paper

{fresh seeds} Gladiolus

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It’s August.  It’s Warm.  Scratch that, it’s HOT.  Scratch that too, it’s Crazy Hot.  But it’s sunny and  it’s time for a Fresh BYOC and I’m feeling inspired by it’s classic and sometimes retro-y feel.  It feels cozy and homey and warm in a warm fuzzy kind of way.  And I so hope you like it!

I was inspired by this warm palette, summer’s end, and a touch of vintage to create these papery designs.  Meet Gladiolus:

I’m also happy to introduce Gladiolus {story seeds}.  These fun postage date frames and vintagey stamps (in .png + .abr formats) are inspired by old school postage stamps and are perfect for adorning any page or creatively adding dates to layouts and blog posts.:

Gladiolus {story seeds} includes 31 days of dated postage stamp frames (in .png format) that can be recolored or used as a clipping template and customized with papers. Frames come with a clipping mask for your photos or papers and are sized big at 4×5 for easy resizing. Accompanied by month (Jan – Dec) and year (2066-2016) vintagey post stamps (in .png and .abr formats). Use the brushes or re-color the .pngs to create a custom look.

And here’s a spot of Gladiolus inspiration:

Gladiolus and Gladiolus {story seeds} are available in my shoppe at The Lilypad through Sunday for 20% off!

As always I looove to see your stories and art too, so please feel free to share with me anytime.  Really!  Just shoot me a mail or share them on my facebook page.  And if you haven’t signed up the 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.

And don’t forget there is still time to check out and comment for your chance to win in the ongoing Grow With Love: One Year Later giveaway!  In celebration of one year of storytelling, three lucky commenters will receive our very first project Grow With Love: Marriage Edition or a gift certificate to shop my store!  So pop over for your chance to win. ♥

{fresh seeds} larkspur + letters {july}

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So it’s official: summer has arrived here in the desert Southwest…we’ve experienced our first “Severe Heat Advisory” warnings of the season which pretty much just means that the heat has evolved from Hot to Ridiculously Hot.  It also means that we spend a lot of time indoors enjoying the blessing of air conditioning (ohhh how grateful I am) daydreaming about if it’s possible to actually fry an egg on the pavement or rapid rise a loaf of bread out on my patio.

But apart from that heat-addled brains kind of daydreaming, I find myself daydreaming about making pretty things and why I love scrapbooking so much.  And it’s both of these…The Pretty and The Crafty…that have inspired this week’s {fresh seeds}.  I’m so happy to share two — yay! — new releases to share this week.

Meet Larkspur.  Larkspur is the latest in the “Full Bloom” series of templates are designed in the spirit of a “fuller” page, richer in layers with many little details and a little more depth.  It’s been awhile since I’ve released a “full bloom” set, and I have to confess I have a soft spot for them.  They are derived from some of my most favorite pages and they can really be so beautiful and well, full while still affording you room to “play” and modify the page to suit your personal scrapping sensibilities.

And here’s a bevvy of beautiful inspiration from the girls and the Pollys:

Annnnnd.  We’re on the precipice of July (yes, seriously.) which means it’s time for the next installment of Grow With Love: Letters Edition with Crystal Livesay.

If you’re not familiar with the Letters Project, Grow With Love: Letters Edition is a fresh regular monthly feature in the Artisan Notebook for the year 2011.   It is 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. This is not only a scrap project. This is about changing yourself and your relationships for the better. Still, as ever, these templates can be used apart from the prompts to tell any story and scrap any page tailored to your own scrapping needs and style.

This month’s offering is rooted in our creativity and crafty and scrappy.  It’s fun and happy!

And here’s a spot of inspiration:

Both new releases are available in my store at The Lilypad for 20% off through Sunday 26 June.

As always I looove to see your stories and art too, so please feel free to share with me anytime.  Really!  Just shoot me a mail or share them on my facebook page.  And if you haven’t signed up the 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 (and maybe a fun summer freebie soon and very soon!)

Also!!!!

