This collection is packed full of pretty papers and elements to help you scrap all those precious firsts for this year.

Inside you’ll find 8 patterned and 6 plain papers as well as 33 elements (including paper pieces, flowers, ribbons, word art and more!), with a collection of stamps (each saved in a coordinating dark brown, light brown and plain black.png files).

Also included is a set of 5 lowercase alphas in red, yellow, cream, green and teal. Each set also includes an ampersand and a set of numbers 0-9.

There are a lot of goodies to be found inside!

This kit has also been split into a separate paper pack and an element pack. Or save when you purchase the entire kit together!

Here are some wonderful layouts from the girls on my creative team. First, here’s one from Lizzy:

Jen, LeeAndra and Jen (just click to enlarge):

Nikki, designer Kelleigh Ratzlaff, and Maria:

Brenda:

You’ll find ABCs & 123s on sale for 35% off now through Friday. Why 35% off? Because it’s Back to School time:

Save big on all new items in the shop today, then come back and save on ALL my designs, both Sugarplum and Girl Friday goodies, August 28th through September 5th!

AND! One more thing…

I made a little freebie add-on for you today! I would love to do this more often. Sometimes I just run out of mojo and I don’t have anything left to give. LOL! But I worked through that mojo-less slump this week and came up with a little something special. I hope you enjoy it:

Download here: ABCs & 123s Freebie

(If you have any trouble downloading this item, I’d highly suggest trying the wonderful 7-zip program, especially if you are an IE user. It always solves all my un-zipping issues. It’s the best!)

Happy scrapping!

Keep up with the latest Sugarplum News:

Daisy Summer Days is a beautiful collection of papers and elements with a bit of a vintage “thrift store” twist! At least, that’s the idea I had in my mind when I was putting all the little pieces together.

I think the color scheme makes it more bright, cheery and playful than your typical shabby kit… and that’s one reason I love it so.

Included in this kit you will find 10 unique patterned and plain papers and 25 embellishments (including things like a gorgeous frame, flowers, a butterfly with rhinestones, a feather, stamps and word art).

You’ll also find this collection available as separate a paper and element pack.

You’ll find Daisy Summer Days on sale now through Friday for 20% off.

Here are some beautiful layouts from the talented girls on my creative team! First, here’s one from Krista:

Krystal, Jess and Jen (just click to enlarge):

Brenda, Kate and Bexy:

And Crystal:

I also have a coordinating freebie for you today!

You can download the free add-on pack here: Daisy Summer Days Freebie (If you have any trouble downloading this item, I’d highly suggest trying the wonderful 7-zip program. It always solves all my un-zipping issues! It’s the best.)

I hope you enjoy this pretty new collection. And enjoy the freebie! Happy scrapping!

Keep up with the latest Sugarplum News:

Spring is in the air—Easter is around the corner! We thought we should celebrate the “Sunshine Way” (and you know what that means, right—FREEBIES! Yay!):

Mmm… it’s been WAY too long since I’ve joined in on a good ol’ fashioned Sunshine Girls Freebie, wouldn’t you say?! I was so happy to be able to make a little time to create something sweet, just for you!

Here is my contribution to the Easter Hop:

Included in my part of the collab you will find three pretty patterned papers, two flowers, one frame, one bow, one cloud and two pieces of word art. I hope you enjoy using them!

Just click the egg to Download! Did you miss a stop on the Train? Click the logo to visit the SUN Blog for the official list. Or click on the egg marked “Next” to go and visit Monica’s Blog!

Enjoy all the goodies you’ll find on our blogs today! There are lots of stops and lots of treats to be found. And most of all, we wish you lots of happy scrapping! And we hope you have a wonderful Easter, too.

EDIT: Hello, all! I’m sorry to hear that so many of you are having a problem extracting your files. But there’s nothing wrong with this link! I could upload this file a million times, but it wouldn’t help you. What’s happening is that your computer is not wanting to open then files that I zipped up on my computer. Most likely, I’m guessing that this is a Windows 7 problem? (Feel free to leave me a comment to let me know if that’s the case.) Anyway, if you’d like to solve this issue and extract this freebie, I highly recommend this wonderful free program: 7-zip (ps. you’ll want to click the first download link for 7-Zip 4.65.) Just download, install and then every time you right-click on a zip file, you’ll see 7-zip there, ready to work it’s magic for you! Hope that helps!

Keep up with the latest Sugarplum News:

I’ve made a set of 15 year word art pieces that are perfectly sized to fit the tags in this collection.

I’ve also included a gray tag for you to use as well. And then two little pieces of word art for your stash.

All items were saved as .png files at 300 dpi. And shadows are for illustration only.

You can download it here: Le Petie Oiseau : Freebie

I hope you enjoy these fun little bits and pieces! Happy scrapping!

It’s called Heart of Thankfulness:

It includes 8 beautiful patterned papers and 18 pretty little elements to play with. You’ll find this kit on sale for 20% off today and Friday at both the Sugarplum shop and the Digichick! (You’ll also find just the papers available for sale, too.)

