Sherwood Studio Digital Designs by Julie Southern

Ha ha ha...

2012-02-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

Funny thing happened, yesterday. Somehow I managed to delete my whole blog post. It was all spiffy 'n' everything. Lots of lovely pictures of the two (!) new Valentine's kits (which are also available as a bundle) for guys and for girls. My Creative Team made lovely examples for you. I told all about the SALE at The Digichick, which will garner you a whopping 30% off of everything in my store through Sunday. And introduced my newest Photo Project offering to help you conquer the P 365/52 scrapping with ease and style.

...Gone. Pffffft! Still not sure how I accomplished that >_< I think I'm specially talented. Oh well.

So. New Plan. Since my day is a little crazy, I'm going to make it worth your while to go take a look at the new goodies in my store on your own. Here's a coupon to get The Photo Project 2 absolutely FREE. Just enter the code TYS_FreePP at checkout (make sure you're signed in) and it's yours, no other purchase necessary. While you're there, be sure to take a look at His Heart, and Her Smile and the great bundle deal :) Enjoy the sale, get some awesome new goodies, and Happy Scrapping!

The Photo Project

2012-01-25T21:40:00.002-07:00

Hi there! For those of you who are doing a Project 365 or 52, how's it going? Mine is touch and go, to be perfectly honest ;) I'm trying to take an Instagram photo every day with my phone, but I knew that if I was actually going to scrap something, I was going to have to make it easy. When I download my Intagram photos, they are 612 pixels square, which works really well if I want to put all 7 (or the numbe I managed to get, LOL) on a page. So I created this set of elements to make it super quick and easy:

You can make it your own in a variety of ways (you can even clip a fave paper to the frame) or you can keep it super simple:

Fun, huh? And hopefully it will keep me on track :)

I also have some expansion packs for kits you may already have:

All of these goodies are on sale 20% off through Friday so stop by and get some inspiration!

Together At Last

2012-01-19T14:33:00.002-07:00

It's time for new goodies in the shop!

After a lot of waiting, we finally got back the photos from my daughter's wedding. They are beautiful, and as with all good family stories and beautiful photography (thank you, Gaston Photography) a source of deep inspiration. Most of you know that I create things I want to scrap with, and "Together at Last" is no exception:

As you can see, there are a lot of travel-oriented elements, since Josh & Molly had a long distance romance :) Ideal for scrapping stories about travel, as well as the mushy...er, romantic stuff!

My team has created some wonderful examples for you:

Layout by Me! Again, thanks David Gaston, this is such a fun shot!

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Kim

Layout by Lexy

Layout by Michelle

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Alisa (TDC Team)

Layout by Jennifer

Another one of mine - two wedding photos scrapped, 1749 to go ;)

Together At Last is available at The Digichick at its introductory sale price - keep watching, I have additional coordinating goodies in the works!

And if you didn't get a chance to record your fitness goals and accomplishments (or dreams, perhaps?) check out last week's new release Day By Day Fit & Active -

You can pick up all three additions to the Day By Day Collection in a money saving bundle:

That's it for this week, thanks for stopping by, and happy scrapping!

Gearing up for the New Year

2011-12-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but looking ahead, planning, making goals... these are not my strengths, LOL. I tend to throw myself into something on the spur of the moment, find the water is wayyyyy too deep, and head for shore long before I'm done. However, I know that many scrappers ARE organized, and plan to carry out a well-thought-out 365 or 52 project this year. So I did get my act together enough to create something for those clever people, and something that's pretty enough for us willy-nilly scrappers to want to use, too ;)

Day By Day uses a pretty-but-versatile palette that covers the gamut from Feminine to Masculine with a whole lot in between. You can dress it up, or you can keep it basic. There are touches of ephemera and lots of neutral elements that will work with the whole spectrum of color.

This is a pretty big kit - there are 16 papers and 64 unique elements (91 including additional colors) and a full alpha. However, a year is a really long time, LOL. That's a lot of layouts! So I have several additional packs that coordinate and will make your project a breeze:

If you decide you want the whole kit and kaboodle, I've packaged it up in a money saving bundle:

And there's a bonus pack of notecards if you decide on the bundle ;) These are sized appropriately for the divided pocket protectors, so they will do double duty!

My team has been busy and I have some wonderful examples to show you!

Layout by Jan (TDC Team)

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Layout by Lexy

Layout by Jamie (TDC Guest)

And a couple from me -

Whew! Day By Day will be at its introductory sale price at The DigiChick through Friday :) And if you made it all the way to the end of this post, you deserve a treat, LOL. I made a little Date set to coordinate - maybe it will help you get your thinking and planning underway ;)

You can download your freebie HERE.
That's it for me! Hope you have a wonderful New Year with lots of fun scrapping projects! Happy scrapping :)

A little Christmas treat for you!

2011-12-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so tickled to be able to share with you that I have been selected as the featured Designer for the December issue of Paper and Pixels Magazine! This digital magazine is jam-packed with lots of inspiration, how-to's, and freebies for both digital AND paper scrappers - you won't want to miss out on the fun! You can check it out here, and be sure to check out the Paper and Pixels Facebook Page for sneak peeks at the upcoming goodies :)

And speaking of goodies, I have a tasty little morsel for you now - this little alpha coordinates with my Country Cheer kit.

You can download the alpha HERE.

And a little secret - there's a matching minikit that you will receive free in the December issue of Paper and Pixels (December 15):

So what are you waiting for? Run, check it out, sign up, and get ready to be inspired!

Star of Wonder

2011-12-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

I think I told you how much I flipped for the colors in my recent collection, The Stars Above. And since the jewel tones were perfect for a Christmas kit, it seemed a natural progression to add some more holiday themed bits and pieces to increase the flexibility. Star of Wonder is the result - it's delicious and sparkly, LOL!

And just in case you hadn't picked up The Stars Above, I bundled everything together in one money-saving package:

Beautiful examples from my talented team:

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Sondra

Layout byJeri

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Trista (TDC Team)

Layout by Pat (TDC Team)

As you can see from the examples, the mini can stand on its own, or blend seamlessly with the original kit!
Everything is on sale at the 20% introductory sale savings through today. And if you haven't signed up for the newsletter, you might want to take a peek at what you're missing - (::coughpretty matchingfreebiecough::) HERE ;)
Happy scrapping!

It's time for a new Chick Fix!

2011-12-01T12:00:00.001-07:00

It's that time again! Every quarter, the DigiChick Designers create a collection of goodies based upon a single palette to provide you with a comprehensive, practical, and FUN scrapping tool! You'll want to spend some time looking at all of the fabulous options in the December collection - you can scrap every mood and every event for a month with all these goodies (can anyone say "December daily?") Best of all, everything is specially priced through the weekend so pick and choose with a clear conscience ;) (Plus there's a nifty Free With Purchase!)

This is my offering (although you will find it with the regular new releases)

And some examples:

Layout by DJ

Layout bySondra

Layout byPamie

Layout byJeri

Layout by Kim

Layouts by Me :)

Each of my separate packs will be in the $1 category through the end of Sunday, so grab the goods while they are a bargain!

And to help you get started, here's a coordinating freebie - looks like it was stamped in coal dust, right? (OK, really SPARKLY coal dust, LOL). Have fun, and Happy Scrapping!

Download your freebie HERE.

It's a huge secret...SALE!!!

2011-11-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

There are four quarterly sales at the Digichick, where everything is 30% off. So it's really a special event when the whole store is on sale for 40% off! Celebrate Cyber Monday with us and save like crazy! If that isn't enough to whet your appetite, there is a super secret code in the newsletter that went out earlier today, and in the exclusive gifts for fans on the Digichick Facebook Page that willgive you an even higher percentage of savings!For my friends and customers, use the code CYBER60 to receive a whopping 60% off in my shop. This is a perfect time to pick up materials to scrap your holiday cards, create srappily delicious gifts, and find ideas to put to use from our most excellent hybrid chicks! So what are you waiting for.... Go shopping!!

Bring on the Country Cheer!

2011-11-23T20:52:00.001-07:00

I love country decor. I have moved away from decorating my house in that style, and so it was nice to be able to wallow in it a bit with my latest holiday kit, Country Cheer. There's just something so unassuming and cheerful, with lovely textures and comforting colors. I'm really tickled with the way it turned out, and I think I will use it to create my Christmas cards :)

My CT rocked the layouts (as usual, LOL!)

Pamie's card (I'm taking notes!)

Layout by Michelle

Layout by DJ

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Melanie (TDC Team)

Layout by Kate (TDC Team)

Also, make sure you are signed up for The DigiChick's newsletter - We have something very special in store for you and a special edition will be going out on Sunday... that's all the hints I can give you ;)

Happy Scrapping, and a Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

Wherein I learn more cool stuff...

