreau,
Paislee Press, One Little Bird Designs, Sabrina Dupre, Sahlin Studio,
Sarah Cornish of My 4 Hens Photography, Shabby Miss Jenn, Studio Basic
Designs, Sugarplum Paperie, Tickled Pink Studios, Tiny Toes Designs,
Tracie Stroud, Vera Lim, Vinnie Pearce, and zinnias and swallowtails.

And I have to say, as empirically as possible, I don't think I've
ever encountered such a beautiful collection of designs in a charity
collaboration before.  I love the range of scrapping styles
represented, I love the beautiful artistry and creativity expressed.  I
love how GINORMOUS it is (and really, it's huge.).  Here's a peek at
the main preview (there are many more detailed previews in the shoppe,
so feel free to check those out as well):

HandsAcrossTheGulf1

And here's a closer look the templates from me that you'll find in the kit:

Sgleason_handsacrossthegulf_preview

And I wanted to compile a few inspiration pages to share with you so you can get a closer look at the kit in action:

Inspirationhatg

Inspirationhatg2

Inspirationhatg3

This
gorgeous kit representing the varied styles of the scrapping community,
is positively overflowing with beautiful papers, unique elements,
templates and Photoshop actions.  All told, designers have contributed
more than 100 papers and 200 elements,  2 full alphas, 18 templates,
and 4 PS actions to Hands Across the Gulf. 

Available for sale for one month only, 100% of the proceeds from this kit will be donated to the National Wildlife Federation and to the United Way's Gulf Recovery FundAnd tomorrow 15 September, is the last day this beautifulness will be available.

Thank you so SO much to all who have supported this cause so far.  

I hope everyone is well and I hope you all have a beautiful week!!

{fresh seeds} and {blooming creativity} 10 September — Learning Garden and Clippables: Schooly

I'm thrilled to share with you one more new release this week, this time
coming to CatScrap, where I am so honored to be guesting this month.  Learning
Garden
is a series of fun and playful template designs inspired by
all things "schooly". It's just perfect for those back to school pages,
learning and homeschooling pages and yet versatile enough that they can
be modified to suit any story.

Sgleason_learninggarden_preview

And here's a bit of Learning Garden inspiration.  I really loved how the
team used these templates to create both schooly and non-schooly pages!:

Inspirationlearninggarden

Inspirationlearninggarden2

In addition to these fun templates, I am also releasing a set of matching
"clippables" — Clippables: Schooly –which are customizable element
templates.. I had tons of fun making them and hope like them! They are super
simple, but lots of fun and you can clip any papers to them or embellish
with additional elements and can be used to create the perfect fun and
custom extra touch to your pages!

Sgleason_clippables_schooly

Learning Garden and Clippables:Schooly are available for 20% off through Saturday. 

There is so much on the near and distant horizon that I can't wait to share
with you!!  Some of it starts right away!

There will be lots and lots of fun news and chances to save at After
Five Designs this month, as A5D celebrates its 2nd birthday!  Be on the
lookout for some amazing releases, freebies, games, new designers (who I
promise you will be really exciting), an A5 ct call and a huge sale!

There's even more exciting news to come, including a couple new fantastic
collaboration projects which I'm really excited to share with you once I get
settled after our relocation.  Yay!!  Lots to look forward to.  Lots.

Hope you all have a beautiful Friday!!!

Sig

moving and shaking and sharing a {giveaway winner}

We are up to our eyeballs in our move process, but I wanted to pause to share the winner of the Fresh Cut: Sunflower and Learning Garden giveaway!  Woooot!  I do not have my handydandy Photoshop, as we have unplugged the desktop computer (gasp!), but I did have a date with my favorite Mr. Random of random.org and he happily shared with me today's winner……………..number 17.

Congratulations CraftyCat!!!

Please email me at zinniasandswallowtails AT gmail DOT com so I can get you set up with your templates right away.  Yay!!

Thank you to everyone who participated!!!  There will be many more chances to win future releases so don't lose heart if you missed it this time!

