iNSANE iNSD

Good Morning!  Casey here and...I survived iNSD...and it was a blast!  Oh the sales, the fun, the lack of sleep, and the deals!!  There were lots of great kits, templates, grab bags and more available for relatively cheap and I got my fair share. For Mother's Day my husband told me to get what I wanted.  He knows how much I enjoy scrapping and he loves to look at my pages too.  He is so supportive of me...I am too blessed.  Then came Mother's Day and it was wonderful!  Sleeping in, pancake breakfast (prepared by the Wonderful Hubby), and then all sorts of fun and snuggling with the baby.  


One thing that I wanted to share this morning is a recipe for Chocolate Pound Cake...I tried this and it is rather yummy!!  


Ingredients



3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups margarine, melted

3 cups white sugar

1 cup milk

5 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 can Duncan Hines Icing

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Thoroughly grease a 10-inch fluted tube pan. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined.

In a large bowl, mix the melted margarine, sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract; beat the flour mixture into the margarine mixture with an electric mixer set on Low until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top of the cake forms a crust and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before removing pan, then allow cake to cool completely.

Ice with Duncan Hines Chocolate icing

Notice there is a slice taken out of it...even before I could get it iced;)

ScrapMatters iNSD Blog Train Freebie!

Welcome to stop #47...that's right, I said 47! There are 49 stops in all!! I am so excited to be participating in my first ScrapMatters blog train! I hope you enjoy this stacked paper freebie I made for you using the gorgeous new kit "Timeless" by the ScrapMatters design team.

Click here to download. **link expired**

Make sure you follow the entire train for lots of fabulous goodies!! If you get lost you can always go back to the ScrapMatters blog. Have a happy iNSD weekend!!

1. Scrapmatters.com blog: http://scrapmatters.com/wordpress/

2. WM[squared] - Wendy: http://wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/
3. Krisi's Kreations - Krisi: http://krisis-kreations.blogspot.com/
4. Band Geek Designs- Liz: http://bandgeekdesigns.wordpress.com/
5. Jady Day Studio - Yari: http://jadydaystudio.blogspot.com/
6. Jennifer Labre Designs - Jenn: http://www.confessionsofadigitalscrapper.com/
7. Wyld Web Designs - http://wyldwebdesigns.com/wordpress/
8. Chelle's Creations - http://chelles-creations.blogspot.com/
9. Stolen Moments - http://stolenmomentsdesign.blogspot.com/
10. Haynay Designs - http://www.haynay.blogspot.com/
11. Plum Dumpling Designs - http://plumdumplingdesigns.blogspot.com/
12. Jeanine DeOre Design Studio - http://jeaninedesigns.com/
13. Inspirations from Day - http://www.digiinspirations.com/blog/
14. geniaBeana Scraps - http://geniabeanascraps.blogspot.com/
15. Wimpychompers Creations- http://www.wimpychompers.com/
16. Simply J Studio - http://simplyjstudio.blogspot.com/
17. Erica Zane - http://zane-escraps.blogspot.com/
18. Scrapmuss Designs http://scrapmuss.ru/
19. Graham Like the Cracker http://gltcblog.wyldgrahamcrackers.com/
20. Kimbytx- http://kimbytx.blogspot.com/
21. jubeejewels - http://jewelleslayouts.blogspot.com/
22. TanyaH666 - http://crossbonecuts.blogspot.com/
23. Kat http://katdesigned.blogspot.com/
24. Heidi (scrappurple): http://myfamilyscrappings.blogspot.com/
25. Jenn (jk703) - http://thetypativescrapper.blogspot.com/
26. Cami (camijo) http://camijoscraps.blogspot.com/
27. Jen (jendavey) http://thedaveydaily.blogspot.com/
28. Fran (Fran98765) http://franscraps.blogspot.com/
29. Melanie (scrappymelly) http://scrappymelly.blogspot.com/
30. Heather (snowdrop) http://heatherw25.blogspot.com/
31. Cheryl (gonewiththewind) http://cherylisadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/
32. Fiona (canadianmommy) http://mydigaddiction.blogspot.com/
33.Amanda (abhall76) http://mandasmemories.blogspot.com/
34 Fonnetta (fonnetta) http://www.icedlatteprincess.blogspot.com/
35. La'Shawn (shawnbear) http://the3cbears.blogspot.com/
36. Ami (steami) http://ofnofixedaddresscards.blogspot.com/
37. Sarah (sporte91) - http://growingupsharp.blogspot.com/
38. Cara (colson) - http://caraolsondesigns.blogspot.com/
39. Sharon (quietangelsb)- http://quietangelsb.blogspot.com/
40. Kairyn (Kairyn Lisa) - http://kairynlisadesigns.blogspot.com/
41. Cathy (scrappycath) - http://scrappycath.blogspot.com/
42. Chel (Chel) - http://scrappingchelcreations.wordpress.com/
43. Kayla (keepscrappin) - http://www.keepscrappin.blogspot.com/
44. Annisa (lionsimba) - http://www.themeyersfamilystory.blogspot.com/
45. Kelli (kellig) - http://adayinthelife-golden.blogspot.com/
46. LeAnn (scaccogirl) - http://scaccofamily.blogspot.com/
47. Crystal (Sugar Pie Scraps) - http://www.sugarpiescrapping.blogspot.com/ <----YOU ARE HERE
48. Amanda (dznyscrapper) - http://mhkscraps.blogspot.com/
49. Down This Road Designs (Angie) - http://www.downthisroaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Father of the Year freebie

