omgomgomgomg… I was all, ok, season finale’s great and all but wtf is klaus…. BAM…

Okay, back to relevant things like alphas and super duper bundles… This week One Story Down released the May Anthologie and it’s fabulous. All the designers and guests created some amazing products for this collections and they were nice enough to let me play along…

The newest alpha in the Very Small collection is Not So Very Small at all. It’s got hand stamped charm and includes letters a to z and numbers 1 to 9 (the O and 0 are the same character). It’s 20% off the rest of today and will be at OSD for the remainder of my guest spot.

Also this week I have For the Love of 2013: Bundle 5 +each of it’s products are available on their own

Bundle 5 includes 3 brand new products that coordinate with the rest of this years collection:

  

]]> http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?feed=rss2&p=1648 0 http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1634 http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1634#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 05:59:51 +0000 Allison http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1634 This week I’m the featured designer at The Daily Digi. Why? Because I’m part of the Digi Files #53! And no, I was totally sober when I did the interview.  I Am What I Am will come home to TLP early in June with the banner pack and some other parts not yet released, too.

Every Wednesday at TLP you can find a small selection of products, both old and new, for 50% off. Something Old, Something New is a great chance to try a new TLP designer or snag something on your wishlist at a discount. It’s a total digi lottery – you never know what’ll end up there. This week for SOSN I have TWO products for you…

Brazen Backs are quite possibly the wackiest paper pack I’ve ever released. These are wild ones and make not only fabulous backgrounds but are also perfect for clipping to shapes, snipping into bits, and anything else you can imagine. They print pretty, too!  This was on of those BYOC palettes that made me want to hide and cry so in the end I went mad. (I love them) And for today, 5/14, only they’re only $2  Seriously. 24 papers for $2.

Also 50% off this week is the companion pack of flags, tags, and other papery bits.

Tagged & Flagged includes 40+ tag and flag variations plus they each come in two styles: shabby and the opposite of shabby. 86 total elements for $1.63. Can’t beat that with a stick even if you wanted to!

Grab ‘em while they’re hot and I’ll see you soon! <3 Allison

]]> http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?feed=rss2&p=1634 0 http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1618 http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1618#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 03:54:08 +0000 Allison http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com/?p=1618 I learned several things this weekend. 1) NO ONE stays dead on Vampire Diaries. No. One. 2) Spiders can swim. Even if they’re coated in Lysol. Even after you throw hand sanitizer at them. And miss….. and 3) Mother’s Day was today. Not next week. Whoopsies.

But that’s okay because I’ve successfully gotten a household of six excited about washing their face. That includes the main culprit. A 12 year old boy with wicked hair and an aversion to all things rational. All four of our children – even the above mentioned 12 year old I didn’t have the pleasure of giving birth to – were gifted with naturally good skin. (you’re welcome.)  But that doesn’t mean that if one of them actively refuses to wash his face that he won’t pay the consequences. He will and he has. We’ve tried manly store bought stuffs. Pretends he’s in their washing his face. Stridex pads. “… it stings!” We’ve tried everything. Brett even tricked him into going to work with him one day and got him a facial. (it was actually called a “teen facial” but I can’t say that with a straight face. Because I’m a child.) No luck. The last straw was chasing him around with a “zit spoon” I snagged on Ebay from China for .99 cents. (free shipping, too!!)

And then there was hope. While searching an indie store I’d heard about (they had delightfully dirty named polish!!) I came across something that looked like packed brown sugar called the Zit Zapper bar at Disturbing Behavior. Intrigued I read more about it and placed my first order. And here’s how it went…

I ordered the Pink Coffee Chill Pill bar, the Solid Everything Balm, and the 2.5 oz Zit Zapper bar.  She was nice enough to also send me some fabulous samples of her Lemongrass Soap, Raw Raw Butter, and Hempo Massage Cream.  Let me tell you, there is not a single one of these that I’m not utterly attached to now.

