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.

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.

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. 

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):

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

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:

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 Fund.  And 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!!

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.

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!:

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!

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!!!

I can hardly believe that it is September.  Do I say that at the start of every fresh month?  "I can't believe it's…."?  I think I do.  It's just that I have a huge case of "I can't believe how fast time is flying by".  In just two short weeks my family will be on the move!  But there is lots of fun and fresh releases in store before then that I can't wait to share with you!  Including today's {fresh seeds} that I hope will help your creativity bloom!   First is [5]Double Blossom [vol. one] — a set of two coordinating templates that can be used together for your two-page or P365 layouts, or can be scrapped separately.

Next are two separate Single Stem templates that off a little playfulness with paper, some richness in layers, and a smattering of journaling.  And as always you can transform these to suit your own scrapping style and needs. I so hope you like them!!

You can snag Double Blossom {vol. one}, Single Stem {one} and Single Stem {two} for 20% off through Friday 3 September.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some beautiful inspiration and more details about some of the news on the horizon.

One BIG and FABULOUS thing I can share right now is that I am guesting at CatScrap for the month of September!!!  SOOO excited about this!  And my releases there are currently 20% off too too.  Woot!

Hope you all have a beautiful day!!