Sweet Maple Designs

New free kit for you all!

2010-03-26T11:53:00.001-07:00

Happy spring, everyone (Or autumn, depending which hemisphere you're in)! I haven't updated in a bit, but good grief, the Digital Elite Team contest at DSP has taken away virtually all of my free time. I've made it to the final round and we'll see soon if I make the team! Cross your fingers for me!

I've made a new free kit for you :) It's quite large in file size, so it's split into two files.

Download the papers
Download the elements

Enjoy, everyone! I plan on overhauling this blog's appearance soon and making it look more appealing! I'm also going to make a few kits and attempt to open a store and sell them :) Who knows where the road of life will take me.

Happy scrapping,
Mary

It's almost spring!

2010-03-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I joined the Stuff to Scrap forum last week, and man am I ever having fun! I made a kit for their March Colour Challenge, check it out!

Click here to download

Here's a layout using my kit:

I'll also be taking part in their awesome blog train for April. I've got some papers made and am currently working on elements.

I've also made a bonus kit for Sunday Scrappers! Check out the challenge here and get this kit as a participation bonus!!

I hope you all are having nice pre-spring weather like I am! I just love the sunshine and the sound of birds singing. It makes me want to make a ton of spring kits!

SNL 59 kit is here!

2010-02-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It's been a busy few weeks, and some of that busyness hasn't been good at all. Oh well, I have to stay optimistic, don't I? :)

Here is my SNL 59 kit! I LOVED the fun, bright colours used this month (www.snlscrappers.com). I hope you can find some use for all the doodles. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only.

Click here to download

Here's a layout that I made using five other kits in the SNL 59 challenge on DSP. Those brights just make me happy :)

Kit credits:
Greenfingers
Spencer
Cowboy
Terryl
MrsC

Here's another layout I did, just yesterday in fact! I'm in love with it. It's using Carole Harden's Wild Blackberries kit.

Happy Scrapping!
-Mary

A Day Late...

2010-02-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

Whoops, I forgot that I was supposed to post another free kit yesterday! Sorry about that!

This kit was made with the same colour scheme that the DSP designers used for Multiplicity 4! Because I've changed my wedding celebration colour scheme to purple and silver, thanks to M4, I wanted to make a kit of my own that coordinated :)

Click here to download!

I hope you enjoy! I hope to one day get a little store opened up here, wouldn't that be neat!

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Tuesday Plugs

2010-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Don't forget to check out SNL 59! Our colour scheme this month is called Funky Rainbow and consists of gorgeous, fruity bright colours!

Isabella of Lots of Pretty Things has an awesome freebie kit out for the Hey Mr Groundhog blog train. The beautiful dusty blues, aqua, brown, cream and taupes are just lovely! Check out the blog train of matching kits, papers and elements created by other amazing designers :)

Just So Scrappy is on day 6 of offering a gorgeous quick page that coordinates with her awesome Love You kit, which is only $1.50 in her store. She has tons of other beautiful kits in her store as well as a number of free brag book quickpages, which I highly recommend. I'm currently downloading her Hannah Banana, Santa Baby, 4th of July, and Winter Frost freebies and I plan to make brag books for my sister and nieces as belated Christmas gifts.

Check it out, I did a layout using my November in the T Dot kit! I used the photo my MIL took looking toward metro Toronto on the horizon, the very photo that inspired the kit in the first place :)

Uh oh, I'm gettin' that inspired feeling coming on! Keep your eyes peeled for more free goodies coming up in the next few weeks, including TOMORROW! Yes!!

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Reflect Softly kit & Matching Alpha

2010-01-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon :) Lovely day, isn't it? Not in Virginia, there's a winter storm warning up! Ah, I long for my Ontario... oh wait, it's still winter there too... dang...

Oh well, here's the kit I made for SNL 58! There's also a matching alpha :)

Click here to download!

The alpha:

Click here to download!

