Would you like to win your own custom made kit from the Sunshine Designers?! Imagine–picking your own palette and theme and having us run wild with your idea. Wow!

Well, that is the Grand Prize for our opening day festivities! Would you like a chance to win? Entering the drawing is easy: Anyone who makes a purchase in the Sunshine Shop will be automatically entered to win! Just make a purchase anytime between now and Sunday, June 8th at midnight (EST). The winner will then be randomly selected and announced right here on the Sunshine Blog!

Once you’ve won, you will then work with the Sunshine Designers to select an original eight color palette, along with a general theme and a name for your kit. Then the Sunshine team will run with your idea and create something wonderful for you! Once it’s complete, we’ll present your lovely new kit to you, as well as make it available to everyone in the Sunshine Shop. What fun!

Best of luck to you! And happy shopping!

So, the Grand Opening of the Sunshine Shop is only 2 days away now! Can you believe it? Wow! And I’m sure you are curious and would like to know just who will be selling at Sunshine Studio Scraps… I’m here to tell you!

When we decided to start this little shop, the one thing that was most important to us was that we all had the freedom to do what we wanted to. No one was required to join–this was going to be a fun endeavor! It also turned out to be a lot of work, too–a lot more than we bargained for when we were in the idealism dream stage of planning! But it has been totally worth it and we are overjoyed to hear of your excitement and receive all your love and support.

So, first of all, I should tell you who is staying exclusive with their current shops. There are several designers who are joining the shop just for collaborative projects. It’s kind of unique how we’ve done a lot of collabs together, all from our own desire to create things together! So you’ll see some of us in the shop just when we’ve creative collab kits with one another. This includes Megs (of Studio Flergs), Nicole (of Sugarplum Paperie) and Shauna (of Pineapple Plantation Designs). And also Trish will be going exclusive with Digital Candy, so you’ll be able to find her designs in her shop there!

And then we have some girls who have had massive real life events keeping them all tied up! Amanda has been without her computer for almost a month now! And Allie has lost her internet connection for the time being. She might just make it just in time, though. We have our fingers crossed!

As for the designers who will have all their beautiful designs in the Sunshine Studio, you will find lovely kits from Ellie, Monica (of mgl Scraps), Lauren & Amy (of Polka Dot Plum), Michelle (of IdziBitsy Designs), Kristi (of Web Designz by Kristi) Franziska, Adriane, Shawn and the Sunshine Guy Vasco!

Are you excited! I’m excited!!! Only 2 days now!

…there’s going to be a new shop around here some time soon. What an interesting little rumor!

And then I found this little flier lying around:

Very, very interesting, wouldn’t you say? Hmm…

I wanted to let you know about a special kit at Scrap Orchard! Have you heard about it?

I have to tell you a little of the back story first… The Sunshine Girls have this tradition of celebrating one another’s birthdays by collecting up some cash and buying something nice for the birthday girl. Well, it was Shauna’s birthday and we were thinking up ideas for her when something tragic happened to a friend of hers. I’ll let her tell you more about it in her own words:

Sincerely touched… the only two words that can describe how I felt when I received this gift from some of my dearest friends in this designing community, The Sunshine Girls. The gift came in response to a request that I had for my birthday. Instead of a gift card for some digi goodies, I asked my dear friends to contribute to a small fund that I had started for a friend of mine. A friend who had recently lost her dh to the war in Iraq. it wasn’t the first first friend that my husband and I have lost to this war, unfortunately it will in all likelihood not be the last. But each time we lose a friend we try and support the family as best we can, and I thought it the least that I could do to send her a small something from me and my dear friends.

In response to my request, not only did these wonderful designers send me my gift to forward on to my friend, they also surprised me with this GORGEOUS kit to sell and to raise even more money for her and her children. Sincerely touched…and why I named the kit what I did… a gift FROM friends, to support and give a gift to another friend, isn’t that what it’s all about?

I wanted to give you a little peak at this kit and encourage you to head over to Scrap Orchard to pick it up. Here are the pretty papers:

And the elements:

And these Flergalious Quick Pages:

Here are some beautiful layouts to inspire you, created by the Sunshine Sweeties:

Livia:

Crystal:

Cindy:

I hope that this kit will bring much joy to many lives…

Happy scrapping!

I have a confession to make.

I am a font junkie.

Really, I download them faster than I could ever use them. It takes me five times longer to do a project because I have to scroll through all of my fonts to find the “perfect” one! I’m only now realizing that I can do things to “manage” my fonts so they aren’t all installed all the time, taking up valuable memory and slowing down every program I try to use. (Any advice on this subject would be much appreciated, by the way).