In honor of Crystal’s design-a-versary, she let everyone pick the kit she was going to make. Father of the Year is the result.

Before I get to your freebie, I wanted to make sure you knew about the sale at Polka Dot Plum for iNSD.

And now for your freebie. I’ve made a quick page for you from Crystal’s Father of the Year kit. Click on the link for the direct download.

New Release: Father of the Year & Cluster Frame Freebie!!

On my 1 year designiversary I held a poll on my blog to vote for the swatch and theme of my designiversary kit. This kit is a direct result of those votes! The theme was Fathers and Sons but I chose to also add in a few word arts for grandpas and daughters as well to make the kit more versatile. My son LOVES his Daddy so I had to scrap with this kit myself.

Today thru Thursday, if you purchase the "Father of the Year", the add-on is free!! No need to add it to your cart, it will be included in the downloads when you purchase the kit. Sweet right??

 



If you haven't already heard, Polka Dot Plum will be having some AWESOME guest designers from now until December! May we are starting out with Spinky Dink Scraps and Laura Banasiak!!! Make sure to check out their stores at PDP during the month of May!!

Sugar Pie Chef Lorianne put together this cluster frame freebie just for you!! Click photo to download. Enjoy!



Tuesday Randomness

Hello all, Kara here, the new blog gal for SPS!!Today I will like to let everyone know (if you already don't know) that May is Cystic Fibrosis awareness month. CF is a big deal to me, as I am living with this disease. So this month I am doing all I can to make people aware of this life threatening disease. I linked you up to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website so you can read all about CF. Now I am going to post some facts about CF.

Are you aware that every single day a baby is born with Cystic Fibrosis? 1 in every 3000 live births is diagnosed with CF. Are you aware also that every single day a person with CF dies? Is that ok with you?

Are you aware that CF is the most common, deadly, genetic killer of children and young adults, attributing to 484 deaths per year, 40 per month, 9 deaths per week, and one death each and every day?

Are you aware that a median predicted age for someone diagnosed with CF is mid 30’s? Is that a long enough life to you?

Are you aware that if you are in a room of 100 people, statistically there will be 5 symptomless, unknowing carriers for this devastating disease? That’s more than 12 million Americans.

CF is not a faceless disease.

I lost my brother to this disease almost 5 years ago, and since then I am doing all I can to make people aware, this is not a disease to take lightly. I fight daily to live, I end up in the hospital about every 2 months. I have had surgeries to save my life, and have had many close calls to death. So please take a few minutes out of your day to read about CF. Also, purple is the color for CF (my favorite color) all this month I am trying to wear purple in some way to show my support. I wear purple silly bands daily, my nails are painted purple, and I am hoping to get purple extentions in my hair soon. I'd love to see a picture of you showing your support, so post us a pic of you wearing purple in some way. I hope everyone has a great day!

Kara

[inter]National Scrapbook Day Sale

Hey everyone!  Casey popping by to make sure you are aware that May 7th is [inter]National Scrapbook Day!   Every year when this special day rolls around there are tons of sales that we scrapbookers have to take advantage of.  The best one that I have seen yet is Persnickety Prints offer!  Take a look at the details show in their add below.  They are also doing giveaways and have a free kit for us to enjoy!!  So be on the look out for great sales and happenings around digiland!  By the way I have used Persnickety in the past and they are awesome!!

Friday Quick Page

Since my last freebie was very girlie, I thought I’d offer something very boyish this week. Crystal’s kit, In a Boy’s World definitely fits the bill.

