December Travel Scraps Challenge

I am hosting this month's Travel Scraps challenge over at Scrap Matters:

December Travel Scraps - Travel Goals

If you've never participated before, they are a great way to help get some of those travel photos scrapped. And if you don't travel much, this month's challenge is perfect for you since we're scrapping our travel goals! No photos are necessary for the challenge. Just tell us where you want to go.

Here is my layout that inspired this challenge:


{Click for credits}

I invite you all to come and join the fun!!!

Melissa

I'm still here!!!

WOW! I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted. EEK!! I'm still here. I'm hoping to have a few new releases tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I will also be hosting a speed scrap over at ScrapMatters at 3:00 PM ET.

Melissa

My first ever two pager templates and a freebie!

Before I get to today's new product, I have some really exciting news!!! I'm going to be an Aunt!!! YAY! My oldest brother and his girlfriend are expecting a child. I scrapped the first ultrasound photo:


(Click for credits)

I am very much looking forward to spoiling my future niece or nephew.

I am also very excited to bring you my first ever set of two pager templates. I love scrapping two pagers, but have never made a template of them. The inspiration for this first set comes from two of my paper layouts. I started out in paper scrapbooking. Back in May I hosted the "Paper Scraps" challenge at ScrapMatters and used a few of my paper layouts as inspiration. I loved the layout I did and realized that some of my paper layouts would be great to lift for digital layouts. So I bring you today, "Digitized" templates. Templates based off of those original paper layouts:

The link will be emailed to you within 24 hours of receiving payment.

Here are the original layouts. Sorry for the bad photos. I didn't have a chance to rephotograph them.





Check out the templates in action:

By Melissa:

Credits: "Say what" by Erica Zane


Credits: "Hollywood," "I'm a dreamer revisted," "Witchy woman," "Gallatic alliance," "Just frame crazy," and "Made in America" by Britt-ish Designs; "I'm yours" by Britt-ish Designs and DeCrow Designs

By Heather:

Credits:'Vintage Carnival' and 'Vintage Carnival: Tickets Please Dated' by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio

By Tanya:

Credits: "Passport Required" by Creations by Rachael, "Brown Town Alpha" by Britt-ish Designs,"I Wuff You" by Connie Prince and "Backyard BBQ Bonus Alpha" by WM [squared]

I also have a template freebie for you!



The freebie template is based on this layout:



-----> DOWNLOAD HERE <-----

I hope you enjoy this template! If you use my templates, I would love to see your layouts. Send me a link to Yzerbear19 (at) Yahoo Dot Com.

Come back on September 18, 2010 for my next template release. I have a few special things planned for that release.

Thank you!
Melissa

Buds and Blooms templates and a freebie!!!

I am so excited! Today I am releasing a brand new template pack, "Buds and Blooms" based on four of my flower layouts.



The oringal inspiration layouts:



Check out the fabulous layouts created by my Creative Team:

By Heather (snowdrop)


Credits: "Arabian Adventure," "Friendly," "Electric Pop," "Happiest Season of All," and "Glam-o-rama Paper Pack" by Britt-ish Designs and "Itty Bitty" by Britt-ish Designs and Erica Zane.

By Tanya (TanyaH666)


Credits: "After Dark" and "Dreaming Word Art" by Sahlin Studio

By Kendall (kendallt)


Credits: "Anything You Can Do" by Eva Kipler.

The template pack is just $5.00. Click on the "buy now" button below to purchase.

The link will be emailed to you within 24 hours of receiving payment. I also have a template freebie for you!



-----> DOWNLOAD HERE <-----

On September 2nd I hope to have a fabulous pack of two pager templaters for you. On the 18th I have several special things planned. So be sure to check back for those. Enjoy the templates!

If you use my templates, I would love to see your layouts. Send me a link to Yzerbear19 (at) Yahoo Dot Com.

Thank you!
Melissa

Big news!!!

After 3 years at ScrapMatters, Britt announced Friday she is closing her shop there and opening up her own shop!



There are a lot of really great Britt-ish Designs products on clearance at ScrapMatters. Be sure to check that out before the 20th.

Also, visit Britt's blog for more information as it comes out.

For Cassie!

On Friday July 30th Melinda and I had to rush our beloved cat, Cassiopeia (aka Cassie) to the animal hospital.

She had been up in the empty space above our cabinets in the kitchen on Thursday. Melinda got her down, but then she was hiding most of Friday. We thought she was just annoyed with the other cats since she really doesn't like the others. About 10:00 PM we checked on her under the bed and noticed that she wasn't behaving right. She also seemed to be having a difficult time breathing. Melinda started to panic immediately, whereas I remained calm and called the animal hospital.

