Hi everyone!! Kylie here with layout of the week! YAY!!

 I’ve just returned from a two-week holiday visiting my family – a wonderful, wonderful time spent together! But, I certainly missed the Shabby Shoppe and all my beautiful friends here in ‘blog and gallery land’. :o) So, first stop back… straight into the gallery to catch up on all those amazing new layouts! WOW – you guys never ever cease to amaze and inspire me with your talent and creativity!! I’m loving all the fabulous Template Challenge NINE entries, so many, and GORGEOUS to boot!! Don’t forget that today is the deadline for Template Challenge NINE here at the Blog.  SP will be back on Thursday to announce the ‘winner’, AND to share Template Challenge TEN with everyone…can’t wait for that!!!!

As I was looking through our beloved gallery, the page that caught my eye immediately was Ladibugbaby’s 81 days left. I was drawn to it like a ‘moth’ to all those ‘an affair to remember’ candles! :o) I love the understated design and the full page journaling. The photo – ‘everyday’ in nature…yes, at first glance; but I then found myself wanting to find out more. That led me to Ladibugbaby’s inspirational journaling. Here, Ladibugbaby shares her and her husband’s commitment to a healthier lifestyle and the start of their 89-day journey to achieve their goal weight. Using scrapbooking as a weight-loss journal is such an inspirational idea – and sooo motivating to all of us, I’m sure! Ladibugbaby has posted three wonderful goal-related pages in the gallery recently and I just had to share all three with you today. For a closer look, and to view Ladibugbaby’s full gallery… click HERE! It’s full of beautiful layouts and be sure to check out all the new ones – AMAZING!!!!

Congratulations Ladibugbaby on this week’s LOTW and we wish you and your hubby all the success in the world with achieving your goal!! I hope this is just one of the many little rewards you receive (and totally deserve) on your way to successfully becoming a happier and healthier YOU! :o) Thanks so much for sharing your layouts with us! You have been emailed a $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe (be sure to check your spam folders)!  And have fun shoppe-ing!

A big THANKS to EVERYONE that posted to the Shabby Shoppe Inspiration Gallery last week (it was a joy to look through them all!) and thanks for stopping by the Blog today. We’ll be back on Wednesday with a great tips & tricks post! :o) 

KylieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 3 Comments

 CLICK HERE to download the 1024×768 version

CLICK HERE to download the 1280×800 version

 GOOD MORNING :o)  sorry that this is another quick one…but still feeling pretty ‘under the weather’ here…and the little man woke up with a sore throat and coughing this morning, too :o(  ahhhhh!  anyway – wanted to get this new desktop over to you asap…i hope you like it!  it is a little ‘busy’ lol…but i love it :o)  soooooo many of you ask for single photo desktops (along with two and three and four and so on photo spots, lol) – so here ya go!  i try to ‘mix them up’…so next month – there will be multi-photo opening again!  enjoy…and can you tell that i am ready for SPRING?  lol!

have a BEAUTIFUL weekend, everyone!  xoxo–SP

Shabby PrincessFree Desktops, Uncategorized 28 Comments

 hey guys :o)  SP here with the FEBRUARY templates (two separate templates to create a ‘spread’) for project SCRAP 2011!  I hope everyone is up-to-date with photos…because it’s time to SCRAP now, lol!

 You can either click on the image above to download…or simply CLICK HERE!

Project SCRAP ~ bundle ONE is now available for purchase at the Shabby Shoppe…CLICKING HERE will take you straight there!

PLEASE NOTE: if you participated in project SCRAP 2011 right here at the Shabby Shoppe’s BLOG…you do not need to purchase this product. Be sure to check your hard drive before purchasing :o)

If you are not familiar with our scrap project…THIS POST is a great place to learn more!  Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2011 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject!  It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything!  But, as a little and quick reminder…here is the project in a nutshell:::

So, that’s it for now!  Be sure to post your finished February layouts in the project scrap GALLERY!  We can’t wait to see :o)  And, I’ll be checking in again with you guys soon…and will be sure to post some February inspiration in the next week or so as well (I have severely AWFUL sinus infection right now…so I’ll scrap as soon as I can, lol…it took everything in me to get these templates finished up and ready to go, lol)!  Until then, have fun scrapping (and photographing)!

