Lauren Reid’s Team Blog

We need YOUR input!

We love putting together blog posts for you, but want to make sure you’re getting what YOU want!

So if you have anything you’d love to see…ANYTHING from weekly columns, contests, challenges, to only posting 1ce a week, to uh….ANYTHING, please give us a shout!!!

Email us your ideas at: admin[at]laurenreiddesigns[dot]com

And for sharing your thoughts with us, everyone who emails us will be entered to win one of 5 postage stamp punches!!!!



Thanks in advance for your wisdom, we hope to continue to bring you great inspiration in the New Year!!!!!

oxoxoooxoxoxooxoxox
Lauren

Happy Friday, everyone!

Jen here, bringing you a look at what can be done with Lauren’s great stuff!

Robin’s post yesterday about Lauren’s 365 Remembered series really got me thinking. I love the idea of using these kits to document the great things from the year. So I started looking around the gallery at DST, and found this great layout by flower2416.

She took a template from Lauren’s 365 Remembered February kit and used it to showcase her great 4th of July memories with it. The journaling strips are a perfect place to list many of the things that make this celebration so special, and her collection of candid and posed family photos really caught my eye!!

Flower2416, you ROCK!! Thanks for the inspiration!

{{{ Time’s up! }}}

Put down the credit card, stop running to the grocery store for just one more thing, and put away the wrapping paper and bows.  It’s Christmas Eve and, if you’re like me, whatever hasn’t been done by now just isn’t going to get done.

So, wouldn’t it be nice to just sit back and relax for the rest of the holiday?  For many people, there are still car trips to take, meals to cook, families to visit with and hyper children to calm.

Stress levels around the holidays are at their highest.

The one thing I’ve found that can make me calm down and snap out of a stress-induced coma is music.  So the next time you are crazy stressed and near your computer, consider taking a moment to check out one of my two favorite internet music sites.

The first is called Relax Radio, http://www.relaxradio.com …
From sitar music to solo piano to Tibetan tunes, this site has a great selection of relaxing music.  I especially love to listen to soothing Celtic harp while I scrap or check my email.

The other is Pandora Radio, http://pandora.com …
This amazing website asks you to enter your favorite artist or song title and then plays a unique mix of of similar music, based on elements including melody, rhythm, orchestration and harmony.  It’s amazing how many new artists I’ve discovered since I started listening to this website.

So sit down, take a deep breath, grab a cuppa something tasty, and let the music wash your stress away.

- Jen (aka jenbreeze)

Happy Thursday, everyone! It’s one of the Karens (a.k.a makabe) here today to spotlight another of Lauren’s fabulous goodies. One of my very favorite things about Lauren’s stuff is how versatile it all is. No matter what layout I’m working on, I know I can dig into my trusty Lauren Reid folder and find the perfect element to add to the page.

Today, I bring you I Was Framed 3, a great collection of grungy frames that are a ton of fun to play with. 


I used these to pull my Christmas card together this year…
 

And check out how Meghan perfectly highlighted a charming photo with a flourished frame 
 

by Cathy


by Kellie
HERE along with lots of other cool stuff in Lauren’s shop at Oscraps.

Have a great Thursday!

Lauren,

Santa sent me a letter & told me what a good girl you’ve been this year.  I couldn’t agree more!  Santa wanted me & your team to spread a little Christmas cheer to you!  You constantly inspire us, encourage us to do good for others, and you create amazing designs that we are all honored to create with!  Thank you for all you do for us…you have created a team that not only cares about scrapping with your goodies, we truly have made friendships with each other and care about what everyone is going through.  I’m sure there’s times when we all drive you crazy…just know we love you very much!

First off, we wanted to send some Christmas cards your way!

From Erica:

From Annscraps:

From Cathy:

From JenBreeze:

From Shen:

From Stephanie:

From Robin:

From Meghan:

From Keely:

From Holly:

From Makabe:

From Nicole:

From Kristen:

From Kelly:

and from me, KellieP:

So…us girls started chatting about what to get you, and they all started throwing money at me because they love you so much! :)  In the mail, heading your way is…

$100 to Yankee Candle

$25 to The Body Shop

and $15 to Starbucks!

Enjoy your Christmas goodies!  Thank you again for all that you do for us…we are all so very grateful to be a part of this team!

xoxoxo

Your Creative Team

I don’t know about you but I am sooooo busy I can’t think straight. Not only has Christmas come so much more quickly that I ever imagined it could, but work is crazy. I thought it was supposed to slow down for the holidays. In fact work is so crazy that I almost forgot about this blog post.

Sometimes we just need a little time to reflect. I don’t know how I came across this site (probably swiped it from another blog) but it made enough of an impact for me to save into my “inspiration” folder.

http://www.joshuablankenship.com/notestoself/ 

I love the idea of jotting down some notes to self, just to make sure I stop and think about every day, rather than rushing through each day without taking in my surroundings. A very long way of saying stop and smell the roses.