We got her there and she was quite critical. It seems that she had fleas from when she got outside earlier in the week and was anemic. Her blood count was very, very low. Her temp was 92. A cat is normally 100-102. The vet said she had about a 50-50 chance of surviving. She would need a blood transfusion and a bunch of tests. It all came to about $1,000 which we didn't have. I called my brother in Detroit and asked him to loan us the money, which he did.

When I got up at 8:00 AM on Saturday Melinda called the vet and Cassie was doing a lot better. She was eating some, her temp was normal, her blood count was almost normal. Her chances were a lot better than the night before. We had to call back later in the afternoon to see when we could pick her up. Melinda and I were able to pick up Cassie at 4:00 pm. At the vet they said she was doing a lot better and was being very affectionate. She was much more alert and was definitely more like her usual self.

She started eating pretty much as soon as we got home. She improved so much over the course of the next week. She is pretty much back to her normal self. She has made an amazing recovery.

Cassie has always been very special to Melinda and I. We found her in a tree in our yard in September 2006. She was abondaned and lost. She immediately bonded with us. I remember she would follow us wherever we would go in the house. We would put her in the living room then run to the back to see if she would find us. She always found us. She had such spunk and personality. Since she was abandoned as a kitten she really doesn't like when we go away on vacation. She is by far our most spoiled cat.

It was devastating to think about life without her. She is like a child to us, but I knew she was strong and would pull through.

Afterwards I tried to come up with a way to raise some money to pay my brother back for Cassie's vet bills. I decided to create a template pack based on some of my cat layouts. All money from the sale of template will go towards repaying my brother for Cassie's vet bill and to go towards her future care.

So without further ado I bring you "9 Live"



Here are my original layouts:



To purchase, click on the "BUY NOW" button below.

The download link will be emailed to you within 24 hours of receiving payment.

Thank you all so much!

Happy Birthday ScrapMatters!!!

Welcome! ScrapMatters is turning 3 and having a huge birthday celebration!!!





Check out the awesome collab kit: Cupcakes & Candles by the ScrapMatters Designers - FREE with $20 purchase Aug. 6th-12th




There is a terrific sale, lots of games and Speed Scraps planned and of course the blog train! If you are riding the blog train you probably arrived here from Erica's blog. If at any point you get derailed you can find the complete list at ScrapMatters.

Since it's a birthday celebration, I wanted to share a story of one of my memorable birthdays. This year I turned the big 3-0! Ack! We had planned an awesome trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL to celebrate. Well things didn't go quite as we had planned. The day before my birthday I got sick. It was awful. I just prayed that I would feel well enough on my birthday to enjoy my special day. The morning of my birthday I woke and felt pretty good. At least well enough to to go to the park. We had breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom for 8:00 Am. This was an hour before the park officially opens! YAY! We got the park in plenty of time. We were allowed to go in before it opened, which was really cool. We were able to get some good photos even though it was kind of cloudy and a bit hazy that morning.



We got the restaurant and there weren't that many people. Normally we have dinner there and the place is packed. It was a lot less busy for breakfast. We didn't have to wait long to be seated. We love dinning at the Crystal Palace because you get to dine with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and of course my favorite character, Eeyore.



Breakfast was really good, though I didn't eat much since I didn't want to overdo it and get sick again. Afterwards we went on a few rides. We wanted to see the Faeries at Pixie Hollow, but I wasn't feeling that good so I decided to go back to the hotel, while Melinda stayed at the parks.

I enjoyed some peace and quiet at the hotel. It was kind of nice to just relax in the air conditioned room since it was EXTREMELY hot and humid outside.

Melinda came back after lunch and we both took a nap before dinner. We had dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary resort. We've normally gone there for breakfast in the past. It's another fun character dinning experience. You get to meet Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Minnie, and of course the mouse himself, Mickey. The characters were all awesome. My favorite was Minnie.



The food was OK. Melinda and I like breakfast there better. After dinner we went back to the room. It wasn't the birthday I had planned, but I really enjoyed it. I was glad that I was well enough to go to the two dinning experiences we had planned. For my birthday Melinda gave me two really cute Disney pins to add to my collection. My Mom and Chris each gave me money. I bought a really cute Tinker Bell watch for myself for my birthday.

Here is the quick page I created with the "Cupcakes and Candles" kit.

Sorry, this download has expired.

Your next stop on the blog train is Amber's blog. Amber's is the last stop on the blog train. If you missed any stops along the way you can always find the complete list at ScrapMatters.

Happy Birthday ScrapMatters!

Tuesday Template challenge!

I'm so excited to be hosting this week's Tuesday Template challenge at ScrapMatters! Are you ready for another Tuesday template? The template for this week will be a challenge.

Here is the template:



Based on this layout:



Visit ScrapMatters to download

The way that I have the template set up it has 15 photos, but feel free to use more or less. I included a single PNG of the grid as well as the individual PNGs so you can follow the pattern I used or create your own. Feel free to alter the template in any way: flip it, rotate, delete squares, etc.

