I tried a fantasy page

And I like the outcome!

The Scraplift Challenge at DSO this month lifted a layout by Benita - I'm sure she won't mind me showing you ;o)

It sort of frightened me off to start with, but when I was looking for photos to scrap with my next CT Xmas Kit, I come across this picture of my "men" getting last years Xmas tree.Going through LouCee's "Snow Ho Ho" I found a great background for the picture, and the layout just started coming together all on its own. Even easier having joined in CreativeTechs awesome PS course in the past months, cause the extracting is getting easier (not easy, but easier!)
But enough suspense, here is the finished layout.
Who knows I may even resize it for a Xmas card for this year...

I also made another layout using LouCee's kit, only back in my comfort zone.
This one is for the Lyrics Challenge at DSO. The song this month is "We are family"

How about coming to join the fun challenges...
CU there, or here again soon

New Kit - and it's FREE for 48 hours!

Yep, you read right, I have a new kit out and it is free from NOW until Thursday June 25 (12pm US Central Time!) Click on the image to go and pick it up at DigitalArts Cafe, but don't rush off too quick, I have something else to show you before you click and run


Here are a couple of the layouts my CT has created with the kit
The first two are by Benita, thank you so much! Check out the extraction on them both, awesome!




And these three are by Dinphy! (btw, she has a special offer on you might want to check out on her blog), where today she also has featured her layouts, with a bit more background about them, check it out! Thank you Dinphy, I love them all!


But that is not all! I put together these bragbook pages, which also have gone in the store today, and for just $1.99 you get 9 bragbook pages (7x5 in), and if you hurry they are on offer with 20% off until Friday 26th June. Again, I have linked the image for you!
CU soon (oh and a little love can go a long way, you know where the comments button is, don't be shy!)

Lots Chirpy chirpy hop hop layouts!

And a little bit about our weekend! Well, we normally open the barbecue season at Easter with Mum, Dad and my brother and family, and we will barbecue next weekend - but as the weather was so beautiful this weekend, we decided to open it a week earlier!
Which we did, BUT once the weather heard of our plans, it sent lovely dark clouds over and proceeded to rain! But it didn't put us off, we set the barbecue up under cover and barbecued our sausages and feta cheese. But it did turn rather chilly with the clouds and rain, so we ate in the kitchen, instead of outside, much to the boys disappointment. But the sausages and greek salad made up for it!

So how do you all like my new kit! I have a lot of layouts to show you

This first one is by Benita and shows her kids having great fun at Easter in 1993

These next two are by Vanessa!

And Dinphy did these two great layouts. Look at Tom having fun painting Easter Eggs, shall I be honest and admit, that my kids haven't done this before, as I am not as brave as Dinphy!

And poor Lisa, imagine finding all those chocolate eggs in the garden and then not being able to eat them! Better luck next weekend, Lisa!
Thats all for today
Bye for now

More layouts with "Lucky Day"

I've been bad again, no post for a few days sorry about that, and I don't even have an excuse, but what I do have is some more layouts with my latest kit "Lucky Day" still on offer for $2.99!

This first one is by Vanessa and shows her darling daughter!


And this is another one from Benita of her beautiful granddaughter.

and this one is by Michelle, the journalling is very touching and if you would like to hear the story behind it, pop by Michelle's blog and maybe leave her some cheering up!

Thanks girls for these beautiful layouts with my kit!

So what else is new here, well the best news is, that Richard seems to finally be getting the idea of the potty for No. 2s!! Fingers crossed he keeps it up!
Robert seems to be a bit jealous of all the attention Richard is getting because of this, but saying that he is the biggest cheerer when Richard succeeds. But he is playing up this week badly, hopefully it will improve soon. Because I really need to make Richard feel special, and keep him wanting to carry on!

Today we put the first of our Easter decorations up in the garden, and we have our first crocuses showing and the daffodils are all shooting. I LOVE spring flowers and can't wait to see the first daffodils!
OK, time for bed now, the boys still don't get the concept of weekends, so we will be up at the usual 7am again tomorrow!

Lucky Day - My NEW KIT

I've finished!!! Yep, I have a new kit in the store, and sometime in the near future I'll have a freebie for you, but for now, just check out my new kit!
It's 20% off for this week! (images linked to the store!)And my CT (still can't believe I have one!! *grin*) have already been busy, and hey they are QUICK, they only got the kit yesterday!!! Thanks girls!
This first one is by Leigh, she took this photo last year at the July 4th Celebrations, great shot Leigh!

And this one is by Benita (she did another one too, but I'm saving that one to show you later), its her beautiful granddaughter playing. I love the out of bounds here! (Benita, also used my Nikolaus Alpha and some dice by dozi).


