It's time to party!

Did you know that not only does Kristin have an amazing new scoop with Lauren Grier this weekend, and that she was this week's Featured Staffer, but that it's also SSD's 5th anniversary party? And that means....you guessed it. A SALE!

That means that until Februrary 4th, you can save 35% off ALL of Kristin's products in store. Here are some of my favourites that I thought were worth a second look.


Have a great weekend everyone!

Be mine~All new today!

J'adore desktop background

Hello KCB fans! Monique here with a free desktop background for you all to customize your computers in February! There are 3 sizes in the zipped file, 2 that I find are popular and 1 that's sized for my laptop... lol... so I threw it in there for you :D It's also in png format so you can add a photo of your own.

Created using Kristin's beautiful J'Adore kit available in the Sweet Shoppe along with a hybrid printable set!

Here's the desktop background preview, the link to download it is just below the image.

Download HERE.

A welcome Announcement!

Just wanting to Congratulate Kristin's newest CT member ~ Rebecca aka Mamabee!! Rebecca is an extremely talented scrapper! She is a member of many Creative Teams and her scrapping style and skills only continue to improve each and everyday. She is a wonderful wife to her husband and a very PROUD momma to her son, which is coincidentally the subject of most of her precious layouts! Kristin spotted her goregous projects in her gallery and invited her to join the team. Here is a  link to her gallery at the sweet shoppe and here are some of her latest projects and layouts!

Please leave some love for Rebecca on her beautiful layouts! And help us in welcoming her to the team!

Congrats Rebecca!!!

Take a trip to Old Time Paris Romance!

Kristin has done it again. She has come out with a new quintessential romantic kit that is a must have in your stash. It's called J'Adore, and it is divine. Don't believe me?

From Kiki

Now, need a bit of extra romance this February? Here are an idea for a great craft project using this kit (courtesy of Lil Luna):

So if you haven't bought the kit yet, go get it. You know you need it!

New Kit - J'adore

So sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday!! You really need to see (and buy) this latest KCB kit - it's the perfect Valentine's kit for scrapping your loved one! I can't wait to play with it later today, it's so pretty! Here it is:

J'adore by KCB



A warm hybrid gift idea

Hello KCB fans! Monique here with a quick and easy hybrid gift idea. Here's what I made:

By creating my own cup sleeve, adding it to a new paper cup and putting some hot cocoa mix in the cup - I now have a cute gift that perfect for almost anyone!

So here's what I had done tonight:

I already created a template by tracing a piece of paper over my cup. It would have been a lot easier if I could have gotten my hands on a premade one from a coffee house - but I can't. So I had to improvise. I then traced my template onto some pretty dotted brown paper from my local scrapbooking store. I glued it a few days ago and held it onto the cup with rubber bands so that it would stay together long enough to dry.

As you can see from the photo, I printed my label, tag and some extra decorations on a 4x6 mat photo (printed it at Walmart). Keeping your hybrid projects small and printable on a 4x6 image makes it pretty cheap.

Once the sleeve glue was dry, the label and tag were cut I finished it by gluing on the label (I like glue dots), punched a hole in the tag and tied it with ribbon to the cup rim.

Fill the cup with a cocoa powder pouch, maybe a baggy with some mini marshmallows and maybe even a chocolate dipped plastic spoon - and voila! You have a great (and super affordable) gift!

Here are a few close up photos:
   

I hope this inspires you to create some of your own gifts!

Here's the KCB kit I used to create the label and tag (minus the heart latte cup on the tag - that's credited to Kate Hadfield). I Love Cocoa.



Photo tips~ SNOW!

Hey there!
 With the latest dump of snow which was another foot...all that is on my mind is shoveling, making sure the kids are dressed when we go anywhere, what the roads are like, warming up the vehicle before we head out, more shoveling, and when is it going to get warm enough to go tobogganing!!??
 The last chance we had to go out on the hill apart from Sunday was 2 weeks ago, I took my camera (as I always do!) but when I got home I realized that I had a lot of editing to do to all the pictures I took, the snow looked 'greyish' the colours didn't pop again the white and the shadows were so dark!

 I did a little googling and experimenting with the info I gathered and I thought it might help some of you out as well!!
1. keep your camera as warm as you can! apparently your batteries last longer when they aren't cold!
2. set the white balance on your camera to HIGH! (this is what was causing the snow to look grey!)
3. use your flash!!! It will reduce the dark areas on your pictures!
4. use the action mode~ I should have thought of this the first time! would have reduced the blurry pictures i got!
Here are the pictures I took after I applied some of those tips! the only thing that was altered is a contrast boost on there jackets!