Check in tomorrow for some layouts using my kits! :)

Don't forget about SNL 59, which starts in just a couple days! Eeeek!

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Sweet Apples Page Kit

2010-01-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I hope you all like November in the T Dot :) I'm still itching to make some layouts using it!

I've got another free page kit for you. This one has a cutesy family theme. As my married name means "apple tree" in Hebrew, I thought this would be a great kit to use for my family tree :) I've got a huge apple obsession thanks to the name, haha!

Click to download!

I can say that I absolutely ADORE this kit, as egotistical as that sounds! I love the little apples and the apple frames, and the butterflies came out better than I thought they would :) This is a cute kit for family trees, your children, or anything, really!

Has anyone out there read the AMAZING book "Simple Abundance: a Daybook of Comfort and Joy" by Sarah Ban Breathnach? I know it's been out for a number of years now. My sister got me a copy and I tell you what, it's already working to make my life a little bit sweeter and enriched, day by day. I'm considering making a Simple Abundance themed kit, but I haven't decided on what the elements would be yet. It would probably be geared more toward journaling pages :)

Don't forget to check out the challenges over at DSP! Sunday Scrappers has got a great challenge going this week: make a pop art-themed layout, and get a very pretty posting bonus made by Jill of Gathered by Greenfingers! Check out all the Designer Exclusive Challenges as well, there's some excellent ones right now with great bonuses! I hope you all join Meryl Bartho's next challenge that should begin tonight or tomorrow; she's been receiving very little response to her challenges and she needs to know that we love her! :)

SNL 59 will begin in a few days, don't forget to vote your favourite colour palette! So many GORGEOUS colours submitted, it was so hard for me to vote. It looks like my second fave might be winning right now... I'm so excited to hopefully use some nice bright colours! I love all the colours so much, I want to make a couple extra kits, even if they're just mini kits. One will be for the SNL Bonus Pantry, so if you haven't joined SNL yet, now's the time to do it!

That's all for tonight! Happy scrapping!
Mary

Free Page Kit AND Mini Element Pack!!

2010-01-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

I'm posting November in the T Dot slightly late, but it took me two months to make it, so what's a few hours? LOLOL! The kit was finished when I suddenly decided it needed a few extras, which is why the little element pack. I know element packs are typically have more like 8 items, but... yeah. This pack is mini :) I hope you like them!

Click here to download!

And here's the mini element pack! :D

Click here to download!

Story behind this kit: I was greatly inspired to make this after my mother in law took an AWESOME photo from a balcony, looking toward downtown Toronto! Toronto is often called the T Dot, hence the kit name. I created a colour scheme from the photo... from the bright gold of the traffic and streetlights to the rich caramels and browns and finally the cloudy grey sky with a shot of pink on the horizon, it made a very pretty colour scheme, IMO!

Layouts using this kit are to come. I'm thinking about making an alpha for this, too... a nice chocolatey glitter one!

I have yet another kit in the works, so keep your eyes peeled! It's going to be very cute :)

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Star Ribbon freebies!

2010-01-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

Here's another freebie! Are you getting tired of ribbons yet, LOL? Never fear, I've got some word art as well and THREE free kits coming up in the next few days (possibly a couple more if I continue on this creative streak)!

I can't thank you all enough for supporting me here in my fledgling stages of design. I'm so happy that you like these items, it really encourages me to keep making more and getting better each time (I hope!)

Click here to download!
CU OK!

Comments are love! <3

A glass heart alpha!

2010-01-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I have another new freebie for you! Time is just going on by and I'm so uninspired to make the kits I was planning on, but I think I've got another one in mind and it's rather exciting :)

Click here to download!
CU OK!

Making alphas is rather addicting! I've got another glass heart alpha made for my SNL 58 kit, which will be posted here in a few days. I think it's my best kit yet! I'm so excited for SNL 59!

