Web inspired Challenge at Funky Playground Designs

I've seen its been a while since I posted on this blog, but the reason for this post is a good one! I am hosting a new Challenge at FPD, it is called the "Web-inspired Challenge" and I had great fun finding a page (or two) to inspire me!
I found an online magazine called "Sweet Paul" and it has the most amazing pages, recipes, crafts and beautiful pictures to top it off! I drooled all over the keyboard browsing it.
Well the object of the challenge is to get the magazine to inspire your layout. I took page 116 as my inspiration and came up with this layout! (image linked to challenge)

And I used the new FPD Collab "A Noise in the Attic" (image linked to store)

There are lots of fun things going on at FPD again this month, so come and be inspired not only by my challenge but by the others too! You can win fabulous prizes and for participating you get a 50% off coupon for an FPD Designer's store! Well worth it!
CU there!

Lego Heroica (English/Deutsch)

Woohoo, I am testing another product again. This time though I am employing to smaller testers - Robert and Richard! You see we are testing a Lego game that is coming to the stores in September.

There are a series of FOUR games that can be played separately or combined to make one large world, that you can play. In our test package we got two of the four games. The largest game "Fortaan" and one of the smaller games "Walldürn".

After unpacking the boys couldn't wait to start playing. But first you have to build the world. Robert had a brilliant time doing that - he just loves his Lego! Unfortunately we couldn't finish building or start playing on the day the package came, but as soon as we had the time, Robert went straight to the box to finish building it up. And today we got to play together.

Robert absolutely LOVES the game, I found the instructions a bit confusing at times, and also very open to interpretation. But I think that was what Robert loved. And I suppose as long as you stick with the rules you make up, then "no problem", in fact it is a good way to strengthen kids imagination! To start with we only played the small game, and this afternoon when Richard comes home from Kindergarden, we will be playing the big and small game combined. And then I will be able to tell people how well it works with two headstrong boys playing at the same time! ;o)
Oh, and in case you are wondering, where Richard's comments are, he is still at Kindergarden, Robert is home with bronchitis!

Jubel, ich darf wieder testen! Naja eigentlich hab ich zwei kleinere Tester beauftragt - Robert & Richard. Denn dieses mal testen wir ein neues Lego-Spiel "Heroica", es wird im September in den Handel kommen.

Es gibt VIER Spiele in der Serie, die alle einzeln oder zusammen gespielt werden können. Wir haben zwei der vier Spiele in unserem Testpaket bekommen, Fortaan (das größte der Spiele) und Walldürn.


Nach dem Auspacken konnten die Jungs es nicht abwarten zu spielen. Zuerst aber muß aufgebaut werden. Robert hatte super viel Spaß beim Aufbauen - aber kein Wunder er liebt LEGO! Leider konnten wir mit dem Spielen nicht gleich loslegen, aber sobald wir Zeit hatten, ging es los. 

Robert LIEBT das Spiel, ich fand die Anleitung zum Teil etwas verwirrend, und offen für verschiedene eigene Interpretationen, aber ich glaube genau das fand Robert gut! Ich denke mal, solange man bei seinen Regeln bleibt ist alles erlaubt! Genial eigentlich für die Förderung der Fantasie der Kinder! 
Wir haben zunächst nur das kleine Spiel gespielt, aber heute mittag wenn Richard aus dem Kindergarten kommt, werden wir beide Spiele verbinden und zu dritt spielen. Dann kann ich auch mal berichten, wie das Spielen mit beiden zusammen gelaufen ist!

Und falls ihr Euch fragt, warum ich nicht über Richard's Reaktion berichte, der ist noch im Kindergarten, Robert ist allein zu Hause, da er eine Bronchitis auskuriert!

Funky Playground Designs - A new Collab and a Template Challenge

Gosh has it really been since June since I last stopped by! Oh dear, well, I have been having a great time, first a trip to the UK and then we had friends staying with us. July was a brilliant month, busy but fun!
But now back to Digiscrapping!

First let me show you then new August FPD Collab - Corduroy Boy! Do stop by the Store ALL collabs past and present are on sale in August! (image linked to all store collabs)

And this is my layout using it! (one of the fun things we got up to whilst on holiday in the UK)

Now about the challenge I am hosting at FPD, this month I am hosting the template challenge and Andrea of Little Green Frog Designs kindly offered to make the template for the challenge, and WOW it's a good one!
Here is the layout I made for the challenge using it! (image linked to challenge)

Dinphy and I during her stay here! We had such a good time, that no one got any pics of us together, or at least not many!

