So I have a confession.  I am a sometimes-horrible procrastinator…I always have good intentions, but sometimes in all the hustle and bustle and as a byproduct of my perfectionism, I end up sqeeeeezing things in just before the wire.  Seems to happen every year with my holiday gifts.  And this year was no exception.  I am just finishing up some homemade gifts for my loved ones. 

All this to say (get to the point, right?) I do love to make things when I can because there's just something so heartfelt and personal about gifts of creation.  And one of my favorite things to do each holiday season is to create and gift a cd calendar to loved ones. 

"Mistletoe" is inspired by my 2011 calendars and really is perfect for creating a heartfelt and homemade (and useful!) gift for your own friends and family.   It's as easy as pie when you choose any papers and elements and your favorite photos of the year to create a sweet keepsake calendar that fits perfectly into any cd case.  The perfect addition and decoration for any desk!

Includes 12 layered 4.75" X 5.25" cd calendar templates in .psd and .tiff formats (fits most cd cases) and separate calendar elements in .png format that can be used for any calendar-y project. Completely customizable (you can choose the papers and elements, alphas and fonts) so you can get the most out of the template designs and they can reflect you and yours, wherever you may live. Drop shadows can be used as is or customized to your liking. Can be used in a fully digital manner or as a hybrid project!

So..if you're still on the hunt for some fun and easy last minute gifts that are heartfelt and homemade, I hope you'll enjoy Mistletoe.  It will be available for 20% off throughout the weekend.

Happy Scrapping! 

Just a quick little note to let you know about a couple fun holiday-y goodies I have up in my shoppe for Tadpole Tuesday. Woot!

Here's a peek at Cranberry {clipped} and Clippables: Balsam.  I love the idea of something with a little whimsy and simple classic sentiments for the holidays and these little goodies can add just that to your photos, pages, blog posts and even cards or notes.

Both are available (with many other amazing goodies from the girls) for $1 today only!  Woot!

Happy Friday!! I hope that everyone has had a beautiful week!

December is, quite literally, THE busiest month for us in our house and family.  Apart from all the holiday-y fabulousness (which you already know makes my heart so happy), there are no fewer than 9 birthdays to be celebrated this month.  And not even like John Doe the random neighbor down the street birthdays.  I’m talking family and such-close-friends-they-should-be-family kinds of birthdays.  Today was my dear husband’s birthday.  He’s one of the reasons I love scrapping so much.  He makes me laugh every.single.day.  He makes life beautiful.  You have a person in your life like that?  I hope so.

All this to say…it only seemed fitting to smooosh lots of news into one post, since December is all about smooshing as many celebrations and as much love and happy into each day as is humanely possible.  And so today I’m happy to share two {fresh seeds} arriving in two different places.  That’s right…I say two, because I’m so very happy to be guesting at Scrap Orchard for the month of December!!  I am so lucky to be among such wonderful company there and all the fun happening this month with their wonderful Advent Calendar event.

And today I’ve released Paper Garden {volume two} there.  I am a paper lover.  I love pretty paper.  I love paper play and fun with shapes and all things paper-y and layer-y.  Paper Garden is inspired by all of that.  And this is the latest.

You can snag Paper Garden {volume two} at Scrap Orchard for 20% off through the weekend. Woot!

Next, it’s BYOC time at The Pad!!  I have always loved the amazing and unique products the girls release at the start of the month, and this month’s BYOC is no exception.  I am in love.  And, as ever, so grateful to be a part of this amazing team of designers.

Meet my offering for the December BYOC: Cranberry

I so hope you like it!  And as always you can grab Cranberry for 20% off through the weekend.  Double woot!

If you are a newsletter subscriber, you will have received special coupon for a bit of extra exclusive subscriber savings.  If you aren’t, feel free to sign up so you can get extra little gifties too in the future. ♥

And I will leave you this evening with a smattering of amazing inspiration from the girls and Pollys.  Wow!

I hope you all enjoy your Friday!  I am unplugging a bit to say “yes” to my Bugga as part of the latest Grow With Love:Kids prompt and challenge, but I’ll be back later with our first Grow With Love: Holiday post and some encouragement for the busy weekend.

Happy Scrapping!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US celebrating today!!  I hope that your days were full: of friends and family, of good food and good memories!! We nestled in to a good day with friends and enjoyed some good eats.  I always feel so reflective and so grateful today and throughout the holiday season.  I am so very blessed and my heart is full of thanks.

Thank you to you too, for all the warm support and inspiration and kindness!

As today’s holiday wanes into Black Friday I know there is a lot of busy and family and noshing and shopping so I’ll try not to ramble on too much today.  I did want to let you know about the amazing goings on at The Pad this weekend, including Black Friday sales (as in completely crazy sales — and you know those don’t happen too very often at The Lilypad) and two {fresh seeds} from me that I am really excited to share.