Multiplicity 4 just wrapped up on DSP. The designers involved this time, Elizabeth, Tina, Suzanne, and Meryl pumped out some GORGEOUS kits with a very purple and silver colour scheme with the theme of love. I've officially changed my wedding celebration colours to purple and silver (they had been white and aqua)!!!

I hope you all enjoy the freebie :) There's more where that came from!

Happy scrapping!
Mary

Shiny Ribbons

2010-01-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday, fellow scrappers! Here's another freebie from me! More ribbons, this time shiny :)

Click here to download!

CU OK!

I really need to change my blog layout, LOL. And somehow fix where it won't let anyone comment. And post some recent layouts I did!

I'm currently working on the November in the T Dot kit that SHOULD have been finished in... well... November. Hah. I'm hoping to have one or two more kits done before the end of the month too, but as well all know, stuff happens! I will try my best :)

Metallic Ribbons!

2010-01-07T22:10:00.000-08:00

Wooo, I am here with a freebie for you guys today! I scanned this metallic ribbon I'd bought on clearance and coloured it :) I think my favourite one is the teal ribbon, which I made almost two-toned.

Click here to start your download of SMD_Metallic_Ribbons
CU OK!

I'll be posting again tomorrow with some layouts I've done in the past few days. I'm in a scrapping frenzy!

I'm also doing Project 365. Check out my Flickr here to see pics in the Project 365 album, and follow me if you like. Check out my other links if you care to! I always love having new buddies :)

Formspring
Livejournal
Word Count Journal
Twitter

Happy scrapping!
Mary

SNL 57 kit available!

2010-01-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2010 is an amazing and creative year for all of you! I apologize for my absence, but again, in the wake of my father's traumatic passing, I just couldn't bring myself to do much of anything. I thank you all for your wonderful support and well wishes. It means SO much to me that this little blog would attract such great people. May God bless you all in this coming year! *Hugs*

Mom and I spent Christmas Eve and Day at family members' houses, and while it was very hard to assume any spirit, we're so appreciative of the new, sweet memories we have formed. I have quite a number of photographs to scrap, and I've got the itch to get back to scrapping. I also grabbed a number of kits and things on closeout during DSP's massive sale; I got them all for 75% off!

Kits I've Acquired Lately:
- Snow Queen by Carole Harden
- Nighttime at the Fairy Glen I and II by Nicole Young
- Aspen by Carole Harden (okay, so I didn't actually *buy* it, it was a store freebie for buying other kits)
- Magical Blue Winter by Erica Belton
- Heart-Warming Winter II by Erica Belton
- Beautiful QuickClick by Carole Harden
- Closeout items no longer available at DSP including Erica's beautiful Alaire kit and matching AoP, Nicole's lovely Starry Starry Stitches Groupies and Sprinkle & Shine kit, and Lauren's summer-sweet Lime Time Backpack.

My SNL 57 kit is now available for your scrapping pleasure.

Click here to start your download of SMD_PlayfulMemories.zip

Playful Memories contains:

- 1 lacy stripe background
- 1 gruncy stripe background
- 1 dark rose denim background (it was the background on the SNL site, I feel special!)
- 1 grungy dots background
- 1 pink crayon heart
- 1 teal crayon star
- 1 denim matt
- 1 "Just Play" wordart
- 1 rocking horse
- 1 set of 3 puzzle pieces
- 1 set of 3 grungy frames
- 1 stitched border

I hope you enjoy! :)

The challenge for SNL 58 is up. Its theme is "The Best of Times" and the focus is Reflections. Here's the colour scheme, isn't it lovely?

I'm already plotting what my kit will look like. I'm getting excited about it!

This was another set of colours in the colour scheme vote on DSP. I'm kind of sad to see it not win, but I love it so much and want to nab it to make my own kit with. It reminds me of my vacations in Virginia Beach when I was a teen!

Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope to get off my bum and start making more freebies and expand my knowledge :)

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Sad News

2009-12-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

My father passed away in the early hours of the 17th, after going into shock from massive blood loss. Needless to say, I currently don't have the heart to start creating anything or sharing anything interesting here. I don't want to leave you guys hanging, but I *WILL* return slowly next month. Please stay tuned, everyone, and thanks for your lovely support so far.

Life Update

2009-12-13T13:05:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but life is getting in the way and 2009 is simply determined to go down in flames and take everyone with it. There's a lot of chaos here. My dad went in hospital Sunday night and he came very close to dying on Monday. He's been on life support but is doing better now. The recovery process will be very long and possibly arduous, with his leg being amputated as well as his kidneys and liver having been compromised, so I may not update much until I return to Canada. I'm at the hospital for a good 12 hours every day, but today it's icy out so we've been unable to leave to go visit. There's a lot more going on as well, unfortunately. So I will come back to you all as soon as I am able to do more scrapping and making new things!

Life update

2009-12-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid I'm unable to finish the 12 Days of Christmas freebies here on my blog. My father went into the hospital last night, and he took a turn for the worst and we came very, very close to losing him. He's beginning to stabilize now, but it's still a very touchy situation. They've got him intubated, on tons of different drips and blood and plasma, and they've got him on dialysis. They're trying to keep a good outlook on things and so are we, so your thoughts and prayers this holiday season are greatly appreciated. Mom and I will be at the hospital every day, so I will not have the time to post on here a lot. I'm sorry I can't finish the 12 days of freebies.

Love and tired hugs,
Mary

Day 6 and 7

2009-12-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I'm going to double up for tomorrow and go ahead and post Day 7's freebie. My dad is very ill and will most likely be admitted into the hospital tomorrow morning if not sooner, so I won't be around to post here.

Day 6:

Click to go to full-size word art, then right-click to save to your computer.

Day 7:

Click to go to full-size word art, then right-click to save to your computer.

I also have a little something else today, a gift tag template! There's a little challenge at DSP to create a gift tag, and I thought I'd share my template with you :)

Click the image to go to the full-size tag, then right-click and save to your computer.

On the 8th I shall have a new set of Christmas-themed Backgrounz for you :)

Here are two layouts I've done since last night. Heidi Kuester is the featured designer for December at DSP, and there are currently two awesome posting bonuses by her as a reward for making 5 and 10 layouts using her products. I think I've got 5 done so far.

Using her Merry Mistletoe Backpack and Santa's Snowflakes kit, along with Christine Gundersen's Spots & Baubles QC...

Using Heidi's Softly Spoken kit...

I really like seeing my pages improve with composition and inspiration!

Love and snowflakes,
Mary

Day 5 and a recipe

2009-12-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

It's Snowy Saturday in Virginia! Here's some word art for you today!

Click the word art to go to the full size version, then right-click and save to your computer :) Full-size word art is 1500x600px.

What's your favourite Christmastime treat? Mine are peppermint pinwheel cookies, real easy-peasies. Here's the recipe for them, straight from my mother's recipe box!

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract
Red food colouring

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Beat butter and sugar until mixture is fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture a bit at a time until it forms a soft dough. Divide dough in half; add mint and red food colouring (however much red food colouring you put in is up to you--my mother always put enough to make it pink but not red) to one half of the dough. Roll out each colour dough to a 16x10-inch rectangle between sheets of wax paper. Remove top sheet of wax paper from red dough and place dough, top side down, on top of plain dough. Peel off wax paper. Tightly roll dough like a jelly roll. Wrap in foil and freeze. Remove from freezer 30 minutes before cooking. Cut roll into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in 350*F oven for 10 minutes or until firm but not brown. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Love and lots of cookies,
Mary

Day 4

2009-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

Woohoo, it's FRIDAY!! It's also the 4th day of 12 Days of Christmas, so guess what, you all are going to get my very first kit, which was for Saturday Night Live 56 at DSP! If any of you want it, that is. Hee hee. It's not too bad for a first try!