Hope to see you at FPD!
I'll be back tomorrow to remind you of a chat and show you what I created for Danyale of etc by Danyale!
CU then

Challenge for Father's Day

The June challenges have been up a while now at Funky Playground Designs, but with the British and American Father's Day right around the corner, I wanted to bring attention to my recipe Challenge at FPD!

This is the layout I made for it, and you can see all the requirements for the challenge by clicking the image and going to our forum! But I will let you in on one part of it, the layout must be about a father in some way!

I used the June FPD Collab for my layout, which is again very versatile. (image linked to store)

CU in the forum

Center Parcs (English/German)

Not one to pass up on a chance to win a free holiday - and even less if it is going to be at Center Parcs, I'm going to tell you all about them!

We have been going to Center Parcs on a regular basis since before Robert was born, I think it was in my nieces first year, she'll be 9 this year, so for the last NINE years! We have visited quite a few of their parks and keep going back for more.
Why, well basically because it is just perfect for a young family with kids. Whilst the kids were still both at Kindergarden it was cheaper for us, as we didn't need to go in the school holidays. Now we do have to go in the school holidays, but if you book early enough, or wait for last minute deals, you can get a pretty good offer.
We LOVE the swimming pool there, and spend most of our time in the water. Different parks have different specialities - Park Hochsauerland, has this great Water Playground with a HUGE (and I mean 900 litres HUGE) bucket, that regularly empties out over the playground. So much fun for all ages, when the boys were small, they would sit for ages (in the cafe so we could have a drink) and watch it empty out, now they are bigger, they have even stood under it!
Bispinger Heide - that had a great slide, that was wider and went outside, once they had been down it a few times with Daddy, Robert was off on his own (of course with Daddy right behind him).
Park Eiffel - has a great current going around and around. They also had some water toys, some boats for the kids to sit on and use the current to get around!

And not only do Center Parcs have these amazing swimming pools, some have indoor playgrounds (BALUBA) and some have petting zoos (Richard once wanted to adopt a goat!). We also love that the parks are car free (except for Park Eiffel - we won't be going back there, but if you don't mind a bit of traffic, it is a great park), being car free, we can let the kids out without too much supervision - chalking on the road is a great favourite.
We are already planning our next trip, roll on autumn holidays!

So und nun noch mal auf Deutsch!

Ein Chance versäumen einen kostenlosen Urlaub zu gewinnen - ich nicht, und schon gar nicht wenn es um einen Urlaub in Center Parcs geht, und deswegen erzähle ich Euch jetzt davon!

Lange bevor Robert auf der Welt war haben wir Center Parcs für uns entdeckt, ich glaub meine Nichte war damals noch nicht eins, und jetzt wird sie 9, d.h seit NEUN Jahren fahren wir regelmäßig hin. Wir haben schon viele Parcs besucht und fahren auch immer wieder hin.
Warum? Tja eigentlich weil es einfach der perfekte Urlaub für junge Familien mit Kindern ist. Während die Kinder beide noch im Kindergarten waren, war es natürlich billiger, da wir nicht während den Schulferien fahren mußten. Jetzt müssen wir während den Ferien fahren, aber wenn man früh genug bucht, oder auf ein Last Minute Angebot wartet, kann man durchaus ein Schnäppchen machen.
Wir LIEBEN das Schwimmbad dort (AQUAMUNDO), und verbringen die meiste Zeit im Wasser. Verschiedene Parks haben verschiedene Spezialitäten - Park Hochsauerland hat z.B. einen SUPER Wasserspielplatz mit einem riesigen Eimer (und ich meine ein 900 Liter Eimer) das sich regelmäßig über den Spielplatz ausleert. Das macht jedem Spaß - egal wie alt - als die Jungs kleiner waren, konnten die ewig lang still sitzen und gucken (meist im Cafe dort, damit wir was trinken konnten) und jetzt wo sie größer sind, waren sie auch schon mal drunter!
Bispinger Heide - da gibt eine genial Wasserrutsch, schön breit und mit Fahrt nach draußen. Sobald die Jungs ein paar mal gefahren waren, wollte Robert alleine rutschen, kein Problem (aber Daddy war ihm dicht auf den Fersen!)
Park Eiffel - dort gibt es einen ganz tollen Strömungskanal. Und Wasserspielzeug gibt es dort auch, u.a. große Boote wo die Kinder (auch größere) drauf sitzen können und sich von der Strömung mitnehmen lassen können.