2011-11-23T10:29:00.001-07:00

Apparently I have had my head under a rock while the digi world plugs on around me. Suzee Q kindly left me a heads-up that she has a great freebie page as well! I can see that I'm just going to have to get out more. And clean less. Oh wait, I wasn't doing that anyway >_<

Hope all my American friends are all set for Thanksgiving - my pie awaits me in the kitchen. Unfortunately it is unassembled, guess I'd better go work on that! And while it bakes I'm going to go freebie browsing ;)

A great new freebie site!

2011-11-17T14:47:00.001-07:00

I remember when IkeaGoddess was a regular stop on my daily blog hopping - she picked out some great digiscrap freebies and I knew if I stopped by I'd not miss out on "the good stuff," LOL. Sometimes it's nice to get a little sample of a designer's work to see if you - well, if you want more! And other times designers would add a nice tasty morsel to an already existing kit that BELONGED in my stash. So I was very sad when Angie (IkeaGoddess) took a well-deserved break from her self-imposed but much appreciated servitude. And there has been a void in my blog hopping (curiously, I have not used the extra time to clean house, go figure!) I'm pleased to have recently discovered a new site that seems to be doing a really great job of finding great stuff and I wanted to make sure you all knew about it -

http://qualitydigiscrapfreebies.blogspot.com/

I'm making a bit of an assumption in saying this is a new site, but it is at least new to me and I wanted to share it with you. Thank you, quality digiscrap freebies! You've saved me from vacuuming and dusting guilt ;)

Deep, Rich, and Delicious!

2011-11-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

I came across an inspiration piece back in early October - I thought of doing an "Owl and the Pussycat" Halloween kit so I was Googling rather aimlessly (something I do a lot, LOL) and found this great folk art rendition:

I just fell in love with it, the colors are amazing, and the owl is so gentlemanly and the kitty so dainty. And who wouldn't want a pea green boat that looked like THAT??? (instead of split pea soup, which is what I always had in my mind, and you must admit is NOT nearly as pretty!) And since I'm trying to learn to be more practical with my kits, I didn't think doing a kit with birds and cats would be all that useful, so I tried to capture the essence with a touch of the exotic and lots of rich, beautiful color:

Because of the brilliant jewel tones in the main kit, I also created a set of coordinating papers that act as neutrals - they facilitate scrapping and journaling, but without a stark contrast. There's also a set of clusters with coordinating sparkly underlayers (which come separately, so you can mix and match!) All of the individual items are also available in a money-saving bundle. That's a total of 25 papers and 43 elements, so you could scrap quite a large project with variety and depth.

I have some absolutely beautiful examples from my team:

Layout bySondra

Layout by Michelle

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Layout by DJ

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Pamie

And one from me:

The Stars Above will be available at the special introductory pricing through Friday at The Digichick, so be sure to take advantage of the sale!

I put together a little freebie that coordinates - it's full of starry things to add just the right touch to your layout and add a little more versatility:

You can download your freebie HERE. And check my Facebook page, because there's a coordinating tiny minikit for my fans there :)

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day!

2011-11-05T15:54:00.003-06:00

Funny story. I decided to do a little scrapping with my new kit - after all, it IS DSD, right? But I found I wanted a couple of pieces that... um, I didn't make, LOL. So I made a little supplemental freebie and everyone gets to share :)

You can download it HERE. Happy Scrapping everyone!

DSD Edition! Warning: Sales ahead...

2011-11-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

I'm one of those people that complains when stores put out holiday merchandise too far ahead. So it's with some misgiving that I tell you that my new collection for DSD weekend is indeed... a holiday kit. Because just as much as I dislike having to focus too early on things I'm trying really hard to procrastinate, I also really dislike doing my Christmas cards at the last minute and being stuck with store cards because I didn't get my act together soon enough to create them myself. These two factions have been at war within my head over the last several years, and this year the "Create the Holiday Kit Early" side won. So without further ado, "Love & Joy" (so named because the carol "Here we come a-wassailing" has been cycling through my head endlessly for about a week, now)

And perhaps you will forgive me for the earliness since I chose a non-traditional palette with a bit of a vintage touch - it's a very gentle holiday look to be sure :) There are lots of goodies to go along with the kit (which in itself has 16 papers and 45 elements):

If you have a big project coming up and need all the pieces, I created a money-saving bundle, as well:

Layouts by DJ

Layout by Tracy (TDC Team)

Layout by Kim

Layout by Sondra

And a rather whiny one from me - this was a little more snow than I was ready for this morning...

And since it is Digital Scrapbooking Day on Saturday, The Digichick is planning to celebrate in style:

And because I love ya, I've created a coupon code that will bump up your savings in my store from 30% to 40%. Just put the code SS_DSDForty! in the box before checking out (and make sure you're logged in!). Enjoy your shopping early (it will help free up time for scrapping on Saturday!) and check in the forums at TDC for challenges and prizes! We have a facebook page hop planned with lots of freebies and you aren't going to want to miss it!

Final Call!

2011-10-30T13:22:00.001-06:00

It pains me, it really does, but many of my products will go away tomorrow, forever. ::sigh:: Some of them I love so very much, so it is a hard goodbye. Take advantage of the last hours and save! And as an early "Trick or Treat" use code LastDayz to take $2 off of a $5 dollar order (from any category in my store).

Golden Days...

2011-10-27T14:08:00.000-06:00

Notice, I said DAYS, not YEARS. I may feel old when I get up in the morning, but I'm not ready to declare these my golden years yet :)

However, the days are indeed golden and lovely and inspired yet another burst of fall color goodness - are you getting tired of these yet? Apparently Ma Nature is, because she snowed on my delicious goldenness which really deflated my sails yesterday. But I digress :)

Here for your enjoyment is Golden Days:

I think my creative team have outdone themselves, too:

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Pamie

Layouts by Donna

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Jaime (TDC Team)

Layout by Tracy (TDC Team)

Layout by Michelle

and finally this beauty from Kim!

Golden Days is available at the limited introductory pricing through Friday, so check it out now :) Happy Scrapping!

Free Fall

2011-10-21T20:05:00.000-06:00

I've been a little snap-happy the last few days - outside my window the trees have undergone a delicious transformation into Ruby and Gold... even as an indifferent photographer I still feel compelled to capture the delight of the riotous color and the quality of the autumn light. And since the multitudes of shots will probably yield a few that are actually scrapworthy, I set about creating something to showcase my colorful photos - the result is Free Fall.

I love the examples my creative ladies made for you:

layout by Jeri

layout byMichelle

layout by DJ

layout by Pamie

Layout by Jennifer

layout by Sondra

A couple from me :)

layout by Kim

Layout by Jaime (TDC Team)

Free Fall is available at my digichick store now :) Hope your weekend is full of lovely photos and fun, and happy scrapping!

Technological Advances :)

2011-10-17T16:10:00.000-06:00

Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Thanks to Laura of Wishing Well Creations, I've managed to put up a fan freebie on my Facebook Page:

The image is linked to my page - check the tab on the right that says "gifts for my fans," click, download, and enjoy :)

Whew!

2011-10-10T13:22:00.001-06:00

Life has been crazy for the last few weeks - my husband had a motorcycle accident a month ago and our daughter got married this last Friday. Between hospitals and doctors and wedding preparations and visitors, I am a bit frazzled. Good time to sit down and make some scrapping time! And I have just the kit for it:

I've been working on this one for quite a while; it is specially designed to scrap my daughter and new son-in-laws' engagement photos. The palette is fresh and cheerful and the feel is a little quirky and casual which all adds up to fun :)

Here's my progress to date:

I must add that even though I love scrapping all sorts of pictures, fabulous photographer David Gaston has provided me with such awesome material that it elevates the process to a whole new level. Which is a good thing, because there are LOTS of them left to scrap :)

My team has created some wonderful examples for you as well...

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Layout by Michelle

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Leah (TDC Team)

Layout by Jan (TDC Team)

Layout byTracy (TDC Team)

Layout by Andrea (TDC team)

Layout by Dani

Layout by Candy

As you can see, there are a lot of papers in this kit so you can create very different layouts that still coordinate. Love the variety :)
And because new release day (and introductory sale price days) came and went while I was dealing with flowers and caterers and whatnot, I've decided to continue the celebration now that I have time to enjoy it. Use the code "CeleBraTion30" to receive 30% off Just the Two of Us and everything else in your order through October 18 (one use only, so fill your cart!). I also added some more items to the "clearing the cobwebs" sale at TDC - these products will be retired at the end of the month so check through and make sure you aren't missing anything (especially at the super sale prices!).

October Blog Train!

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Hi There! You've arrived at Sherwood Studio's Blog Train stop :) Your last stop was Darlene's Designs and your next stop will be Dana's Footprint Designs

This is what I have for you to download today, I hope you enjoy it! I tried to keep it fairly neutral so it would blend with other contributions and be useful.