I’ve created a quickpage for you. I hope you enjoy it. Click the preview to download.

A Total Standout!

The GSO (gallery standout) I'm sharing with you today was seriously a "no contest" LO (layout). It really is outstanding in every possible way. Not much else left to say about it really. So, my congratulations to Cardinalskate on her LO entitled Thoreau. Now, without further ado:



Don't forget to click on the LO to head on over to the gallery to leave this GSO some love!

Get Scrappin',
Tobi-Dawne.

Monday Miscellany, Sharing Seger

Good morning everyone, Casey here and I am running late with this post.  So when I thought about a quick post that would actually be something that I wanted to write about I immediately thought about music. My husband treated me to the best concert every on Saturday...Bob Seger!  It was my first time seeing him live and it was AWESOME!!!

So just in case some of you have never heard of him I wanted to share a few of my favorites so you can be exposed to great, old school, Heartland rock and roll!  My ultimate favorite is Against the Wind.  Below is a link to You Tube that has the audio...there is no video...the song pre-dates slick music videos, and MTV.  Some other favorites are Old Time Rock and Roll,  Chances Are  (from the movie Hope Floats...duet with Martina McBride), and a more recent tune Wait for Me (with a real music video).

I encourage you to take a listen...and see if you are like me and love some Seger;)  I hope you have enjoyed Miscellaneous Monday!!  Oh and I am sure that there will be some LOs dedicated to the concert...be sure to let your music find a way in to your scraps too:)

Monday Mayhem...Pandora

Hi everyone!  Casey here to share something totally non-scrapbook related.  I am now blessed with DSL Internet.  We had previously used satelite Internet.  The satelite service had several restrictions most annoying of which was upload and download limits per day.  I was forever breaking the quota and being put in the 'Internet penalty box'.  No more!!  

With this new found Internet freedom I am loving YouTube, E-How and Pandora radio.  Today I want to share about Pandora.  This is the best thing sine sliced bread! Being a music lover and having rather eclectic taste this website is right up my alley.  The premise behind Pandora is that it is trainable radio.  In other words you can teach your personalized station what kind of music you prefer and it plays only those songs that fit your profile.  Training is so easy you wither give a song a thumbs up or down.  You are allowed a certain number of skips per session and there are details about each artist and song available.  So I may hear Bob Seger, AC/DC, Steve Miller, Bad Company, or The Four Tops...at any given moment;)

For me this is so much fun...especially while scrapping!  So check it out...it is free, fun, and easy-peasy:)

1 Year Designiversary Blog Train Freebie & Sale!!!

Today is my 1 Year Designiversary!! I am so excited and I have a lot of fun things planned for this weekend!! First of all, the voting has closed for choosing the theme of my Designiversary kit and the winning theme is..."Fathers and Sons". I am really excited to get started on this kit!! I hope to have it ready by April 27th!

Join me tonight at 9 pm EST in the Polka Dot Plum chat room for fun, games & prizes!! Also, my entire store is 40% off Friday-Sunday!! Wear my blinky in the PDP forum and you might just get RAK'd by my CT! We're having Bingo...or as we like to call it SPSGO in the PDP chat room on Sunday. I hope you can join us for all of the fun!!

And now...to kick things off my CT has made some fabulous goodies for you in celebration of my designiversary! I am hosting the freebie made by Lorianne. Click image to download. Enjoy!

Make sure you visit all of the other stops on the blog train to pick up all the goodies!!

Sugar Pie Scraps <--YOU ARE HERE

Sugar Pie Chef Bobbie

Sugar Pie Guest Chef Kate
Sugar Pie Chef Blogger Casey
Sugar Pie Chef Mira
Sugar Pie Chef Jessica

Sugar Pie Chef Becky 

Can't "Overlook" this GSO!

Hey Everyone! It's me, TD. Long time no post. LOL But I'm back at'er, with your weekly Gallery Standout.

My pick this week really is a standout, in every possible way. I absolutely love it! The journalling along the side is fabulous. I love the paper strips running both vertically and horizontally behind the text. I love the fluidity of the layout. Love the clustering behind the photos. And love the use of the circular photo masks. It really is just an all around fabulous LO.

So congratulations to Kimberly (Gypsyk) on her lovely layout entitled "The Overlook". Nice work Kimberly!


The image is linked, so click on it to leave Kimberly a little gallery love. After all, don't we all enjoy a little flattery? :)

New Release & Template Freebie!!