Have fun!!! I can't wait to see how you all use this template!

Thank you!

Thank you all who downloaded my templates. I hope you enjoy them. If you use them, send me a link so I can see them and comment on them. You can PM me at ScrapMatters (yzerbear19) or send me an email at YBDesigns19 at yahoo dot com. Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.

I hope to send the bonus template out soon. I think I have almost finished the layout it is based on. I've been staring at it for days trying to decide if it is missing something. It just doesn't feel done. I've probably been staring at it for too long.

Thanks again!
Melissa

The Battle of Gettysburg template freebies

. . . the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here . . .

147 years ago on July 1, 1863 the first shots were fired near the small town of Gettysburg, PA. Confederate General Robert E. Lee did not intend to fight here, but fate brought the Union and Confederate armies together to clash among the hills and fields of Gettysburg. At the end of the 3 day battle, there were between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties. Gettysburg remains the bloodiest battle in American history. For many it marks the "high water" mark of the Confederacy. In November 1863 Abraham Lincoln came to the dedication of the Soldier's National Cemetery to delivery one of the most infamous speeches in history. Today the battlefield is maintain and preserved by the National Park System. More than 1.6 million people visit the park each year.

To honor the sacrifice made by all those brave men who gave the last full measure of devotion, I am offering a pack of three templates based off of three of my Gettysburg National Military park layouts.

Links to the original layouts:

-Align on the Colors!

-Pup tent

-The Stalwart Oak

---> SORRY, THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED < ---

This link will only be available July 1 - 3. After July 3 this pack of templates will not be available again.

We must never forget what they did at Gettysburg. We owe the men who paid the ultimate sacrifice here 147 years ago so much. Please take a time to remember them today and to say thank you for their sacrifices.

Melissa

Remembering Gettysburg

Thank you to all those who sent in their answers for my trivia question. I will get your bonus template sent out in the next few days. I'm still finishing up the layout that it will be based on. LOL

The answer to my question, what is significant about July 1-3 was that was when the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in 1863. If you've read my blog at all, you will have seen one or two of my layouts from my trips to Gettysburg. So to honor the 147th Anniversary of the battle I will be offering a set of three templates based on my three of my Gettysburg layouts:



You can see the original layouts here:



The link to download the template will only be available on July 1 through July 3rd. Be sure to come back during that time to download this special set of templates. After July 3rd they will not be offered again.

Melissa

Do you like templates?

I have a special treat for all of you who actually read or at least periodically check my blog. LOL I will have a special pack of templates offered for FREE on July 1-3. They will only be available for those three days. The link will expire at midnight ET on July 3, so be sure to get them before they are gone.

I will give a bonus template to anyone who emails me the answer to this question: what is the significance of July 1-3? Send your answers to YBDesigns19 at Yahoo Dot Com. Please send your answer in by MIDNIGHT ET on JUNE 26, 2010.

Good luck! And check back on June 27th for more information.

Melissa

Speed Scrap! 6/14 at 9:00 PM ET

I know this is short notice, but I will be hosting a Speed Scrap on Monday night at ScrapMatters!



Check out the awesome participation prize by GG Digital designs:



Hope to see you all there!

Melissa

Scrapbook layouts

I realize I haven't posted any layouts in a while. So sit back and enjoy! Click on the images for credits.

Valor and Dedication - The Texas state monument at Antietam



Support - The 14th Connecticut monument at Antietam



Overrun! - The Susquehanna Plantation was taken over by the Union army last year during Civil War remembrance weekend at Greenfield Village



First Look - Our first look at Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland



Coloring Eggs - Coloring Easter eggs with my Dad, Melinda, and Pat.



Destination: France - Photos of the French pavilion at EPCOT from March 2009



Liberty Craftworks - Photos of the Liberty Craftworks area of Greenfield Village



Sacrifice - Photos of the 27th Connecticut monument at Gettysburg



Every moment - Photos of some of the interaction with characters at Disney



It's A Small World - Photos of the ride from our March 2009 trip


Page 1 / Page 2

Baby Bear - Photos of the nursery at Boyd's Bears Country in Gettysburg, PA.



Crazy Love - Photos from the Michael Buble concert we went to at the Palace of Auburn Hills


Page 1 / Page 2

Disneyland Ears - Photos of Melinda and I in our ears at Disneyland in 2008



Safari Donald - Photos of us with Donald Duck at Animal Kingdom from March 2009



A whole new world - Photos of Melinda and I with Aladdin and Jasmine from January 2007.



A magic carpet ride - Photos of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin at Walt Disney World from March 2009



Princess Jasmine - Melinda and I with Jasmine at Goofy's kitchen at Disneyland



Follow the Evidence - Photos of us in front of the CSI: the Experience at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL



That is enough for now. I will come back to post more hopefully tomorrow.

Later!
Melissa