You can download your gift HERE.

If you get lost you can check the Main Blog Train Blog for instructions HERE.

Urban Garden - A collab with Etc. by Danyale!

2011-09-07T21:20:00.001-06:00

I'm so excited about this collaborative kit with Danyale - I am absolutely in love with her designs so it was quite a thrill to get to work together with her to create the lovely Urban Garden collection:

I also created a set of clusters with separate coordinating sparkly underlayers - these will make scrapping a page quick and painless!

Danyale has a set of coordinating word art in her shop, too. And because we love our customers, we thought it would be a great idea to bundle it all together - easier to download, and you save $$ which is always a plus!

Here are some great examples from Team Sherwood:

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Pamie

Layouts by DJ

Layout by Michelle

Layout by Jennifer

And a couple from me :)

As you can see, this is a beautiful kit with lots of personality! Everything is on sale 20% off through Friday at The DigiChick. Happy Scrapping!

Are you ready for a Chick Fix?!

2011-09-01T09:20:00.000-06:00

Guess what time it is? It's time for another Chick Fix at The DigiChick! Once a quarter our talented designers put together a unique and versatile collection with a common color palette. And then, just to make it extra special, we unveil the new goodies at a fabulously enticing price! Pretty fun stuff, right? But this time it's even better, because if you spend $10.00 on Chick Fix yumminess, you get a wonderful coordinating kit completely free!

I think the color palette we chose is awesome - perfect for the transition from late summer to early fall. Here are my goodies:

(Batique Papers debut at just $2!)

I really love the way the patterns turned out - they reminded me of batik-dyed fabric. There are also eight textured solids for added contrast in your layouts. Then I added four fun element packs to coordinate:

(Batique flowers debut at just $2!)

(Batique Ornaments debut at just $1!)

(Batique Ribbons-n-bows debut at just $2!)

(Batique Tags debut at just $1!)

And here are a few examples:

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Jennifer

And one from me :)

And this is the great Free with $10 Purchase kit - feast your eyes on this beauty:

Lastly, don't forget to check out the Retiring soon category - there are 23 products that will soon be leaving forever :)

Hope you all have a great weekend (happy Labor Day to my stateside friends!) and get lots of shopping and scrapping done. Happy Scrapping!

Big Sale! More for the Boys! Retiring Products!

2011-08-25T10:34:00.000-06:00

OK, that ought to use up my quota of exclamation marks for the day :) But seriously! So much good stuff! LOL.

First up the really important news... it's quarterly sale time at The DigiChick! Everything is on sale, 30% off through Sunday! If you have stuff on your wish list now's the time :) (see how I didn't use an exclamation point there?)

Next up - another boy kit is on the shelves. I really had so much fun creating Geometric Boy that I decided to continue the theme with a blue/green color palette to compliment the orange and red of the first one:

As you can see, even more fun patterns and textures with lots of fun neutral elements that are ideal for scrapping guys (no flowers! although I admit that the stacked gridpaper stars veer dangerously close to a flower but we'll keep that a secret amongst us girls ;)

Some fun examples from my team:

Layout by LaShawn (TDC)

Layout by Jennifer (TDC)

Layout by Candy

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Layout by Candy

Layout by Candy (this girl is showing us all up with her scrapping accomplishments this week - wtg, Candy!)

Layout by Pamie

Last, but definitely not least, this morning I moved 21 products into the "retiring soon" category. Then I chopped their prices in half. Best part of this scenario? I left the 30% sale category on them, too - so for the rest of the weekend you can get some spectacular bargains! (see, I saved one last exclamation mark for that, because it's important) It's sad to say goodbye to my lovelies, but it's time :) Take a look, Nikki Epperson has some pretty cool stuff in the category too, including a bunch of awesome templates (I couldn't resist, I stocked up because her templates ROCK).

So. To sum up. Go to the DigiChick. Save lots of money. Get cool stuff :) Happy scrapping!

Give me the coffee, and no one gets hurt.

2011-08-18T09:47:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, it's just one of those days. And one of those days can often be made bearable by multiple instances of caffeine, if you get my drift. It was that sort of week for me, so I'm celebrating it with Coffee Kits, LOL!

First is a Starbucks tribute, Veni Vidi Venti. My younger child (who ironically does not drink coffee in it's purest and most delightful form, i.e. black) has something of an overpowering Starbucks attraction. My "scrap this" folder is littered with all sorts of photos of Starbucks cups at the beginning of important trips, bad days, celebrations, Cellphone photos, DSLR photos, studio photos, car photos... you name it. I figured I needed to get some of those recorded!

I kinda love the way it turned out, and I actually have plans to use that alpha for a lot of other things, too! Then, after I turned this in to my Creative Team, about half of them mentioned that they were really Dunkin' Donut coffee drinkers. And because I was fully committed to coffee at this time (and I drink Dunkin' homebrew) CoffeeTime appeared:

I have to hand it to DD, they have a really fun vibrant color scheme (that I would normally NEVER design with, LOL). Figured I might as well do a fun coordinating alpha with this one, too and spread the bright and happy around thoroughly...

With all that caffeine flowing, it's no surprise that the layouts are quite fabulous ;)

Layout by LaShawn (TDC)

Layout by Anne (TDC)

Mine... 1 down, 349 to go ;)

Layout by Dani

Layout by Lori

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Jan (TDC)

Layout by LaShawn (TDC)

Layout by Jan (TDC)

And there you have it, longest blog post ever, LOL! Coffee Goodness is all on sale through Friday in my DigiChick shop (If you really like coffee, check out the Bundled Version!) for less than the cost of... you guessed it... a cup of coffee :D Happy Scrapping!

One for the boys! (ok, and one for the girls, too)

2011-08-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

One constant that I hear in the digiworld is the "but I need a boy kit" lament... There are lots of fun, frilly, flowery kits, but a good guy kit is harder to find. So when I came across this nifty color palette, I knew it needed to be dedicated to the guys we love and need to scrap!

Look, Ma, no flowers! And because there aren't any cute dinosaurs or bugs or creepy crawling dirty things, it's also appropriate for "men of all ages," LOL! (I can't help it, I'm overly practical that way).

I love my creative ladies, and they totally rocked it this week:

Isn't it fun? And because I love my blog readers (and I've kind of neglected you lately) I made a special coupon code just for you: Need2ScrapMyBoy - it's good for 35% off the original price, good through August 15! Of course, you don't have to use it for just a boy kit, you might prefer my other recent release:

Awesome layouts with Retro Echo as well - I apologize for the small previews, but if you click on them they will take you to the product in the store where you can examine more closely (I'm trying not to make this post three pages long, LOL).
So, don't forget coupon code Need2ScrapMyBoy for 35% off through the 15th! Happy scrapping!

August Blog Train

2011-08-01T00:01:00.013-06:00

Hi there, Blog Train riders! Welcome to Sherwood Studio's stop! You came here from Digi Deborah's Designs and your next stop is Tina Shaw. Hope you're enjoying the ride!

Here's my contribution to the August Blog Train. Click on the preview to download, and enjoy!

Download HERE

Your download will also include these items, but I have had a dickens of a time with this preview and I left them out, LOL ;)

If you get lost on your journey, or want to see the slideshow of participants, head over to the Blog Train Blog for the complete list :) Have fun, and happy scrapping!

If at first you do not succeed, try, try again...

2011-07-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

So much for my good intentions of getting caught up yesterday - dunno why, but all of the sudden I couldn't get a picture to upload for love nor money. And what good is a new product announcement if you can't see the product? LOL! It's a good thing I did the freebie first, right?

So we will try it again today.

This week's new release at The DigiChick is An Afternoon at the Park. It's full of lovely greens with soft bits of turquoise and peachy-orange and crisp white touches:

Layout by Jeri

Layout by TDC's Corrine

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Layout by Pamie

Layout by DJ

Layout by Jennifer

An Afternoon in the Park is still on sale today at the introductory 20% sale price in spite of Blogger's best efforts to cheat you, LOL! And watch for a very special add-on coming next week!

I also missed announcing last week's pretty kit - I happened to see a beautiful photo of a morning glory vine, and I LOVE morning glories and the beautiful varieties of blues and purples:

And since I missed it, I created a coupon that will give you 20% off through the weekend! Just use the code MorningGlory20 (you need to be signed in for it to work) for 20% off your purchase :) Enjoy, and happy scrapping!

Playing Catch. Catch UP, that is!

2011-07-21T13:35:00.001-06:00

I wonder what it is about summer that makes me lose my already tenuous hold on focus and structure, LOL. I guess it's because it's traditionally a relaxed time with kids out of schools and scheduling taking something of a back seat to a more leisurely paced lifestyle.