So when we were figuring out who would do what challenge, I said, “Font challenge? YES PLEASE!” and I started my homework early. Oh, I had so much fun looking at all the fun fonts out there! It was probably bad–I downloaded so many more than I already had! And as I downloaded, I thought, “I wonder what everyone’s favorite fonts are?” BINGO! You don’t need a challenge to use MY favorite new or unusual fonts. You need a challenge where you get to see everyone ELSE’s favorite fonts on their layouts!

So your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to scrap a layout with AT LEAST two of your favorite fonts (and honey, if you can’t choose only two, be my guest–scrap your favorite hundred. That’ll be interesting, to say the least)! If you happen to remember and are feeling generous, you could let us know where you got them. My goal is to have a couple thousand more favorites by the time we’re done, so snap to it!

A reward, did you say? You want something besides the joy of falling in love with even more fonts? Well, if you insist! This week’s challenge is sponsored by two of our sunshine girls, so ten lucky winners will receive gift certificates to get scrapping stuff!!!

And to get your font love going, here are some gorgeous layouts from our Sunshine Sweeties. I want to apologize to them: I gave them the challenge to JUST do two fonts, and they made some gorgeous layouts! But when they said how difficult it was to only do two fonts, I realized that I wasn’t being greedy enough. I could have seen four or five of their favorites! I’m not making that mistake here–I want to see all the fonts I can!

Click on the pictures to head to the gallery and see what fonts these ladies used! Don’t forget, come to our forum to post your layouts so I can drool over your fonts and download them all! Good luck and have fun!

This challenge ends Friday, May 16 at Midnight EST!

We have a freebie Quick Page for you today using our Delicious kit. Here’s a page I made using it:

Feel free to snag it here: Delicious Quick Page. Enjoy!

Sorry ladies! As one of my blog readers pointed out to me yesterday, I forgot the ribbon in my portion of the Mothers Day Collab! (Yikes…I was SURE I had all my ducks in a row for this one… SIGH… )

So to make it up to you all, I’ve created at few different colored ones to make it worth your while to head back on over and download it!

Just click on the preview to head on over to my blog and pick them up! (SORRY!)

Once again, happy Mothers Day to all of you! Enjoy your day!

Shauna – Pineapple Plantation Designs

This was supposed to have gone live HOURS ago, but we’re late (as usual for me). At least we are a team! Anyway, better late than never, here are our freshly made contributions to the Sunshine Girls (and Guy!) Mother’s Day Freebie Collab!

mgl Scraps
Moon Scraps

Enjoy!

Happy Mother’s Day!!

I know it’s early, but everyone who is a Mother can vouch you have to plan ahead. I have 2 kids and have to say being a Mother has been the hardest, most rewarding, most frustrating job ever! I think everyone who survives the first year deserves a medal!!

As I think about the Mothers who have influenced my life, I am thankful for each and every woman. Those who are contemplating becoming a mom and those who are watching their great-grandbabies reach milestones.

Recently I had the experience of sharing my son’s first birthday with my grandmother’s 79th birthday. What a special day as I looked back on my grandmother who has nurtured me, taught me many things, and always was there to spoil me, then how she is now fostering the next generation.

I know as a SAHM, I get caught up in naps, diaper changes, kids coloring on the wall and force feeding their younger siblings mud pies. Some days I wish I could get a performance review from the boss, but for now I get sloppy kisses from my one year old (still doesn’t have the close your mouth thing), and big hugs from my two year old who thinks she can only blow kisses!

To every Mom who has held a child, loved a child, lost a child, and yearned for a child… this is your day!! Thank you so much for being you and being selfless enough to put your children ahead of yourselves!!!!!!!!!

Here is our gift to you! Visit each of these Sunshine Girl blogs to pick up the pieces:

Allie
Amy & Lauren
Ellie
Flergs
Franziska
Kristi
Nicole
Shauna
Shawn
Trish

And here is my gift to you, a brag book made from everyone’s contribution:

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.” -E.E. Cummings

I adore this quote and have always wanted to see some layouts using it–thus, this challenge was born! I’m not going to give you any other ideas other than that–not going to even give you a box to have to think outside of so whatever that quote means to you, however it applies to your life, SCRAP IT!!!

-Adriane

* This challenge will End Friday May 9th @ Midnight EST!*
Post your LO or Links in THIS thread! There is a Mini kit for everyone who participates, and the preview for it will be posted soon! Special thanks to Shauna and Ellie for making it! You won’t want to miss this adorable kit!

**** here are 3 LO’s done by members of our wonderful CT****

fa11enan9e1

lorij

Joselle(tripmom06)