Und Center Parcs hat nicht nur diese genialen Schwimmbäder, sondern einige haben auch Indoor-Spielplätze (BALUBA) und einige haben einen Streichelzoo (Richard wollte eine Ziege sogar mal adoptieren). Wir lieben auch daß die Parks Autofrei sind (außer Park Eiffel - da fahren wir nicht wieder hin, aber wem der Verkehr nicht weiter stört - es ist ein toller Park). Dadurch daß die Parks autofrei sind, können wir die Kinder fast unbeaufsichtigt raus lassen, ein favorit mit Kreide auf der Straße malen!

Wir planen schon unseren nächsten Urlaub in den Herbstferien - wollt ihr auch planen, dann klickt Euch mal auf die Seite von Center Parcs  Familienurlaub

Thanks for reading and now for some pictures, danke für's lesen und hier noch ein paar Bilder

Strömungskanal im Park Eiffel - Current at Park Eiffel

Minigolf in Hochsauerland

Bis Bald

Funky Playground Designs

Where to start, where to start...there is so much going on in the Digiworld at the moment, it's hard to know
I'll start I think by inviting you all to join me at FPD for the May Technique Challenge. This month we are stacking papers. It's a lot of fun, and you get the chance to win a gift coupon - details in the thread (image linked)
This is my layout for the challenge

I used the Free with Purchase Kit - Family Matters by Roseytoes Designs and DonnaDuncombeDesigns.

You can get this kit free, if you spend more than $12 in the store, and what better time to spend your money in the store than now! With iNSD right around the corner the store is on sale from May 6th - May 9th

OK, what else...LOTS....first the new Store Collab is out and its GREAT -so glad I got to play with it "Salt water Taffy" - is it OK to admit I have no idea what that is...!?! But the colours are great!

And I made a layout using it, the pics were taken on our last holiday, so much fun!

OK, and there is still more going on at FPD, but I'll let the ads speak for themselves!

CU soon!

Font Challenge at FPD (and a Free with Purchase plug!)

I took a break from ADSR today (after finishing and posting Challenge 5) and took part in the FPD Font Challenge!
The font that you have to use is called "Throw your hands up in the air", I think you do that in delight, cause it is such a lovely handwriting font! Well, here is the layout that I did using it! (layout linked to challenge)

And this is the kit I chose "Funny Bunny" by River Rose (image linked to store)

And whilst you are browsing the store, check out this bright fun kit, you can get this FREE if you spend $12 or over in April!

CU at Funky Playground!

Funky Playground Collab - Butterfly Kisses

The new FPD Collab is out, and what a girly girl beauty it is!

Having boys, it was a bit difficult using it, BUT a friend had a baby girl, so I just had to make their card with it!

So if you like what you see, pop on over to FPD (image of kit is linked) and if you go before April 12th, you get it for 50% off!!

Oh and when you are there, how about joining in my fun photography challenge!
CU there

Photography Challenge at FPD

This month I am hosting the photography challenge at Funky Playground Designs. I have made it pretty easy for the first photography challenge there. I am challenging you to turn the camera on yourself, in other words hold it out at an arms length and "click"!
Here is my layout for the challenge (image linked to challenge)

I used Remember this Day by shanmomto4 designs (image linked to store)

I hope I see you there
Bye 4 now

Proud to be an Etceterette!!!

Woohoo, finally we can all brag about some GREAT news!
Danyale has opened up shop at the DigiChick, where she will be selling exclusive kits, and look what she has created for her debut! With this kit you get more than what you are paying for, I swear. I saw it all coming together over the last couple of weeks, and you would be amazed at the goodies inside, and all the etcerettes are rocking those layouts!
But first let me show you the kit and accessories

And when the first challenge for the ADSR was posted, and I saw Jan's layout for it using Childhood Magic, I knew then what I was going to do, and this is it

The images of the kit and bits are all linked to Danyale's new store, so run on over and snap them up, I assure you, you won't be disappointed.
Oh and in the shop you can see LOTS of wonderful layouts using the kit for some inspiration!
CU again soon