Great Groupon Deal for Shutterfly Photo Book!

OK, this is just too good of a deal not to share! Today you can get in on an awesome deal from Shutterfly through their Groupon offer. For just $10, you get a 20-page 8"x8" hardcover photo book from Shutterfly...that's a $30 value!

Click here to get the deal: Shutterfly Photo Book Deal

If you're not familiar with Groupon, it's a coupon-type website that has daily offers from various companies...some are local to specific areas and others are for online retailers. Since Shutterfly is on online retailer, today's deal is available to everyone no matter where you live!

If you're not familiar with Shutterfly, they are an online retailer of photo prints and other photo-related products. Their photo books are outstanding! It's a great way to get your digital scrapbook pages printed and bound into a book...you can even upload scans or photos of your paper-and-paste scrapbook pages. Or you can use their premade templates to just plug in your photos and make a quick-and-easy keepsake book! The Shutterfly photo books make excellent gifts, and the possibilities are endless. They are ideal to make theme books for vacations, weddings, family reunions, recipes, and more!

Shutterfly also has a partnership with Creating Keepsakes, and they offer several pre-made digital scrapbooks from the magazine's designers that you can also use. Some of the book designs offered include:

• Celebrate Everyday Life designed by Ali Edwards
• Sweet Baby designed by Becky Higgins
• Year in Review designed by Lisa Bearnson
• The ABC's of You designed by Jessica Sprague
• School Days designed by Tiffany Tillman

If you're like me, the idea of scrapbooking all your photos is completely overwhelming...not to mention impossible! I know that I'll never be "caught up" with scrapbooking all my photos...first of all, I take photos way faster than I make scrapbook layouts! Plus, I like to relax and enjoy the creative process when I scrapbook...I don't want to just "get it done." That's why I'm a big fan of photo books...they allow you to get photos captured in print that would otherwise just be stored on the computer (or in boxes). At least that way, you can enjoy them with your family and friends!

You can check out the gallery at Shutterfly to see thousands of examples of photo books that others have created. Here are a few of my favorite photo books from the Shutterfly gallery:

Kindergarten Art by GeorgeH8:
LOVE this idea for storing all the kids' art work and school projects! Such a great way to keep their creative works without having to store the actual pieces (macaroni art does not do well in storage)...and don't we all need to find ways to de-clutter? And now Grandma (and anyone else who looks through the photo book) is able to appreciate the creations of your budding little artists.

Encyclopedia of ME by Emilie:
Another great idea! This one is really creative...such a cool way to do an all-about-me book.

Blossoms and Butterflies by Kjeanette:
A fabulous collection of photos...I'll admit I'm a sucker for shots of flowers and butterflies! And I am so ready for Spring right now, so these pics are like a breath of fresh air! The Shutterfly photo books would be perfect to showcase your favorite photos like this...sort of a portfolio of your best shots. What a great coffee table book, too!

Orlando 2007 by HeatherAnn:
This is digital scrapbooking at its finest. Love the digital layouts in this photo book! Heather Ann Melzer is an amazingly talented designer...she also sells her designs online HERE.

I could go on and on with photo book samples...there are so many great ideas out there! So what are you waiting for? Get your groupon, and start making your Shutterfly photo book!
Remember, this deal is available TODAY only, so be sure to get yours before it's gone: Shutterfly Photo Book Deal

Enjoy!

The Very First Reminisce Blog Hop!

Welcome to the very first Reminisce Blog Hop! If you've just arrived from Becky Kremke's blog, you are in the right place. If not, please visit the Reminisce blog for the complete list of details and blogs that are participating if you'd like to play along! We have some fantastic prizes you can win, too! The blog hop starts today, March 9th, and runs through Midnight CST on Sunday, March 13th. To have a chance to win a prize, just leave a comment at each stop and then a comment on the Reminisce blog telling us about your blog hop experience. (Please be sure to use exactly the same name in each comment.) Then return to the Reminisce blog on Tuesday, March 15th to find out if you've won!

There will also be a Secret Bonus Stop on one of the featured blogs! By commenting on the secret blog you will have a chance to win the brand-spanking new IN BLOOM collection from Reminisce! This new line won't even be in the stores for another few weeks but this is your chance to win it before you can buy it!