Hope those are helpful hints! And here are the kits that I am using in my layout!

Tis the Season for joy

and

The way you are

Have a great week!

CT Inspiration with Sweet Escape

Kiki here this morning with a little more CT inspiration for you using Kristin's latest kit, Sweet Escape.

First off, check out this cool hybrid project that Joana did!


And Terra's layout just blows me away:


And I can't help it, but I always stare at Sasha's layouts to try and learn how to do better more realistic shadows:

There are so many more layouts in the gallery at SSD. You really need to go check out all the talented ladies on Kristin's team.

Kit Combining - Reach for the Sweet Escape?

Hey KCB fans! Monique here with a new monthly series called Kit Combining! I'm going to show you how to combine 2 of Kristin's beautiful kits to make a beautiful layout :D Today I combined her new Sweet Escape kit with the Reach for the Sky kit:

A lot of Kristin's kits can be combined with at least one other kit which really helps to get that much more out of your stash. Here's my layout:

Which KCB kits do you think would combine nicely?



Chilly Tuesday gift!

Hi there,
 Sorry I am late, had a business convention to go to tonight after work, then it took us a little longer to get home as the temps are dipping way below -40C tonight! The vehicles are having a hard time! Anyways on our way home we stopped for some hot chocolate and it made me think of Kristin's kit: I love cocoa! Such a beautiful, warm kit! And thats just what hot chocolate is, LOL, beautiful and warm ;) I thought tonight I would make a little freebie for you! And for all the ladies at work as a gift tomorrow!

Click me to download!

Made with I love Cocoa which you can grab here!

Here's to staying warm!

Oh what a Sweet Escape it is!

You know how it takes you a while after the holidays to get back into your routine and really consider that you felt like you got something done? Apparently that doesn't happen to Kristin! From the looks of things she can just pull out the stops whenever she wants to and blow us all away with the most amazing kit just days after the holiday season. Check out Sweet Escape! I don't know about you, but just one week back to work and I seriously feel like I need to escape to a spa or vacation. This kit is just luscious. It just exudes serenity, calm and a quiet sophistication.

Now if after that preview you really need some inspiration before getting this kit, (and if that's the case you just haven't had enough coffee in my opinion), check out these layouts from the team:

by Pomi

by Shannon

by Lita

And finally, by me.

So get over to the store today to get the kit on sale, because you know you need it, and then you'll have it for those winter retreats in the south or the spa days where you just need someone to pamper you. Have a great weekend everyone!

Monique's Fave Finds

Hello KCB fans! One of our new features here on the CT blog is sharing with you some of our favourite finds on the WWW. Right now I'm looking for inspiration for using Kristin's I Love Cocoa kit - my new favourite KCB kit. So here are a few things I've found that are inspiring me... I'll be back next week to show you what they have inspired me to make :D Click on the images to be redirected to some other great blogs full of inspiration and even some tutorials.

What have you or would you like to make using this delicious new kit from KCB?!

Feel free to link me up to your fave finds!



A little inspiration!

Hey there! I know it is a new Year and there are many challenges and the galleries are full of wonderful inspiration but I thought it would be fun to post an inspiration challenge! Here is the ad:

This totally caught my eye while I was browsing the net! Whether it be the layout, colour, circles, swirls...let this inspire your next layout using Kristins products! And for added fun, entries will be placed in a random draw for a coupon to use in Kristins store!
Here is my layout:

So come play along and be sure to post your link to your layout here in the comment section! You will have till next tuesday to enter!

Are you ready for a contest? Make this one part of your Bucket List!

Welcome everyone to 2011! What an awesome start to the year...have you seen the store today? Awesome new stuff from Kristin and Lauren!


http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/sw...cat=413&page=2

This kit is about making every moment count and taking charge of your life, not waiting for it to happen. Set goals, achieve them. What's on your Bucket List? Start making them happen!

What do you want to do with your life and how do you want to do it? This kit is perfect for scrapping all your hopes and goals - big or small! This kit is packed full of doodles and other elements to scrap your page. Don't have a bucket list? Make one now! Make one for your kids too - you never know what they will say!

La and Kristin decided to have a contest! Simply post a layout here or in the Sweet Shoppe Designs gallery made with this kit scrapping your bucket list (or your child's or spouse or even a friend) and you will be entered to win a coupon for a free kit from both la and I's stores. Post here between now and January 6th!

I can't wait to see what you make with this kit!