Another Digital Scrapbooking Freebie for you

I still haven't finished the ladybug and daisy kit, but I have made this new kit. It's called Blue Bird's Nest. I really like the fun colors!

This kit is made at 200 dpi and contains the following:
1 brown flower pattern paper
1 blue hanging flower paper
1 green grid paper
1 brown chicken wire element
1 blue bracket frame
1 brown ribbon
1 brown bow
1 blue bird
1 nest with eggs element
1 branch with leaves element
1 green vellum tag element
1 white flower cluster

You can download it here: Blue Bird's Nest.zip

Enjoy!

Earth Day

I did my part for the Earth Mosaic and uploaded a picture. I actually took quite a few pictures today and made the new avatar that you see for my profile pic. I thought it came out kind of interesting. Anyway, here's the pic I decided on and uploaded for the Earth Mosaic project . . .

I figure it should definitely have some greenery in it and I like that the hens and chicks look great even in the winter here. Many more things are coming up in the garden right now as well. The grape hyacinths have appeared . . . the anemones have little buds all over them and the clematis and alliums are also coming up strong.

And, if you're interested in the Earth Mosaic project . . . here's the link . . . http://earthmosaic.org/index.html

Here we go again

I'm trying to clean up my computer so I can concentrate on creating new kits. I've decided to make available another kit that I made for the designer finder contest. I liked the kit . . . hope you do too!




Here's the download link . . .

August Sunset Kit.zip

Another freebie for you!

I decided to make my Mardi Gras Kit available for download here as well. This is the kit I made for the SNL Fab Five Birthday Bash and gave away at the chat. Hope you enjoy . . .



Download it here:

MrsC_SNLFFB_MardiGrasKit.zip

Another freebie for you!

I just finished this cute kit for you:



The papers and elements are 200 ppi and the kit contains the following:

1 light yellow tiled paper
1 light green paper
1 yellow gingham paper
1 black linen paper
1 bee element
1 "Bzzzzz” word art element
1 drops of honey element
1 black ribbon with brown stitches
1 sunflower
1 yellow gem circular frame
1 bee hive element
1 crown element

It is available for download here:

HoneyBeeKit.zip

Hope you like it! I had a lot of fun creating it and am in the process of finishing up another kit along these same lines . . . featuring ladybugs and daisies. I hope to have that one available soon as well.

In the meantime . . . enjoy this one!

Oh well . . . I'm out of the DET Contest

There were some really awesome LO in the gallery. Mine wasn't one of them . . . I guess I can always try next time. I did finish my March SNL kit and have been playing around with it some more. The colors reminded me of Mardi Gras so I've been making some elements along those lines. Hopefully, I'll have a freebie to post here soon.

Meanwhile, I managed to get a copy of Moonlight on DVD! I was completely enthralled when I realized that I never even seen the very first episode! Since I've been catching it on the SciFi channel, my interest in the show has grown once again. I really wish they would continue this series, but I guess it was just because of the writer's strike or something and they needed fill space. Mick St. John is definitely my favorite vamp!!

I'm managing to create more LO too. Even before the DET Contest, I decided that I needed more practice anyway. Here's my latest . . .




Anyway, I'm off to relax and take in some more episodes of Moonlight! Woo! Hoo!

I'm so excited . . .

I made it to Round 2 of the DET Contest! You can see a copy of my LO by clicking on My DSP Gallery link to the right. It was a really fun kit to work with. The deadline for entries is once again Thursday night . . . and we'll have to wait I think until Saturday night (probably really late once again) to find out the results. I'm a bit more nervous this round although I really like the LO I came up with. But, no matter what happens . . . I'll have yet another LO added to my gallery! I've been telling myself that I really should do more LOs anyway and here I am! I definitely see an improvement and a style (I hope) of my own!

Anyway, I also need to finish my SNL kit for this month. The background papers and bow still need some work. And I'm not sure what to do with the gems, but all in all, I think it's looking pretty good! Here's a preview . . .

So, I'm off to do some more creating . . . IF I can concentrate! I think the contest is distracting me much more this time around!

Lots of things happening here

I'm so excited! I submitted a color swatch (first time) for this month's SNL kit and it won! The theme is wildflowers so I picked colors of spring green and hyacinth purples and daffodil yellows. Here's the color swatch:





Aren't they beautiful?! I can't wait to see what the other SNL'ers create!

I've also entered the DET Contest at DSP and submitted my LO already. I can't upload a copy of it here yet but if you check out my DSP Gallery link to the right you'll find it there. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Now, I just have to wait until about 11:00 pm on March 5th to find out if I can continue on to the next round. I'll let you know!

