Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and many blessings to all of you in 2010. May it be one full of wonder and light. Thank you for helping make this year one to remember! Love to you all!


xoxo,
k.

All I want for Christmas is REFLECTIONS in 2010!

One of the wonderful things I get to do by doing what I do is traveling to teach at various events and shows both nationally and internationally. It's probably my favorite part of my job as I absolutely love interacting with people who are as excited about scrapbooking and crafting as I am :)

Today I get to share about one of the unique and wonderful events I'll be teaching at in 2010. It is called REFLECTIONS which is an amazing 3-day retreat (April 30-May 2) hosted by Scrapbook Oasis and set in the OC in California! You can find out all about it and what went on last year by following their Reflections Blog! (You might just recognize a person or two on there! ;)) Besides myself, this year's teachers include the talented ladies Maggie Holmes, Elizabeth Kartchner and Katie Watson! Love them and I'm so looking forward to working with them for the first time!

And because the gals at Scrapbook Oasis know (and I know!) what good girls you all have been, they wanted to make it easier for Santa to get you to Reflections! What they are doing is not only offering gift certificates (hint, hint husbands!), but they are allowing a payment plan of only $67 per month! AND if you pay in full you get a bonus project designed by my incredible friend, Suzy Plantamura. And if it's made by Suzy, you can bet it's divine!

So here's the full scoop because we want to see you there! During your 3 day extravaganza you will be treated to:

· 3 full days of classes taught by 7 amazing designers

· 3 hour long, technique packed classes

· Breakfast provided - Friday

· Lunch provided – Friday, Saturday and Sunday

· 'Make and takes'

· Isle Carnival

· A special event on Saturday night

· Kick-off Crop Thursday night

· Crop rooms open until midnight on Friday and Saturday

Plus lots and lots of surprises along the way!

Be sure to get your list together and make sure REFLECTIONS is on it! Can't wait to see you there!

Happy Wednesday!
xoxo,
k.

Holiday Happenings

That's what's been keeping me busy around here beyond the regular work/school/craziness we always have going on. How about you? Are you running around like mad, too?!

I have to admit that generally speaking, the holidays stress me out. The anticipation, the preparations, the expense (yes, I said it - it's true!) all adds up. So occasionally (quit laughing, husband!) it can make me a bit of a grump. But this year I'm really trying hard to do something fun and holiday-related every day to not only get myself more in the spirit but to show the boys how wonderful and special this time of year is.

We've collected items for our local food banks, toiletries and sundries for our service men and women overseas, went to see an amazing light display, built a gingerbread house, decorated the house/tree, baked cookies and then some. But I have to say one of the most magical things I've seen so far this holiday season is this site under our Christmas tree yesterday afternoon.

We had given the boys some quiet time to rest a bit because these crazy weather changes (warm, freezing, warm, freezing) has us all fighting colds. After about 15 minutes, I got up from our den and found this in our family room. What a site. Note the markers still in his hand and the Kool-aid moustache from lunch! hee! I just love it. I think I shall never be grumpy about the holidays again.

Holidays blessings to all of you and yours!
Happy Monday, all!
xoxo,
k.

The Grinch that Stole Christmas: TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Sigh.

Yes, they truly are the Grinch that stole Christmas. Sadly due to these technical issues on our brand new site, we were unable to go live with the launch of the new and improved www.basigrey.com as we had anticipated. We are working hard to have these glitches taken care of so that we can have a smoothly functioning site up for you soon, but as of now, we're afraid there isn't an exact time. Just please know, we want it to be sooner rather than later, too! (Darn Grinch!)

In the meantime, I'm going to tell you one of the exciting things that will be up when the site goes live (as well as give you a mini-gift to tie you over until the launch!). Not only are we going to be doing all the fun digital papers and brushes, etc. that was mentioned in previous email blasts, we are also going to be offering BLINKIES & SKINS!! Seriously! This is more exciting to me (almost) than the other digi stuff as I'm a "limited" digi-girl! ;) I'm talking Skins for your desktops, skins for your iPhones, skins for your blog, skins for just about anything! Is that cool or what? And as a special little present from me to you, here is one of our new blinkies that we will be offering shown below. Please feel free to copy and paste it into your own image hosting site to use wherever you post!



