Holiday shopping, anyone?

Happy Thanksgiving! For those who celebrate the fabulous holiday, of course. We don't celebrate it here in Thailand but I always love spirit and the idea of being grateful for what we have.

The concept actually applies to Buddhist teachings as well. To be satisfied, grateful, and know what is "just enough" for you, that equals to letting go of greed. Isn't that wonderful? Wouldn't it bring a little peace to the chaotic world? (A little pageant-y for me but what the heck. LOL!)

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I'm running a little late at everything. (When am I not that? Umm............ Let me think.............. Still thinking............) So I'll just leave you a couple of ads here. Hope they are useful for those who are shopping for holidays!!! All images are linked to corrensponding stores.

Oh! First, some good news!!!!

I am very lucky to be chosen as this week's Featured Scrapper at MScraps.

I would really LOVE IT and LOVE YOU if you ladies can visit the thread and play with the challenge! It's easy! You just have to visit my gallery at MScraps and lift one of my layouts using at least 75% of MS products. I'm the last one for November so, with holiday preparations and stuff, there might not be a lot of participants. It can be a bit lonely there. Keep me company, pretty please.........? ;)

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Now, the second good news! Val C. Designs asked if I wanted to join her CT and I said yes!!! I have always loved Val's beautiful kits and she's sooooooooo sweet and one of the most generous designers out there. So it's such a pleasure to be working with her again.

She just opened her store at Zig Zag Scrap recently and now some of her fabulous products are on sale during the Black Friday! Go shop!

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At MScraps, Anita and Dunia are also having some sales of their kits. Dunia has 3 new products on sale for 20% off during the weekend, while Anita's shop is 30% off!

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Gotta end with this bittersweet news. Designs by Doodelle (Rachelle) is closing her shop at MScraps. She'll be starting at a new store next month. From now until the end of the month, though, you have a chance to pick up her stuff at MScraps at a very looooow price! Some of the old kits will be retired forever so, seriously, don't miss the chance at owning some vintage Doodelle before it's gone for good!


I have a big bunch of new layouts for ALL the designers I CT for that haven't been shown here yet. That will have to wait until next time, though. See ya soon! Now enjoy your shopping!!!!!

What can you do to help make others stronger?

There's a lot to tell so I'll try to go straight to the point. :)

I took part in a charity collab for a digi friend whose husband is sick with cancer. The family is in trouble because he recently lost his job and his insurance doesn't cover the treatment. The friend is Chelsea of Caged Bird Designs, who is really sweet. I have only worked with her for a short time at DSC but she was very nice to the CTs there.

The charity collab is named "That Much Stronger." Here is the details about the kit itself as well as the charity -- the Doudy family's situation that this kit aims to support, direct from Scrapable website:

More than 40 designers have come together for a great cause to help
one of our own in the digital scrapbook community! This is a HUGE
mega collab which has more than 200 papers, over 300 elements,
about 50 word art, 10 alphas and 4 templates. Too many to count!

Chelsea Doudy's, designer of Caged Bird Designs, husband was diagnosed
with skin cancer right below his left eye, it is a Squamous Cell Carcinoma,
if left untreated it will start to effect the nerves and then move to the eye.
This comes on the heels of other medical bills for their son, Luke.
Clayton has also recently lost his job. The Doudy’s have no insurance and
have been told Clayton will need the Mohs surgery in the next two months,
and the hospital will not do the surgery without a down payment because
they have no insurance.

You can help! All proceeds from the sales of this kit, after Paypal fees,
will go directly to the battle, care and surgery of Clayton's skin cancer.
We have a big goal to meet!

Here is my part - my contribution to this amazing collab kit. It's a set of 7 main word arts with 33 variations, including optional shadows, grungy versions, journaling prompts, and some extra elements.

I want to show you what you can do with my contribution to the collab kit, so I created this layout using solely the word arts and elements in my part. It turned out to be one of my favorit LO ever! It's very personal, raw, and real. I love it. (Remember this is just one part! Imagin what else you can do with other 200 papers and 300 elements in this huge kit!)


Journaling reads:
You remind me of myself. My complex and confused self.
Strong-willed to the point of being stubborn, yet hungry for reassurance.
I am too hard on you sometimes because I am equally hard on me.
And that might not always be the right thing to be as a parent.
I'm still learning and trying every single day.
Just want you to know that I understand!
And I always love the strong-willed and sentimental you.
No matter what, be assured... our love will be stronger everyday.

