It's a Boy, not a Girl!!

This layout is causing some confusion at the galleries I have posted. I should have mentioned that it's my son, before he had his first haircut! He had long, curly hair and I used to get this comment all the time!
"What a cute little girl"
"Sorry, Boy, not Girl!"

Anyhow, here is the latest one
Scrapartist Gallery
DigiShop Talk Gallery

Updates

Made a couple of changes to the blog. Changed the header image as I got bored of it, and I didn't love the alpha as much anymore. I have wanted to change it for some time, and Whizgidget's entry last week reminded me of it. I had initially thought of keeping this blog limited to DigiScrapping, but I do like talking about life in general, and will also include stitching as it becomes a integral part of my routine again. I had trouble coming up with an interesting title that fit what I was trying to say. I think I like this one.

Also changed the template a bit to make use of the full screen. So it gives me more space to display pictures. The screen layout still is a little bit off but better than before.

I have also added links to two good tutorial sites, specifically geared towards Digital Scrapbooking.

Now for the fun. Here is a LO I did on Thursday.

In Your Eyes

Free Alpha...Go Get It

Hmm...I posted about not being able to find a link to the Hand Stamped Alpha by Michelle Coleman. Turns out, I wasn't imagining things. The alpha is no longer up for sale. I had already bought it in the SA Anniversary Sale. Michelle is now offering it free at her Blog. There was some controversy over at a forum about it and she decided to no longer sell it. It's sad that digiscrapping community is not free of negativity either. I think the anonymity (real word?) that comes because of being in cyberspace brings out the worst in people. Sigh.

No layouts today. I slept at 2AM last night and came to work this morning. I'm tired and want to go home. I'm doing some freelance work on the side and got stuck at something. Hopefully, tonight will go smoother.

Lace Crazy

I go through phases of collecting scrapbooking supplies. I have gone through notepaper, tags, flowers, diamonds already. Current obsession is Laces. OMG there are so many out there. And I love all of them.

Here is another LO with lace



Credits:

Orange Paper: Sarah Batdorf (SA Summer Splash kit )
Blue and Khakhi ribbons: Cut from Summer Whimsy Kit
Diamonds, Tags, Flower: Summer Whimsy kit
Lace1: Debbie Pearson's Simply Irresistable Kit
Lace2: Maya's Funkified Fibers
PhotoMat: Ronna Penner's Vintage Snapshots Kit

Freebie Alert!

Have you seen these brushes by Jason Gaylor? They're free and amazingly beautiful. I just downloaded them. They are available for Photoshop, though.
Jason Gaylor's Brushes

Hindi Movies, Haircut and Layouts

It was a nice, relaxing weekend. We watched Phir Hera Pheri and Fanaa. I loved Fanaa. Have to buy the DVD as I *will* be watching this one again. It has been a while since I watched a Hindi movie, let alone two in one weekend! Nice change of pace for us. Mehul laughed with us while watching Phir Hera Pheri It's hilarious, but in some parts it seems like a repitition of the first in the sequel Hera Pheri

I got a haircut yesterday. I love how my hair is all straight and nice! I didn't even wash it today LOL

I also managed to do two layouts. Only have one handy at the moment. I used Jen Caputo's sketch in this one (Thanks, Erin, for the directions). Mehul is 2.5 months old in this one! This was his first experince in snow..well not much of an experience as we took him inside quickly after taking the photos. He had much more fun in snow this year! I have to scrap those too.

Credits:
Jen Caputo's sketch. My first ever!
3 Diamonds, Heart, and F letter are from various Michelle Coleman's kits.
Rest of the items are from Ronna Penner's Monochromatic Kit available at Scrapbook Graphics.

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Quick note to someone who is waiting for the tutorial!

I have to write the second part of Photoshop Basics Tutorial as atleast one person is waiting for me to write it! I have audience! The problem with writing the tutorial is that I have time at office, but no Photoshop, and the opposite at home! But, I am working out the contents of it, so no worries, it will be written soon.

Spider in my car!

This morning, we all overslept. Woke up 1 hour late that usual and did everything in a hurry and out the door. DH went to work a few minutes before me. I have to take DS to the daycare and he picks him up in the evening.
I strap him in his seat, sit on my seat and adjust the rear-view mirror. To my horror, there was a spider in sight. Near the back windsheid, sitting on the break light! I initially thought that it was outside, but went to check. Yep, it was inside and had made a huge web too! Ofcourse, I am extremely afraid of spiders. They are my biggest fobia right up there with cockroaches. And it was a giant one too. Atleast 1 cm torso and 2.5" total length!
I had limited supply of 'tools' to get him out of there. There was one of DS's artwork sheets from the daycare, so I poked it with that. It landed on it and went right back to the light. I poked twice again, with my shaking hands, but it went right back. I screamed everytime it moved. There was thankfully noone in the parking lot.
I thought of calling DH at this point. But didn't because of 2 reasons - DH would be mad at me for calling him for this and wouldn't come back, he was already late! Two, what would DS think? He was looking at me screaming and afraid of the spider.
DS was still in his seat. I had to take him out before doing anything drastic. So, I removed him from the seat and poked the spider with a roll of wrapping paper that was on the back seat. It wouldn't even move! So I started hitting it. It flew and landed on ... Winne the Pooh. Sigh. I had to throw Pooh out of the car. Went to check if the spider was still on it. Yes, it was and it went inside it's shirt while I was looking. I picked Pooh by the ear and threw it on the side.
DS will get another Pooh. Thank God, it wasn't his favorite Bear! I was shaking on the drive to office this morning. Off to get some water and settle my nerves. But, I'm proud of handling the nasty on my own!

