Got a few things to talk about... and you know what that means! I'm gonna number my items!

1) Neil Finn: So it should probably come as no surprise that I have Google Alerts and Yahoo Alerts set for both Neil Finn and Crowded House... that way I can read everything being written about the man (OCD much?). So recently, I stumbled upon a blog post by a girl named Annie, who, apparently loves Neil as much as I do. I love finding these sorts of random blog posts that really seem to justify what I already know and hold dear: Neil is a songwriting god. Well, it turned out Annie was at the same NYC show I was, and one of her friends was sitting right next to the guy who was hollering at some of us to sit down. It's a small, small, small Neil Finn world, isn't it? So, Annie... hi, and nice to have "met" you! You have most excellent taste in music!

2) Creative Team: My creative team member, Lilian, posted this visual loveliness recently, using some of my designs:

(full credits here)

3) My designs: Holy Hiatus, Batman, could it be true? Why, yes, Robin, it is indeed correct. Krista has DESIGNED SOMETHING!!!!!! Ok, I'll stop talking about myself in the third person now. I have a new paper pack in the Altered Art Chicks and Scrapbookgraphics stores. It's call Boo! and it's my take on some basics for Halloween. In great Halloween-y colors so that the costumes in the photos on your layouts can really shine... And, frankly, any of these could be used for non-Halloween layouts too (so it's a very versatile pack). And it's on sale right now for $2! Here's a preview:

4) Altered Art Chicks: look for the official site launch at Halloween time complete with a freebie (preview coming soon). And Audrey is having a warehouse sale on November 10th. I'll post an ad for it later this week. If you are anywhere near Rahway, NJ, you'll want to come by... she's going to have all kinds of great stuff on the cheap... have to make room for new stuff we're doing at Altered Art Chicks!

5) Porcupine Tree: This past Saturday night, Mike and I roadtripped down to Atlantic City to see one of his favorite bands, Porcupine Tree, in concert. We'd just seen them the week prior for his birthday when they played in NYC, but we missed a big chunk of that show because we got caught in insane traffic due to road construction. So a trek down the shore was in order big time. I have to say PT is not a band I likely would have found on my own... although I do have an affinity for prog rock (I like me some funky time signatures sometimes!), I doubt they would have shown up on my radar if Mike hadn't introduced me to them. The more I listen, the more I like them. Some of the stuff is a bit hard rock, some of it dreamy and soundscape-y, all of it very compelling. I'll leave you today with a clip of a song of theirs that I love called "Lazarus"...

And if you wanna hear a heavier song of theirs, check out this from their latest album, a song called "Fear Of A Blank Planet"...

Howdy peeps!

Hope everyone is doing well. I was so busy getting my new kit into the store this weekend that... duh... I failed to remember to post on my blog about it. Well, that should be rectified right about now. This is a re-do of my portion of the Spring ThingZ mega kit from last year. I really liked the colors of the kit and some of my elements, but I basically deconstructed and re-did most of the papers. I re-did a number of the elements as well. Added some other bits and pieces from some other retired kits, and voila... "Laughter" was born. Here's a preview:

And a better peek at the papers:

Hope you dig it. I may actually have a little sale on it later this week -- still deciding. It's available at both ScrapbookGraphics and Altered Art Chicks!

I still seem to be on a bit of a post-concert high from my Crowded House show last week. I still have three more shows I'm going to on this tour, so I'm a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of seeing them three more times in the next few weeks. The first show is coming up in a week and a half. Ah, the waiting is torture. Good torture. To get through it, I have immersed myself in Crowded House and Neil Finn music like crazy the past few days. I have a playlist called "Neil Goodness" that I just keep cycling through on my computer as I sit here and work. And it never grows old. I never get tired of it. Instead, it fills me up and makes me happy. Isn't it so awesome that music can do that for us?

I also am feeling the urge to review the new record on here, which I will do soon (sometime this week). I don't usually review stuff on here... I spend my days trying to get other people to do that for my clients, so maybe that's why I've never been compelled to do it myself. I may actually start. Why not, right? Heaven only knows I spend enough time writing about music in my day-to-day stuff for my job (artist bios, press releases, so many emails to writers and editors). So I may get crazy and actually do a review or two on here. I know I chat about music and often talk about shows I've gone to. But never to the point that I'm playing music journalist (although my magazine journalism college degree certainly means I prepared for such a thing... I just happened to get into the other side, the PR side).

Ok, enough babbling for one day. Thanks for the sweet comments on the redecorating I did. It was time for a new look. Glad you are digging it as much as I do.

Later, taters!

Wow, looks like Little Darlin' is a huge hit. It's so exciting when something you spend so much time and effort on really takes off. The one-day sale yesterday was crazy -- I get email notifications each time something of mine sells, and they were literally pouring in for much of the day. I have another matching freebie today, so stick around to the end of this post for that!

Didn't get the kit yesterday? Fear not. It's still in the store, just at full price. But the truth of the matter is that we both feel that each half is a steal even at full price. Wanna see what the whole kit is all about finally? We've stopped with all the secrecy today, so here are some previews for your viewing pleasure.

Here's my half:

Here's a preview of just my papers:

And a "details" close-up of some of the goodies so you can see textures and whatnot:

And here's Jessica's half:

A preview of Jessica's papers:

And a "details" preview of Jessica's half:

You can purchase them here:
Krista's half
Jessica's half

I have more CT layouts to share that were done with the kit... I'm just loving everything that folks are doing!