And Dinphy has been busy too. This is her darling daughter walking through a bed of clover! Isn't she cute!!
Thanks girls for the layouts, they are awesome, and you certainly made my day today!
bye 4 now

More layouts!

So no work today! Well at least not in an office. Plenty to do around here!

So like I promised more layouts with my kit:
This is another one that Dinphy did, I love that picture and the use of the papers with the ric rac dividing it all! Another great layout! thanks Dinphy!

Credits:
Love is in the Air by KayJay
Wordart by Elegant Wordart

And this one Benita did for the quote challenge that I host at DigitalArts-Cafe (check it out here)Credits:
Love is in the Air by KayJay

Aren't those pictures of her granddaughter just perfect for the quote! Thanks Benita!

OK, time for me to go to bed, work again tomorrow.
Bye 4 now

Layouts and a free Add-on

So work today was again just a chatting session. Maybe Thursday, but even if a translation does come in, I can't really see how it is going to keep two of us busy oh well. I just keep hearing a little voice saying "Mummy is earning pennies so we can go to Thomas Land, Richard!" that helps beat the boredom!

Back to more fun things. I have made an add-on to my new kit "Love is in the Air", and the great thing about it, you can get it free just by joining me in the Quote Challenge at DigitalArts-Cafe, how does that sound! Oh, you want to see it first, OK!Image is linked to the Challenge in the Forum at DigitalArts-Cafe. Hope to see you there!

And now to show you what my CT (sounds great doesn't it, but I would still love more, check post below for more details!) have come up with, but you know what I am going to make the layouts last all week, so only two today!

This one is by Benita:

Credits:

Love is in the Air by KayJay
template by Brooke
Wordart by lieN

And this one is by Dinphy:

Credits:
Love is in the Air by KayJay
Wordart by Elegant Wordart

Aren't these just GREAT! I can't believe my luck having such talented friends, thanks
Dinphy, thanks Benita!

OK, time to recover now from all the fresh air I got this afternoon - yep, finally the weather was warm and nice enough to go out and play! And the boys certainly played, they had a great time, they rode their bikes, did some digging, played football and ran! They are going to sleep so well today!
Bye 4 now

Mamma Mia!

I am sure this morning it was at least as cold as on Tuesday, it really hurt your face on the walk to Kindergarden. Even Robert was complaining about the cold on his lips! One thing though we did get there quicker than the past mornings!
When I picked them up they were sledging down the little hill there, having a great time. I feel a bit guilty that I haven't taken them sledging. But I really am not the one to do that, I am scared of sledging, so they would only learn to be afraid, rather than have a good time. Maybe Florian can take them this weekend, although with his back, I am not sure that would be a good idea! We'll see.

Not much exciting here. Although you might have had fun watching me ironing this morning! I put on Mamma Mia the sing-a-long version and had a great time singing and dancing whilst ironing! Who would have thought ironing could be that much fun! Sorry no pictures, you'll just have to use your imagination!

I do want to show you this layout by Benita, she used my template that I gave away in yesterdays post, and my friend Dinphy's xmas kit. Isn't it cute?!

Credits:
Template by KayJay
Home for Christmas by Dinphy

Bye 4 now

Haircuts and more!

The things kids will do to get out of something! We have been trying to nicely convince Richard to have his haircut since before Xmas, each time we mentioned it, it resulted in tears, and that was even without going anywhere near scissors or the hairtrimmer. Well today, the weather was cold, crisp but beautifully sunny, so we were going to go for a walk. Richard is not our outdoor boy, so he didn't want to go, we told him it was "a walk or a haircut" - Much to our surprise he marched himself into the kitchen sat on his chair and waited patiently for his haircut - anything to get out of going for a walk!
So now he has a great new haircut (short back and sides!). After cutting his hair we let him have a bath, which was too much for Robert, he then too wanted a haircut so he could have a bath too! Now they both look respectable again. BUT we never did get to go out for a walk!

I have a couple of layouts to show you today. Benita, my friend and CT, has had computer troubles and had disappeared for nearly 4 weeks, I was slowly beginning to worry about her! But she is back and she sent me two layouts she had made before the computer crash, they are GREAT, thanks so much Benita, and I am so pleased you are back and OK!

Credits:
Layout by Benita
using On A Snowy Evening by DAC Designers (KayJay's part)

Credits:
Layout by Benita
using ByGone Days by KayJay

Tomorrow the Amazing Digi Scrap Race Season 4 starts (see side bar for our blog) and Leigh and I are excited and nervous, actually I can't wait for the first challenge, but tonight I think I will have a practise run and do a challenge or two at DAC or BTST.

