Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. Here's the card I sent out to all of my friends this year, so you should have it, too! These are our four kiddos. It was about 80 degrees when we went to get our Christmas pictures taken so I just told them to all put on their bathing suits and it turned out pretty cute. From left, that's Mackenzie (6 years), Austin (8), Nick (9) and Lauren (6). (The kit is "Sweet Evangeline" by Michelle Coleman at Scrap Artist.)

A CHRISTMAS FREEBIE!

I just released a new kit to the Scrap Artist Shoppe called happychristmas. Here is a preview of the kit:

And, just because it's Christmas, I wanted to give out the quick pages from the kit. Simply CLICK HERE to download these two pages. [The zip file is 12.6MB.]

WON'T YOU BE MY FRIEND?!

Did you know I have a Yahoo! list called the "Friends of happyrobyn?" This list keeps you up to date on new kits I release and sales on my product. I am also known to give out freebies here and there. And to thank you for joining, I have created a kit EXCLUSIVELY to list members. It will never be available for sale. After you join the list, an email will automatically be sent to you with the link. A preview of the kit is on the left. Now run on over and join my list. And feel free to invite your friends but please do not give them the link to the kit. Instead, give them the link to the group. To join, go here:

Friends of happyrobyn Yahoo! group

We Are Winners!

I wish I could report that we became millionaires while we were in Louisiana, but that is not the case. However, the whole trip was paid for because it was technically a business trip for Marty so it was like a free mini-vacation. I just waited in the car and read a book while Marty did his sales calles in Tyler and Longview. And then we drove on to Shreveport where he had a couple more calls the next morning. We stayed at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel which is the nicest hotel in Shreveport. The room was great and so was the buffet. This is a picture of Marty and me standing by the "Million Dollar Wall." It is a 100 ft. long, 11 ft. high display of 10,000 brand-new $100 dollar bills. Pretty impressive.

Although we didn't manage to win a million, I think we walked away with about $50 bucks. I know, I know ... we are rich now! LOL! The most interesting part of the casino adventure was that while I was losing at the blackjack table, Marty was at the slots finding money. And I mean that in the literal sense. He was walking around to find a new machine when he heard one beeping. He looked and it had a payout slip sticking out of it. No one was around so he grabbed the slip and it was worth $86! Finders, keepers! LOL! Besides ... I had already made my donation at the tables.

Well, enough rambling. I just wanted to post this picture of me and Marty. A fun time was had by the Englands. I'll check in again soon. I'm currently working on a kit called Pink, Purple, Lime. I know ... sounds hideous! ROFL! But I like it!! Here's a layout of Lauren that I made with the kit. Hopefully I will have it in the shoppe in the next day or so.

Be on the lookout for another sale at Scrap Artist on the 24th and 25th. I'll give you all the details tomorrow when I know more.

A Freebie, New Kits and a SALE!

It seems like forever since I have posted anything of any substance on this blog. I'm sorry about that. Life is just busy this time of year. But busy in a good way. The kids are all out of school and the semester at work has ended. I'm not working much while the kids are out of school. And on Wednesday, Marty and I are going to try our luck in the casinos of Shreveport, Louisiana. BIG thanks to my mom for agreeing to watch all of the kids while we are gone for the night.

I have finally added a couple of new kits to my Scrap Artist Shoppe. The first is called Sunshine and has lots of orange and metal. (Read below how to get this add-on freebie.) The other kits are pretty collagey. One is an ATC kit called happyrobyn's EZ-ATC: Lovers. The papers and elements are all sized for a 2.5x3.5 Artist Trading Card. The other kit is a random mix of mixed media elements. The kit is called ALERT THE [mixed] MEDIA! Recycled. Many of you received this kit as a gift when you posted with my Return to my Roots kit during the Scrap Artist Apprentice contest.

THE FREEBIE!

Today's freebie is an add-on paper pack that coordinates with my Sunshine kit. You probably recognize the papers as they were my Round 2 Scrap Artist Apprentice entry and many of you asked when you could download them. Well ... here you go! Simply CLICK HERE. And now take a look at a few of the layouts created with the Sunshine kit. Special thanks to my creative team members Chicklets and Mishou for creating these gorgeous layouts.

THE SALE!

Scrap Artist is having a 12 Days of Christmas sale as many of you already know. Well ... today (December 19th), everything by the "Fab Five" (the Scrap Artist Apprentice winners) will be on sale for 35% off. So that means ALL of my designs will be on sale and ... you better get that PayPal account ready because if you haven't seen the shoppe lately, you are in for an awesome surprise. My fellow Apprentice ladies have been busy!

YOU'RE INVITED!

If you haven't already joined the friends of happyrobyn mailing list, be sure to do so. You will get a link to a free kit just for joining. [This kit will never be available for sale.] Simply click here to join the fun.

I miss my music!

Last week I took the music off of the blog because it was crashing some visitor's browsers. But I miss it! Anyway, yesterday was Parent Dance Day at my kids' school and I was able to go to Nick and Austin's dance but missed Lauren and Mackenzie's because theirs was in the morning while I was teaching. The favorite song for all of them was the Cha Cha Slide so when we got home, I found the video and we all danced together so Lauren and Mackenzie could show off their moves, too!

Now it's your turn! Turn up your speakers, push the play button and dance along! Don't worry if you don't know the dance ... you'll catch on quickly!

A Texas Blizzard!

Winter finally arrived in Dallas yesterday. Temperatures all week had been in the 70's but then a cold front blew in and it was only in the 20's when we woke up yesterday morning. None of the precipitation had started yet and schools were open. But by mid-morning, the freezing drizzle started and a few snowflakes were falling. I even had to scrape my windshield to go to lunch (took me all of a minute to clear it off). Businesses started to close at around noon, hundreds of flights were cancelled and some schools closed early. As you can see from this picture of Lauren in our yard that we had a total BLIZZARD! ROFL! I mean, there was at least an eighth of an inch of snow on the ground. It's just so funny to me to me to see how Texans react to a little snow. After living in Canada for 6 years, this was really a joke of a storm. This was big news around here though. Here's an article: Wintry Weather Causes Crashes, Flight Delays, Cancelations

But is seems that all is getting back to normal today. The snow is gone and it's supposed to get into the 50's today.

In other England Family news ... we spent Thanksgiving in Arkansas with Marty's family. We also own a business in Arkansas and Marty and I spent most of Thanksgiving Day setting up a new computer system. Fun stuff!

I have been busy creating a few kits. They should be posted in the Scrap Artist Shoppe this week. And the big news is that my friends of happyrobyn mailing list broke the 500 member mark yesterday! Thank you all for your support of my designs.