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Last weekend, we had a houseguest. It was rather unexpected, but not inconvenient. Our houseguest was family, and in our home, family is always welcome. Our houseguest only stayed one night, but upon leaving, he presented us with a gift: a certificate to the Portland Nursery as a way of saying thanks for the hospitality.

The gift was unnecessary of course, but we accepted it with gratitude. This past Saturday, after purchasing a huge variety of heirloom tomato starts (for just $1 each!) from my co-worker’s annual plant sale, we stopped by the nursery to use our certificate. We knew exactly what we wanted, too. A few weeks previous we had been at the nursery to purchase a crab apple tree (the one that now graces our front yard lawn). Dragging our wagon towards the front entrance checkout, we spotted a nice looking vine plant with a big sign that read: kiwis. Kiwis? Really?! We live in Oregon and we were astonished that this tropical-seeming fruit was being offered at our local nursery, a guarantee that yes, this will grow in your Oregon yard if you plant it.

My husband latched onto the idea of growing a kiwi vine right away, but with the crab apple tree purchase, we couldn’t justify it. Fast forward a few weeks and the gift certificate made it possible. We brought home one female vine and a male vine to accompany it. Yesterday, we had my husband’s family over for a lobster bake Mother’s Day party and everyone oooed and awed at our kiwi vines. I can’t wait until we are actually growing our own backyard kiwis!

Speaking of Mother’s Day, I hope you had a good one. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have plenty of new photos to scrap and you’ll need a kit to scrap them with. You may recall that a few weeks ago in my Monday blog post I mentioned a “bonus days” event being hosted by Snickerdoodle Designs. Through May 22nd, if you purchase one of the ‘kits of the week,’ you’ll get a bonus included with download. Last week,  Apple of my Eye and Hay Day were featured.

If you’ve been following along in the Wednesday Studio newsletters, you’ll know that there are a number of Mother’s Day appropriate kits that have been featured. One of my favorites was the Merry Month of May collection, featured April 17th. The hats and ribbons in this kit are so perfect for a Mother’s Day brunch, picnic, or tea layout, don’t you think?

Because I’m sure many of you have Mother’s Day photos to scrap, I decided to make this week’s freebie using the Merry Month of May collection. Just click on the image below to download. And be sure to watch for this week’s newsletter and find out which kits will be featured next!

SD_MMofM_blog-image

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I am a total and complete fan of Pinterest and after this weekend and all of the Pin It To Win It festivities I’m hooked for sure.  Kim (Kimberkatt) and I,  along with the incredible Designers here at The Studio were working like little ants on Saturday to find goodies on those Pinterest lists and get the coupons out.  Luckily, most people were RAK’d with at least one thing from their list.  I even got RAK’d!  Thank you Scrappy Cocoa for “Just Bee Happy”!  I love the soft earthy feel of this kit and I can’t wait to play.

 First things first though.  I like organized.  Anytime there is a big event, I make a commitment to get everything organized and put it the right place before I can buy anything else.  I keep my digital supplies sorted by PU, S4H and CU so I’m sure not to use something that conflicts with the designer’s TOU.  From there, I sort them by designer and then I make a copy of the preview and put it in a Purchased Kits Previews folder.  It’s a little extra work but I’m such a visual person and when I have something in mind for a page, I want to see the pictures so I can choose the perfect kit(s).

As I was sorting through my new purchases and starting to organize them, I thought about putting them on Pinterest too.  Hmmm.  How nice would it be to have one board with my entire inventory of scrapbook kits all in one place?  I’m going to give it a shot and see how I like it.  It’s so easy to check the Scrapbooking Kits and Collections Board or the brand new Commercial Use Board to see what’s new and then just REPIN what I love to my Scrapbooking Wish List Board.  It’s also super easy to edit those pins and move them to My Purchased Board once I have them.  I’m going to give it a try but I’m curious.  How do you organize your files?  What do you think of the Purchased Board?

If you’re new to scrapbooking, you might want to check Manda’s post “Lets Get Organized” series.  In this post she talks about organizing your coupons so you might find it helpful with what I have for you now.  Today is Boo of BooLand Designs Birthday and she has a coupon for you.  To celebrate her birthday in full style she still has her store set to 50% off  so this extra 10% off is truly a sweet deal.  Boo released A Fisherman’s Rest on Saturday and today she has 4 new One Page Wonders in the store.

The Studio Newsletter Previews Template

Use coupon code:  BoosBD10moreOff

Collabs are excluded.
Good for 2 uses
Expires on 5/17/13.

