Hi there everyone! I am so excited to be here today with a super fun contest! Behind the scenes we are working on a team page and we wanted to do something different instead of just the regular old bio and pic. We are storytellers after all! So we decided to have the girls scrap their theme song. Music is a huge part of our lives and sometimes there are songs that totally speak to us and scream “This is sooo me!” or maybe they just lift your spirits and you find yourself singing it all the time. Either way, we often are moved and inspired by the music around us.

We wanted to have a fun little contest for our readers too! So, I want you to think about the song that describes you right now. Maybe it’s the anthem you live by. The hymn that moves your soul. The song that sounds like it could be written from your own life. Whatever it is, scrap it however you are inspired to!   You may use any products of your choice.  And you one entire month — woot! — until Tuesday 31 May 12am EST (Friday night) to get your pages posted in OUR GALLERY and link us up in the comments of this post!

What do you win you ask?! One of our dearest friends and designers was super generous! Kristin Cronin Barrow will be giving the winner of this challenge an amazing GC of $25 to her store! Such an amazing prize and her goodies are soooo beautiful! In fact! I used them when making my theme song page!

Her stuff is super versatile and 25 will get you lots of amazing goodies!! Don’t forget you have until Tuesday 31 May 12am EST (Friday night) to get your pages posted in our gallery here at Plant Your Story!! I cannot wait to see what songs move you guys!!

So I’ve always had one of those really active imaginations…the kind where I am completely capable of scaring myself silly if I think too much..do you know what I mean?  On the other hand, I love that my imagination carries me to fun and sweet lands with my Bugga, who is Miss Imagination right now.  She is immersed much of the day in the beautiful, whimsical, innocent lands of her imaginative play.  And one of our special moments these days, comes just before bedtime, just before we say “sleep tight”…she will launch in to a wonderfully spun tale of rescue dragons and unicorns and animals of all sorts.

It’s that spirit of imagination and bedtimes that guided my steps when sweet sweet Sandra aka (FruitLoOp Sally) first shared her amazingly adorable and imaginative creations for our latest collaboration:

We’d love to share with one lucky commenter!   If you like to win this digital kit + set of templates, just leave a comment below, for a chance to win before Thursday 17 February at 10pm (PST).   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 (please post as a new comment each time).

I will announce the winner here on the blog and in my newsletter on Friday 18 February when Sleep Tight, Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite hits The Lilypad and Ninth and Bloom.

Lots of luck!

So..in the spirit of all things ooey-gooey and mostly in the spirit of giving thanks to YOU for all your wonderful support and warm words and amazing inspiration, I have sent out an exclusive newsletter freebie to all my newsletter subscribers.  So…if you’re a subscriber, be sure to check your emails for the Friday 11 February email to snag your Ooey-Gooey exclusive:

If you’re not yet a subscriber and you’ve missed out this time around, please don’t fret because you can subscribe any time and will receive regular exclusive news, savings and any future exclusive freebies.

I know many of you have already snagged and downloaded and I wanted to give you a few more details about playing along with the scrap-the-exclusive fun.  Anyone who is interested can scrap the Ooey-Gooey newsletter freebie and share it on my Facebook page for a chance to be my creative “director” in a future release.  You will guide my creative steps to create a pack of templates that reflects your style and what you’re looking for in template design…would you pick a multi-photo inspired design?  A big-photo inspired design?  A lots of little details design?  A graphic style design? What colors would you use?  How would it reflect what you hope to see?  YOU will get to tell me what you’d like in a fresh set of templates and you will of course receive them for free.

You can upload your Ooey-Gooey page any time before the end of February as the Ooey Gooey event ends on 28 February.

I’ve had a few questions about how to upload a photo to the fan page…so here’s a quick visual look at how to do that.  This should work on my page or any other fan page.  You can do this for the Ooey-Gooey challenge or any other time.  I’d love love to see your pages!  ♥

To upload your layout to the Zinnias & Swallowtails FB page simply click on “share: “photo” and upload your layout..you can include a blurb about what you used, say “hi” or anything at all and viola! it will appear on the Z&S wall.  Woot! ♥

So hope that helps!  And I can’t wait to see your pages with Z&S goodies!  ♥

There is something about sitting down to write a letter, be it with pen and paper or on the computer, or in a journal or diary…the pouring of feelings and wishes and…truth…from your heart to someone else (or even to yourself) is a special kind of personal.  There is a kind of romance to it all. 

And it was letter writing that inspired Crystal and I to create our latest Grow With Love adventure.  We are thrilled that Grow With Love: Letters Edition will be a regular feature each month in the Artisan Notebook throughout 2011 (the first month is available now).  Each month we hope to inspire you with a series of templates and journaling prompts rooted in letter writing that we hope will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone a little bit, reflect on your relationships and loves, and love a little more deeply and truly. 

The templates and prompts are arriving at TLP Friday. Here's a closer peek:

As always, while GWL: Letters has inspiration rooted in letter writing, and heartfelt journaling, these templates can be used in any way that suits your style and story.  We so hope you like them!

And I'd love to share them with one lucky commenter!   If you like to win, just leave a comment below, for a chance to win before Thursday 13 January at 9pm (PST).   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 (please post as a new comment each time). 

I will announce the winner here on the blog and in my newsletter on Friday 14 January.

Lots of luck!

I'm so in the holiday mood.  I know it's still not even turkey day here in the states, but I can't help it.  I'm completely and totally gooped up about the approaching advent and holiday season.  It just makes me happy.  In a totally cheesy, memory making, legacy driven kind of way.  I love the traditions, I love the sights and smells, I love the anticipation, the giving, the caring just a little more, I even love the busy. 

And so when my sweet Crystal and I were contemplating a holiday Grow With Love series, there was no hesitation.  We both just knew we wanted to develop and share a holiday-centered project.  And so we've created a shortened version of Grow With Love for the holidays, so I guess you could say it's more a Twelve Days of Christmas kind of thing.  We are excited to share some wonderfully holiday-centric prompts with you all and they can be used in concert with and to enhance any other holiday project you may be pursuing!  As always we hope this holiday edition will help guide you through the season in a memory-minded way so that you can capture your stories and let them make your holiday a little something extra special this year.

Here's a peek at what's to come:

And our prompts for this are really wonderful for preserving this beautiful time of year in a special way — I can't wait to scrap them all!

So I'm rambling on and on like this because, as always, we are so eager to share Grow With Love with you.  And we like to make you smile.  Soooo….I will be giving away our new Grow With Love: Holiday to one lucky commenter.  If you like to win, just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite holiday song is, for a chance to win before Thursday 25 November at 7pm (PST).   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.

now to break out the drumroll…..

Thank you to everyone who participated in the {fresh seeds giveaway}!!  I’m happy to send Congratulations to….

and

Congratulations to Alice C.  and La’Sahawn!!  Please send me an email to claim your prize.  Woot!