I'm off for now to see what else I can come up with for this month's SNL kit!

A new blog banner

The new banner is an assemblage of my February kit for SNL at DSP. I wasn't too sure about the colors when I first saw them as orange is not one of my favorite colors. I did manage to use all the colors in the swatch. This was the first kit I made using PSE. There are certain things that I need to find work arounds for . . . (like not having layer masks!) so its alot different than working with CS2. It took me a long time to figure them out and now that I don't have them, I feel lost!!!

The frame (which looks like tarnished gold to me) was made using certain colors in combination with the render clouds filter and by layering with different blending modes. I really like the way it turned out! I think the rose quartz gems could still use a little more texture or veining in them but I was pretty happy with the way they turned out. I'll continue to try and tweak them as I figure out more on making gems, etc.

This is the preview as shown in the gallery at DSP (just in case and for when I change the banner again)

I also added a slideshow of my LO's in the side bar. I've been trying to step it up and create more LO's. Since it's good practice, I make a LO with my own SNL kit but also with the other SNLer's kits. Since I still had not used some of the kits I purchase from the DSP store I've used them as well and even bought another couple of kits from there as well.

Now if I could just figure out what's going on and why I can't add another animated GIF??? Anyway, I'm off for now, hopefully I'll be able to put together another freebie soon as well.

P.S. I also just entered the DET Contest at DSP . . . so now I have to step it up on the LOs!

Finally . . . a freebie for you!

I know I've been promising a freebie kit and here it is!




This kit contains the following:

1 pink tile paper
1 pink plaid paper
1 pink silk paper
1 light pink silk paper
1 pink folded ribbon
1 pink flower
1 embossed heart vellum note paper
1 white eyelet
1 love stamp
1 “with Love” word art
1 chipboard bracket
1 pearl necklace frame

and here is the link for the download

with Love kit.zip

Once upon a time . . .

This is a LO I did for the monthly Showcase Challenge at DSP for SNL. The elements used are from 15 different SNL'rs and I think I have a total of 18 elements.

Recently, I was able to get a copy of this photo. Mom had it framed and it sat on a side table at the condo along with another photo of Mom (at the age of 3 or 4) with her sisters. I was able to get a copy from my cousin of both photos. The original photo is full length and shows Buki's veil puddling all around in front of them. I cropped the photo for this LO so you could see their faces. The bouquet is huge and truly amazing as well! Rose is still supposed to get back to me on the exact date of their wedding so I'll update the LO when I get that info.

I also obtained a few other older photos and hope to be able to create LO's with those soon. In the mean time, I'm still trying to put together another freebie kit as well. I was just really excited about this LO and how it turned out that I had to post it here too!

The good news and the bad news . . .

Well . . . I have my new computer and it's awesome! I've been very careful about the files that I'm transferring and trying to stay organized with tagging photographs, etc. with Elements Organizer. Unfortunatley, I still haven't found the original disk for CS2 and I think I'm gonna have to give it up. I'll either try to get another one off of eBay or I'll bite the bullet and go straight to CS4. There is one other program (Photo Impact Pro) that I was looking at, but I still haven't made a final decision just yet. For now I'm gonna use Elements to see what I can create in the way of papers and elements. Hopefully I can catch up on doing more pages to add to my gallery as well. I should have another kit available for download very soon and maybe even a mini-kit as well.

I've also been day-dreaming about what to do in my garden this year. The paper whites are blooming right now and their scent just fills the living room. Needless to say, I've got the planting bug already. I've been thinking about starting a Garden Journal (a binder with photos and clippings from the magazines that I have) and I even bought about 10 packets of seeds today . . . lavendar, dill, larkspur, morning glory and zinnia . . . just to name a few. I can't wait! I think I'm gonna go get a grow light tomorrow and set up my indoor greenhouse once again. I had one at the old house and had quite a few surprises and success with starting seeds then so I definitely want to try again!

Anyway, here's a picture of the paper whites . . .

Time sure is flying!

Wow! It's 2009 already! The holidays were a blast and I hate to see them end, but it's back to reality for now with Sam back at school and lots of snow and freezing temps on the way. I've been so busy that my head is spinning. I've been trying to get together pictures and info for setting up my Etsy shop and still have much work to do and info to gather. It's really hard to come up with a price for some of the items so I've been reading up alot on the Etsy site and trying to get tips on pricing, etc. There's quite a variety of items that I have so it's taking more time and thought than initially anticipated.

I've also been trying to put together my SNL kit for January and I'm almost done. Here's a preview . . .




