And speaking of projects the buzz in the digiscrapping world is a 365 Project, where you take a photo a day for the whole year. I think i did it last year no problem, so this year I thought I would make another blog page to showcase my daily photos.
So check out my new page "KayJay's Days Project 365"

Bye 4 now

16.000!!!

Wow, I was visitor 16.000 this afternoon, when I stopped by my own blog (I do that quite often, like to see who has visited from where, still get excited about it!) When I started this blog, I didn't expect to have many visitors, and now look! I have 10 followers too - thanks guys for following - you made my day when you signed up! (Can you see my great big grin?!)

AND I found another layout in the gallery this morning - thanks Benita, you certainly know how to get my day off to a good start! Look at this cute layout of Benita's granddaughter yesterday.

The children in The Netherlands celebrate Sinterklaas (St. Nikolaus) today, so there are lots of little dutch kids out there today playing with their presents. i hope they all got what they asked "Sint" (his nickname) for.

In Germany, the children put their boots out for St. Nikolaus, the boys forgot whilst downstairs, so they put their slippers outside of their bedroom door. In which we will sneak some Lego and a chocolate Santa whilst they sleep! (Good job they can't read yet ;) !)
St. Nikolaus actually visited Kindergarden today and he tells every child one good thing and one thing that needs some improvement (in a nice way) Robert was told how pleased Nikolaus was that he now had his Best Friend Luca, and Richard was told how good it was that he went to the toilet now! Both were told that it was good that they were speaking more German and to keep it up (that was the bit that needed improvement) I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and seen all of this, but never mind Robert or was it Richard said that the kindergarden teacher took pictures, so maybe I'll get a copy - I need to use my own kit!!

As to my kidney problems, I still have back ache and tried to go to the doctors this morning, BUT she has kids too, and had taken today off. So I decided to try and hold off until Monday, rather than go and see the doctor standing in for her. It hasn't got any better really, BUT it hasn't got worse, maybe I am just too impatient waiting for the antibiotics to work their magic!

Quick update on St. Nikolaus, I just had to go in to the boys
Richard: "Has Nikolaus been yet?"
Me: "No, he doesn't come until you are asleep"
Richard: "I've finished sleeping"
Robert: "I sleep with my eyes open"
Me: "Oh, dear, then he won't be able to come then, will he?"
Robert: "When it gets darker Mummy, then I'll shut my eyes"
Richard: "I've run out of laying downs, Mummy"
Me: "I don't think he'll be coming if you don't find some, Richard"

then all was quiet and hopefully they are now on their way to the Land of Nod!

I forgot something!!! Shame on me! Yesterday I got an email from Michelle, asking if she could make some Bragbook pages with my St. Nikolaus kit! Woohoo! Michelle you too made my day (she also said she was a fan - hihi, so chuffed!)
Anyways today she has these two beautiful bragbook pages on her blog - you can pick them up here:


Michelle thanks so much for the great pages! Love them!

Bye 4 now

Snow, snow and more snow!

Yep, that is what we woke up to this morning, and it hasn't stopped snowing all day long! The boys thought it was great, I wish I could say the same, that and my backache have made for a very grumpy me today, the poor boys couldn't do much right for me today!
I did take them out in it and we built a snowman (be back later with a layout of it!), but when they wanted to stay out in the dark, I insisted we came in. We were all dressed up in our winter overalls, looking very very bulky. Luckily I was the one with the camera!

Credits:
A Snowy Evening - DigitalArts Cafe December Collab Kit (my portion)

We walked to and from Kindergarden today, and of course the walk home took forever as they insisted that they play in every bit of snow, and since it was everywhere it took forever (well, 30 minutes for a 5-10 minute walk!)

Before I go downstairs, I want to show you some more from my Tots Rule-OK kit!
This first one is from Dinphy - Rollercoaster! I love it all, don't you!


And this one is from Benita, the journalling reads something like "even waiting at the bus stop is fun with you!" (correct me if I am wrong Benita?!) Again another one I love.



OK, its getting cold up here now, so I am off into the warm and onto the laptop. And I need to take my antibiotics before I forget, not really feeling any improvement yet, maybe the second tablet will work!
Bye 4 now

Thank you, thank you!

Wow, 41 (!!!!) comments in 24 hours, that is a record for me! Thank you all so much, do you realise you make my day?!
Glad you all like the freebies and I hope you are having fun on the rest of the blogtrain! I still have lots to visit!