See ya back here tomorrow with March’s free desktop :o)  xoxo –SP

Shabby PrincessFree (not desktops), project Scrap 2011, Uncategorized 21 Comments

Hi guys :o)  SP here and I am always so happy to bring you a new GALLERY GIRLS feature!!  It truly is my fave ‘blog duty’ lol!  I always feel honored to get to work with such talented individuals…both on my team, and in the scrapping community – it’s a sincere pleasure for me!

Our next featured Gallery Girl is the super sweet and talented Kim (better known in the Gallery as Five17Creations).  She was so much fun to get to know and work with!  I totally enjoyed each and every email she sent me with new layouts!  She has been busy scrapping, so I hope you are ready to be inspired!  We’ll get to know her better, but first – how about a new layout that KIM created just for this special post (there are more new and adorable layouts from Kim sprinkled throughout the post below…so be sure to scroll down).  Kim will also be uploading all of these layouts to her gallery…so you can see larger images and more info about each there :o)

Like I mentioned, Kim created LOTS of new layouts for the feature and while it was not easy to choose a fave…I think this would have to be it!  The angle is what first caught my eye…well, that and the layering!  But then, it was just so sweet and fun to see pics of their ten years together :o)

 TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF…

I live in Austin, Texas with my husband of 8 years and our 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.  We’re also expecting a baby at the end of July, and my son can’t decide whether he wants a baby brother or sister.  (Sometimes he says he wants both, but we’ve told him it’s only going to be one – lol!).  Since having my kids, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom, and that’s made me love scrapbooking even more because it’s a creative outlet for me.  I keep busy with the kids, the house, church, playdates, and preschool.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCRAPPING DIGITALLY…AND DID YOU EVER GIVE PAPER SCRAPPING A TRY?

 I’ve been scrapbooking digitally since the end of 2008.  My first project was making our family Christmas card that year.  I wasn’t sure I’d like going digital because I had been paper scrapbooking almost forever.  I’ve always loved putting together albums of pictures, but they’ve just gotten more elaborate in recent years!  After my friend taught me Photoshop and showed me some digital scrapbook sites, I was hooked.  I love that I can work on my computer when I have a few minutes, then just close the laptop when I need to be with my kids… no mess to clean up!  And I love my printed books that fit so nicely on the shelf!

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR SCRAPPING STYLE?

 I would say in some ways my style is always changing.   I feel like I see a lot of different ideas out there and like to try them all.  I’m not trained as a graphic designer or anything like that (the only real experience I have comes from being the editor of my high school yearbook), so I’m not thinking of any style “rules” as I go along.  Just putting pages together the way I like them!! 

WHAT IS THE FIRST COMPONENT OF EACH PAGE YOU CREATE…OR DOES IT VARY FROM PAGE TO PAGE?

I’d have to say almost always I start a page with the pictures.  I tend to lay out my pictures the way I’d like them and build the design around that.  I take tons of pictures and I just can’t help but get all my favorites on the page! 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LAYOUT (TO DATE) AND WHY?

 If I have to pick a favorite, I’ll say THIS ONE!  I love this layout so much partly because I just love these pictures of my kids!  I also feel like the layout flows perfectly between the two pages (I like to scrapbook as two page layouts when I can), I like the color combo, and there’s just something about the way the elements and pictures came together that I like.  Can’t explain it, but it just makes me happy looking at it :o)

WHAT TIP/TECHNIQUE DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SCRAPPING DIGITALLY?

 It’s hard to pick ONE thing I didn’t know at the beginning that I’m glad I know now.  Probably like a lot of us, I started off really simple and have learned lots of things as I’ve gone along.  I like to say my scrapbooking is always “evolving” and l look back at layouts I did a year ago and think how I could make them a lot better.  I get new ideas all the time, especially from places like this gallery.  One thing I’ve been learning about more this past year is how to creatively fit more pictures on a page.  As I said before, I take tons of them and am not good at picking only a few for my books!! 