Here are some beautiful layouts from the girls! First, here is a lovely one from Jen:

And here are three more beautiful layouts from Jenn, Bexy and Brenda (just click to enlarge):

I also have a little something else for you today! A freebie—hooray! Here are a few little Thankful Hearts, just for you:

Included here are ten little paper hearts made from the papers of the kit and one piece of word art. I hope you enjoy these!

Happy scrapping to you!

First of all, the Sugarplum Shop is on sale: Save 40% off on kits, paper packs, elements, templates and quick pages all weekend long! You’ll also find that everything is 40% off at the Digichick this weekend as well. Woo-hoo!—happy shopping!

Next up, I have several freebies to tell you about! I’ve been a busy little chickie making lots of goodies for you just for NSD. Yippee!

First on the list is this pack of pretty patterned papers, Paper Daisies, that I made for this weekend’s festivities at The Hybrid Chick blog!

If you’ve been meaning to try your hand at a little hybrid papercrafting, then this weekend is your weekend! The Hybrid Chick is going to be stuffed to the brim with articles, tutorials, giveaways and inspiration. So much fun! We hope to see you there.

Also, the Digichick Designers were invited by DST to make this year’s free kit for National Scrapbooking Day! What an honor. We’ve named it Cherry Delight and you’ll find it available for download inside the DST Insider.

There are dozens of pretty papers and elements inside, as well as a set of blogwear, ready to print hybrid boxes and four different alphas! It’s amazing.

Be sure to stop by to pick it up from May 1st through the 5th. After that, you’ll find the kit for sale in the Digichick Boutique.

And there’s more…

Finally, I was also invited to participate in MSA’s beautiful collab freebie for NSD called Wildflower. I’m still in awe that I was allowed to even take part in something like this with so many designers that I respect and admire. I felt a bit like a gushing fan girl!

Anyway, it’s a gorgeous kit made from gorgeous colors and I hope you also enjoy it!

So many goodies at one time… can your hard drive take it?! At least you know that I love ya, right? Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Now, one more thing to tell you about! Don’t forget there’s a chat tonight at the Digichick (starting at 10:00 p.m. EST):

I’ll be there with coupons and pretty little presents for you! Hope to see you there!

And as always… HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Be sure to stop by and play along with us! Hope to see you there!

I am crazy about templates. I love to use them. I love to make them. I love to give them away free! And combine that with Nicole’s fabulous goodness, and you have a recipe for success.

I scrapped this layout of my middle daughter Emma, and I just love how the simple combination of the right photos with the right title, say everything I wanted it to say.

So, your challenge, is to take the template and make it your own:

You can download it here: Sugarplum Blog Challenge Template.

Some of the girls on the CT played along, too. Here are their layouts.

Bexy:

Courtney, Amy and Crystal:

Nett:

Here are the rules:

- Use mostly Nicole’s products, which you can find at Sugarplum Paperie, the Digichick, or in the freebie section, here on the blog.

- Upload your layout to any gallery you want, and leave a link to your layout in the comments section of this post. You have until Thursday, January 15th to complete the challenge and one lucky person will win a $5.00 gift certificate to the Sugarplum Paperie shop!

I can’t wait to see your creations!

Happy scrapping.

Digital Templates:

Digital templates work in the same manner as digital page templates. Many designers include a number of formats, including layered tiff or psd files, or a series of pngs. Simply open the papers you want to use, use a clipping mask over the template, and embellish:

Then, print, cut out , and assemble! For this box I used the Chilled Wine collab:

And here is an embellished box I made using the Fancy Box templates by my hybrid colleague, Kelleigh Ratzlaff (also available at The DigiChick). This box was made with Nicole’s fabulous new collab with Flergs, called First Kiss of Spring:

After assembly, I added a couple of hybrid touches: I enhanced the glitter accents using Stickles glitter glue, and a ribbon tie.

Die Cuts:

Die cuts can be made from traditional die cut machines (available at many local scrapbook stores or some schools), or cut from electronic die cutters (Cricut, Wishblade, or Klik N Kut to name just a few). The Cricut has a cartridge that cuts a variety of boxes and tags, and design files for the other systems are available free or for a fee from a number of sites (my site of choice for my Silhouette is Paper Threads). Cutting treat bags from my Silhouette revealed my favorite hybrid trick—printing paper myself allows me to make custom double-sided paper (in my example using papers from the Plumberry Teacakes kit, with a recolored green paper). When cutting a file like the treat box, printing both sides of the paper creates a polished look.

Once the paper is printed, place the paper on the cutting mat, pull up the box (or tag) to cut, and let the blade do all of the work! Many images also include the score lines, so folding and assembling is so easy! (Just click on these to enlarge.)

Printables:

Another option for box templates is to explore the internet for printable templates. These can be easy to use—the template can be printed on one side of your paper, and the patterned paper on the other. For a project like my cube box or an envelope, the template side is on the inside and won’t be seen, so score lines aren’t a big deal. Still, I made the lines less obvious by turning down the opacity of the layer—anywhere from 20%-50%—just enough to remain a guide to follow. There are a couple of sites I like to visit for free printable templates:

• www.mirkwooddesigns.com
• www.packagetech.com

My cube box uses the template from Package Tech, using one of the floral papers from Flirty Skirty:

The procedure is similar to the previous projects—print the template, flip the paper and print the patterned paper, cut out the image, and assemble. Isn’t that simple?!