I have something to show everyone today, two of my online friends also know how to make my day, and now may officially call themselves my CT! look what I got from Dinphy and Benita (I have two more, but I am saving them for tomorrow! hihi!) using my kit "Tots Rule - OK" now available at DigitalArts Cafe.
This one is from Benita, it is her darling granddaughter at the library, isn't it just great! I love how she has her leaning out of the frame reading. This was the first time I saw my alpha in action, and I love it! Thanks again Benita for making my day!


And this one is from Dinphy, this is Tom her son having fun on his tractor at the playground! I love the photos, and I love how Dinphy has wrapped the tots around one corner! And thank you Dinphy for this wonderful layout!


Speaking of Dinphy, have you stopped off at her blog on the DAC Blogtrain?! Her kit and my kit coordinate. We chose our colourswatch together, well, I left Dinphy with the hard task of choosing the colours and agreed they were great and perfect! ;)
But for you it means that you get a lot more matching elements and papers for your scrapping needs!
here is Dinphy's preview, it is linked to her blog, where you can download and leave her some love! (sorry it is so small, not sure why that is, but Dinphy has a bigger version on her blog!)

So have you wondered what I have been up to these past few days, well, apart from checking my downloads and comments, nothing that exciting. I had to go to the doctors this morning, somehow I have managed to get myself "pyelitis" (had to look that one up) it basically means it hurts to wee and I have terrible back ache. I thought the back ache was due to the fact that we need a new mattress, but it turns out, it wasn't just a bladder infection I had been trying to cure with lots of water. oops! So now I am on antibiotics and will hopefully be feeling fine in a day or two!
So needless to say, we haven't ventured far these past couple of days, played a lot of games, made paper chains (after Robert threw a paddy, when he couldn't get it to work and Richard could) and read some stories. Just a normal day in a household with toddlers I think!
That's all for today
Bye 4 now

Wow, thank you all

so much! I have recieved some lovely comments and compliments on my St.Martins Day kit, I'm sure it made me grow! Thank you!

And again, Benita surprised me in the gallery at Been there Scrapped That, only what seemed like minutes after posting the kit, Benita had downloaded and used it! And here is what she made with it yesterday
And this is one I found today (this one came without being pre-warned over skype!)

Benita, I LOVE THEM, thank you so much!

Well, I have been blogging the past couple of days, but not updating, so i have a lot of catching up to do today. Yesterday we all went out soon after I posted my kit, we met some friends at the bakers, which comes complete with a big play area for the kids, and there they can run and drive about without anyone minding. It was good fun, once we had Robert convinced that crashing into his brother was NOT a good thing. Poor Richard was crashed into from behind, he didn't know what had happened, when he crashed the back of his head against the floor. But Robert did, when he had to get off of the go-kart for time-out!
Last night, it was Wetten, daß... (you bet!) on German tv. One of the really good entertainment shows. I really enjoyed it, he had some great guests singing too, Kid Rock with All summer long (love that song), Pink with So What (love that too) and Simply Red with a medley of their greatest hits (love that!) - Pretty versatile my taste in music!
Today we had a fun morning with the boys, we were inspired by what they were watching on the TV to get up and go and do it ourselves - creating! (they were watching Mr. Maker)
We got old Pringles tubes out, tissue paper, stickers, old bottle tops, old bottles, glue and paint. And they made a rocket ship each! It was fun to watch and join in, just a shame one can't magic the mess away when they have finished - oh and clean their hands at the same time!
And this afternoon we went to a bird exhibition - sounds grander than it was. It is just a few canaries, finches and cockateels in cages to look at, who sometime during the day had been judged and a few now had rosettes. Not that I could see any difference between the prize winner and the bird next to him!!! We met some of the Mum's from Kindergarden and their kids, and had a cake there after seeing the birds. It was a nice afternoon out, especially as today it never got light really and rained all afternoon!
OK, now tonight I promise I will find my Dirndl picture and scrap it, so check back later for that.

Well, here it is - Me in a Dirndl! Unfortunately as I was the photographer at the wedding that I wore my Dirndl too, there aren't many pictures with me in them.

Credits:
Everescent by Sweet Digi Scraps at Been there Scrapped That

Bye 4 now

DigitalArts Cafe Blog Party, a layout and knackered!

That is a LONG title, and I will get to it all one thing at a time. Starting with the DigitalArts Cafe Blog Party!! It's going to be a fun one, I'm signed up! Closing date for signing up is November 10th, so hurry up and pop over to DAC for more details (click here).
We will be supplied with a few CU (commercial use) products to help with the designing and even if you don't design, then you can still join in, as you get a portion of the beautiful Xmas collab kit, to create Quickpages or Bragbook pages with. Great, isn't it.
More details are in the forum here. Look forward to some of you joining in!

