sneak peek 2.16

here's a little sneak for you today...

Layout by {me} using Kraft.Party papers & elements {releasing tomorrow}, In Stitches Bright Basics by me & Button is from Audrey Neal Madeline elements.

{robyn}

Happy 1st birthday DHD!

Today is the start of DHD’s 1 year anniversary! There is tons going on all week through the 9th of January. We’ll have chats EVERY NIGHT from 7-9pm (MST) with the designers and decorators hosting in the DHD chat room.

Of course everything is on SALE too. The entire site is 30% off site + 40% off full kits & cutting files AND all Design 365 & monthly kits are 50% off! Plus every day we’ll have different kits priced at $1.00.  Now that’s a sale!

To kick off the birthday extravaganza, the DHD designers made a printable 2011 calendar. Just hop around to all our blogs and collect all the months!

January: Robyn Meierotto {that's me!}
February: Jen Allyson
March: Sara Schmutz
April: Celeste Knight
May: Tiffany Tillman
June: Karen Funk
July: Kate Teague
August: Jen Allyson
September: Celeste Knight
October: Jen Allyson
November: Robyn Meierotto {again... you are here!}
December: Gennifer Bursett

Here's the link to my contribution of the January & November calendar pages: cLicK HeRe!

enjoy & happy birthday Design House Digital...

{robyn}

new releases 12.23

today is my mom's birthday! we called her first thing this morning & the kids sang her "happy birthday".  this woman is truly so amazing... a wonderful cook &  baker, mother of five {pretty great} kids, lots of patience, sweet, loving & couldn't hurt a fly.  I love you mom!  I've love having you as my mom, your grandkids love you more than anything & your favorite son-in-law is pretty over.the.moon for you too!  happy birthday!

heheehee!

ok... now I've got a few new kits over at DHD today for release!  as I said yesterday, just a couple good essentials for your pages that I hope you can use again & again...

I'm working on lots of handmade presents today & hopefully finishing up gift wrapping!  I hope you're all able to create something special for the ones you love as well!

{robyn}

confessions of a 36 year old girl...

so yesterday was my birthday {#36}...

I've been really thinking about what I wanted to post about over the last week.  There have been so many thoughts running through my head.  You see, the last 6-7 months have been crazy ones for me... lots of changes.  Change? It's good.  Even if it may not seem it at the time.  Really.  I have to tell myself that sometimes, but seriously, even with the inevitable stress, this has been one of the most fullfilling periods of my life. 

You see, it all started towards the end of the school year last year.  We had grown dissappointed in or daughter's caregiver & Dan & I felt it necessary to remove her from that situation.  Very quickly I was back to being a full time stay at home mom AND trying to pull of my full time design position.  Needless to say I was also putting in lots of nights & weekends to make up for what I couldn't accomplish during the day.  I tried my hardest to do it all... mom, designer, caregiver, housekeeper, cook, homework helper... I know you moms know exactly what I'm talking about!  But I was perfectly fine with it because I felt that it was what was right for Lydia & that was what mattered the most.  Then, soon after my boss approached me about taking a freelance position with the company, feeling maybe I wanted to explore other avenues to get my designs "out there".  To say the least, I was torn... I so wanted to move into designing more in my own style & was wanting to go down other paths to see what I could do... but I also LOVED all my co-workers, my bosses & well, you know, the money thing was hard to beat.  Dan & I had several discussions over what to do, but I think really, my mind was made up to take this leap.  So in the beginning of summer I was on my own.  I worked tirelessly to design this website to be the home for Pink Trike Design {which by the way, I'm pretty proud of}!  Over the last year or two I had been really wondering about digital scrapbook design... it seemed to me to be a perfect balance to me.  Taking what I loved to do, but really putting my stamp on it... truly making it mine & sharing it with whoever was interested!  In August I contacted Jen @ Design House Digital about designing for the site & was so happy to debut my very own store there in September!  Whew!  I've been on cloud nine ever since.  I feel so lucky to take all the inspiration that I find & translate it into designs of my own.  It's a whole new feeling for me... being able to fly with an idea, a color palette & just go for it.  That's what I love about digital design!  My hope is that all of you that use my designs feel that excitement come through too.  And staying home with miss Lydia... it's the best.  I'm so happy I'm getting to spend my days with her.  This little girl is truly incredible, always amazes me & I just love how I get to spend this precious time with her... just like I was lucky enough to with the boys when they were her age.  I truly believe it's one of those hidden blessings.  You know, something you didn't know you needed to have happen, but in the end it could be the most wonderful thing that could have happened to you?

But that's not all that's happened {are you sick of my rambling yet?}.  You see, in the beginning of June a friend asked me if I wanted to start going to Weight Watchers meetings with her.  I'd been doing an on-again, off-again stint with the online version since Lydia's first birthday & had lost around 15 pounds, but thought the meetings might just push me in the right direction.  So we started & I pulled my big sis in for the ride too.  As of right now I'm 25 pounds down since I started in June & thinking 5 or 10 more until I reach my goal.  This in itself has been an amazing journey for me.  I really just joined because I wanted to be thinner, but I feel so much better about MYSELF as a person, more confident, more outgoing.  My frequent headaches are no longer, I can run longer {okay, I'm still not a great runner}, I have more energy & I've found that maybe I can accomplish more & I'm a stronger girl than I initially thought. Know what else is great?  I feel like I'm a better role model for my kids.  I know Collin & Evan see the transformation in me & even at her young age, I think Lydia is aware of it as well.  Oh, & I'm sure Dan would be the first to admit he is happy to have the girl back that he married over 16 years ago {ok, slightly modified & aged}. 

So 35, you've been good to me, & I wish you could have stuck around longer, but maybe, just maybe I'll find even more surprising things out about myself at 36.  I guess what I'm trying to tell you is... if you're thinking about a change... BIG or little, maybe you should take the leap like I did {ok so maybe not 3 biggies at once}.  If you believe in yourself... that's what matters the most.

ps: thank you thank you thank you to everyone who sent so many sweet birthday wishes my way!  I love you all :)  Also thank you SO very much to all the people in my life that have supported me through all this crazy change... I'm sure some of you thought I was just that... CraZy!  But I know you see now the change in me & I hope you're just as excited as I am.  you know who you are ;) 

love ya {robyn}

oh yeh & don't forget to get the birthday freebie in the previous post.  I'll post again soon with another for you too :)

Digital Scrapbooking Day!!!

It's today! It's today!  

Remember to join me this morning at 9am mountain or 10am central for my chat over at DHD... I'll have a fun guessing game going on & a little freebie for you!  YAY!  You can grab the one below too, but if you're chattin' with me you'll get even more!  Maybe even some give aways too.... hmmm, you'll have to come on over to find out :)  I'll give you a heads up... have this kit downloaded & you'll have a head start ;)

Can you guess what tomorrow is?  yep, that's right my birthday!  I love birthdays, even if it means I'm getting older!  Oh & what a great way to celebrate on my birthday weekend... digital scrapbook day & chatting it up with you!  So, I thought you could celebrate with me, hence the birthday theme... 

{click on the image to download}

oh... & guess what?  It coordinates with the blog hop freebies!  whoo hoo!  I just loved the color combos & thought it lent itself well to the birthday theme :)

plus... don't forget to do some shopping while you're there!  Serious deals to be had, I mean 25% off STORE WIDE!  awesome.  There's also rotating $1 kits.  very cool :)

& just so you know... if you've ever been to a chat at DHD, miss Mary has set us up a brand spankin' new CHAT ROOM!  It's gonna be great!  So when you get to the site, look for the CHAT in red towards the top right of the page... that's where I'll be :)

talk to you soon!

{robyn}