Or maybe it's just hot and icky and no one wants to do anything ;) I know I'm writing this from my air conditioned office, but I know in my head that it's hot out and I hate being too hot, so all I can think of is that I can't do anything outside. Wouldn't you think it would just make me focus on all the cool inside stuff I could be doing? Um, no. Apparently I have the mind of a three-year-old!

However undisciplined my blogging mind may be, my design mind is in a happy place, so there's lots to share! First up is a fun pack of baker's twine elements. I love the dual colored strands and the cute touch they add. These may be used commercially as well.

I made a sample for you to download and play with - you can download it HERE!

I'll be back to show you this week's new release a bit later - Blogger no longer wishes to cooperate with me, LOL!

Take a visit to the Olde West with me!

2011-06-30T08:09:00.000-06:00

I've grown up in the western United States, so the concept of the "Olde West" is a familiar part of my experience. I can remember multiple visits to ghost towns over the years, and I have always been fascinated by these vivid examples of times gone by. Of course I have several photos, so I wanted to do a little mini kit with a few bits of victorian-inspired ephemera to showcase them. Unfortunately, the mini got a little out of hand and turned into a full kit in its own right - and it's prettier and less "rustic" than I first intended, but I really love the way it turned out! Here's the first installment in my new Olde West collection:

As you can see, beautiful rich jewel-toned papers mingle with some rustic elements and some downright pretty and charming bits here and there:

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

And a couple from me :)

Ghost Town is in the Digichick store now, and will be 20% off through Friday! And in honor of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday here in the United States, both of my patriotic-themed kits will be 50% off through the 4th:

Stop by and check them out! Have a great holiday, and happy scrapping!

It's time for a Summer Celebration!

2011-06-22T22:00:00.000-06:00

Weeeellllll, ok, it's a little bit early if you're thinking fireworks and parades, but it's best to be prepared, right? Bring on Summer Celebration, a soft and :gasp: pretty kit with a gentle hint of patriotic goodness and just a bit of shabby vintage charm:

I thought it would be fun to move the color palette just a bit, so the blue has touches of teal, and the red leans to the crimson side, with a soft gold and green for balance.

My CT team rocked the layouts (as usual!) and showed the versatility of this kit:

Love this hybrid card from Cathy at the Hybrid Chick!

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Lori

Layout by Kim

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Candy

Summer Celebration will be at it's introductory sale price (20% off) through Friday at The Digichick (the paper pack and element packs are also available separately), so you can get your firecrackers and popcorn ready for the big day! Happy Scrapping!

Get Ready for a Chick Fix!

2011-06-16T12:04:00.000-06:00

There's some exciting stuff going on at The DigiChick this week! We have put together a new collection for you based on the same palette so all the goodies mix and match and you can choose the items you like best for your stash. Best of all, through Monday they are all debuting at an amazing $1,2, or 3 sale price, so it's fun AND frugal!

My additions to The Chick Fix are the By the Bay collection - beautiful papers and elements with rich textures and a pinch of drama, with lots of extras to give your page just the right amount of pizazz.

And to kick things off properly, I have put each and every one of these in the $1 introductory price category. Six great products for the price of a single kit!

layout by Pamie

layout by Sondra

layout by Jeri

Layout by Jennifer

layout by Lisa (TDC team)

I put together a little freebie that coordinates with By the Bay just for my blog readers:

You can download it HERE. Happy scrapping, and be sure to stop by The DigiChick and get your Chick Fix!

Memorial Day

2011-05-26T16:15:00.002-06:00

This week I am bringing back a kit in honor of Memorial Day. I have completely revamped the original version. This new iteration is lighter, softer and more versatile, while still retaining much of the rugged character that inspired me to begin with. I think you will find it a perfect foil for your patriotic photos, or pictures of your favorite soldier. However, as you will see from my creative team's example layouts, it's quite versatile ;)

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Jeri - see what I mean? You really can scrap ANYTHING, LOL!

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Kim

And one from me!

More good news - it is The Digichick's 6th anniversary this weekend! To celebrate, you can get one of our fabulous collab kits absolutely free! Just put $10 worth of goodies in your cart and the collab will be free :) There's a different collab each day through the 29th, so be sure and use this opportunity to stock up!

Scrap Therapy

2011-05-19T13:14:00.000-06:00

My designer friend Courtney Wilson is fond of saying that Prozac is good, But scrapping is better. And how true that is! My head has been in a down-in-the-dumps sort of place lately, but there's something very soothing about working with colors and textures and placement, and I think it gives my brain space to rest and just not think about things so much. So while I was at it, I created a collection of elements to help express just exactly that (and some beautiful papers that frankly make me a little giddy just looking at them):

And some awesome examples:

Layout by TDC's la'Shawn

Layout by TDC's Litabell (welcome to the design team, Chickie!)

Layout by Sondra

Hybrid project by Jennifer (I really think I want to do this, it's awesome!)

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Kim

Layout by Lori

Layout by TDC's Melissa (ClusterQueen)

A couple from me :)

Layout by TDC's Monique

As you can see, this is a versatile kit! Catch it on sale through Friday at The Digichick and let's all have some therapy!

Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day!

2011-05-05T17:04:00.002-06:00

Okay, {i}NSD isn't really till Saturday, but at The Digichick, the Sale-abration starts now!

30% off on everything - and because I'm a little excited, I put all my full kits into the special $3 category, so you're actually getting a whopping 50% off!
But that's not all the exciting stuff :) We thought it would be fun to have Grab Bags for the party, and I've put together an awesome collection of goodies for you!

And because I hate spending my hard-earned money on something I haven't seen (and then being mighty disappointed about it), I'm posting the contents right here for you to get a good look at before you buy:

And see where it says "Five new products for 3.49" on the preview? Well, I got a little carried away and added a SIXTH bonus:

All of that, for just $3.49!

Here's some inspiration from my awesome team of scrappers:

Layoute by Jennifer

Layout by Pamie

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Dani

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Krista

And one from me!
Hope you have a fabulous time shopping this weekend, and be sure to stop by The Digichick Forums this weekend for the Night Owl Pajama Party - looks like so much fun!

Refreshed and better than ever!

2011-04-28T16:25:00.003-06:00

I missed blogging last week - somehow my month has sort of gotten away from me in a haze of chocolate bunny dreams, LOL. My older daughter and I have been staying away from sugar and white flour for several months, now, but we always allow ourselves one day a month to eat what we miss... April had two days. Her birthday and Easter were just a few days apart so we are sugared up and ready for salad again!

I have two "new" kits in the store, too. I say "new" because they are old favorites that have been refreshed and renewed while keeping the original feel and flavor:

The first is Blue Skies & Sunshine. We've had some pretty spring days that feel just the way this kit looks (when the wind hasn't been blowing a hundred miles an hour, LOL).

Thanks to my team and the TDC chickies for the great inspiration layouts!

This week's new and refreshed kit is called It's Serendipity. Kind of nostalgic, light hearted, and happy:

layout by Pamie (TDC Team)

Layout by Kim

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Jeri

It's Serendipity will be on sale for 20% off the price at The Digichick through Friday!

New! Scrapping tools and Garden Fairies...

2011-04-15T09:32:00.000-06:00

I have some great new scrapping tools available in my DigiChick store this week:

Distressed Pattern Brushes, Volumes Two and Three

A bit distressed but very useful, these pattern fragments will look great layered under photos or on your papers - Add glitter or styles, and play with your blending modes to see what effects you can achieve!
Each set contains:

14 Photoshop brushes
14 png files

Available at The DigiChick (catch them while they're at the introductory sale price through Friday!)

I also have some lovely new goodies for my Guest Shoppe at Plain Digital Wrapper this week, too! Every month they have a Designer's A La Carte event where there is a central color palette and theme, and I got to play along since I'm visiting! I really fell for the beautiful colors and the whimsical theme, and here are my offerings:

Garden Fairies (Designer A La Carte)
Imagine a clearing in a forest at dusk - the light is soft, the colors are magical. Who can doubt that fairies flit from flower to flower in the twilight?

Papers - 12 coordinating background papers
Underlayers - Six sparkly underlayers
Alpha - Upper, Lower, numbers, punctuation, many symbols
Element Pack:

2 bows
butterfly
5 flowers
4 frames
2 journal spots
jeweled button
2 leaves
2 sets of butterfly wings
1 ribbons
1 borders
1 swirly vines
1 scatters

All packs will be on sale for the week at 20% off - or you may just want to purchase the bundle pack and save!

Have a great week, and happy scrapping!

A spring collection

2011-04-09T16:35:00.000-06:00

I'm certainly working my way through the pastel palettes. This collection is new at Plain Digital Wrapper, and I thought it might be more useful for some folks to have separate coordinating packs to choose from - not everyone loves tons of elements or quotes on their paper, or even ::gasp:: my sparkly layer-y underlayers!