Oh and by the way…I'm in love with all the fun songs!!!!  Thank you so so much for sharing your favorites with me!!! ♥

I will have another post tomorrow to share more from my latest release at my guesty home CatScrap. 

In the meantime don't forget that you can snag Fresh Cut: Sunflower for 20% off through Friday 10 September.

Sgleason_sunflower_preview

Hope everyone has a happy and sunflowery kind of day!!

Sig

{fresh seeds} and {blooming creativity} 9 September — Fresh Cut: Sunflower

This is the time of year when our sunflowers are growing BIG and happy.  They really are so sunny and when Bugga and I are out in the garden you can't help but smile when you see them.  So in the spirit of the sunny happy flower we so love, I am thrilled to share with you my latest {fresh seeds}:  Fresh Cut: Sunflower

Sgleason_sunflower_preview

Fresh Cut: Sunflower is available at After Five Designs for 20% off through Friday 10 September.

And here are heaps of positively sunny and beautiful inspiration from my girls: 

Inspirationsunflower 

Inspirationsunflower2 

Inspirationsunflower3

Inspirationsunflower4

I so hope you like them and feel inspired!

As always I looove to see your
stories and art
too, so please feel free to share with me anytime.  Just shoot me a
mail or share them on my facebook page.  And if you haven't signed up for my
newsletter
yet you may want to do that so you can be the first to
hear the latest news and get the latest exclusive savings.  Woot!

I have been jotting down all your fantastic road trip song suggestions (we are going to have the best travel mix ever!) and look for a fresh post from me later today announcing the winner of the giveaway.  Double woot!

Not only that… I will be back with more {fresh seeds} and {blooming creativity} on Friday, when my latest, Learning Garden and my first set of fun and playful Clippables arrives at CatScrap, where I'm guesting this month.  Triple Woot!

Hope you all have a beautiful day! 

Sig

a {giveaway} here and a {giveaway} there

So we are definitely in a season of transition these days and in many ways.  As many know we are on the verge of a big move, and so our minds are full of all things moving related: packing, cleaning, yard sales, cleaning, decluttering, cleaning, organizing, enrolling in school, cleaning, saying goodbyes, making lists, and cleaning.  I wanted to share with you a couple {fresh releases} before we hit the road and I so hope you will like them!

First, is Fresh Cut: Sunflower which will be arriving at After Five Designs on Thursday.

Sgleason_sunflower_preview

And on Friday something fun and playful will be landing at CatScrap, where I’m guesting for the month of September!  Woot!  This is Learning Garden, which is perfect for those back to school and learning pages, but also can be used for any general page too too.

Sgleason_learninggarden_preview

I need a little diversion from all the cleaning (lol!) and so I feel like spreading a little sunshine.

Leave a comment below telling me a good road tripping/travel song is,
for a chance to win Fresh Cut: Sunflower or Learning Garden
before Thursday 9 September at 10am (CST).  You can increase your
chances at winning by posting about the giveaway
on Twitter and Facebook.  Be sure to come back here with a link in the
comments.

{blooming creativity} Double Bloom and Single Stems

Hope everyone is having a beautiful Friday!! 

We are in the midst of "crunch time" for our move and so the days are just flying by when I wish they would slow down just a little bit.  But I'm (so) happy to take a pause from all the hustle and bustle and share with you some amazing inspiration with my latest {fresh seeds}.  I welcomed the autumn term guests to the team this week (yay!) and they, along with my out-of-this-world full time creative team have simply blown my mind with their fabulous plays with these goodies! 

I hope you find these versatile templates just what you need to scrap those special moments and memories!  Here's a peek at some Double Bloom {vol. one}, Single Stem {one} and Single Stem {two} inspiration:

Inspirationdouble1

Inspirationss 

Inspirationss2

Inspirationss3

Double
Bloom {vol. one}
, Single
Stem {one}
and Single
Stem {two}
are available at After Five Designs for 20 % off through Friday 27
August
.

Lots and heaps and loads of more information and news will be coming soon and very soon.  So be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for exclusive newsletter savings and first peeks at new releases.  I loove to see your pages, so please feel free to share them with me anytime! 

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend!! 

Sig

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