The Pink Coffee Chill Pill is just plain cute. It’s an adorable 1 oz bar that I got just for me. I was hesitant the first time I took this into the shower. I’m finicky about soap and normally hate this kind of thing. Recently I got a Glossy Box (I still don’t know who sent it!!) and it had an extremely pricey ($18!) bar of Prestiche’s Green Machine in it. I have to tell you, I hated it. It made my skin tight and dry. This is usually the case with special soap bars. So my hopes weren’t high with the Chill Pill. BOY was I wrong. I love, love, love this little bar of soap. I take it out of the shower every time so no one else can use it! It leaves my skin moisturized and soft, doesn’t have a crazy scent, and has lasted far longer than I’d have expected it to. Unfortunately it’s not in stock as I post this but there’s several new soaps listed that I’m excited to try and if you’re looking for an alternative Chill Pill there’s also the Lemon-Lemon Balm/Eucalyptus Chill Pill. I haven’t had a chance to use the Lemongrass Soap yet because I just found it after hiding it in a safe place. Oops! But it smells really good.

Originally I planned to use the Everything Balm for what is now named Project Elbow but for the first week I alternated all three. Surprisingly, I ended up most in love with the Raw Raw Butter. My left elbow is screwed so this was no small victory. I don’t use a computer chair, I sit on a love-seat with my monitor on a TV tray I got at Target a million years ago. The constant friction and pressure from the fabric under that elbow has left it raw, red, and painful. It’s gross. And the Raw Raw has soothed it with barely a finger swipe a day. It includes raw, unrefined Shea butter and a trio of other oils. The site warns that it has a slight musty, nutty scent which is why I didn’t buy it at first but I found the scent to be almost nonexistent. You can use it on anything, including hair and nails. It’s fantastic. I’m buying a full size next.

The Everything Balm has taken over my hips, tummy, and rear. I’ve used it on some old raised scars, too. Wow. This stuff works on everything. It soothes, heals, and is full of vitamins and other great stuff. It’s got a refreshing,

subtle, lemony scent. Unfortunately, because it’s awesome, the Solid Everything Balm isn’t in stock right now. However, the Whipped Everything Balm is in stock and is the same except, well, whipped.  And it’s bigger, I think.

I haven’t had cause to use the Hempo cream much yet but it’s got a nice smooth texture. It comes in 2 sizes and is perfect for scars, burns, flaky skin, and even fights perspiration!  The butters and creams are all amazing. Seriously. At first I was all, WOW those are tiny, but they are PACKED and it’s not an exaggeration when I tell you that a finger swipe across the top is all you need. I keep these beauties in the butter door in the fridge because they do melt. But it doesn’t impact their purpose at all. I can’t wait to get my hands on the Dimply Butt Butter.

And now for the best soap on the planet. The Zit Zapper Bar. I talked it up while we waited for it to arrive and by the time it did everyone was chomping at the bit to use it. It’s got a boy friendly scent and isn’t all girly which helped me convince the above named stubborn boy to use it. From the first use we were all hooked. It lathers easy, smells good, doesn’t dry, exfoliates, rinses well, and most importantly, leaves your face clean and blemish free. He ASKS to wash his face now. Our other son has deemed it “Hippie Face Soap” and leaves reminder notes for himself.

Even our picky teenage daughters like it!  This stuff is gold. She suggests instead of using the whole bar to wash your face to slice off a small piece to lather in your hand instead. Why have I never thought of this before? It makes the soap last much longer. Plus, what’s left can be stuck back on the bar. Genius. Disturbing Behavior also offers 2 other kinds of face soap. The milder Zit-Fighter Crunchy Black Soap and the stronger Ultimate ZIT Fighter Bar (this also comes in a smaller size). I went with the one I did because it was in the middle but they’re all black soap based with cocoa butter, oatmeal, and a host of other good stuff. We got ours about a month ago and still have half a bar!!

Disturbing Behavior also offers a bunch of other stuff including beautiful handmade jewelry and inappropriately named nail polish in a variety of colors and all 3free – which I’m dying to get my paws on for one of the upcoming polish posts.  In the last month tons of new soaps and cremes have been added including the top of my wishlist, the Lavender Sugar Cubes, and super dreamy Melon Poppy Soap. Shipping is reasonable, $2.50 for the first item and .50 cents each additional. The owner is extremely helpful and very friendly, too! I suggest snagging these products fast because they go quick. I’ve no doubt you’ll be as pleased as I am.

*this review is my honest opinion. i was not compensated for it in any way.