However, if you love them ALL, you can also get the bundle pack:

Here's a close up of the PaperQuotes:

And some inspiration!

(My layout - I haven't scrapped in ages, and the decorative paper made it fast and fun!)

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

The Spring Collection will be on sale all week at my Plain Digi Wrapper Guest Shoppe, so drop by and pick YOUR favorites!

A Pretty Posy

2011-04-06T22:00:00.002-06:00

I apparently have spring fever, because I'm knee-deep in springy palettes lately! This happy little bouquet reminds me of tea at Grandma's house, with the flowers and touches of old silver and lace.

And some pretty inspiration from the team - it's versatile!

Layout by Candy

Card by Joana (TDC Creative Team)

Layout by Jeri

(Layout by StaceyA, TDC Creative Team)

Layout by Kim

Posy is available at it's introductory sale price at the DigiChick through Friday!

Be my guest. No, wait, I'm the guest!

2011-04-01T09:19:00.001-06:00

I'm delighted to announce that I'm spending the month of April with the cheerful crew at Plain Digital Wrapper as a guest designer :) PDW has some of the most warm-hearted folks I've encountered in digiland and I'm tickled to play!

Here's my exclusive PDW kit:

It's fresh and cheerful, and I love the colors - they make me happy on the inside :)

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Kim

Layout by Sondra

Sassy Spring will be on sale for $3.50 all week in my Plain Digi Wrapper Guest Shoppe! And be sure and check out the forums, because they have a fun event called "Wrap Star" starting today, and you can win a GC to Persnickety Prints!

Happy Scrapping!

Tales of Romance

2011-03-31T11:35:00.000-06:00

My daughter got engaged on New Year's and because her father had gotten her a remote shutter control for her camera, we're lucky enough to have some photos of the event. Some. Like, over a hundred, LOL. So I've been thinking about what sort of kit I wanted to scrap them with - it was an interesting color palette with the wintry outdoor colors. She also took several photos of a swan in the area, and the amalgamation of all that inspiration led to Le Cygnet:

And inspiration:

Layout by Tracy (TDC Team)

Layout by Michelle (TDC Team)

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jeri

You can catch Le Cygnet on sale (20% off) at the DigiChick through Friday! And stay tuned - tomorrow the Blog Train goes live, and I have another announcement as well :)

April Blog Train "Pirates Not Allowed"

2011-03-31T00:00:00.001-06:00

Hi there, Blog Train riders! Welcome to Sherwood Studio's stop! You came here from Connie Prince Designs and your next stop is My 4 Princesses Designs. Hope you're enjoying the ride!

Here's my contribution to Pirates Not Allowed. Click on the preview to download, and enjoy!

April Blog Train Freebie

If you get lost, head over to the Blog Train Blog for the complete list :)

Spring in the Rockies

2011-03-24T11:11:00.000-06:00

There's just something so cheerful about the first signs of spring! It's good to see that yes, indeed, things really are going to come back to life after the dormancy of winter. We've had a very mild and dry winter but I'm still happy to see some green here and there in the back yard. Unfortunately spring also means a lot of wind - one of my CT members who lives just a bit northwest of me wanted to know when the Rocky Mountain Spring Wind kit was coming out... Not this time - Rocky Mountain Spring is a wind-free kit, and it's available now at The Digichick :)

It was a short week for my team (that's a nice way of saying I was very very late, LOL) but I still have some lovely examples for you:

Layout by Anne (of Alamo fame)

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Rocky Mountain Spring has oodles of great papers and some fun springy elements. And there are two of my special Underlayers (I'm sorry, I can't bring myself to call them splats) as well. Because I'm obsessed with them, of course :D Stop by DigiChick while it's on sale!

A special birthday sale :)

2011-03-19T15:32:00.001-06:00

(Here's a little secret - the sign says tomorrow only, but I have obligations this evening so I've actually set the sales prices now :) )

Happy Birthday to Meeeeee!

2011-03-16T22:32:00.001-06:00

OK, it's not quite my birthday, although Sunday looms large enough (I wish birthdays were as attractive as they were when I was eight!). Nevermind, my talented digi-friend Kim (of Kimeric's Kreations) and I have whipped up a birthday scrapping confection that will delight you and provide lots of goodies for scrapping your birthday boy or girl. Or cat!

Cute, isn't it? And look how cute it is in these great layouts:

Layout by Ve (TDC team)

Layout by the one and only Anne of Alamo ;)

Layout by Pamie (TDC Team)

Layout by Lori

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by me :)

Layout by Jeri

Layouts by Kim

Layout by Sondra

Drop by the Digichick and pick it up through Friday for 20% off!

Before I forget (again) I made a sparkly fun underlayer (or splat, or whatever you would like to call them) for St. Paddy's day for you. Click on the photo for your download and let me know what you think! These are my new favorite elements because they look great under a photo or a cluster or just to provide some softness and varying texture on your papers (there are three of 'em in Wish Big!)

Download HERE.

A hint of Spring

2011-03-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year when I want to put away all my dark winter clothes and wear something pastel and cheerful. It's a funny thing, we haven't had a bad winter at all, but I still yearn for the cheerful side of the color wheel. Apparently Momma Nature is feeling a bit the same way, because the somber colors of winter earth are gradually yielding hints of color. OK, not at my house because I've killed all the plants, LOL, but I'm sure in the rest of the world where people remember to water things that bits of green and pink will soon emerge. I will just have to content myself with working it all out in a scrap kit ;)

I'm not going to lie, I love this color palette with a passion, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Look at the beautiful examples my CT have created:

Layout by Jeri

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Pamie (TDC CT)

Layout by Jennifer (TDC CT)

Layout by Jennifer (Jemy)

Layout by Kim

Awakening will be on sale for 20% off Thursday and Friday. Hope you can find some spring where you are, and happy scrapping!

A touch of Irish Camaradarie - At the Pub

2011-03-02T22:00:00.005-07:00

Recently my family and I had dinner at a local Irish Pub that we're fond of. It's a warm and welcoming place with good food and we always have a good time. It occurred to me this last time that it would be fun to try to evoke that same atmosphere in a scrap kit, and At the Pub is the result.

I just love the warm, rich colors and textures!

And because my team is psychic as well as talented, they seemed to know just the right way to scrap with it, too!

Layouts by Kim

Layout by Anne, who is guesting at TDC this month!

Layout by Jennifer

Layouts by Lori

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Pamie (TDC)

Layout by Sondra

After all was packaged up and released to the various and sundry teams, I had the bright idea there should be an alpha. Sorry 'bout that, girls! My blog readers are the beneficiary of my indecisiveness, though, because you can download it HERE!

Scissors and glitter and glue, Oh My!

2011-03-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Anytime that I take it into my head to do something crafty, it is time for concern and apprehension. As I grow older I may be getting wiser, but it isn't enhancing my cutting and pasting skillz, if you know what I mean :) So when Mari Koeglenberg created a cutting file for the spiral roses everyone is so excited about (and which I tried to make and failed pretty darn spectacularly if I do say so myself), I was intrigued. When I watched the tutorial she made she made it look like a third grader could do it, so I figured I had a chance :)

I have a habit of picking up cute photo frames at Target when they're on major clearance, so I have a stack of them waiting for photos. Some of them have been waiting for photos for a VERY long time, and they sit there accusingly in my office and glare at me when I'm not looking. So I grabbed one of these, and Mari's template, printed some out, and lookie! I did it!

Admittedly, I had glitter everywhere and stuck my fingers together with the glue, but I'm still pretty pleased with my project! If you want to check out the inspiration for yourself, I found it all in this article by Nicole at The Hybrid Chick.

I'm IN! (and you will want to be IN too!)

2011-02-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Combining a lovely spring palette with lots of glittery grungy goodness to layer under your photos, In or Out will provide a fresh touch to your scrapping stash.

Contents:

8 solid cardstocks
4 richly colored and textured papers
2 bows
button
branch
flower
2 frames
gold cord
frame hanger
journal tag
3 ribbons
2 paper roses
scattered sequins
staple
stitching
glitter swirl
word art
6 messy, glittery underlayers

Here it is in action!

Layouts by Kim

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Michelle from the TDC team

Layout by Jeri

Layouts by me :)

As you can see, In or Out is extremely versatile!

And there's even better news, because ---

Everything's on sale! Now is your opportunity to grab those goodies you've been wanting :)

Enjoy your shopping and saving, and happy scrapping!

Two new goodies!

2011-02-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Did you enjoy yesterday's sneak peek? Are you curious? Here's the finished product! ::::drumroll:::

Isn't it great? I love the color palette, and there are some wonderful pieces to scrap with. And the papers are not only great for guys, but they're just yummy papers for any project!