Hubby and I decided that we're going to get a new computer here so I have to start backing up files and transferring stuff. So for now that's gonna be taking up most of my time in the next week or so. I just hope I'll be able to find the original program disk for PS CS2. I've been searching for 2 days now and can find the disks for all the plug-ins and other goodies from all the books and extras I purchased, but the original program disk is no where in sight. I'll be really sad if I can't find it and not sure what I'll do or what program to use for creating elements and such for scrapbooking. I still have hope that I will find the disk though.

Well . . . I'm off for now and hope to be back soon!

Almost Christmas!

WOW, I can't believe I haven't checked here in a month. I've been busy cleaning, redecorating and decorating for Christmas this whole month. I'll be spending the next couple of days putting the finishing touches on decorations and picking up around the house. But my favorite part of the next couple of days will be cooking! Ham and chicken, potato salad and baked mostaccioli are just some of the things that are on the menu. Mushroom tarts and rouquefort swirls for appetizers and plenty of wine and drink. I may even make a punch too.

I haven't taken that many pictures yet but I took this one that I really like! It's definitely beginning to look alot like Christmas! It's super cold here and we're expecting more snow today as well. I don't really mind the snow, but when the wind blows and it's -35 degrees, it's really tough.

















Well, hopefully after this rush of partying and holiday happenings, I'll be able to get back to some digi scrapping!

First Freebie Kit . . .

OK . . . I have the file uploaded now and we're going to see if this works. First I should tell you that the kit is created in 200 ppi and the download size is about 16MB. If this is too large and/or you're having a problem downloading the file, please let me know by leaving a comment. There will be a Terms of Use text file included indicating how the kit can be used . . . please be sure to read it over before using any of the papers or elements in the kit. Here's a preview of the kit:

It's called Little Boy Blue and contains the following papers and elements:

1 blue/brown plaid paper

1 blue grunge paper

1 blue colored pencil paper

1 light blue paper

1 "sons" word art element

1 leather knotted cord

1 knotted plaid ribbon

1 wood frame

1 riveted "boys will be boys" button

1 rivet corner overlay

1 blue sticky note

1 dark blue straight stitch element

You can download it here: LittleBoyBlueKit.zip

Making progress . . .

I've been working on and trying to find out how to get freebies on this blog for you to download and I think I've almost figured it out. I set up an account at 4 shared and am working on finishing a kit I've had sitting on the computer for a while. The goal is to have a kit a week to give away for free. I'm not saying that's what I'll be able to do, but that is my hope. Here's a LO I've been working on with some of the elements from the kit. Hopefully, in the next day or two, I'll have it ready for download!

A New Banner . . .

I made this great kit for the Designer Finder Contest and I just had to make a new banner for my blog using the papers and elements. I was kind of afraid when I heard that you needed to make at least one metal element for the kit. I ended up making 3 and I think they turned out great! I can't believe how much I'm learning in PS CS2. There were certain things that I didn't understand or didn't take the time to practice with that are now clicking and that I really understand.

Well . . . I'm off for now . . . I have to wait I think until Saturday to see if I am eliminated. If I am . . . I'll be happy with what I have learned and accomplished so far and keep on learning, practicing and CREATING!

Going to the Quilt Expo tomorrow

I love going to the Quilt Shows! There's one in the spring at the Stevenson Center and one in the fall at the Schaumburg Convention Center. Being that it's getting much colder outside, I'm once again thinking of the quilts I need to finish. I also like the fact that they can be displayed as art. Although, I love painting on canvas and have a few pieces displayed throughout the house, my favorite is the art quilt I made from a kit. It's called Moonlit Garden and is hung in my living room. Here are a few photos . . .

I think this quilt is the greatest piece of art I've made . . . even if the design was someone else's. The quilting was done by me on the machine and is very dense throughout the entire quilt. I just love the colors and everything about it! So I'm excited about going to the show tomorrow and looking forward to it! At least it will keep my mind off of the Designer Finder Contest as the week 3 assignment will be posted late tomorrow night and it's making me nervous just thinking about what that will be.

August Sunset

August Sunset
Originally uploaded by ladybug_6

This is the photograph I thought of when I received the colors for the 2nd week challenge of the Designer Finder Contest. That's where the name for the background papers came from.

This photo was taken last year right out my front window. We moved into this house 5 years ago and my husband and I go back and forth about getting a tree in front of our house. I really wanted one and he didn't. For now . . . I've kind of let go of wanting a tree in front. We catch some really awesome sunsets here so I guess if we did have a tree, I wouldn't have got such a great pic.

I try to take pictures as often as possible. Sometimes, especially since I don't use the tripod, they don't come out that great. This one did and I absolutely love it and its one of my faves.

