Notes from the side of a volcano

Days of December ....

A month long sale ...

2010's Days of December celebration is well underway at DesignerDigitals. Every day there is a NEW $ 50 cent item AND 260 different products will be marked down 30% each day.

Each day's batch of specials will only be available for 24 hours, so be sure to keep checking back every day. You can find the specials HERE.

Inspiration from the Designer Digitals Gallery

It was such a thrill this week to see all the great layouts with the new "Chilling" kit:

 
From Kathleen:

 
from Anke:

 
from Brittany:

 

From Chrissy:

 

from Laura:

 
from jana:

 

And lots of layouts with the new December Nights kit too:

 

 

from carol:

 
from Fiona (who is taunting me with all that snow!)

 

From Aino in Israel:

 

 

And look at this absolutely gorgeous pages by Merrilee using Santa's Stockings!:

 

 

 

And just in case you thought it was going to be all snowflakes and poinsettias this week, along comes this refreshing layout by Esther using the "Malabar kit"!:

 

 
Christmas digital scrapbooking kits, Christmas layout inspiration, Christmas scrapbooking

Chilling

After last weekend I realised how much better I always feel after a bracing swim in the sea.

Perhaps I shall become one of those hardy old people who live by the beach and insist on swimming every morning, whatever the weather or season.

After a failed attempt at attending a Christmas pantomime with Daughter-two, yesterday we decided to go again to Thorne Bay for a swim.

The Husband just needed "a quick coffee" which necessitated a "quick walk" down to the shops for milk. By the time the coffee was drunk and we got down to the car, storm clouds were massing.

We went anyway, and found it was low tide so the rock pools were revealed:

 

While they pottered on the rocks, I threw myself into the sea. Then they couldn't resist joining me:

 

It was freezing at first, but then surprisingly warm. Although once she got out,  the weather had well and truly turned, a chilling wind had blown up and Daughter-two's teeth started chattering with a vengeance.

 

Chilling is also the name of one of the two new kits coming to the store at Designer Digitals  this weekend:

 

It also comes as a paperpack packed full of winter themed digital scrapbooking papers:

 

And a new Christmas digital scrapping kit:

 

Here's how I used them:

 
 
 

Five on a Friday

1. Daughter-two's class are exchanging "Secret Santa" gifts at school today. I worked this out by a process of detection. 1. I found a drawing scrunched up in her schoolbag of a dragon stuffed toy with "Stuffed dragon for Ethel*, estimate $2.50".  2. I found a tiny folded up piece of paper dropped in the hallway a few days later with the name "Ethel" written on it. So I went to Daughter-Two and asked "are you by any chance doing a secret Santa at school?". "Oh yes!" she said. "And are you supposed to be getting a present for Ethel?" I asked. "Oh yes I am! We have to take them in tomorrow".

Was she planning to pop down to the shops with her pocket money after school without telling me?

Fortunately I had an emergency gift stashed away waiting to be wrapped.

* name changed .. to one very similar !

 

2. I have got used to all the searches for "Alas earwax" that end up directing people here. But the search for "Earwax in volcano" got me scratching my head. Or ear?

3. I have TWO new kits coming to the store at Designer Digitals this weekend. Here are the sneaky peeks:

 
 
4. The dog (aka The Big Hairy Mistake) has been enjoying sleeping at my feet all day lately and is noticeably more reluctant to go for walks, especially when it is very hot. But he always finds the energy to go snooping around the rubbish bin when he thinks I am not looking. Yesterday I heard some snuffling in the kitchen then he came rushing through the house with a panicked look on his face, running in and out of every room and skidding around the corners. That'll teach him to lick the empty curry sauce tin from the bag of stuff waiting to go in the recycling ..

5. Yesterday I planned out the album I will be making of the photos I have yet to take on the big trip we have yet to leave on. (We are going travelling after Christmas). Yes, that might sound a bit excessive .. but I find having a plan takes the stress out of thinking "but how I am going to scrap all these photos once I get home?". Last time I already had a template album done ready to drop the photos into. This time I will be using a mix of my own templates and some of Cathy Zielske's. I have picked them out and also decided on the look of the album and the brushes and fonts I will use.

 

 

Scrapbooking inspiration from the Designer Digitals gallery

Christina had fun at Disneyland:

 

While both Aino and Merr had fun with the "Santa's Stockings" kit:

 
 

Debbie scrapped more of her wonderful multi-photo pages:

 
 

And Sam (our digital scrapbooking star from South Africa) put one side of "Scrap Express 87" to wonderful use: