CrEaTiVitY

We hope you're busy creating beautiful projects using both the freebies that we recently gave out, and the products that you purchased from our store (btw....thanks for shopping with us!)

We have an ulterior motive for wanting you to create things with our designs :) We will be launching the gallery on our website in the next week or ten days, and we'd LOVE it if you had some projects already created to upload the minute it goes live! Of course, the projects uploaded to our gallery will need to be created using a majority of designs from The Ettes & Company. Please do not share projects using our "old" designs from other companies. We want to highlight our most recent collections in our new gallery! As the launch date for the gallery gets closer, we'll share specific details on how you can go about sharing your creations with us there!

I've been busy creating layouts using the "Friends" (freebie) designs. I'll give you a sneak peek at one of them.

This set of designs is a lot of fun to use because there's SO MUCH to choose from. This layout will become a "Click" Page in our store in the next week or two...so be watching for it. So far I've done four double layouts with this set...and I'm thinking of doing another really big project. I won't tell ya what it is yet...just in case I change my mind :)

One last little bit of "Giving" :)

We've been contacted by several people since I turned the freebies off last night. I guess it's a bad feeling to see things disappear from your cart before you finalize your order *woops....sorry* :) Yes, they tugged at my heartstrings. Hey...what can I say. I'm more of a softie than I let on :P

Anyway, just because it's Christmas...and because we're SO nice....we're going to give those who missed out one LAST chance to download any or all of the twelve freebies (and I really do mean "last time" this time :) Rather than activate them tonight, I'll reactivate them tomorrow morning around 8:00 a.m. (MST) It may be a bit earlier than that if the weather lets up enough for me to go shopping :) But hey, you won't complain if you have a couple of extra hours for the downloads, will you?

Sooooooo...if you missed any downloads, or if you know of anyone who would love them but didn't get a chance to get them...this will be their chance to get a great "After Christmas" deal....but like I said, it won't last too long....just 12 hours or so.

You'll have to click the "shop" link to find them -- I've taken the freebie link off of the homepage and don't wanna put it back up. So, just go to the shopping cart and the freebies will be back there....for a short time....coz we're so nice :)

Merry Christmas . . . ho Ho HO . . . and all that stuff :)

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

We want to thank each of you for participating with us during our website grand opening. We appreciate your support and friendships! We hope to see lots of beautiful projects that you create after your holiday celebrations are over. Now, gather your family and friends around and enjoy every minute together.

We hope that you have a Merry Christmas, and that the New Year brings you and your family happiness and peace. Remember to take lots of pictures :)

Last FrEeBiE for NoW!

I just activated the freebie for day 12...a cute bird and a scalloped tree--I guess that was my version of a partridge in a pear tree :)



This download will be available for 24 hours....and true to my promise from last night, I also activated the other 11 freebies so that anyone who may have missed out on any of them can snag them. I know it's a busy day for most everyone...but hey, see if you can find the time to get any freebies you may have missed. Let your friends know too....I'm feeling generous and want to give more of these kits away :) (don't ask me why...must be the Christmas spirit or something. It's finally hit me :)

We had a special visitor show up at our house on Sunday....that helped me get excited about Christmas (hey...I LOVE Christmas...don't get me wrong....I've just been really busy this year.) Anyway, right after dinner my middle daughter and I were in the kitchen cleaning up and my doorbell rang. I answered it...and there stood Santa (and I must say, he was one of the most authentic looking Santa's I've seen for a long time.) I got so excited, and may have overreacted a bit, coz ummmm...my little 2 year old grandson, Keegan screamed bloody murder and refused to talk to him (we're talking KICKING and SCREAMING here...lol...this was no tiny tantrum :) He finally calmed down after a bit and told Santa that he wants "Kung Fu Panda" for Christmas...then he turned around and continued to play in the water in the sink and acted like the jolly old elf wasn't there. *snicker* It really cracked me up. Unfortunately, I was busy trying to calm him down and talk him into talking to Santa, that we didn't get any photos. *sigh* Oh well...I have a great memory. I'll just do a page on "Santa Terror"...and put a picture of Keeg on it :)

Ok...get busy downloading those files. They'll be gone in less than 24 hours!

Day 11 FrEeBiE!

Ok...you'd better be grabbing this one. Today's Freebie is a Friends Forever "Click" Page! It's gonna save you lots of scrapping time :) I thought I'd give you a bit more notice so that you have time to download it! This one will be available for download until midnight tomorrow night.



And hey...you can use all of the fun designs that you've downloaded (and will still download) to build the right side to this click page :) Or...you can wait until I get it in the shopping cart in a couple of weeks :) Yeah, yeah...we have to keep you coming back to the website for something, ya know :)

Now...for those of you who missed parts of the freebies....never fear. You'll get another chance. Just because we're so nice, and we want you all to have a very, Merry Christmas, all 12 freebies will go back online tomorrow at midnight. You can download them for 24 hours...but at midnight on Christmas Eve...they're going to disappear and won't be seen again until they're in the shopping cart :)

So...if you missed any of the freebies...you'd better grab them while you can. If you have friends who missed out, or friends who don't even know about the freebies yet...then spread the word and send them to the website to get the goodies :) And...btw....tsk tsk tsk for those of you who haven't told your scrapping buddies yet. What are you thinking?

TicK TocK TiCK TOCK

The clock just keeps on ticking...and the freebies come and go. Are you downloading them each day? Here's what we're offering today....just until midnight.



A new freebie will be put online at midnight and this one will disappear. So...get it while you can!

I guess I could let you in on a little secret if you've missed any of the downloads...but hey, I think I'll keep the secret to myself for another day :) Just know that the Ettes are among Santa's favorite helpers...and we always do our best to take care of our scrapping friends :)

Another Layout using the FrEeBiES!

**Update -- Rather than make a new blog post each time someone sends me a sample layout, I created a slide show. That way, they won't get buried in a bunch of new posts. You'll have to scroll down a bit to see it. Be sure to send me your sample layouts or projects and I'll add them to the slide show. Thanks to Kris, Earlene and Wendy so far!

*original post*

Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner. My dh and I took a couple of days off to celebrate our anniversary, so I'm playing catch up!

Earlene in MO Sent this cute layout to me...showing all of the little "Greens" that sprout in their family :) She used MGI Photo Suite to create the layout...cute stuff!



Thanks for sharing Earlene! You did a great job!

What are YOU doing with the FrEeBiES??

Kris Mazy Fullmer just sent me this calendar page that she created using the Freebies from days 1, 2 & 3. If you haven't downloaded the borders yet (and I can't imagine why you wouldn't....they're FREE)...you'd better do it. Look what you can do with them!!! Along with the borders, she also used the Comfy Cord Monograms, and several of the patterned papers. The only "extra" she added that wasn't part of the freebies was a staple :) What a sweet little layout!

If you create a layout or other project, send it to me and we'll put it on the blog or website or both!

Thanks for sharing with us Kris...I can't wait to see more!

Did you snag our Blinkie?

We'd love to hear if you've put our blinkie on your website or blog. Please add a comment to this post and share the url with us where you've parked our blinkie :)

The Wait is OVER!!!!

We’ve been giving hints and peeks galore,

Now you won’t have to wait on the “Ettes” anymore!

Our website is running, our newest designs are online.

Please stop by for a visit. That would be just divine!

We hope you’ll find time to be inspired and shop…

And to download the FREEBIES. The fun never stops!

For the Freebie, we created a Dig-ETTE-al Kit just for YOU….

Our friends that stuck with us, the old and the new!

We’ve split it all up and will put it online

So that you can download it a few pieces at a time!

Don’t miss a download! They will change each day.

And once it’s gone, to get it, you’ll have to pay :)

So open your browser and click on our link….

Take a look at the website

Then come back and tell us what you think!

The Ettes & Company invite you to our website GRAND OPENING

December 13 through December 24, 2008.

New Freebie downloads available each day!

MoRe WiNnErS!!

Thanks for all of the comments that you left us about paypal vs. credit cards. For now, we will just be using paypal, but may make some additions in the future. The future is anything after the launch of our site...which is almost down to ONE DAY...YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES...I really have a LOT to do *gasp*!!!!! Oh my...let me catch my breath and get back to the subject that I'm posting about ;)

I used random.org again, and selected three winners from those of you who left comments. I haven't scrapped any Thanksgiving pictures yet, so I decided to give a Thanksgiving themed "click" page away (oooops...I didn't just say that, did I????) I hope you haven't scrapped your Thanksgiving photos yet....if you have, I'll send you some *snicker* If your name is in the frame in the layout below, please email me at fayette@ettesandcompany.com and I'll send this little layout to you :)



Ok, I'd better get busy again. Be watching the blog and your inboxes in the 24-36 hours...coz I think we'll be posting a link and sending out some emails that you'll be interested in! :)

Continuing the CoUnTdOwN!

We're working like mad here, getting the final details taken care of so that we can launch our new website. It's looking like we're going to have things up and running this weekend.....so make sure you check back here regularly. We'll post the announcement here and provide a link so that you can see what we've been working on! We'll also be sending out an email blast, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter subscription, so that you'll be one of the first to hear that we FINALLY have the site up and running :)

I guess I should give you another peek at something you'll find in our shop. Man, it's a good thing that we're only a few days out, coz if it were too long, we'd be showing you everything we've designed. Hmmm...I guess it's not like we've never done that before. Here's a layout I did using our "Hip Christmas" Collection--I love the little touch of aqua in this color scheme...fun and funky!



Now, I have a question for you guys--and I've been instructed to ask this by my computer-geek, web-designing husband :) When you shop online, how do you pay for your purchase? We're all set up with Paypal, but wondered how many people prefer to use credit cards. Post your opinion/response here, and I'll put your name in the drawing for a freebie!

Speaking of freebies...we're going to be giving some fun stuff away on our website during our grand opening. Oh man...it's really starting to feel like Christmas!

Another Digi Peek!

Here's another peek of some digi elements from the Family Collection. Since we're all focused on family this time of year I thought it would be a good one to show.

We're still "counting the days" until we can reveal what we've been up to. Seems kinda like waiting for Christmas huh!

Hope you're all having a great holiday season. Don't forget to take some time to spend with your loved ones . . . and of course take lots of pictures so you can treasure the memories forever!

Annette

We're getting CLoSeR!

Like we've said several times before, getting our new projects up and running is taking a lot more time than we thought it would....but with one of them we're getting REALLY close....the other one is a bit further out, but we're crossing our fingers, hoping it won't take too much longer.

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a complete view of one of the things that I've been working on. This is from one of my newest digital kits that will be available soon....from two different places in two different formats. Hmmmmm...I think I might be giving away too much information. I'd better stop before I get a call from the other "Ette" :)



We're counting the days. Those of you who are faithfully following or reading our blog will be the first to hear our news (did I mention that we're EXCITED to FINALLY be able to make an announcement?? :) We hope you'll count the days with us...and hey, if you ask us some questions....we might just be able to give you some answers.......or maybe not ;)

Oh yeah....we still love to supply a bit of "suspense" :)

Fayette

Nibble, NibBLe

Those pesky mice have been busy again! Since it's just a few days before Thanksgiving, we thought we'd give you a peek at something seasonal :)



We hope that each of you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat LOTS of pie (and a little turkey) and take some time to reflect on the things that you should be thankful in your lives.

Now...on the business side of things. Ya know, if we did what we really want to, we'd tell you EXACTLY what we're up to. It's taking longer than we expected to get things "ready" for an announcement...and well, you know how patient we both are *snicker*. So, since we're not quite sure how long it's going to be until these sneak peeks become something that is actually available to you.... you'll have to use your imaginations :)

One request though.....don't go too crazy imagining things coz ummmm....we may not be able to live up to your expectations ;) I do have to say that these things we've been working on are some of my favorites ever. It's actually helped us move on and get excited about new ventures!

Say ChEeSe!

Did you say "Cheese"?! Hmmm, looks like I have a "tasting" too. Like Fayette said, we've been busy little bees (I mean mice). Our computers have "trapped" us and we just work away! Stay tuned . . . our cheese may just completely disappear one day.

The holidays are quickly approaching. Eeek! Where has the year gone? Hopefully you're making some cute projects for the special people in your life. I better get busy myself.

Annette

HoLeS

I know it's going to surprise you, but the other day I sat down at my computer, and found, of all things...a MOUSE sitting beside my monitor. I guess I can expect this..I DO live in the middle of nowhere ;) Does this ever happen to any of you????

Anyway, this little critter had obviously been very busy with one of my latest designs. There were HOLES in everything....what a mess. Annette and I have been working like mad to put together some new designs. We were't quite ready to do a complete reveal...and now we're even further away *sigh*

I just can't believe my luck. A stupid little mouse.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a huge lover of animals? Well, it's worse now :P

The stupid little thing chewed Holes in one of my layouts *sniff*sniff*sniff* (Do you feel sorry for me yet????)

He basically made swiss cheese out of one of my projects *whimper*

Rather than try to describe the destruction and devastation that he left...I'll just show you ;)



*snicker* All that I have to say is,



Ok...smack me. I know it's corny :P We just didn't want you to think that we're sitting around eating bon bons and not designing! We've been working night and day (nothing new there for us). Hey, you know it's bad when Annette sends me a text message at about 1:30 a.m.....and I answer her :P *snicker* Yes, we're working hard, hoping that it won't be too much longer before we can tell you exactly what we're up to!

For now, we hope a few little sneak peeks here and there will tide you (and US) over. We're ready to get out of the starting gate!

One last thing...I noticed that we've had lots of new people sign up on our email list and join our list of followers. WELCOME to our little part of blogland. We hope you'll join us often, and make yourself at home.

Giving away more GoOdiES!

Thanks for giving us your opinions on our templates -- colored vs. grayscale. The colored templates win...and so do these people who left left a comment telling us their preference:

(Winners were chosen using http://www.random.org/ so you can be assured that it was completely unbiased :) Please contact me at fayettedesigns@comcast.net, and I'll send you your prize :) You'll each be receiving a cute little sheet of gift tags to help you get a jump on the holidays. These are in png format, so you can easily separate them to use them digitally, or print them and cut them out to put on your packages!

Have fun, and thanks for participating!

P.S. Don't forget to send me the sample layouts you created using the free template....and yes, I'm NagGiNG again *sigh*

It's Election Day in the US!

For all of our friends here in the U.S., we just wanted to remind you to get out and vote today. I took advantage of the early voting this year so we wouldn't have to wait for so long--yes, even in my little tiny town, during an election like this, there would be LONG lines. It looks like it's going to be really close, so make your voice heard!

On another note...we're going to give you one more day to chime in on the template poll: colored vs. grayscale templates. We'll pick a winner from all of those that have left comments on the "We have some WiNnErS!" post by noon tomorrow.

One last detail...I really want to put a slide show together showing the layouts that you created with the free template that we sent out. We haven't received many layouts back, so I guess I have to reduce myself to nagging.

*Whine* Puhleeeeeeze send me the layouts that you created with the "blog winners" template so that we can show everyone what you did with it. *end of whining*

Have a great TuEsDaY!

Let's be Frank!

Hello, it's me! Like Fayette said we have been busy with family stuff and even designing.

Our son is getting married and I've been busy designing a wedding invitation for them. We also sent another son on an LDS mission so lots of work preparing him for that. Fayette mentioned crying at her son's last football game. I've also shed a few tears as my kids get married, have children of their own, leave for missions and just "grow up"! Mostly happy things but another chapter in my life that has ended even though I know there's good things ahead with change. As I get older, I appreciate life even more and every day is a blessing. So it's good that we all love to treasure our memories through scrapbooking! Take lots of pictures, make beautiful layouts and never forget the "everyday moments"!

And yes, we've been busy at my house doing Halloween stuff too. My boys put on a big spook alley and invited all their friends. They made dummys, ghosts, a HUGE spider, cut off arms and anything gorey you could think of. And they did it with household items or stuff from second hand stores. They were very creative when making the props. They used beans, crumpled newspaper and foam to form the "guts", wrapped those huge stuffed animals with paper mache and made them into dummies and draped them with old sheets, fabric, old clothes and wigs. They made tombstones and coffins out of cardboard etc. They surprised me with everything they made. It was a lot of work for them but they had fun doing it and it was a huge success! Hey, I guess if they aren't using their creative talents doing scrapbooking, they may as well be creative doing things like this! Ha!

And we also do "Trunk or Treat" here in our area but ours was last night so it doesn't conflict with the kids coming on Halloween night! By the way, for those of you who don't know what "Trunk or Treat" is, everyone who wants to participate in the the neighborhood (or community) all park their cars in one area (like a church parking lot) and you decorate the trunk of your car and hand out candy. The kids dress up in their costumes and trick or treat from one car to the other. It's fun for the kids and a safe place for them to get candy.

Thanks to all of you for your support and messages. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE looking at the creative things you've done. There were some beautiful layouts created with the free template we gave. Thanks so much for sharing and being part of our lives!

Annette

Keeping Up....and Keeping Busy

Man, it seems like the days just fly by...and before we know it, it's been several days since we've posted here. Annette and I have both been really busy with family stuff. I'll let her fill you in on all of her fun activities if she wants :) Maybe that will get her to make a post here :P

I spent tonight as my last night as a high school football mom. I was SO SAD as my son's last game came to an end. His team lost a heart breaker game, which kept them out of the state tournament...so that made it even more sad on our end. I could hardly maintain my emotions..and then when he walked over after the game and gave me a big hug...I just lost it. Even though I freeze to death much of the time, it has been such a fun part of the past 9 years for us (he started in little league at 8). Oh well....life goes on, kids grow up...and we find new things to fill our time with. *sob*

Are any of you doing any fun activities for Halloween? We're having a big party here Friday night...lots of fun "scary" foods that my grandkids get excited about. We make witch fingers , monster eyeballs :), and monster guts soup in bread bowls shaped like pumpkins *snicker* I know....it's kinda mean). Unfortunately, this year my GROWN kids are forcing me to go to "trunk or treat" with them and the grandkids......that's BLASPHEMY to me. I think that whole Trunk or Treat thing has ruined Halloween...but then again, I'm kinda old and I don't like fun things like that to change. I love having the cute little kids knock at my door. I used to have over 100 kids ring our bell (I live ummm..in the middle of nowhere...ask Annette) Last year we had 8 kids...stupid Trunk or Treat :P Hey...does anyone want to know how I really feel? :P In spite of it...we're going to have some fun and we hope you do too!



Anyway, take lots of pics of your activities and get them scrapped. Just as a reminder, for those of you who got the free template, I'd LOVE to have you send me an image of your projects, or just send a link to where you have it posted so that I can put it in a slide show. We'll announce a winner from the previous post in a couple of days...so you still have time to leave a comment and enter!

We have some WiNnErS!

....and the winner is......

EVERYONE who added a comment to our last post (Just a peek... and a prize) and all of our FOLLOWERS as of today, Oct. 23 at 9:30 am MST -- that's a LOT of WiNnErS. We thought this would be a fun way to start things off with our first contest.

So, if you made one of the comments or are following our blog...send your email address to fayettedesigns@comcast.net and I'll send you this cute double page template.



Now...there's a catch to this freebie (isn't there always?) We want to see what you DO with the template. So...please post a link showing us what you created using the template--whether you use it digitally or as inspiration for your paper crafts. We want you to share your talents with us and everyone that reads our blog. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions or comments about using our templates.

**edited to add: We've already had one sample sent to us using the template and I just sent it out about four hours ago!...it was DARLING. Thanks Kris :) I'd LOVE to add a slide show to the blog showing all of the projects that you create using these templates, so PLEASE add a comment and share link with us. I can usually save the image from the link, so please let me know if it's okay if I use your image in the slide show :)

Btw...we also want to know your opinion about the templates. They're so much cuter with a bit of color in them...but we don't want that to make them more limiting or challenging to use. So, let us know which you prefer...color (like the one above) or black & white (like the one in the previous post). Tell us your preference here in the comments...and we'll enter you into a drawing for AnOThER PriZe that we'll give away in a few days!

Just a peek...and a prize :)

We've been busy creating a few new things -- no, we're not ready to reveal anything yet. HOWEVER....we thought we'd give you just a little peek at something that we put together today.

Annette created a darling page template,

and then I used her template to create a digital layout about my sweet little granddaughter, BrookeLynne. Of course...I had to use some new digital designs. I know...it's mean to share when we can't really SHARE yet...but hey, it gives you something to look forward to.

Let us know what you think. We'd love to find out if there are any "template" digital scrappers that follow our blog. We'd also love any suggestions you may have about other things you'd like to see us create :)

Let's make this interesting...if you make a comment to this post we'll put you in a drawing to receive a digital template. And...if you add yourself to the list of scrappers who "follow this blog" (see link to your right), we'll put another entry in for your name. And don't worry...if you're already following the blog...you'll get an entry in the drawing.

Familiar Faces

It's so nice to see your friendly (and very familiar) names and faces in our "followers" section. We hope that section of our blog just keeps growing! We know that we're not doing a lot of posting or idea sharing right now. We'll try to do something about that before too long :) We've been busy getting things sorted and trying to finalize the direction that we want to move in the future. Sorry...no announcement about that yet...but stay tuned. We'll get it figured out before long :)

In the meantime, we're managing to keep busy. Besides designing, we're keeping busy with our kids and grandkids. Life goes on...and we'll keep smiling and doing our best.

Here's a little something to let you know how we feel about you :)

Yes, we love you, and appreciate your friendship and support :) Ok, I'd better quit before Annette calls and tells me I'm getting too mushy *snicker* Btw...this little owl is a card design for a new company. Click on the card and you can see some of my other designs.

Keeping in Touch!

We've appreciated everyone's comments about our big announcement. Thanks so much for your support and friendships. We've heard from so many of you, many that we hadn't heard from in years. It's been a very bright spot for us.

We've added an email subscription to our blog to make it a little easier for you to keep in touch with us. We've also added a "follow the Ettes & Company" gadget...we'd LOVE to put your pics in this section...so feel free to sign up.

Goodbye Breezy . . . Hello Ettes & Company!

We know that many of you have been wondering what has been going on with the “Ettes”. Well, as you can see by the new banner on our blog, we are making some big changes. We have given our resignation to the owners of Breezy Design. For those of you who subscribe to the Paper Seeds kits, we have created the kit for November, but will not design anything beyond that for the company.

We have had such wonderful times developing new products and meeting many of you over the years. We hope that you know how much it has meant to us. Like many of you have said as we’ve been through previous transitions . . . we will never lose, nor forget, the friends that we’ve made along the way.

We are sad to see this chapter in our lives end, but we’re anxious to move on to new projects and see what the future holds for us. We have several possibilities in the works that we’re excited about. We decided to just continue on with our blog…since it was “ours”. We’ll keep everyone updated here. We hope that you will follow us as we continue in our endeavor to share our love of designing – we’re not ready to give up on being the “Ettes”.

Again, thank you for your support, and know that we appreciate having had the opportunity to work with such a wonderful, talented group of people. We look forward to sharing our designs in many different ways in the very near future.

still . . . the “Ettes”

Annette & Fayette