My friend Tammy, of Designs by Polka Dot Chicks, also made this beautiful layout using a word art in this set, with a heartfelt message to her son:


Credits:
Kit - Essentials by StudioDawn @ SBG
Wordart by Pom's Breathing Room
Template (modified) by BIO

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I'd really appreciate it if you can purchase the kit to support the family. (You can also make a direct donation to them if you want to.) With almost 2GB of digi goodies, it is definitely more than worth the $10 price. Well, maybe a little freebie to sample it first? I'm happy say that I have a permission to share some with you. :)

Here's one word art and one seperate brick brush to compliment the WA. They are included in my part of the collab kit. Please click here or on the preview below to download.

Enjoy your freebie and thank you in advance for supporting the Doudy family and That Much Stronger!

I'll be in Doodelle's Studio, Studio...

An America's Got Talent hardcore fan would surely recognise that the title of this blog post is a reference to Sponjetta Parrish's memorable performance on the show. Boy, those were 3 and a half minutes of pure fun and it gave me a great laugh and a good night's sleep! (If you click to see the clip, make sure you watch the second half. Nick was absolutely hilarious!!)

Okay, the reason I thought of Sponjetta's performance is because...... Designs by Doodelle is a guest Studio Girl at ScrapbookGraphics for November!!! I know, I know... The !'s are redundant since I'm blogging about this so late and most of you knew it already. LOL Well, I'm still excited abut this great gig and Rachelle totally deserves it! So...shall we take a look at what she has in her studio, studio, this month then? :D

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Abundant Grace is the first product of Studio Doodelle I got to play with. It's a whimsical and creative Fall and Thanksgiving kits rolled into one. I just love how my layout with the kit turned out.

Rachelle also has this seperate set of Silver Charms that will compliment the kit and you can easily mix and match it with many others.

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Then there's Tickle, this fun and goofy kit that would just make you smile along when you see a page made with it! And I had JUST the perfect series of photos for it too. ;)

Journaling reads: May 20, 2010
These photos were taken the day Neill pulled one of his front teeth out.
Yep. Pulled.
It had been wobbling for a while and we were planning to see the dentist about it.
Then one day he turned and said, 'Look, Mom! No blood at all!!'
He was so proud of himself that he, literally, pulled it off all by himself! LOL

There is also a seperate set of frames, Tickle My Fancy Frames, that are just gorgeous for all kinds of layouts!


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The latest kit of Designs by Doodelle/Studio Doodelle I got to play with is the romantic and chic mini-kit Affections. (Available at both MScraps and ScrapbookGraphics!) I chose to use it with a picture of Dunia's beautiful twin daughters, Rafa and Duda, who turned 9 months old on November 4. It came out just like I hoped, so soft and tender. :) The page earned a GSO at DigiShopTalk too.


( *** Please note this modification (by me) - The hand-drawn butterfly sticker offered in the kit was used as a mask to make the pierced paper butterfly in the above layout. *** )


Still need more creative inspiration? Visit Rachelle's (Designs by Doodelle's) blog to see other fabulous pages created by her Creative Souls -- my Soulsistahs!! :D

Oh!! And to end this blog post with a great news. Rach has prepared a special exclusive gift for Studio Doodelle customers who purchase from her store at SBG for the whole month of November! Look below, isn't it so gorgeous and useful? Don't miss it, ladies! :)

Shhh.. I'm not here...

Sorry I can't talk much and I won't talk long. Just tiptoe-ing in and will sneak out very soon.

I actually should have blogged much earlier. A lot of news to share, layouts to show, and promotions to.. well.. promote. Now it's too late and the iDSD had come and gone. I'm so sorry. I'll be better soon I promise. A lot is happening and I'm having a bad migraine attack. Everything coming out of my mouth sounds wrong and mean. (Bad Pom!) I should go to bed but I can't sleep. :(

Anyway, I still enjoy browsing around and reading about all my friends in Digi Land's iDSD experiences. Glad to learn that everyone seems to enjoy it so far. All the freebies from stores and designers are great and discounts are awesome. A lot of money was happily spent. Some stores are extending the sales for a day or two as well. That's a great news. :)

Well, I should try to go back to sleep. Good night!! ;) I'll be more sane next time we talk! LOL