Japanese Anemone

Japanese Anemone
Originally uploaded by ladybug_6

I really just wanted to check this out to see how it works. These are one of my favorite flowers I have in my garden. They're a perennial so they come back year after year and with each year, I get more and more! It would be great to see these in every one of my flower beds in spring time!

BTW, does this flower look familiar? It was the inspiration for the flower in my "with Love" kit.

Learning something new every day

I like that I'm learning new things on PS. Keeps my mind off how nervous I really am about the Designer Finder Contest at DSP. No matter what happens I know I'll be closer to my goal. Even if it may take longer than expected. It's fun to see how things develop and how some ideas just don't work out. Atleast I tried and I'll know better for the next assignment . . . whatever that may be.

The current assignment wasn't too bad. Creating a layout with the previous kit and making some background papers with a certain color palette. Nice colors that's for sure. I don't envy the judges' job though. I'm sure it's gotta be tough going through all the posts and narrowing it down. There are 50 contestants and believe me . . . the competition is stiff!

I like the way my background papers came out . . .

So, I'm awaiting to see what the next assignment will be. I know it will be to create elements to go along with the papers, but none of us know what kind of elements they will be looking for. Until then . . . or maybe later this week . . .

A new challenge . . . both personally and professionally!

Well . . . I managed to place sixth in the contest at DSP. Now . . . I've taken the plunge and entered the Designer Finder Contest. Round One will be over at midnight on Friday. This is my entry . . .





















I actually like it quite a bit. Very girly, girly! Not something I would even considering buying myself since I have 2 boys. I especially like the way the flower and the laced element turned out. The pearls have been sitting in a folder on my computer for a while now so at least they've found a home for now! The papers are really great too! I just love the whole kit! I'm very proud of myself actually . . . and I think I deserve it . . . well at least for my first time shot.


I was really nervous about posting it, and a little apprehensive yesterday right after post it, but the responses have been great so far. Anyway, there's probably about 50 people who entered the contest . . . maybe more. I think the competition will be tough. There are some really great kits in the gallery so far! Most of the contestants have been with DSP for quite a while. As long as I'm learning more and furthering my skills with PS CS2, it will be worth a try!


And now I get to wonder what the next assignment will be. Gosh . . . this is starting to get me nervous all over again!

October's almost over!

Geez, I can't believe October is almost gone! I've been so busy helping Sam adjust to school and I also joined the NKOTB (that's New Kid On The Block) challenge at DSP. I've also been trying to sell some stuff on eBay. Busy, busy, busy . . . and, of course, been playing around in PS as well. I've been trying out patterns to make background papers for digi scrapping and even trying my hand at making blinkies. All very fun to do!

I wonder how long this addiction to digi-scrapping is really gonna last. Yesterday, I was thinking that maybe I was lost before I discovered digi-scrapping. I mean . . . really . . . most of my "hobbies" don't last that long. I do have my favorites, of course, but this is one that really seems to be sticking with me and it's like if I don't try something out in PS at least every day, I feel out of sorts. I've certainly been learning alot and have accumulated quite a bit of tutorials off the internet of things I want to try and things I think I might use one day. (That's in addition to all the magazines and books I already have!)


Anyway, let's see . . . here's a taste of something I recently created . . .

This is the layout I submitted for judging in the challenge at DSP previously mentioned. I really like this one the best of the three layouts that I did for the challenge. My hubby thought this was the best one too.

A whole week has passed me by . . .

Can't believe it's been a whole week since I last checked in here. With the kids beginning school again, the time just flies by. Trying to sell some stuff on eBay . . . so that's kind of keeping me busy as well. Think I hit a little rut in PS, but that's the way it goes. I just haven't really liked anything new that I've come up with. I'm sure something will spark soon enough.


In the mean time . . . here's another one of those mini pages I made for my iPod.

Aren't they just too COOL!

Mini Albums . . . they're addicting!

I've spent most of yesterday and today creating these mini pages for my nano. I think I've created about 25 or so thus far. I did an album for family, one for my garden and one for our recent trip to the zoo.

Here's a few of the pages I especially like . . .

Don't know how many more I've got in me but all I know is that I've got to create more! So off I go again to play in PS!

Keeping busy . . .

Seems I've missed a couple of days here. We went to Brookfield Zoo to see the new baby giraffe and I've been busy getting school supplies together. Been also playing around with PS making mini pages for the Nano. These are really fun to create . . . quick, easy, small and FUN!

Here are 2 so far that I like . . .