AmyK did this gorgeous layout of her little Emma:

Melinda did this amazing double-page spread about a Christmas past (how awesome is that ORANGE OUTFIT?!?!?!):

Lilian did this awesome heritage layout:

(full credits here)

And Robin did this very sweet father-daughter layout about her brother and niece:

And since you may have come looking for it, here is today's freebie that matches Little Darlin'. Tomorrow there will be one last one, so be sure to stop by tomorrow too. I'll leave these up for a few days, then they're going to be disabled.

Today's freebie is this groovy green/brown distressed funky paper. I just like all of the visual texture on it. And I coupled that with this vintage ledger book and a cool old stickpin. Here's a preview:

Thank you for your interest in my freebies. This download link has expired.can download it here. If you do grab it, leave me a comment here and tell me what your favorite thing to do outside on a summer day is. Me, I would be content to swing in a hammock in the shade, sipping something cool and reading a good book (and maybe taking a nap too). Yesterday's comments about the weather were interesting. Had I asked that earlier in the week, I could have mentioned the day it was 101 in the shade on my back deck. But today is really nice... low 80's and sunny. Much nicer!

Little Darlin' has been delivered...and it's happily cooing away at Scrapbookgraphics! Here are links to both halves:

Krista's half
Jessica's half

DON'T FORGET: today is the day it's on super special introductory sale. Each half is only $2 today. Tomorrow, both go up to $5 each!!! So you might wanna do a little shopping today, hint hint!

I have a matching freebie at the end of this post... keep reading!

To give you a little more to go on than the sneak peek, I've got some layouts to show you! Here's a compilation of layouts Jessica put together of layouts from her CT and mine (some of which I'll show bigger versions of below):

Yes, one of those layouts is actually mine! Shocking, I know, since I seem to scrap so infrequently sometimes. I did this last night to play with the new kit and am so pleased with how it turned out (all elements and papers from Little Darlin'):

I need to scrap more often. I had so much fun putting that together!

Here are some lovely layouts from my way-cool creative team! Lilian went nuts and did two layouts for us (thank you so much!) -- and her work is as beautiful as ever:

And Melinda put together this awesome page about her and her sister (so cute!):

And if you are looking for today's freebie, well, look no further! I have a paper for you that I think is just yummy and a matching embroidered flower to go with it:

Thank you for your interest in my freebies. This download link has expired.can download it here. If you do, let me know what your weather is like today. Here, it's a bit overcast, and we're supposed to get thunderstorms later. Not as hot as it has been -- it's in the 80's today.

Oh, and don't forget! Jessica has a freebie on her blog today too that matches the kit!!!

Hi all!

Hope you are having a good day! Me, I'm still in an epic battle with my internet connections (like Lord of The Rings for ISP's or something). Here's the latest for those keeping track at home:

- cable came back up late yesterday afternoon
- cable went back down this morning
- DSL is back up this morning, so I haven't had to resort to dial-up yet today (thank goodness)
- cable technician comes out Thursday afternoon to figure out what is going on...

And thank goodness I kept my DSL account for a little while, you know? I just don't understand why I am having so many issues.

That being said, well, there is big excitement brewing on many levels here at Skye Scrapz central. First and most pressing: the collaborative kit that hits the store TOMORROW. Here's a little sneak peek:

That's just a mere sampling of Little Darlin'. Jessica and I will each have our respective halves for sale in our respective studios at ScrapbookGraphics. Here are handy-dandy links to said studios:

Krista's Studio
Jessica's Studio

So, the BIG SCOOP: tomorrow, we are each offering our halves of the kit for $2 (super special sale price). ONE DAY ONLY for the sale price! On Thursday, midnight eastern, each half goes up to full price ($5 per half). The catch is that you won't be able to see the full kit or know the complete contents until Thursday -- tomorrow's super sale will only feature the sneak peek image in the store. I can honestly say that you are getting more like $7 worth of stuff for $2. Seriously.

The kit is a baby kit... kinda-sorta. It's unlike any baby kit you've ever seen, I'm sure! And really, only the word art and one paper are baby-related. EVERYTHING else in both halves of the kit could be used for any sort of layout. We created this kit in honor of Tania Cordova's soon-to-be-born little one Talulah!

Starting tomorrow and for a few days, I'll have coordinating freebies here, so be sure to stop by for those!

In other news, Melissa and I are moving DigiScrapZ to a new location and giving it a new name! We have started working with our friend Audrey at Mootsie, and we have put together an e-store that includes all of the digi goodness of DigiScrapZ with way-cool, hybrid-friendly mini-books, chipboard products, paper crafting supplies, ephemera, trinkets, rubber stamps... basically it's DigiScrapZ with a whole lot more goodies! So Altered Art Chicks was born! Here's the announcement splash image:

Even though we'll have a new name, Altered Art Chicks will offer the same great products and service you've come to know and expect from DigiScrapZ. In fact, we've named the section in the store that features digital scrapbooking supplies "DigiScrapZ" so you'll know where to go for your favorite stuff. We've officially disabled the store at DigiScrapZ, but if you have any questions about past orders, we're keeping the site active until the end of July.

FYI, AAC will be doing a big launch in September, so look for info on that coming up soon. Until then, we're continuing to stock the emporium, load product-in-use examples into the studio gallery, and we'll be rolling with our blog soon. The store at AAC (aka the emporium) is open and ready to shop in now! Can't wait to hear what you think of it! And tell me what you think of my chick site design!