I am so excited about today's new release, "DYEing for Easter". The main reason I am excited is because I made most of the themed elements myself! Once I started going...I couldn't stop..so this is one HUGE kit! There are 14 papers & 75 elements!!! I have seen a lot of kits for Easter, but none specifically for dyeing eggs....so I made one! I hope you like it!

Don't miss out on all the fun this weekend! April 15th is my 1 Year Designiversary and the CT and I have a lot of fun things planned! We will kick off with a chat on Friday night at 9pm PDP. And don't forget the 40% off sale Friday-Sunday! Get spotted wearing my blinky in the PDP forums Friday-Sunday and you might get RAK'd by my CT!! See the ad below for all of the details!!

And...here is your template freebie. Click to download. Enjoy!

Sneak Peek and Voting Is Still On!!

Happy Monday everyone! Casey here to share some sunshine! Crystal sure made my morning a bit brighter by allowing me to post this Sneak Peek for your ogling pleasure. All those fresh, bright, Springy colors always make me smile...and smiling is what you are going to be doing on Wednesday when she releases this kit...which is very appropriately themed for a certain Holiday that is fast approaching.  (Huge Hint given)

Until Wednesday you will just have to bide your time and maybe enjoy one of the other great products Crystal has waiting for you at her Polka Dot Plum Store.  Sugar Pie Scraps is teeming with gorgeous designs that are sure to help you make your memories look wonderful!  Oh and don't forget to cast your vote for the theme of SPS' Designiversary kit theme...you can do that here.  Take a look at the winning color swatch and the theme choices...have you voted yet?  Until next time...Happy Scrapping:)

Winning Swatch Announced...Now Choose the Theme of My Designiversary Kit!

Wow I was so excited to have so many votes on the color swatch for my Designiversary kit! Thank you so much to everyone that voted! It was close between several, but the overall winning swatch was.....

This was one of my favorites too so I'm super excited! Now that you've chosen the swatch...it's time to choose a theme. I have 5 suggestions below. Please vote for the number of the theme you like best. Please only vote one time. Everyone that votes will receive a discount coupon to purchase the kit when it is released and one lucky person will win the kit! Voting will be open thru Thursday, April 14th. The winning theme will be announced on Friday, April 15th and I will then begin work on the kit!

Let the voting begin!!

Magically Pink Freebie

Pink. Not a favorite color of mine, but I do like it. Now, my daughter? She’s a pink freak! She has loved this color from a very young age. No shade has gone untouched, light to dark, she loves them all. As she has gotten older, her love for pink has diminished a bit, but only because she wants to be “more grown up”. She deems pink a color for younger girls, not for 16-year olds. When we set out to buy a prom dress this year, she was adamant “NO PINK!” One hour and five dresses later, we left with a gorgeous dress in, you guessed it, PINK!

Once I reviewed the pictures my husband had taken, a layout started forming in my head. I remembered Crystal had a pink kit in the store and set out to use it. I am very happy with how this layout turned out. The selective coloring is perfect to focus on the dress that she so adamantly did not want to be pink, as well as blend with the kit. Here is my final layout.

As a special treat, I have made this layout into a quickpage for you. Click on the preview to download.

Designiversary Celebration!!

I don't have a new release this week...but I do have some NEWS! April 15th is my 1 Year Designiversary! I am so excited!! The CT and I have a lot of fun things planned so make sure to mark your calendars! You can grab my new fan blinky on the right side of the blog...courtesy of Kat's Creations.

And don't forget to vote in my Customer Choice Designiversary Kit! The winning color swatch will be announced Friday and then it will be time to vote on a theme! Here are the colors. Go HERE to vote for your favorite!

Also, this Friday night (April 8th) is 80's Night at the Plum. Join us for a fun chat, games & prizes!!





Grillin' Season Is Here

Hi all!  Casey here to share something totally not scrapbook related.  But hey not everything in life is about scrap-booking...right;)  My husband and I are avid grillers so I am always on the lookout for new ideas and recipes to try.


One of my favorite places to eat out is Red Lobster (for those not familiar this is a seafood place that serves all sorts of fish, shellfish, and they also do steaks and pasta).    Anyway, I think they have the best shrimp scampi on the planet...so when I found this recipe at Food.com I was so excited.  Take a look and just so you know the recipe is rated at 5 out of 5 stars;) 


What you Need

• 1/4 cup light olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 lbs shrimp

How To Do It

1. In a medium, non-reactive bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, black pepper and crushed red pepper.
2. Set aside.
3. Thread thawed shrimp onto skewers and cover with marinade for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat grill for high heat.
5. Grill, brushing occasionally with extra marinade, for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until done.