There's also a coordinating alpha:

Manly and tailored, it will help you make your page eye-catching and masculine!

Here are some examples from my talented team:

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Lori

Layout by Sondra

Layout by me :)

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Candy

Layout by Kim

As you can see there are oodles of great elements and papers to work with!

If you're keeping track, you will realize that this is the second boy kit I've worked on. In a row. Nary a stitch of glitter, and only one flower makes Julie feel a little dull :D So I buried myself in glitter (with a grungy edge) and flowers and created Secret Delight - don't you just love these colors?

Not gonna lie - these papers make me feel just a little giddy inside! Look at these great examples:

Layout by Candy

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Kim

Two stunners from Jeri

For those of you signed up for my newsletter (and if you haven't this is one of the reasons you should!), there's a dandy little add on pack of papers and glittery brackets coming your way:

Layout by Candy

Layout by Jennifer

You can find Mr. Handsome HERE in Elise's Digichick store, and Secret Delight is HERE in my store. You can grab them today or tomorrow for 20% off! Happy Scrapping!

Wanna win something spectacular?

2011-02-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

There's a new collab coming to the DigiChick tomorrow, and you can have an opportunity to win it! I teamed up with the adorable Elise from Elise's Pieces and we've put together an awesome something for that special fella you need to scrap :) All you need to do is visit Elise's blog and post your favorite thing about your favorite guy and you're in the running for this fun kit! Hurry!

Boy at Play

2011-02-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

You hear the lament over and over in digiland: "That's SO cute, but I have to scrap BOYS" followed by a whimper and a wail, LOL. The truth is, it's hard to find kits that are boy-centric. Having contributed my share of girl-friendly scrap supplies, I figured it was time to dust off the boy concept. Long ago in scrapland I created a couple of boy kits (very early in my design career, LOL). There were just a few pieces that I still liked, so I spiffed them up and then I created a whole lot of new goodies just for boys. Toys, tools, sporty things, grungy things, mobile things. Add in some masculine fasteners and a few things to tuck here and there, add a liberal helping of boyish papers (ranging from camo to bright stars and arrows) and you have a stash building kit of boy happiness :)

And I have lots of cute examples for you from the talented ladies on my team:

Layout by Lori

Layout by Dani

Layout by Candy (see, it even works for nature layouts!)

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Kim

Layout by Corrine (TDC Creative Team)

Layout by Jan Hosford (TDC Designer)

Last are a couple of great layouts from Sondra & Kim that use some elements from the freebie add-on pack:

And here's a little taste of Boy at Play for you! Don't forget to grab the full kit in my DigiChick store while it's at the introductory sale price! It will be 20% off all day Thursday and Friday :)

Happy Scrapping!

Island Dreams

2011-02-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Cue the Polynesian music, grab your grass skirt, and let's pretend it ISN'T below zero outside! (Okay, as I write this, I realize it isn't below zero anymore, but it certainly doesn't qualify as tropical) Most of us have vacation pix from warmer climates to scrap, and some lucky types actually have palm trees in their normal landscape. Island Dreams gives you 15 great backgrounds and lots of sand and tropical goodies to present your pictures and stories with flair.

I will admit to being very fond of the coordinating alphas:

And here are some great inspiration layouts for you from my team:

Layout by Holly (Digichick Creative Team)

Layout by Jeri

Layout by Michelle (Digichick Creative Team)

Layout by Dawn

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Layout by Lori

Layout by Jennifer

Island Dreams will be on sale Thursday and Friday at 20% off, so grab it now and get your corner of scrapping paradise! Happy Scrapping!

February Blog Train "My Heart's Dream"

2011-02-01T05:00:00.024-07:00

Hi there, Blog Train riders! Welcome to Sherwood Studio's stop! You came here from Steadfast and Immovable and your next stop is Girl Boy Girl Designs {by jen balding}. Hope you're enjoying the ride!

Here's my contribution - loved this color palette :) Click on the preview to download, and enjoy!

February Blog Train Freebie

If you get lost, head over to the Blog Train Blog for the complete list :)

"Quite Contrary"

2011-01-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

Quite Contrary

"Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With Silver bells and Cockleshells, and pretty maids all in a row..." I was in a bit of a pastel and paper piecing mood this week, and "Quite Contrary" was the result! This dainty kit combines a touch of whimsy with a cheerful palette, and will showcase your pretty little maid's picture beautifully. But don't despair if you need to scrap her brother, too - there are several neutral papers and elements to help you out :)
Contents:

14 papers
Paper Bee
Stitched bee trail
2 stitched hearts
2 bows
cord
2 buttons
cockleshell
"silver" bell
4 flowers
metal heart flower
4 frames
heart mat
heart scatter
3 journal strips
2 journal markers
2 "seed packet" row markers
3 ribbons
1 set brackets
2 leaves
staple
3 word art

And some awesome examples from my team:

First, a hybrid project from Joana (on the Hybrid team for The Digichick)

From Jeri (welcome to the team!):

From Sondra:

From Lori:

From Candy:

From Jennifer:

and from Kim:

You can pick up Quite Contrary the Kit or just the Quite Contrary paper pack (on sale today and Friday) here in my Digichick shop. Happy Scrapping!

Sneaky Stuff.

2011-01-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek of "Quite Contrary," coming out tomorrow at The Digichick:

And my newsletter subscribers will get a cute little bonus pack that coordinates (have you signed up? Link):

Winter Solitude

2011-01-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Colorado is finally getting some winter weather! I think even Alabama has had more snow than we have, LOL. The landscape undergoes a change once snow sets in - the contrasts are more stark, but still lovely. This particular palette was inspired by a rosy morning sunrise (I see far more sunrises in the winter, seeing as how they are scheduled at a better time!).

Winter Solitude captures that quiet mood to create a showcase for your winter photos. The colors are versatile, lending themselves to both feminine and masculine layouts.

Contents:

14 papers
4 flowers plus a cluster
2 bows
3 ribbons
leaves
branch
5 frames
clockface & hands
2 buttons
2 snowflakes
2 beadspills
2 swirls
ticket
journal book
2 journal cards
Full alpha (upper & lowercase, punctuation, numbers)

Winter Solitude is available here in my DigiChick shop, and will be 20% off Thursday and Friday :) Happy Scrapping!

Pssst....

2011-01-15T10:03:00.003-07:00

Those of you who have clicked the "Like" button for Sherwood Studio Digital Designs have access to a pretty nifty coupon code today - curious? There's a link to the Facebook Page in the side column of my blog, check it out!

A New Year! and a "Clean Start"

2011-01-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy time since I last put something new in the store... there has been a lot of sorting and cleaning and re-organizing going on in our house as my husband makes changes in the basement. And changes upstairs, LOL. All of this has necessitated so much "Clean Sweep-ing" that my brain is tired, and the sad thing is that I could do twice as much again and still not have everything as well organized as it should/could be. As a naturally messy person (gosh, that looks awful in print, maybe we could gloss it over a bit and say "Not a naturally tidy person!"), I find this to be very wearing, even though the results are so positive. And since I couldn't seem to get past the mental malaise to design something pretty, I decided to embrace the reality - and "Clean It Up!" is the result. After all, I'm sure everyone has a cleaning project at some time, so it's a useful thing, right? There are lots of organic textures in this one as well as a lot of "cleaning" objects and a few word art bits to add the final touch:

And some great examples from my team:

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Lori

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jennifer - she claims she took on a cleaning project just for this layout - now THAT is a dedicated team member :)

Layout by Jan Hosford, a fellow designer at the DigiChick :)

Layout by Heather B., a member of the DigiChick team :)

This is a two-pager that I did, hoping to exorcise the cleaning mania, LOL. I love making 2 pagers but they sure are hard to showcase!

And since we're in cleaning mode, I'm going to be making some changes to my newsletter situation - I've been using Feedburner to deliver blog posts, but I think it would be better to have an actual newsletter - I hate to bug people too much and sometimes I'd like to blather on in my blog more than once a week, so I'm going to give having them separate a whirl. The only trouble is that I feel uncomfortable adding the Feedburner addy's to the new newsletter without permission, so I'm asking you to sign up for the new one. Kind of a pain, but better than cluttering email without leave :) The new link is over there ---> in the side column. Or you can click HERE.

I also made a little freebie to go with Clean It Up! - I was enjoying the grungy cardboard I used on the oval frame so I made a few more pieces:

You can download it HERE.
Happy Cleaning (and scrapping!)

The final countdown

2010-12-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm actually quite ridiculously proud of myself this year. Have I accomplished great and wonderful feats of superhuman strength and genius? Um, no. My source of pride is a bit on the pathetic side - this is the first holiday season in ages where I'm actually keeping up, LOL. It's so much better than feeling desperately behind that it feels like victory, and I'll take it!