5 Facts about Mehul

Look at that pout. Could he be any cuter!


Credits:
Everything from ScrapArtist

Background Paper: CarriageHouse Paperpack by IOD
Paperclip: Art Inspiration Kit by Michelle Coleman
Brush Overlay: La Belle Provence kit by NRJ
Everything else from Boho Chic kit by Michelle Coleman

Trip to Washington DC

Mehul and I are sitting in front of the Washington Monument in DC. Love the blue sky. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out.



Credits:
Recycled Background Paper: Freebie from Simply Clean Digiscraps (Melany Violette)
Paper Tear: Stephanie Krush
Flower: Summer Celebration kit (Scrap Artist)
Summer Wordart: Summer Splash kit (Scrap Artist)
Postcard: Promise to Write kit by Maya
Stamp, alpha and beaded string: Havana freebie from The Digi Chick (Jani Crowley)
Paperclip and Staple: IOD Essentials (Scrap Artist)
Eyelets (recolored) and Ribbon: Quiet Love by NRJ (Scrap Artist)
Brush Overlay under the photo: Havana freebie from The Digi Chick (Jani Crowley)

Forever

Mehul's second day with us. It seems like yesterday. How can he be almost 2 years old alreay!

Credits:
Background Paper, Buttons, Tags: Michelle Coleman's Lighter shades of pale kit.
Clear Heart (recolored): Michelle Coleman's Candy Coated Freebie on her blog
M Alpha: Michelle Coleman's Hand Stamped Alpha
RicRac (recolored), Braided Ricrac (recolored) and Brad: Nancie's La Belle Provence Element pack

Rakha Bandhan!

Tomorrow is 'Raksha Bandhan'. It is a Hindu festival honoring the bond between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie 'Rakhi' - an embellished thread on their brother's wrists and bless them for their well being. In return, brothers promise to take care of them, and shower them with gifts! It's a lovely custom. You can read more about it here - http://www.raksha-bandhan.com/
We live 7000 miles away from our family but the bonds have not weakend! My Rakhi has reached home, DH's Rakhi has reached here. Mehul's Rakhi from his cousin Arushi is expected today, it's late! Tomorrow morning, we'll tie them and have some sweets to close the deal haha.

Happy Rakha Bandhan!

Here is a layout I did yesterday, it's funny now that I think about it. The flower with ribbon behind it *looks* like an actual Rakhi! No, it was not intentional, some things are cosmic.

Mom and Mehul

New Layouts

Ok, so they're technically a couple of days old, but I haven't posted about them! I'm so very proud of both of these. *I* like these layouts as in I'd add them to my favorites and visit them often for inspiration if they were done by someone else. Doesn't happen very often with my own layouts.

Cute and Cuddly

Credits:
Blue Background Paper, Jewel Pin, Brad, Flower and Ribbon : Michelle Coleman's Chelsey's Dream kit.
Envelope: IOD Essential Elements recolored and doubled
NotePaper: Nancie's Le Belle elements.
Paper Clip: Maya's promise to write kit
Tags: Michelle's Summer whimsy kit
Buttons and stitching: Michelle's Lighter shades of pale kit
Torn Paper: Michelle's Color Harmony paper set with Atomic Cupcake Wild Tear action applied
Font: Bradley Hand ITC

Moments

Credits:
Journaling paper: Maya Promise to write kit
Stamped Alpha: Michelle Coleman
Everything else from Michelle Coleman's Chelsey Dreams Kit.

Weekend Stash Report

Lots to report...where to start...I got a lot of stuff this past weekend, thanks to the sale at ScrapArtist. So far, I had been working my way through the freebies, with an occasional kit here or there. With the sale and the check that I just received for some work I had done while I was staying at home with Mehul, let's just say clicky clicky. We had thought we'd never see that money, but it arrived eventually.
So, here it is - Everything is from ScrapArtist, links take you to the shop.

Kits

Paper Packs

Elements

I also got Hand Stamped Alpha (I can't find it on the site rightnow)

In addition, I got the password for the two giveaway kits for participating in challenges, concluding with chat last night. Are you tired yet? I am, of writing all this HTML. There has got to be a better way of doing this...

Free Kits

Summer Splash Kit


Summer Celebration Kit