Here are some notes for myself today:

Note to Self: You do not need more Xmas decorations. Your tree looks beautiful and a 50% discount does not make that ugly ornament look better.

Note to Self: Deadline for sending packages overseas by Christmas is December 11th (ooops)

Note to Self: It’s OK for your son to play with the ornaments on the tree. Christmas is about having fun, not worrying about everything being perfect.

Note to Self: Next year start Christmas projects in November (or better yet, October).

Note to Self: Keep everything in perspective.

Hope this helps you manage the holidays a little bit. That last note is key - it’s all about keeping it in perspective.

Next time I post it will be 2008 so enjoy your holidays if you celebrate and just enjoy the next couple of weeks if you don’t. See you next year.

Nicole

Hi everybody! Barb checking in here today.

I don’t know about you, but I’m here in the very middle of everything HSM…no, that’s not High School Musical, but Holiday Season Madness!

Today I have to make some cookies, write my Christmas newsletter, work on Christmas cards, do a little internet shopping, and wrap some gifts.  I am the lead alto in my church choir, so I’ve been busy rehearsing Christmas music for the upcoming few weeks.  It’s all Christmas, all the time, here at the Hogan house!

I’m also kind of in the mood to get some scrapping done, but I’m finding that being in the midst of HSM, I am a bit tired of everything Christmas that’s out there in the digie scrap world right now.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas and I love all the fantastic holiday kits, elements, and papers out there.  The variety and creativity of the products out there are just incredible this year, aren’t they?  I think so.  On the other hand, I am feeling the need for a little fresh air, a need for a change of season. Yesterday the temperatures got into the 60’s here, so I was able to open a few windows and let some fresh air in.  It felt good.  Today I’m going to let a little scrapping fresh air into my scrap space!

My challenge for myself today is to step away from the HSM and scrap something that’s totally summer, heritage, etc.   Would you like to join me? Lets see if you can do a layout that’s non-winter-holiday, using either your holiday papers and elements, or not! 

Here are two layouts that I did recently.

Be sure to come back and link us to your layouts. 

As one of Lauren’s elfs, I’ll be sure to check it out, and you never know if an elf might leave you a treat!

Happy Holidays!

Barb

Keely here wishing everyone a happy start to their week. This time of year brings about a lot of reminiscing in our house. When I was a kid one of our family activities was making Shrinky Dink ornaments. We’d sharpen up the colored pencils and get to work while listening to records and chatting away. I’ve recently rediscovered Shrinky Dinks, and they even make a version for your printer now. I’ve made some charms and magnets and I’m in planning mode for our own ornament making night. Today I came across a new fangled fancy tutorial for shrink film ornaments that seems to be made for us digital girls. You can check it out hereYoonie At Home. You can access the Shrink Dink site. I’ve also seen some outstanding shrinky goodness flickr. Whether you need something new to try or want to take a walk down memory lane these are a great craft. The possibilities are endless and there’s not a ton of money or time involved.

December is upon us…. (and so is the snow here is Minnesota!!!) and with December comes the last month of Lauren’s 365 Remembered Series. Decembers Kit and Templates are a great finish to this years series, and is packed full of wonderful elements and papers with a little holiday touch. I love the doodled and hand cut look of these templates. I always look forward to these kits each month, and have a blast creating the monthly layouts. We hope you have enjoyed this year long series..

365 Remembered: December

Check out what Lauren’s team has already came up using this rockin’ kit and templates.

by Barb

by Andrea

by Cathy

by me

You can pick 365 Remembered:December at Lauren’s Oscraps Store..

Pick up all 12 months and create the perfect gift for that special person on your list!

Happy December everyone!

Stephanie 

Happy Monday everyone,

I don’t know if you’ve realized but… IT’S DECEMBER!! It snuck up on me and now I am in panic mode with my Xmas shopping. I have to send a lot of my gifts overseas or to another state so unfotunately this is my last minute shopping time.

I get a lot of my gift inspiration online and today so I want to share a few cool shopping sites that might help inspire your holiday purchases.

Mightygoods Holiday Gift Guide - A great list to get you started. Also check out Mighty Junior and the Stocking Stuffer Guide.

Better Living Through Design - Gifts that are practical AND look good.

Velocity Art and Design - unique gifts from a variety of designers. They offer a quick ship section for those last minute purchases.

MOMA Store - Love this site for The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Just wish I had the funds to travel there to see everything in person. Has some fun stuff for kids.

Charles and Marie - Fun and practical gifts for a variety of budgets. Especially love this Sun Jar - although don’t have much use for it right now in my NW dreary winter. 

Hope these sites help you as much as they helped me. If you have any sites that YOU love please share them with us.

Nicole