Here’s a peek at the happending at The Lilypad.

I have a few things available among the amazing Doorbusters, including Heirloom Garden which is making its debut at The Lilypad.  If you haven’t had a chance to snag this collection of templates inspired family, heritage, history, and stories in varied scrapping styles, now’s the best chance to do so.  My bundles and my fantastic holiday card collaboration with Amy Martin, Good Cheer, will also be available for 50% off.  These sales activate at 4am EST and run through 10am EST.  Woot!

The sales continue throughout the weekend (40% off of Friday, 30% off on Saturday, and 20% off on Sunday), so if you miss the doorbusters never fear there are still chances to save BIG.  Everything in my store will be on sale (new releases excluded, which are available for 20% off through the weekend).

So speaking of new releases.  Let’s take a peek at this week’s {fresh seeds}.  You already had a peek at Grow With Love: Holiday, my latest collaboration with Crystal.  We are so excited to share this with you and hope it will help you dive into the holidays with a storytelling focus and a heart full of perspective.

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I wanted to thank everyone who played along for the {giveaway} of Grow With Love: Holiday.  I really loved reading through all the responses and hearing about your favorite holiday tunes!!  I kept nodding my head in agreement with so many (O Holy Night for example — which still manages to give me chills every.single.time. I hear it) and giggled aloud just thinking about a few (Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer).  So thanks for a bright little spot in my evening tonight.

I turned to Mr. Random again to help me select our winner.  And I want to say a big Congratulations to…….

Congratulations, Carrie!  Please send me an email to claim you prize.  ♥  If you missed out on this giveaway, head over to Crystal’s blog for a last moment chance to win..there’s still time to squeak in for a chance {HERE}.

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Ok…I know I said I wouldn’t ramble too much, but I can’t close without showing you what else is in store for this weekend.  I have teamed up again with the very fabulous Amy Martin.  We have been conceiving and working on this fun and playful set of templates for weeks now and I’m so happy to share them with you today!

You can snag the full set or just Bugga or just Frogger.  All are available throughout the weekend for 20% off.

Also, as if that weren’t enough..there is an amazing Free With Purchase collaboration, Fall Moments, between The Lilypad and Sweet Shoppe Designs.  Seriously.  And it’s gorgeous.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a closer look and some inspiration.  For now, I hope you all have a beautiful Friday!  And for those venturing out for the sales, have fun and be safe!

Happy Friday!!

This week has positively flown by for me, as weeks always seem to do as the holidays approach.  We've been happily busy with holiday preps and considering gratefulness and trying to slow everything down just a *wee* bit so we can really soak up the magic of this time of year.  And can I just say that reading all your comments in the {giveaway} post got me even MORE in the mood for the holidays, if that were possible.  LOL!

All that to say a lot of my happily busy mood lately has been creating some {fresh seeds} and I'm really happy to share these with you today:

Taking Shape

Plant Your Story: Quoted {volume two}

Plant Your Story: Listed {volume two}

All three sets are available in my shoppe throughout the weekend for 20% off!!

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!

Next week I'll have oodles to share with you with more news and fresh goodies on the way, including another collaboration with my dear friend Crystal.  She's posted a peek at what's to come on her blog, so be sure to check that out. 

Also the Grow With Love: Kids project is ongoing and we've been so happy to see all the amazing pages!  You are welcome to join in anytime and we hope you do!  ♥

Stay tuned for some {blooming creativity} inspiration.  In the mean time I hope you all have a beautiful day!

I'm happy to say that I have brought my Plant Your Story series to The Lilypad.  As you know the storytelling of scrapbooking is something so near and dear to my heart so I really love to play with different storytelling inspired designs and ideas.  And the Plant Your Story series of templates is designed with your own stories in mind: the everyday, the event, the special and fun little tidbits, the serious, the playful. 

So starting today you can find my heart of storytelling at my new home! Woot!  And all five of these sets are available in my store for 20% off through the weekend.  Double woot!

Plant Your Story: Letters and Lessons, inspired by pages where I've shared my heart with Bugga through letters I write to her, sharing hopes, truths, lessons…

Plant Your Story: Listed {volume one}, inspired by lists…lists of favorites, of hopes, of fears, of dreams, of things.

Plant Your Story: Blocked {volume one}, inspired by my love for playing with journaling in design-minded ways, so it becomes a part of the design itself.  Playful and fun!

Plant Your Story: Blocked {volume two}, originally available at Catscrap this autumn.  More blocky fun!

Plant Your Story: Quoted {volume one} inspired by all things quotey.  Those quotables our loved ones say, the silly things our little kids say, favorite quotes, conversations.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some inspiration from recent releases and more!  Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!