WHAT IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE INSPIRES YOU IN YOUR SCRAPBOOKING?

 My everyday life is exactly what my scrapbooking is all about.  And my everyday life right now is a lot about my kids, so I guess they are the inspiration for a lot of my layouts!  I want to capture both the big events and the everyday moments in a way that we will enjoy looking back on for years to come.  My scrapbooking is really about preserving the memories.

TECH STUFF :o)  Tell us about your camera and software!

 For a while I was taking pictures on my good ole Kodak camera.  It was a great camera, but what I had my eye on was an SLR.  I finally got my wish this past Christmas, so for a couple of months now I’ve been able to play with my new camera.  It’s a Canon EOS Rebel T1i.  I’m sure it will take me a while to learn how to use all the functions of this camera!   The only software I’ve ever used for scrapbooking is Photoshop.  I’m probably using an older version than a lot of you, but it’s what I could get my hands on when I was getting started with digital scrapbooking.  It’s still a great program, but someday I dream of an upgrade :o) 

FAST FIVE FACTS!

•  fave color:  green
• fave food:   chocolate
• fave movie:  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always behind on current movies, but in general I like romantic comedies best (like Notting Hill and My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and I also love classic musicals (I grew up on movies like The Sound of Music and Music Man). 
• fave song:  Play me anything by Casting Crowns or Chris Tomlin
• fave memory:  Being asked out by my husband for the first time (it’s a great story that includes passing notes in a college accounting class… romantic, right?), our kids’ births, family vacations

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THANK YOU bunches and bunches for having fun with us, Kim :o)  It has been a joy to work with you…and I know that I will continue to look forward to your new gallery postings!

I’ll be bringing you guys another new GALLERY  GIRLS post next month…so stay tuned :o)

And, I’ll be back tomorrow with February’s PROJECT Scrap templates…and then on FRIDAY with March’s FREE desktop  (yep…a BUSY week, lol) :o)  THANKS for stopping by…have a good one!  xoxo –SP

Shabby PrincessGallery Girls, Uncategorized 11 Comments

Hello everyone!  Beckie here today to bring you this week’s Product Spotlight!  We’ve chosen the perfectly serene, and sweetly sophisticated “Whisper“.  Whether you’re snowed in or basking in the warm sunshine down under, the cool hues of this collection are perfect for so many kinds of photos!

This sweet little collection (it’s what SP refers to as a ‘petite’ kit) has wonderful essential items for your scrapping stash – including a super versatile acrylic alpha!   How about a little more inspiration for you?

I loved the colors of this sweet little mini kit so much that I used it TWICE!  These are some new photos of my daughter and me that I just adore!  It’s not often that I’m actually in FRONT of the camera (something I’m working on this year!).  Blue may scream “boy”, but throw in lots of flowers and swirlies and suddenly you have a perfectly girly design!

And finally this simple layout I threw together in no time!  Just a quick block design with a few fabulous textures:  stitching, lace, flowers, and tape!  I wanted to let the photo be the focal point.  Look at those chubby cheeks!! :)

All I can say is WOW – I just love this design by SP!  The blues and greens work so well for these sweet photos of her little man.  I just love the layering here, and how the soft edges of the scalloped border perfectly frame the sleeping baby!

And how about this work of art by Anna?!  Holy cow, I’d want to see these sweet smiles every day, too! I love her blocked design and the border around the papers and photos that tie everything together.  The blues and greens from her papers work SO well with all her photos!  This page makes me say “awwwwww!!”  :)

If you like what you see here, you can pick up Whisper this week only for just $3.50 in the Shoppe!  And as always, you can find these layouts and more in our Shabby Artist Gallery.  And don’t forget to share your layouts with us, too!  We love seeing your work in the Shoppe Gallery!

Be sure to check back tomorrow – you won’t want to miss what SP has in store for you (it’s her latest GALLERY GIRL feature)!

BeckieProduct Spotlight, Uncategorized 3 Comments