I'd like to share a card I made with the new Reminisce Celebration Series collection. I used the Luau-themed papers and stickers for this card:

I love the bright, fun colors and patterns...they are perfect for scrapbooking tropical vacations or even for making luau party supplies!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Before you hop along to Robin Gibson's blog, don't forget to leave a comment here on my blog. Then you can check out Robin's blog for more fabulous Reminisce projects! (Remember, in case of any glitches you can always go back to the very first Reminisce Blog Hop entry HERE.) Happy hopping! :)

Dixie Pieces March Kit: Project #1

Today I'm going to share some details on one of the layouts I made with the March 2011 kit from Dixie Pieces as their Guest Designer this month.

I noticed right away all the bold, bright colors in the kit, but there are also a good mix of blue and aqua tones, as well as some sea-themed paper, which was the inspiration for this layout:

All the supplies on this layout are from the kit, and I also used some white cardstock, and a bit of ink, paint, and Stickles. I started out with the sheet of die-cut paper, cutting the outside edge to use as a border on the patterned paper background. I cut a strip of the October Afternoon Seaside paper along the wave pattern and layered it over the Lakeshore cardstock, tucking the photo under the waves. I used a punched border that had a wave-like pattern in it to fill in the bottom of the die-cut shape. As I was about to toss the negative "confetti" pieces from the punch into the trash, I thought the little wave shapes might be cool to use somewhere else on the page, and I ended up adhering them across the photo.

LOVE the way this looks...I'll have to pay more attention to my "throw-away" pieces from now on!

I did the journaling on the computer using a graduated fill color in the text box. I repeated the large die-cut shape, using some smaller similar shaped pieces that I layered for the title. I brushed some Stickles on the large title letters to add a bit of sparkle.

The finishing touch was the cluster of flowers, which I made with shapes punched from the papers and cardstock. I also added a bit of paint and Stickles to the edges of the flowers. These paper roses are so simple but so pretty!

I really love how this page turned out...the papers in the Dixie Pieces kit were just perfect! I was trying to capture the beauty and serenity of the view from that pool, and I think it does the job! It sure makes me wish I was back there again...of course, who wouldn't want to trade the winter blues for the blues of that pool and the ocean?!

Speaking of blues, you'll be sad and blue if you miss out on this fabulous kit from Dixie Pieces...so, head to the Dixie Pieces website and get it now!

I'm thrilled to "Pieces"!

It's March 1st, so finally I can share this...I'm thrilled to be the March Guest Designer for Dixie Pieces! A big thank you to my friend Kim Holmes for introducing me to Dixie Pieces, and to co-owners Sherry and Brenna for giving me the opportunity to work with one of their awesome kits!

This is the fabulous Dixie Pieces kit for March 2011..."Dot-A-Licious"!

Isn't it yummy? You can see a full list of what's included with the kit and order it on the Dixie Pieces website HERE. But let me just assure you, there is a bunch of great stuff in this kit to create with! I had a ton of fun playing with all the goodies...flowers, buttons, tags, decorative tape, ribbon, denim fabric, bingo cards...even shrinky dink sheets! And lots of patterned papers, along with cardstock and letter stickers, too!

Here are the projects I created with the kit:

I have to say it again...I really had fun playing and creating with this kit! There are lots of great pieces in there that you can use as-is, but I also had fun taking the supplies to create my own unique embellishments, like flowers (paper and fabric), paper piecing, and custom accents using shrinky dinks!

Over the next few days I'll share the details and more photos for the projects I created. In the meantime, if you want to get your crafty hands on this kit, head over to the Dixie Pieces website and order yours today!

"B" is for Barnyard Buddies, Birdhouse, and B-Side!

In honor of the Reminisce "B-Side" Challenge, I have a project to share that uses only the B-sides from Reminisce patterned papers...well, and a few other supplies, too. But all the papers are strictly B-sides!

Coincidentally, this B-side project uses product from a Reminisce collection named with 2 words that start with the letter "B"...Barnyard Buddies! And, the project itself has a "B" name...Birdhouse Barn. That's pretty un-"B"-lievable! OK, enough with the punny stuff...on to the project.

I started out by painting the wood birdhouse white, except for the base which I painted green. I then covered the sides and roof with Reminisce paper...all B-side paper! Finally, I added plenty of farm critters around the barn using Barnyard Buddies stickers and pop dots. A few shreds of raffia gave the finishing touch on the birdie perch in the window. Here are a few more photos so you can see the sides and back of the Birdhouse Barn:

Don't forget...today is the last day to get your entries in for the Reminisce "B-Side" Challenge! Get your B-Side project linked to the Reminisce blog for your chance to win some great prizes from Reminisce! Good luck!