You can see that there are quite a few options for cube boxes.  My cube box template actually evolved from the printable project, since I thought it would be wonderful to create a box with different sides, but it would be difficult to try to piece without a template.  If you want to create a box that uses only one paper, then a printable is a great way to go!  If you want a little more design flexibility, the template might be a worthwhile upgrade.

Finally, I’ll include a couple of tag designs—these tags use A Golden Afternoon and Tag Templates from PageMaps:

Tags can give a finishing touch to packages and bags—either blank or with a simple “To/From” added. These tags are designed digitally, with all of the paper layering done before printing. I added my usual real life finishes: ribbon, brads, and flowers.

The gift-giving season may have just passed, but there are still plenty of opportunities to give a pretty gift!   Projects like these add flair to a birthday gift, a Valentine’s treat, or a wedding or baby shower favor.  These projects can be completed with minimal supplies on hand, and in a short amount of time (all of my projects were completed in a couple of hours after my children are in bed).  You might want to resolve to give a prettier gift this year!

Here’s a way to get your resolution off to a great start—I talked Nicole into letting me give you a freebie!!!  I paired my hybrid cube box template (the collection is available at Scrap Matters) with one of her newer kits—The Sweetest Thing mini kit that was part of her December Grab Bag.  I think this kit will be perfect for Valentines next month, so I’m whetting your appetite with this treat box:

You can grab your goodie here: The Sweetest Thing Hybrid Cube Box

Happy New Year! And Happy Crafting in 2009!

Here’s my contribution to our Whimsical Wonderland 2 kit:

Here’s an adorable layout from Crystal, using some Whimsical Wonderland goodies:

Just in case you missed any of the previous days of freebies, here are the links to all the other girls (and guy) who have participated this year so far:

And be sure to stop by Amanda’s blog tomorrow for even more Whimsical Wonderland fun!

And if you’d like a blast to the past, you can check out last year’s freebies here!

Enjoy the goodies! And happy scrapping!

This kit is also available in a separate paperie pack:

And embellishment pack:

Here are some beautiful layouts from the girls featuring this kit. First, here is an adorable layout from Kim:

And here are some beautiful layouts from Krista, Kate and Jessy (just click to enlarge):

Here’s a precious layout from Crystal:

And here is a wonderful tile coaster that Jill created:

And I also have a fun and whimsical little freebie for you today! It also perfectly coordinates with the colors of the new kit. Here are some Swirly Bits just for you:

Enjoy!

Well, this will probably be the last kit you’ll see from me for a few weeks. Our family is getting ready to relocate to Columbus, Ohio! There are lots of little things that need to be done between now and then (besides celebrating Thanksgiving with the family!), so I’ll be laying low and not doing much on the web. But I’ll be thinking “Christmas-y Thoughts” just for you in the hopes that I’ll have something pretty to share with you in December. You’ll still find that we have a few fun things planned for you here on the blog, so be sure to stop by and play along with our challenges and tutorials!

And as always, I wish you lots and lots of happy scrapping!

The beginning of October to me means that it’s also the beginning of the Holiday Season. Are you ready for it? Oh, my! Lots of fun and lots of busy bustling! My favorite time of year and the craziest time of year, all rolled into one. Ha!

Well, I have a new kit in the shop today that celebrates the season! It’s a Halloween-ish kit, done Sugarplum Paperie style! Now, I’m not really one to celebrate Halloween with a house full of bats and cats, but I do love the colors of the season (and flowers–I always love flowers!). So, I wanted to make a kit that was “seasonal” without really being “themed.” And my wonderful creative team helped me to come up with a name that encompassed all those thoughts. So, now I proudly present to you my new “Halloween-ish” kit, Midnight Garden Party:

You’ll find Midnight Garden Party in both the Sugarplum Shop and my shop at the Digichick today. And, as always, it’s 20% off at both stores!

This kit is also available in a separate paperie pack:

And embellishment pack:

Here are some gorgeous layouts and projects from my creative team, using the new kit! First, here is a gorgeous layout from Christine (I love those snapshots, don’t you?):

And here are some fantastic layouts from Amy, Krista and Crystal (just click to enlarge):

And here’s a trio of beautiful layouts from Nett, Krista and Kate:

And some more beauties from Nett, Jessy and Sya:

And even some yummy hybrid goodness from Jen, Kim and Kristie:

Ooo! I just love them all! So, as you can see, this kit isn’t limited to just Halloween-ish stuff. You can use it for everyday photos, too! But also I have a cute little add-on freebie just for you today—it’s for those who would consider themselves “Halloween Traditionalists” and would miss the orange if I left it out all together!

I made you something and I’ve named it Pumpkin Patch! It perfectly coordinates with the Midnight Garden Party kit (just click to download)!:

Here’s a gorgeous layout from Denise, using the freebie with a few other goodies:

Included in this freebie are 2 orange papers and 3 orange embellishments. I hope you enjoy them!

And happy scrapping!