One last little Christmas goodie and a charming little element pack are newly released this week in my Digichick store.

And a darling little example from Lori:

I also have my three fullsized Christmas kits on sale through the end of the year at 50% off, and the vintage set is still available as a bundle at 50% off too. I'm rather proud of myself for actually scrapping a Christmas card this year and I used the vintage Christmas Wishes:

There's even a coordinating letter -

I hope this finds all of you enjoying the holiday season!

Vintage wrap-up

2010-12-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

The final two installments of my vintage Christmas postcard-inspired series "Christmas Wish" are in the store! "Glow" is rich and elegant with gleaming gold and glowing colors, and "Cheer" is a little folksy and cheerful. I've also released a bundle containing all four minikits for a special price, but it's only available until the new year.

And some pretties from my "elf squad" :)

Layout by Kim

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Kim

Layout by MamaB

Layouts by Lori

Layout by Jennifer (who will be forgiven for taking a marvelous trip to Mexico because she promptly scrapped one of the photos!)

And lastly, this clever layout from Kim that uses all four kits!

Don't forget that the December DigiChick Grab Bag will only be available for one more week - it's chock full of wonderful goodies! And my new releases will be on sale 20% off through Friday!

Let's go vintage!

2010-12-02T10:20:00.001-07:00

Last summer when I was visiting in Montana, I found a stack of vintage postcards at an antique mall. Quite a few of them were actually Christmas postcards (a concept that fascinates me in and of itself) and I was intrigued by some of the interesting designs and color combinations. I was going through them the other day trying to figure out what I wanted to do with them, and it occurred to me that it might be fun to make a nice sized mini kit based on the colors of each card. And this week marks the release of the first two "Christmas Wishes" - Frost, a blue and brown beauty, and Santa, a right jolly old elf in traditional Christmas colors:

And some inspiration from my team :)

ok, these were mine - felt good to scrap!

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Kim

Both kits are on sale through Friday at 20% off :)

I also participated in the DigiChick December grab bag:

This bag is chock full of fun things - everything from alphas to templates to papers to elements and two minikits! It's an awesome deal at $10 (a $55 value if purchased separately) so be sure and take a look! Here's my part:

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

It's a lovely day in Colorado - a little cold, but sunny and cheerful :) The turkey is in the oven, things are starting to smell marvelous, and I shared the turkey liver with the dog so we are both very happy and all the liver haters in the household are relieved, LOL.

Even though it is a holiday, there are still new releases at The Digichick today! We've all worked hard in the last few days to present you with some wonderful goodies to peruse as your turkey and pie settle and you fight off that nap! And since we're all gearing up for shopping this weekend (even though I hope to do mine online and avoid the mall COMPLETELY tomorrow) it seemed like a good idea to have a sale, too. So a little while ago I went in and marked everything in my store down by 35%. It will be that way at least through Saturday, so you can fit some digi shopping in with your Christmas goodies :)

And I have another new Christmas kit for you to play with - it's brand new! Full of rich elegance, it's "Christmas in the Parlor." A little formal, a little stately, very beautiful, with a few homey touches.

And a few layouts from my talented crew:

Layout by Dani

Layout by Kim

Layout by LynnIrene from the TDC CT

Layout by Lori

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by MamaB

Layout by Lori

Don't forget, Christmas in the Parlor and all my other goodies will be on sale through Saturday! And have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Flying time!

2010-11-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

As in, time flies :) I can't believe we're only a week away from Thanksgiving and that it's time to begin Christmas planning (I AM going to make my cards this year if it... well, I'd better leave it there, LOL). I will readily confess that I had a hard time wrapping my head around Christmas designs, so I've reworked, retooled, and revamped two kits that I had in my PDW store for re-release. It was like hanging out with old friends and having a spa day - hope you like our makeovers, LOL!

First up is Fireside Christmas. When I picked this color palette, I had the name Library in mind, and I think that's reflected in the rich colors and textures. I love the touches of gold in amongst the plaid, almost as though it's reflecting the firelight, and the counterpoint of the antique paper sets a nice contrast.

And some lovely examples from my wonderful Creative Team:

Layouts by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jennifer

Last, Joana, one of the uber talented Hybrid Chicks made an ornament with Geeky Diva Design's template:

So cool! Makes me want to brave the scissors and paste and make one myself :)

The second "new" old kit is Razzle Dazzle Reindeer - hardly a traditional Christmas palette, but sometimes you have photos with pink coats or purple dresses to work with and you need something to tie it all together, LOL. Not to mention the fact that it's just plain fun and sparkly...

And from the team:

Layout by TDC's Joana

Layout by Sondra

Layout by Kim

Both kits will be on sale at The DigiChick for 20% off through Friday!

Fall in Colorado

2010-11-11T08:50:00.001-07:00

It IS fall in Colorado, and it's my favorite time of the year. I soaked in all the beautiful colors this year; we had lots and lots of warm weather to go with it :)
Today I'm releasing a new kit at the Digichick that reflects my love of the season... appropriately titled Fall in Colorado:

And my CT has been busy!

Layout by Kim:

Layout by Jennifer:

Layout by Sondra:

And 2 from me:

As you can see by that last one, fall in Colorado now sports a coat of white :)

I'm also privileged to bring my collab with Dani of Dani's Delusions to my Digichick store:

And don't forget, both kits will be 20% off through Friday!

A little sample of Spazz :)

2010-11-05T18:27:00.001-06:00

Here's a little extra goodie to go along with Spazz. Don't forget that the code BlogLove50 will override the 30% sale at the DigiChick and give you 50% off of my things! Happy DSD!

Got Crazy? Get Spazz!

2010-11-04T09:22:00.000-06:00

Sometimes color combinations sort of jump right out and grab you. Well, ok, they grab ME. I bought a box of Kleenex with this fabulous and vibrant color palette and knew I wanted to do something with it. The result is Spazz, a fun and funky kit with a fun and funky alpha to go along with it. Time to scrap something FUN!

My creative team has already had a little fun:

Layout by Lori

Layout by Kim

Layout by Jennifer

Another by Lori

And one from me!

Spazz will be on sale for 30% off (along with all my other goodies) through Sunday in honor of iDSD, but I want my blog readers to have a little extra fun, so I've made a coupon you can use when you check out that will override the store sale and give you 50% off of your purchase from my store! Just use coupon code BlogLove50 to get the goods :) And just in case your weekend goes pflooey and you don't get a chance to shop, I've made the code valid for the entire month of November. Enjoy!

A little sneak peak

2010-11-03T16:46:00.000-06:00

Brand new kit coming out tomorrow! Thought you might like a little sneak peek :)

Be back tomorrow to show you the whole thing. And watch for extra coupons and specials for iDSD!

Get ready for DSD!

2010-11-01T16:21:00.000-06:00

Digital Scrapbooking day is just around the corner, and The Digichick is starting the celebration early! All of the goodies in my shop are on sale 30% off, and I have something new coming on Thursday that I'm really excited about - it's fun and a little crazy! LOL. Then there are some spiffy new challenges in the TDC forum over the weekend and hey, did I mention? SALES!

Hope you had a good Halloween. We had a few cute spooks at the door. I made it through Halloween without eating any candy. I'm fairly proud of that fact. Of course, I waited til 1 PM yesterday to even buy the candy, and I sent the leftovers to work with my daughter, so removing temptation can be a big part of success :)

An official welcome :)

2010-10-28T11:09:00.000-06:00

Sherwood Studio @ The DigiChick is now open! And to celebrate, I have a new Facebook page all ready to go :) Use the badge in the side column to "like" now, because when we reach 100 there will be a nice little goodie for you all!

News, and a sale!

2010-10-21T11:19:00.000-06:00

There comes a point in every endeavor where you need to make some changes in order to grow. I've reached that point in my design adventure, and I'm so pleased to be able to share that I'm going to be moving to a new store :) Not only will I be moving, but I'm taking this opportunity to make some adjustments, so I will be designing under the name Sherwood Studio at The DigiChick! I couldn't be more excited, but I really hate packing, so I'm having a moving sale.

Boo!

2010-10-08T00:09:00.001-06:00

I must admit, there's something fun about creating a Halloween kit. It's sort of as though you've been given carte blanche to be dramatic, over-the-top, and maybe even pretend you're something that you really are not :) I got a little caught up in Bespelled, I hope it mesmerizes you a little bit, too!

Layout by Jennifer

Layout by Chris

Layout by Lori

Bespelled will be on sale this week for $4.50!

A scrapping tip :)

2010-09-30T22:11:00.001-06:00

Patterned papers. I love to look at them, but wow do they mess with my journaling (because I do journal. Sometimes. Honest!). I've more or less relied on tags or a piece of solid paper "pasted" in my journal spot, but sometimes this works, and sometimes I just don't really care for the effect :( So when I read a cute tale on Sir Scrapalot's blog about overcoming this problem by gently eroding the patterned paper to allow for journaling, I thought it was an inspired idea!

