What a month!! Today is the very last day to save at the anniversary sale so if you have not shopped already you better hop to it! Please note that the store will be closed tonight around midnight (EST) so that I can clear out the discontinued products and add a few new ones. If you were supposed to get a gift card for making a $30+ purchase but have not received it yet please email me and let me know. That’s all for now! See you in May.

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Not too much to say today, I just wanted to give you a little sneaky peeky at what’s coming up for May.

Ciao for now!

Before we get to the thrilling excitement of Q&A Day Friday, I am stunned to report that my attempt to lure you to my blog with a soaking wet, half naked man was a complete and utter failure. Now I know what you’re thinking, “how can this be?” and I’m telling you I have no idea! My rating actually dropped something like 40 spots. Ouch. Talk about a blow to the ego for poor Mr. Mint. LOL! So from now on, (to be said like the Seinfeld Soup Nazi) “No more man meat for you!”

Alright. Down to business. Here are this week’s questions:

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Kelsey asked:
What kind of camera do you use?
I use the Canon Digital Rebel XT and I love it. It’s my first SLR and I’m still trying to figure it out. I have a very long way to go!

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?
Every time I make something new it becomes my new favorite. LOL! I’ll try and break it down for you but I’m sure my answers will be different if you ask me at the end of the month!
Favorite Kit: Pop Rock Graffiti
This kit was a real collaboration between myself and the Mint Chicks. I had the papers done but was stumped when it came to the elements. I asked for input and they flooded my inbox with great ideas. They even helped with the name. I love how it turned out and I personally found it really easy to scrap with. To me that’s the sign of a great kit.

Favorite Freebie: Candy Fairway
I’m not really sure why this one is my favorite I just really like it! The colors and elements are among my favorites.

Favorite Alpha: Duct Tape Alphabet
Tough category, I love alphas! You can’t go wrong with the Duct Tape Alpha, it’s just so versatile. It works with practically any color scheme and is great for both masculine and feminine layouts and that’s tough to find. I’ve used it on little girl layouts and Mr. Mint layouts and I think it worked well on both pages, plus people seem to really like it ;)

Favorite Element: Toss up between Bead Factory & Dictionary Defined Stamps
I can’t choose! Love the beads. They seem to find their way onto almost all my pages. If you don’t see them on one of my layouts it’s because I’ve forced myself to use something else. The Dictionary Stamps are so classic! I love using them when I don’t want to journal. I think they are a really great addition to any page plus you can do so many things with them besides just stamp them on your page as is.

DawnM asked:
What inspires you to create when your mojo isn’t flowing?
I wish I had some ultra cool answer like “I go outside and get inspired by nature” but the truth is that when I lose my mojo, I accuse the Mint Chicks of stealing it. After they deny it, I close whatever I’m working on and start on something else. If that fails I walk away from the computer and do something else for a while. Sometimes I browse various galleries to see what’s new and what’s popular. If I’m on a tight deadline for a specific project and I can’t afford to walk away I force myself to work until something great happens. Eventually it does.

Amber asked:
Are you doing another round of Digital’s Next Top Scrapper this year?
I’m hoping to! I had such a blast with it last year and I got such positive feedback from those who took part. As it gets closer I’ll see if there is enough interest to hold another contest.

Kelsey asked:
What’s your favorite store besides you own?
There are so many incredibly talented designers who blow my mind with their creativity it would be impossible to name just one.
1. I adore the Shabby Princess (www.shabbyprincess.com). I’m sure she’s single handedly responsible for turning more people on to digi (myself included) than anyone else. I just love her style and her designs are never cease to impress.
2. Jen Wilson (www.jenwilsondesigns.com) knocks my socks off. She’s a creative genius. Her style is so distinct and her designs often leave me breathless. She’s also the queen at packaging her products. I believe she was the first person to introduce the concept of different “lines” or collections’ in digital scrapping.
3. I’m also a big Gina Cabrera (www.digitaldesignessentials.com) fan. She’s incredible. Her designs are so simple but so captivating.

Meg asked:
Is your first digi layout posted in your gallery anywhere?
Absolutely. I actually never attempted to scrap a page until I was done designing my first few sellable kits. A little backwards I know, but for some reason I was more interested in designing right off the bat.

Kirstiegai asked:
Does Colleen EVER do a BAD layout??
No. Wait. Yes. See here. Totally inaccurate!