Click here to start downloading Tasty Treats!

I really don't know what on earth is wrong with the blog comments! I apologize for any inconvenience, but I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on there. Hmm.

~Here a new layout from me.~ It's for Christine's latest Goodies with Gundi challenge over at DSP, using her kit Amazing Cobalt. Click here to go to the challenge and see the gorgeous kit! I'm recommending her Amazing Cobalt Value Collection because it's totally worth it! All those intense blues and charcoals and touches of sparkle are absolutely wonderful. I realized that I've been making too many layouts with darker, more neutral or warm colours, and I definitely decided I need more bright, funky layouts, so I've really been throwing them out there lately :D

It's a sunny day down here in Virginia, and a chilly but sunny one in Canadaland. I can't wait to go back home, argh. I've been working on my permanent residency stuff while working on scrapbooking... now that's multitasking! I told my DH that if I successfully get through all this paperwork, I can do ANY paperwork in the world. Now let's just hope they approve me quickly.

Day 3

2009-12-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! Here's the freebie for Day 3 of 12 Days of Christmas! :)

Click here to download SMD_Believe_Wordart.zip

I'm glad you all are bearing with me as I continue to learn and experiment with designing stuff for digital scrapbooking. I know I have a very, very long way to go before I'm as good as those who I follow on here, but I think I'm off to a fair start :D

Today I'm plugging http://grannyart.blogspot.com. She has tons and tons of awesome graphics to use for anything you desire; she states that everything she makes for free is for unlimited use! I'm using/editing a few of her things in my SNL 57 kit, which is almost done already. Her great stitches really come in handy!

I really need to make a full layout for this blog and tidy things up, but that's one thing I'm not versed on yet is creating my own Blogger layout. Eeek. Anybody have any tips on that?

I think I might make a book of Christmas recipes using the kits from SNL 56...hmm.

Love and lots of candy canes,
Mary

Day 2

2009-12-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday! I forgot to mention yesterday that it was the start of the 12 Days of Christmas Freebies here on my blog! Well, the time zone for Blogger is behind my time zone, since it actually posted on November 30th instead of Dec. 1st, but I digress. For day 2, I have a pretty quickpage for you called Snow Surprise!

Click here to download SMD_SnowSurprise.zip (Quickpage and TOU)

Hope you enjoy! Check back tomorrow for another freebie :) And remember, more comments mean more freebies!

Love and plenty of hot cocoa,
Mary

Christmas freebie!

2009-11-30T21:52:00.001-08:00

Happy December 1st! Here is my kit for the Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies blogtrain! Click here to see the list of designers offering free kits! I'm so happy to be a part of this.

Click here to start your download!

I hope you all enjoy! :) Please give the other designers in the blog train time to put their kits up due to varying time zones.

Christmas card & Sunday Scrappers

2009-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon from a very rainy and windy Virginia! It may be colder in Ontario where my husband is (and where I'm immigrating to), but at least it's not rainy and windy. Ick. Makes me just want to sit here and eat stew and drink hot cocoa. I have the hot cocoa, but not the stew... eurgh. Oh well...

I've made a Christmas card for everyone!

This was made using Lauren Bavin's gorgeous new kit, A Christmas to Remember. Click here to go see it in the DSP store. I really like how shiny I got the font to look; I used the Diamond Plate action in PSE8.

Sunday Scrappers is having a really great challenge for the next two weeks, which is where the Christmas card idea originated from. Check out the current thread here to read details about that and the hamper that Jill (Greenfingers) will be compiling! If you're not currently a member of DSP, I would love to see you join! It's the one thing keeping me sane while away from my husband :)

Tomorrow is when all of the free kits for Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies go up! Don't forget to check back tomorrow for my kit! I will also be putting up my Tasty Treats kit from SNL56, in the slim chance that anyone wants it xD

Corrected kit link!