 

 

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If you’re at all familiar with my blog postings, you’ll know that I am forever working on my yard. One week I’m adding flowers, the next pulling weeds. This past weekend was no exception and I added two beautiful young trees to my yard.

Three years ago when my husband and I decided we wanted a puppy, we spent night after night on the internet reading through lists and looking at images of different dog breeds, considering which breed would be best for us and for our future family. When it came to choosing trees for our yard, our approach was the same; we scoured nursery websites and wiki articles reading about this tree or that. What color are the flowers, when does it bloom? Does it fruit? What sort of diseases is it resistant or susceptible to? Perhaps it’s a bit much, but we wanted our trees to be just right for us and for our yard.

We finally settled on crab apple trees, Malus Evereste for the front and Purple Prince for the back. Each of these trees will blossom in the spring and fruit in the fall, white and deep pink flowers, and yellow/orange and purple fruits, respectively. The trees are a bit scrawny now being that they are still young, but I am so looking forward to seeing them grow and take shape in my yard.

As I mold and shape my garden I wonder: what will next year bring? What new flowers, plants, and trees will we add, and how will they all grow together? To narrate my story, I turn to a delightful collection from Snickerdoodle Designs: Leaving Room. The collection includes garden staples like a shovel and glove, and some surprising elements like the garden angels who watch over the seeds you sow. This Wednesday, and every Wednesday through May 22nd, you’ll find two collections from Snickerdoodle Designs featured in theStudio newsletter, each with a little something extra included. This past Wednesday, Leaving Room and Flower Creek Lane were featured.

If you’re wondering how to get the “extra” bonus that is included with each kit, there’s no secret. Just add the kit to your cart for purchase and the bonus will be included with the download. Be sure to check theStudio newsletter each week to find out which two kits will be featured next.

For my part, I’ve put together a quickpage for you to download, so in addition to the bonus you’ll get with purchase, you can add this little bonus to your collection as well! Enjoy and happy Monday.

SD_LeavingRoom_blog-image

 

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Spring Photo Ops, plus a freebie!

by Jenn 15 April 2013
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Do you ever wake up early on a Saturday morning, look out the window and see the sun yellow and bright against a clear blue sky and say to yourself ’what a perfect day to spend outside in my yard?’ As spring meanders in between occasional April showers, I find myself in this position now and then. I’m not usually an early riser [...]

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Take Me Away, Calligraphy Collection 2, and a freebie!

by Jenn 1 April 2013
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Grass is a funny thing. When we first bought our house in 2010, the grass was short and mostly green. A few months later, when spring rolled around, the grass exploded into a dandelion-filled green jungle that you could hardly walk through. So, we mowed the lawn and in just a few short weeks, the lawn dried up and [...]

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Mother Memories by ADB Designs and Designs by Brigit and a free quickpage for you!

by renee 22 March 2013
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Mother Memories is collaboration between ADB Designs and Designs by Brigit.  Diane (ADB Designs) and Brigit (Designs by Brigit)  have joined their artistic talent together again in creating an amazing collection of kits and extras devoted to recognizing and honoring mothers and all the special females in our lives. The palette of soft pastels and rich jewel tones [...]

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Laddie Brian, Lassie Brianna, and a freebie!

by Jenn 18 March 2013
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Did you have a lucky and lively St. Patty’s Day yesterday? Perhaps you plucked a four-leaf clover, or found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow (as if, right?!). Maybe you just had a jolly celebration with family and friends, and wore a touch of green to avoid an unlucky pinch. As [...]

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In Bloom Coordinated Collection

by tammy 7 March 2013
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We’ve got a stunning new coordinated collection at theStudio!  In Bloom has over 80 mini kits, element packs, cardstocks, alpha’s, stamps, twists, you nameits!  Each product is only $1.00now through March 15th. In Bloom is a coordinated collection, that means the same palette, the same theme was used by each of our Designers.  Each Designer [...]

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Little Sprouts Jack and Lucille, plus a freebie!

by Jenn 4 March 2013

My mother-in-law is full of sweet and funny anecdotes about my husband growing up, and she’s shared plenty of photos to accompany her amusing tales too. One of her cutest stories is about my husband and his red cape and fireman boots. Apparently he’d wear them everywhere, even to the grocery store where he’d ride around on the grocery cart like a superhero. I don’t [...]

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The ABC Teach Me Album collection, plus a freebie!

by Jenn 19 February 2013
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I have a terrible cat named Sasha. I say this not because I don’t love her, I do, but she is in fact a terrible cat. As a kitten, Sasha had ginormous ears and the loudest meow you’ve ever heard. She grew into the ears, but not the meow. Sasha is now 9 years old [...]

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