Enjoy this Friday and Happy Holidays! I'll be back with more info as I have it!
xoxo,
k

On the 1st day of Christmas...um the 2nd? No wait, the 10th!

...my BasicGrey gave to meeeeeeee "A brand new WEBSITE!" Ok, so I'll spare you the singing (lucky you!) but yes, it's TRUE! BasicGrey is launching their brand new website at www.basicgrey.com on DECEMBER 10th and we couldn't be more excited! It means all kinds of wonderful things, but I think one of the things you might be most thrilled about is that BasicGrey is going DIGITAL!! Yes, I said it, my digi-friends! DIGITAL! (FINALLY!) Check out that little tab I circled in blue! (Did Santa check off some of your Christmas wish lists right there or what?!)

Click here for the full newsblast as well as information on how you can enter to win one of EVERY. SINGLE. COLLECTION PACK we've produced in 2009 (a $246 value! wheee!)

If that doesn't make it a Happy Hump-Day I don't know what will!
xoxo,
k.

Studio Calico's Homefront

I'm so excited to get to tell you about this! My fellow Kentucky gal and friend April at Studio Calico has her very first official release called HOMEFRONT! I'm thrilled for her as not only is she such an amazing person, but she's a dynamic business woman as well and I love seeing her succeed. I'm so proud of her and was honored when she sent me her new release to try it out and see what I thought.


I adore the funky vintage of this line and the fabulous retro colors. It's whimsical and fun and full of cool patterns. I scrapped a layout of a Girls Night Out (called a "girls commitment" by my friend's son!) and the fantabulous meal we had that night! I thought the colors were a great compliment for the photos and had fun using something so different for me.

And here's where it gets better for YOU - April and her design team are hosting a blog hop where you can win a HOMEFRONT collection of your very own. Please leave a comment on each of these girls' blogs to be entered to win and check out the amazing creations they've done! Have fun and enjoy!

April Foster
Celine Navarro
Davinie Fiero
Emily Pitts
Jenn Olson
Joy Madison
Kelly Noel
Lisa Truesdell
Maggie Holmes
Nicole Samuels
Nicole Harper
Stephanie Howell
Tina Aszmus

Best of luck to April & Studio Calico! Love you!

k.

Hap-PEA Anniversary!!

I know this one won't make much sense to my family or even a few of my friends, but to all my scrappies out there, I know you realize how excited I am to celebrate my sixth PEA anniversary!

It was six years ago today that I found the wonderful world of Two Peas. Six years ago I was a brand new mom to baby boy #3 and looking for a creative outlet (not to mention some adults to talk to!). A girlfriend (Hi, Heather!) of mine suggested the website Two Peas in a Bucket. I thought that was a pretty odd name, but I finally headed that way on a November afternoon. The first thing I did was visit the Garden, clicked on Ali Edwards' garden seeds, got hugely intimidated...and didn't come back for months!

But the lure turned out to be too powerful. I was hungry for people who were was excited and passionate about scrapbooking and documenting family memories as I was. Since the day I went back, I have been a faithful Pea, checking in at least once daily and doing my best to continue posting layouts, leaving praise and participating in the message board. Two Peas has given so much to me that I want to always make sure I'm giving back. My husband will tell you that I gave back TOO much! It was a huge running joke with us that if I ever made Pea Addict (If I'm right, that's 1500 posts), he'd have to leave me because it meant I was spending way too much time there! Haaaaaa! Over 12,000 posts later, I can't ever see leaving Two Peas (or him leaving me ;)) as I'm in both for the long haul.

So a huge "thank you" today to Jeffrey, Kristina, Mel and everyone else at the office who help ensure that Two Peas will stay around for a long time and that it will always be the place to go for scrapbooking inspiration. I appreciate all you do!

Now it's off for a FOOTBALL-filled Sunday! Happy day, all!
xoxo,
k.