This was all fresh in my mind when I began work on Bohemian Fall, which has some vividly patterned papers. So in order to help the scrapper, I created solid papers with the same texture as each patterned paper. All you need to do is slip the plain paper behind the patterned one, and with a large soft eraser brush (set at a low opacity) remove a bit of the patterned areas until it's light enough to no longer interfere with your journaling. Then just merge the two layers together and you're ready to write!

Here's a layout I did using this technique:

Heya, misery! Want company?

2010-09-24T18:41:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those days where I had twelve million four hundred and seven ideas floating around in my mind. Unfortunately, it was also one of those days where I was unable to execute anything, other than a couple of minor successes that were more incidental than focused.

I remember when I first started scrapping days like today terrified me. I was convinced that I'd lost any creative spark I may have possessed. I was convinced the creative spark would never come back. And finally at some point, I usually decided that the creative spark was an illusion and I might as well just go wash dishes.

Fortunately, having traveled along this path before, I know that probably even as early as tomorrow some of those ideas zinging around in my head will come to fruition (the creative ones, not the dishes - please don't tell my husband!) and things will go relatively smoothly again. It doesn't keep me from feeling like the day was a failure, but it does lessen the fear that I've lost it all, LOL.

So, rather than spend any more time playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook (which, curiously, is also not going well) I redecorated my blog with Colorado Cliff. At least the day wasn't a complete loss! And now I'm going to go write down as many of the great ideas as I can still remember...

Scrap Happy :)

2010-09-22T00:23:00.001-06:00

I've done a lot of scrapping in the last few days, and I have to be honest, it feels really good! I am bound and determined that I WILL get books done for Christmas this year, so I need to be organizing and getting the right layouts done!

I think my favorite is this two-pager of some of our Mesa Verde pix, scrapped with Colorado Cliff. I'm getting pretty fond of the two page layout, even though they seem to take me FOREVER to accomplish. I couldn't find a template in my stash that seemed right, so I just fiddled til I came up with this.

My daughter took this photo at a wedding last weekend. It cracked me up, seriously. I took it off her blog and used Wendyzine's enlarge action on it, twice (so it wouldn't actually look very good if I printed it) but I wanted to play with it and my new kit Bohemian Fall. I'm learning that sometimes I want to scrap just for the fun of it - I don't necessarily print them out but I have a good time!

These two are companion pages showcasing my husband's annual motorcycle trip. I'm pleased with the way they turned out. Again, a two page layout whether all one or companion pieces really seems to work with the way I want to present my photos these days. For this pair, I used a background from my Remembrance kit and fooled around til I had sort of a carved star and maple leaf to suggest the two countries.

As I said, I'm pleased with the way it worked out, and I made a template of the second one as a jumping off place for future layouts (Jen Wilson at Simple Scrapper had a template with the stroke and the drop shadow on the photos spots, and it makes it such a snap to get a handle on a multiphoto layout that I shamelessly copied the effect on mine)

Admittedly, a simple template in a day of elaborate options, but you're welcome to use it if it helps :) I'm one of those independent scrappers who likes to come up with my own embellishment placement but find the photo spots very helpful.

Download HERE

And don't forget, all of my kits are on sale for $1.50 for the rest of the week at PDW for Talk Like A Pirate Week!

Argh, Matey! It be Time fer Sales and a Huge Freebie!

2010-09-18T21:03:00.003-06:00

It's time for the Sales Event of the Year at Plain Digi Wrapper! That's right, it's the annual Talk Like a Pirate Sales Extravaganza, and you are not going to want to miss it- all of my designs will be on sale for just $1.50 each! It's a great time to stock up and have a little fun (not to mention retail therapy with no guilt trip!)

And to get this Pirate Party started, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a long time...

I'm giving away a full kit!

(Offer expired, sorry!)

Happy Shoppin' to ye, and enjoy yer plunder!

Colorado Cliff in the Store!

2010-09-17T15:47:00.002-06:00

As any other scrapper often does, I have a backlog of photos to scrap that I keep thinking, "I'll get to that." Chief on that pile are the photos I took on our little mini-vacation last May. After nine years in Colorado, I FINALLY made it to Mesa Verde, LOL! The main thing that held me back was that I wanted to make my own kit to scrap my pictures, and the muse wasn't quite ready to do that. Until now!

Colorado Cliff reflects the lovely colors and distinctive textures of the southwestern corner of Colorado, but it would be extremely suitable for a host of outdoor photos and the more masculine spectrum of the scrapper's arsenal :)

Here it is, with just a few layouts to get you started:

Layouts by Jennifer:

(and one from me)

Colorado Cliff Page Kit will be on sale for $4.50 this week :)

Ready for more Pirate fun!??? Free Kit to get started!

2010-09-12T13:49:00.001-06:00

This is what I found in the PDW gallery. While I'm not exactly sure what it means, I do know what the prizes potentially could be, and trust me, you WANT TO SIGN UP.

And to help with that trust, I'm offering everyone who signs up for the Pirate's Log Challenge a free kit of their choice! PM me a link to your post in this thread and I'll send you a coupon to my store good for a free kit :)

So what are you waiting for???

Last chance to get the Booty Bags at PDW!

2010-09-07T09:09:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow the booty bags will be spilled into their individual parts, so today is your last chance to save! For those of you on the fence about whether you want to spend money on something you haven't seen, I'll reveal the contents of mine:

and that's it! $3.00 in my PDW Shoppe!

Ahhh, back to me!

2010-09-03T10:51:00.003-06:00

I'll be honest, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the grabbag concept (at least as I interpret it) so preparing items for mine stretched me. Not that being stretched is a bad thing, mind you, but I was absolutely delighted to go back to working on something that felt a bit more "me." And I can already tell it's one of my favorites! The color palette was plucked from a real life drive past Montana fields that are ripe and ready for harvest, and the most beautiful glowing gold you can imagine. Combine that with a stormy sky backdrop and the evergreen windbreak near the farmhouse, and you have Montana Gold.

And some lovely layouts from my team:

(Layout by Jennifer)

(Layout by Candy [template from Studio Dutchie])

(Layouts by Lori [template on LO2 by Scraps of Candy])

(Layout by Sondra)

And last, one from me :)

I've also made an alpha to coordinate with the kit :)

You can download it HERE

Sherwood Studio Digital Designs by Julie Southern

Ha ha ha...

The Photo Project

Together At Last

Gearing up for the New Year

A little Christmas treat for you!

Star of Wonder

It's time for a new Chick Fix!

It's a huge secret...SALE!!!

Bring on the Country Cheer!

Wherein I learn more cool stuff...

A great new freebie site!

Deep, Rich, and Delicious!

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day!

DSD Edition! Warning: Sales ahead...

Final Call!

Golden Days...

Free Fall

Technological Advances :)

Whew!

October Blog Train!

Urban Garden - A collab with Etc. by Danyale!

Are you ready for a Chick Fix?!

Big Sale! More for the Boys! Retiring Products!

Give me the coffee, and no one gets hurt.

One for the boys! (ok, and one for the girls, too)

August Blog Train

If at first you do not succeed, try, try again...

Playing Catch. Catch UP, that is!

Take a visit to the Olde West with me!

It's time for a Summer Celebration!

Get Ready for a Chick Fix!

Memorial Day

Scrap Therapy

Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day!

Refreshed and better than ever!

New! Scrapping tools and Garden Fairies...

A spring collection

A Pretty Posy

Be my guest. No, wait, *I'm* the guest!

Tales of Romance

April Blog Train "Pirates Not Allowed"

Spring in the Rockies

A special birthday sale :)

Happy Birthday to Meeeeee!

A hint of Spring

A touch of Irish Camaradarie - At the Pub

Scissors and glitter and glue, Oh My!

I'm IN! (and you will want to be IN too!)

Two new goodies!

Wanna win something spectacular?

Boy at Play

Island Dreams

February Blog Train "My Heart's Dream"

"Quite Contrary"

Sneaky Stuff.

Winter Solitude

Pssst....

A New Year! and a "Clean Start"

The final countdown

Vintage wrap-up

Let's go vintage!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Flying time!

Fall in Colorado

A little sample of Spazz :)

Got Crazy? Get Spazz!

A little sneak peak

Get ready for DSD!

An official welcome :)

News, and a sale!

Boo!

A scrapping tip :)

Heya, misery! Want company?

Scrap Happy :)

Argh, Matey! It be Time fer Sales and a Huge Freebie!

Colorado Cliff in the Store!

Ready for more Pirate fun!??? Free Kit to get started!

Last chance to get the Booty Bags at PDW!

Ahhh, back to me!

Be my guest. No, wait, I'm the guest!