Registration for Grow With Love: Staycation has begun!  Staycation is a fun and relaxed and inspired summer adventure in storytelling.  I encourage you to learn more about it {HERE} and listen to Crystal and I yabber about it in this fun post too.  We so hope you’ll join us in this fun adventure!!!

I hope you have a fabulously pretty and crafty weekend!!

Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day

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Happy Happy {i}NSD!!  I hope that everyone is well and enjoying a happy and scrappy day today enjoying all the fun on blogs, and in the stores and forums!!  And I hope that you get to enjoy some time scrapping your stories this weekend too!

This weekend is one that not only celebrates this hobby and storytelling journey I love so much, it is also the anniversary of my design debut!  This time last year marked the beginning of Zinnias and Swallowtails and I am SO very grateful for all the support and inspiration I have received from all of you along the way!  Thank you!

There is SO much to share today so I’ll dive right in!!  I have some {fresh seeds} share and some blog hoppy {free seed} goodness too!

You may have found your way here from Laura’s blog as you travel the fabulous DSA iNSD blog train but if you’ve missed a spot or lost your way, you can head to the DigiScrapAddicts forum to find the complete list and start fresh.

Or you may be visiting today as part of the amazing hoppity hop-ness of The Lilypad blog hop.  In which case you probably found your way here after visiting Krista’s blog.  If you get missed a stop on the TLP hop or have lost your way you can find a complete list {HERE}.

Either way there are a bevvy of amazing freebies to snag today and I’m so happy to share a little something with you too!

I was inspired by all things fresh and sunny and celebratory to create something fun and versatile.  I so hope you like it!  You can {download here} or click on the image below.

Your next stop on The DSA {i}NSD train is Live Your Stories which is home to my dear Crystal where she has a couple fabulous somethings for you today! Don’t forget if you’ve missed a spot or lost your way on the DSA train, you can head to the DigiScrapAddicts forum to find the complete list and start fresh.

Your next stop on The Lilypad hop is Rebecca’s blog.  I know you’ll love what she has to share too!  And remember if you get missed a stop on the TLP hop or have lost your way you can find a complete list {HERE}.

And now on to even more {i}NSD fantasticness…

I have two, nay three amazing collaborations coming to The Lilypad today!  And I hope that you will find they are just what you need to help you scrap all the amazing goodies you are snagging this weekend!

One year ago, NSD marked my designing debut and I celebrated with the support and cooperation of my dear friend Crystal as we released a special template-only grab bag together.  And we thought it would be fun to revisit the grab baggy spirit and fun!  So I’m happy to present the 2nd Annual {i}NSD Grab Bag collaboration from Zinnias and Swallowtails and Crystal Livesay.  This is a versatile set of 8 layered templates inspired by layers and a play with paper.

And here is a full reveal of what you will find inside this fun little grab bag:

You can grab this bag o’ templatey goodness in my store for $3 throughout the weekend.  After this time it will return to it’s original price of $9.

Here is a spot of grab bag inspiration:

I have also teamed up with the ever amazing Amy Martin to create a set of templates inspired by the process of moving, packing and unpacking.  We always have fun collaborating together and this set was no exception.

Meet Packed, a set of 10 layered templates created in the spirit of  tighter, layery, stacky compositions:

And Unpacked, a complementing set of 10 templates created in the spirit of  airier, looser compositions in mind:

You can also grab the bundle, Packed and Unpacked to enjoy the full set of 20 templates.

And here’s some amazing Packed and Unpacked inspiration:

And lastly, Amy and I have created this fun set of Thankful cards, which are perfect for creating heartfelt custom thank{full} greetings for those people in your lives whom you’d like to shower with thanks!

And don’t forget to check out all the fresh goodness at the Pad for this month’s BYOC.

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  the 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.

There are also two giveaways happening now.

Be sure to check out:

Brought To You By the Letter J for your chance to win a gift certificate provided by Jacque Larsen

Scrap Your Theme Song for your chance to win a gift certificate provided by Kristin Cronin-Barrow

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And with that, I shall send you on your way with wishes for a beautiful weekend full of all things scrappy!