This week I’ve got a new pack in one of my favorite collections ever and it’s at………. One Story Down! You may remember that I had just started a guest spot a couple months ago at OSD literally the week the store crashed and vanished. Well, the new OSD ladies were kind enough to ask if I wanted to come try again so here we go…

Pack 4 in the Cliff Notes series, this week I have the Word to Your Mother Edition:
This pack is CRAMMED full of tongue in cheek word bits, phrases, clips and even a couple brushes devoted to Mom. More than 200! There’s something in there for everyone and I had lots of laughs with the kids going thru stacks of old ads, books, and even some old Mother’s Day cards I’ve had laying around for years, too!  And it’s on sale this weekend for only $3.20

Also this weekend the Good Stuff add-on has come home to roost at TLP after partying it’s way thru The Daily Digi’s NSD email party…
This little page kit is perfectly coordinated with the rest of For the Love of 2013 and is the baby sister of the upcoming FULLLLL kit, Good Stuff. It’s got a sweet selection of papers and bits, brushes too! Snag it for 20% off this weekend if you didn’t score it over NSD weekend.

See you tomorrow <3 Al

Taped v.2 has 15 lengths of scotch style tape plus an extra set of shadowed versions. And here’s a quick and easy tip for shadowing digital patterned transparent tape if you’re like me and hate the wonky inner shadow!

Yippee! Now for the trick:
Sometimes it’s hard to show these little things on such a small canvas but it’s the little things that give your layouts that extra little something. Here’s how I make transparent tape look just a teeny bit more realistic in one quick step:

So now go grab Taped v.2 while it’s only $1.50!!!   And there’s still a few hours left to enter to win one of five prizes!  It ends at midnight so hurry! Winners will be announced with this week’s new releases Thursday night. <3 Al

I’ve got the 3rd and final Anchored freebie for you [freebie #1; freebie #2] but first…

You have till the end of 5/8 to enter to win one of FIVE prizes! And you can get extra entries each day.

For your last freebie I have a serious gift for the anchor obsessed. This little paper pack, the Anchored edition of The Way They Were(n’t), includes the ones that got away. Image is linked – or copy and past the text link into your browser. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?x2q9xlrqaie3tze
I hope you’ve enjoyed all the freebies! Tomorrow (NSD makes me confused…. don’t even know what day it is!) Tuesday I have the very first Kitchen Sink post starring the indie shop that has won all six of us over. You don’t want to miss it – I just might buy one lucky reader my favorite product of theirs! xoxo, Al

Lilypad is still running a 30% off storewide sale thru end of Monday, don’t miss it! For an extra 10% off use code: AKP-NSDxtra10per.  To coordinate with the Anchored collection (and the Anchored NSD freebies!) I added a cute set of journaling cards:

Cute, eh?  I like em. Want another freebie? Image is linked (copy and paste the following if clicking doesn’t work: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ghe6r32mj0bg9rc)
Just what you needed! A set of wave stitches in three colors each! And don’t forgot yesterdays freebie #1

Alright… you ready? First ever formal giveaway.
In honor of May’s BYOC and NSD I’m giveaway 4 Anchored necklaces I made just for you! Recognize the baubles? Wondering where the rose necklace fits in? There’s a super secret hidden anchor on it. Also up for grabs is a $25 gift card to my store at The Lilypad. This giveaway will end at the end of next Wednesday, 5/8. To enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

See you tomorrow with freebie #3! Al

These six alphas were the first Ha. I told you I was tired. There are actually SEVEN alphas and I’m half asleep and left my favorite off the preview. LOL (It’s metal and it’s fancy)… Anyway, these seven alpha were the first seven attempts at making an alpha for Anchored. I like them all but they just didn’t feel right for within the kit. So you get them! These aren’t throw aways by any means and they’re even cooler when they’re not shrunk for previewing!!

I was originally going to start the major giveaway(s) today but I didn’t get rafflecopter to play nice until an hour ago so those will be announced tomorrow (I’ll post on FB, too!). There’s lots of stuff to give away so watch for it!! Check yesterdays post, my newsletter, or facebook for the extra 10% off and head over to the major storewide sale at TLP!! See you tomorrow with the giveaway and freebie #2 (and watch FB for random first come first serve giveaways)… <3 Al

There’s also a new BYOC out now and I’ve got a big collection for you!

Also available in individual packs

      

Make sure to hang out at TLP this weekend, lots going on! My personal NSD loose schedule is as follows:

Friday:
Blog: Freebie, Giveaways announcements
Facebook: Periodic flash “first come, first serve” coupons
Saturday:
Blog: Special Saturday releases, Giveaway continues
Facebook: Periodic flash “first come, first serve” coupons
Sunday:
Blog: Freebie, Giveaways continues
Facebook: Periodic flash “first come, first serve” coupons

Have fun and see you tomorrow!
Al