2009-11-24T17:58:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! I was informed that the download link to Christmas in the City was all funky, so I deleted it and reuploaded it. Please let me know if there is still an error, but it should actually work and download as a zip folder this time :)

http://www.4shared.com/file/159195182/c8613f11/SMD_Christmastime_in_the_City.html

Free Page Kit

2009-11-22T12:48:00.001-08:00

Hi guys! I didn't end up getting CS2 installed, after all... the disc was corrupt and wouldn't install! Grrr. So now I have a trial version of PSE8 and I am LOVING it so far! I haven't stuck to finishing November in the T Dot like I wanted to, but those elements will be coming eventually!

So guess what? I'm giving you all a holiday treat, a Christmas page kit!

Click here to download!

Kit contains:
- 1 snowy sky paper
- 1 wine swirls paper
- 1 cream & pink snowflakes paper
- 1 pink glitter paper
- 1 city skyline
- 1 streetlamp with wreath
- 1 group of pink baubles
- 1 group of shopping bags
- 1 lit up tree
- 1 cream and pink scarf
- 1 group of glitter snowflakes
- 1 tag
- 1 pink ribbon

I hope you all enjoy! It's got a slightly different theme than other Christmas kits I've seen :)

I will be participating as a designer in Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies, so look for my contribution here!

Happy Scrapping!

Friday the 13th!

2009-11-13T11:03:00.001-08:00

Good afternoon, everyone! Or good evening, or good morning, depending where you are :)

I'm moving on from PSP to Photoshop. I found my old CS2 disc, which I'm totally excited about! Now I can get to more proper kit-making and even open my own store after I've practiced a bit.

The elements to November in the T Dot are on their way, slowly but surely. I felt really limited with PSP, but I can do so much more with PS. I want to include things like crystalline "rain", a streetlight element, a nice frame, and a splatter of glitter. My cuter squiggly elements are going in their own small, cutesy grungy kit, which will be called Love in the T Dot. Papers and elements for Love in the T Dot will be released together. Projected release dates for November in the T Dot elements and Love in the T Dot kit is November 20th. Like the Backgrounz!, these will be free for you to download indefinitely. :)

I also have something exciting planned for December! I'm going to do a 12 Days of Christmas here on this blog, running from December 1st to the 12th, each day offering a new surprise freebie. All together, these freebies will be a whole kit!!! They will *not* be up for indefinite download. The kit, with all 12 freebies put together, will be offered free on December 24-26 for those who missed the 12 Days, but after that it will be for sale for just $3.

That's all for now! Now I'm off to install CS2 and get to work!!!

New Item: Backgrounz

2009-11-08T14:17:00.001-08:00

Hi guys! This is my first freebie post, and I'm really excited about it! I have a set of Backgrounz! for you, six papers to do with whatever you please (of course crediting my blog when you do so!). They're going to be part of a kit later on, I haven't finished the elements yet for November in the Tee Dot, but I hope to within the next week and offer them up for downloading.

Click the picture to start your download! All Backgrounz! are 12x12 sized and are 200ppi.

November in the Tee Dot's colour scheme is from this photo my amazing mother in law took overlooking Toronto this month.

Do any of you have any suggestions for the elements? I'm making a couple sketchy frames, a journal tag, a border, a trail of golden stars, and I just can't think of what else to make for it. :) I'd love to hear from you!

Welcome!

2009-11-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my brand spankin' new blog! Here you will soon find some free stuff for your digital scrapbooking needs, including alphas and page kits. You will probably also find some pixel art, life updates, and of course my digital scrapbooking journey as I improve my skills.

I joined Saturday Night Live on DSP, and the theme for this month is "Christmas in the Kitchen". Check SNL 56 out HERE! Here is my FIRST EVER page kit, Tasty Treats!

This kit will be available to the blogging public sometime in January. In the meantime, watch for a couple free page kits (including a Christmas one!!) and other odds 'n ends.

Now I need to go get this blog customized. It's looking pretty bare so far! :)