Even though the pic of Ian is pretty old, I like the way this "mini page" turned out! Like I mentioned . . . they're so quick and easy to make . . . it's addicting. I'm definitely making more of these today! Now I'll always have pics of them with me and I won't have to worry about ruining any original photographs. They're much nicer to look at than just a plain ol' photograph too!

By the way, I got this idea from Digital Scrapbooking magazine . . . in the June/July 2008 issue. This is a great magazine with some really cool ideas for digi scrapping!

Here's a photo of that baby giraffe too . . . it was taken by my little guy, Sam . . . I think he did a great job! The baby doesn't have a name yet so we'll have to wait and see.

Well, I'm off again to go play in PS!

Digital Scrapbook fever

Been thinking more about scrapbook projects and other thoughts and ideas, etc. for things to create in PS. I have these tiled patterns I created many years ago with Terrazo on the Mac. I saved them all this time and I created background papers with them. They are in 300 dpi though and I guess 200 dpi is what all the designers are now using. That is on DSP atleast.

Here's a small sampling of some of the papers I've created so far . . .

I should try to create a coordinated set in 200 dpi and get the Stuff-It program so I can convert them to zip files. Files, experiments and scrapbook elements are starting to take up quite a bit of space on the computer here. I probably should look about getting a back up disk drive as well. Well . . . I'm off to go play if PS for now!

Thoughts for today . . .

Been trying to clean out old stuff . . . in the "studio" and on the computer. Came across one of several quilts I still haven't finished yet. This one is intended to be a wall hanging or "art quilt" of a kimono.

It is on the smaller side . . . measuring 40 X 45 inches approximately so I could just stitch it on the machine. I guess I'm still not quite sure of the motifs I'd like to do so still it sits unfinished. Besides, I do have yet another quilt that is almost completed. (I still have to decide on the border I'd like to use) That one is much bigger though measuring 80 X 100 inches and the biggest quilt yet that I have undertaken. I have a picture of it here . . .

It's been sitting unfinished for atleast a year now. Since it's almost September, I'm starting to think about quilting again. I should try to finish it before that really bitter cold weather sets in. I know this one's gonna keep me nice and warm too! I do have a couple of other quilts that are still unfinished as well.

There are also 3 that I have finished and some other smaller pieces and wall hangings that I have done. I'll have to post pictures of those as well, but for now, I'm getting tired and want to wind down for the night. It's been an exhausting day . . . standing in line at the college with Ian so he can get his classes and schedule together and getting books 'n such. So . . . until tomorrow . . .

How 'bout the header ^ !

I really like the way it turned out! It didn't take very long either. This is just a small sample of some of the digitial art I've been creating lately. I'll be posting additional pictures and samples in the near future.


I've dabbled from time to time with Photoshop and have learned a few things over the past year or so. Recently, I got the digital scrapbook bug (Lot's of fun!) and came across this at the bookstore . . .



















I still have lots to learn about the ins and outs of it all, but I'm definitely having a lot of fun learning!

A New Day

I told myself last night that I would try to write here everyday so that I can get my thoughts down and get myself more organized. (I really need to straighten up my "studio" space yet again.) I came across this acrylic work that's in one of the many piles of books, papers, etc. on top of the table in there . . .

Again, I just started to play with the paint . . . here I used cream, light "sky" blue and chocolate as my base colors and just mixed variations from there. I tore pieces of sheet music and scrapbook paper and other textured papers and adhered them with gel medium. To create the first layer of texture I applied saran wrap to wet paint and let it set up. I also used a rubber stamp and even outlined some of those images with pen and pencil. Finally, I added some sand for additonal texture and because the colors reminded me of the beach. Here's a picture of the detail of the lower left hand corner. I just love the texture here!

This was painted on gesso primed 140 lb. watercolor paper and measures 12 X 17 1/2 inches. Again, the pictures don't see to be that great here, but in person, I really like the colors and textures I created.

My First Post

I just signed up for this today and want to see how it works.

I'm hoping to post some of my art work and get my thoughts about it written down so that I'll able to look back at what I did and how I accomplished it. It seems that the art I create and like is when I don't have a plan at all and just pick two or three colors of acrylic paint and start to play. That's how this painting came to be . . .

The picture looks washed out because of the glare at the top created by the gel medium used to adhere the sheet music. (Photography's not my thing really) It was painted on gesso primed 140 lb. watercolor paper and measures 12 X 17 1/2. My favorite part, of course, is the pear which you can see in detail here . . .

I really love the colors here . . . the blues, lime and yellows are one of my favorite combinations of colors of late. Crackling medium is something that I like to use to create texture on an otherwise flat surface and for backgrounds.