Karon asked:
Where in your house do you find you have total “peace”…Not the bathroom…Do you have your own “corner” somewhere?
D’oh! I was going to say the shower! LOL. Other than the bathroom, I am the most at peace when I am at the computer late at night when everyone is asleep, the TV is off, the phone isn’t ringing, there’s no one outside and I don’t feel guilty that I should be out doing something else. Mr. Mint and I have our own computers (please, as if I’d share) and I have a corner desk so it really is my own little corner of creative heaven. ;)

Kelsey asked:
What’s your name start with? Come on give in girlie.
(singing) I’m not telling…na, na, na, boo, boo. (singing)

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Thanks for another great week of questions! If you have a burning question about me, the website, the mint chicks, digital scrapping in general or anything else for that matter, just submit them throughout the week in the comments section and tune in next week for another edition of Q&A Day Fridays.

DISCLAIMER: Please do not lick your screen.

I was just wondering how much a few pictures of Mr. Mint would boost my blog in the ratings. LOL! These are from our recent trip to Vegas – I’m sure I looked like fool standing in the water with my camera, but I think you’ll agree I got some nice shots. I have a ton more but I have to save some to scrap should I ever get around to it.

I will let you know how my little ratings experiment pans out. :) I’m really excited to let you know that starting May 1st I will be offering commercial licenses for my designs. I’m still in the process of writing up the terms so I don’t have the details finalized but the wonderfully talented and incredibly generous Shabby Princess has given permission to base my terms on hers so if you are looking for a general idea of what I will be offering, you can check out the Shabby Princess’s Commercial License TOU. I thought she did a phenomenal job. Very fair and very well written!

In other news, you may have noticed that under pages on the right hand side of your screen, I added a Q&A Day Friday page. I will be compiling all the Q’s and A’s there as the weeks go on so that you can easily look back if you missed a week and want to catch up. Speaking of Q&A Day…where are my Q’s people? I can’t give you A’s without any Q’s!! I’m waiting.

I can’t believe that it’s already the 24th. Yikes, time flies! It looks like it’s about time to fire up the ‘ol Photoshop again and start creating some new goodies. I took a little computer break after the pre-anniversary design-a-thon which left my desk looking like someone had decided settle down and live on it…in the midst of a tornado. Well worth the effort and the mess I think! Time to start thinking up some new crafty ideas. Suggestions are welcome.

I’ve got lots of fabulous layouts to share with you today. Check them out – get inspired!

Team Layout by: Missy

Team Layout by: Jenny

Team Layout by: Sari

And some incredible layouts I plucked from the Member Gallery.

Layout by: Dawn

Layout by: Goldengirl

Layout by: Inkspots

I’m just dying to scrap some Vegas pictures! Hopefully I’ll have some time to go through them this week. The weather is starting to warm up and it’s just too nice to be inside! Anywho, enough rambling. We all know why you came. It’s YouTube Tuesday! Enjoy this week’s video. The kid at the puppet show just kills me (you’ll see what I mean). Thanks so much for stopping by!

I’m back and it’s Q&A Day Friday… sort of. It was supposed to be pushed to Saturday but since I took a red eye home from Vegas last night I’ve been sleeping all day so now it’s Sunday…oops! But I’m ready to answer this week’s questions. Here we go:

Kelsey asked:
Have you ever been to the US?
But of course! This Canadian gal likes to see the sights. I just came back from Las Vegas, but I’ve also been to Buffalo, New York City, Washington D.C., Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando Florida, Phoenix, Flagstaff and Sedona Arizona, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia. I’ve also driven through Kentucky, Ohio and some other places and had stop over on my way to Vegas in Denver but I didn’t leave the airport so I don’t think that counts.

Jen asked:
What’s your biggest seller?
My best selling item of all time is (drum roll please):

Recycling Bin Bits

Best Selling Kit: South Hampton
Best Selling Single Element: Dictionary Decoupage v.1
Best Selling Alphabet Set: Dictionary Decoupage Alphabet

DawnM asked:
Will you ever post a photo of yourself?
Great question! Maybe one day. LOL!

Thanks for submitting your questions! I look forward to the next batch. You know what to do – just submit them in the comments section throughout the week and if you are really shy you can always email me!

While I was gone you guys have been really busy scrapping your butts off! The gallery is PACKED with loads of new layouts. Lots of great ideas and beautiful pages. If you haven’t stopped by in a while I suggest you take a peek!. Tomorrow I’ll post some of my favorites although it will be hard to choose!

Have a great Sunday ;)