I cannot wait to give this one a try.  If you are a recipe guru leave a comment and link us up to your favorite...I have been needing to expand my culinary repertoire.  Oh and you can read all the comments and see photos of the scampi here at Food.com!

Flow...We Made It

Good morning everyone!  We made it...that is we made it through our series on design principles.  This is the last post where we will be dealing with Flow (remember our acronym ECBARF).  I have enjoyed writing this series and hope that something here has helped you in journey to create layouts that you and your family can treasure for years to come.

OK lets jump right in there.  What is flow?  Flow is really the combination of emphasis, contrast, balance, alignment, and repetition.  It is the concept of all these design theories working together to create a layout that captures the eyes, guides it through your designs and to be honest...pleases the eye.  Since we have already touched on each one of the individual theories I thought it might be a good idea to take a layout from the Sugar Pie's PDP Gallery and point out how a layout achieves flow.

Our example is this gem from Ulrikaulrika.  When I saw this in the gallery I was very taken with it. But after thinking about it terms of ECBARF it made the concepts mesh together in my mind.

Emphasis:  In this layout both the title and photo are emphasized.  The size of the photo and the contrasting alpha colors help draw your attention, or emphasizes these 'pieces' of the design.  Also note now Ulrikaulrika's element placement draws additional attention to her photo.

Contrast:  As mentioned in the emphasis section the contrasting alpha colors help catch your eye and add emphasis...see how these two concepts go hand-in-hand.  But that is not the only example of contrast.  Notice how the bright blue paper really sets off the design...it pops behind the photo and against the background paper.  Don't be afraid of color...sometimes that extra splash is all you need to take a layout from good to AWESOME!  Oh and I almost forgot take note of how Ulrikaulrika has combined different fonts for a bit more contrast;)

Balance:  Moving on to balance now.  This layout is weighted to one side but that does not mean that it cannot be balanced.  In fact it is balanced using vertical balance.  Even though the photo is a bit wider than the blue paper block note how the orange asterisk element is used to bring the layout back in to balance.

Alignment:  When you glance at this layout you immediately notice that for the most part it is center aligned.  The journaling, blue paper block, and photo and elements work together to achieve alignment.

Repetition:  Ulrikaulrika uses color and shape repetition in this design.  Both her photo and paper blocks are rectangular.  Her use of stitching on both these peices adds a bit more rectangular shape repetition.  She also repeats element types with the buttons 'securing' the photo to the page.

Flow:  Lets talk about how the eye flows through this layout and why.

• Z-Flow:  Ulrikaulrika uses a visual triangle to move your eye through her photo by way of the button elements.  This is probably the first thing your eye did when you glanced at the layout.  Don't ask me why...just except it and move on;)  Seriously everything that I have read says that it is a tendency of the eye to follow the triangle.
• Next you probably picked up on the title of the layout...the colors grab your attention (contrast).  
• Then your eye drifts lower to the journaling. 
• Alignment and balance help control how the eye roams too...the key parts of this particular design are constructed in such a way to keep you focused.

I hope this discussion helps some and that if you have read all the posts in this series you are a bit more comfortable with your style, design, and are even more psyched about scrapping!  I'll be back soon with more tips, tricks, and some great Sneak Peeks;)  And don't forget to cast your vote on the Designiversary Kit contest!  Here is a quick look at the color swatches you can vote on!

Build, Destroy, Repeat Collab by Sugar Pie Scraps & Connie Prince

Choose the Colors of my Designiversary Kit!

April 15th is my 1 year Designiversary! I am so excited about all the fun things my CT and I have planned for this month to celebrate. I will be hosting a chat at Polka Dot Plum on April 15th at 9 p.m. EST. There will be a BINGO or as we're calling it, "SPSGO" hosted by my CT member Lorianne at PDP on Sunday April 17th. My CT will be checking the PDP forum April 15-17th and giving RAKs to people caught wearing my blinky. I will be having a sale April 15-17th and I will be creating a kit chosen by you!

From now until April 7th, you can vote for your favorite color swatch from the 6 choices below. Please leave a comment below with the number of the swatch you choose. Please only vote once. On April 8th I will be back to announce the winning color swatch and to give you theme choices. You will then vote on a theme from April 8-15th and then I will announce the winning theme on the 16th. After the color swatch and theme have been chosen I will begin working on the kit and hope to have it ready by the end of April. Everyone that comments will receive a discount code for the kit when it is complete and one lucky winner will get the kit for free!

Here are your color choices. Remember...only vote one time for one swatch. Can't wait to see which one wins!