Benita got sprinkled with some fairy dust at Been there Scrapped that this weekend, for honouring Digital Scrapbooking Day, by actually scrapping and uploading to the gallery. Well this morning i got a pm to say she had been shopping and to check the gallery. Expecting to see one of the great BTST designers on the layout, I was in for a surprise - I found this beauty instead:

Credits:
Antique Floral by KayJay
Edgies by ScrapShana at BTST

She had bought the edgings from the store and made these beautiful mats. I love it, thanks for the huge surprise, Benita! :)

And now what was the last thing in my title - oh knackered - yep. Richard who has been refusing a midday nap this week, finally fell asleep somewhere just after 2pm (probably nearer to 2.30pm). And he was not a happy chappy, when I got him up at 3pm! I let them watch a bit of TV (Curious George) and then suggested going for a little walk. Robert was up and getting his shoes and coat as soon as I said it, Richard however said "no". When asked what he would rather do, he said "go in the garden". Fine that works too, lots to do out there. So Robert who is itching to get in the fresh air, gets Richards coat, and this is where it all went wrong.
Richard had changed his mind, he now did NOT want to go in the garden and started screaming. He screamed whilst having his shoes put on, still screaming he fought me putting his coat on, he wasn't going to walk anywhere, so still screaming I carried him into the garden, where he continued to scream, even though both Robert and I were doing our best to ignore him. He finally quietened down, when Sunny (the cat) came to see him and what was up. But unfortunately it only lasted for about 4 minutes, and then the screaming came back on. It lasted a good 50 minutes! Gosh that can wear you down. That and the fact that it never really got light today. So I may or may not be back with a layout today, I might fall asleep on the couch, who knows, I did this morning after the ironing - only 10 minutes though and that was before anyone had done any screaming!
OK, off to clear up the mess in the kitchen, then back to designing or making layouts or napping..!

Antique Floral - another freebie!

Did you miss me? I was busy yesterday extracting my grandmother's antique brooch, and was going to post late. And then guess what, I was just in the middle of saving the finished result and CRASH, the programme froze on me! Grrrr.. I tried closing all the many windows I had open up (I know, I shouldn't have that many open in the first place, but I NEED them all!) Whilst closing the windows Firefox froze on me too. In the end I had to "kill" the laptop with the switch, to be able to do ANYTHING! After that, I had to start the extraction all over again, only this time I saved every 5 minutes!!!
It is however true "practise makes perfect", the second time around I had a lot less stray pixels to get rid of!
Anyhow that aside, look what the finished product looks like:

I think I'll show you the picture that was the inspiration for this kit. We were given a choice of two, but this is the one that appealed to me most.

Well, if you like what you have seen, the download links are in the Sunshine Studio Scraps Gallery. you have to be registered to see all the awesome entries, but that's easy enough!

***Sorry links have expired***
BUT if you really like it an elaborated version is now available in my store
Click here to shop

I'll be back later this evening, with my usual update (btw you didn't miss anything yesterday, nothing exciting happened here) and maybe I will get around to making a layout with my kit!

Well, between getting Richard lots and lots of juice, doing wee-wees with him and watching Loose Women, I did manage to get a couple of layouts done using my new kit. I think I have used these photos before, so I will have to try to remember to go to Mum's family tree page and get some more great heritage photos!
This first one is my Mum when she was about 3 (I think, correct me if I am wrong Mum). I think Richard has something of her in his looks.


And this one is of my great and great-great grandmother on my fathers side. I love this picture, just look at those blouses!
And in the gallery at BTST and SSS I found this layout by Benita, boy she was quick, I hadn't even hardly got it uploaded and found the layout.


Thanks so much Benita, you made my day. Blouses on the last photo, but a Dirndl in this one, so cute! (No Dirndl pictures in my heritage photos, but I could find one of me in one, if you want! hihi!)

Now about today, it was a lovely sunny day here, when I drove into down it was really foggy there, where as we had sunshine. So this afternoon we went out, first the boys did some cycling on the road, soon went into the garden as today there were a lot of "rubbish tourists" driving by. I'd better explain that hadn't I, well twice a year you can put out your "big" rubbish to be picked up, things like sofas, cupboards, and almost anything you can think of. And when this occurs, lots of people go around looking to see if they can use what others no longer can (as in "one man's rubbish is another man's gold"). this causes a LOT of traffic in otherwise quiet roads, so after a while I got fed up of shouting "CAR" at the boys, so we moved to the back garden, where we raked up leaves and apples and pears. The boys thought it was great fun. I raked all the leaves into piles and they had their little wheelbarrow and spade and collected them up and put them on the compost heap! It was really cute, no photos though, too busy!
Bye 4 now