Fall Splendor Freebie (Blog Party!)

Gosh, it seems like forever ago--at least a couple of months!--I heard about a "blog party" led by WenchdGrafix. Checked it out, loved the color swatches, made up a freebie! And I've been sitting on it since then (owww, my poor hind end... ;). Anyway, I'm just one of 67 or so people around the world who are in on the fun. Click on the mini-mini-kit preview to get my part, and check out everybody else's by clicking on the Blog Party image! I haven't even had a chance to check everybody's stuff out yet--should be fun!

Here's my little Fall Splendor Freebie participation--some papers, a sticker, a button, an overlay, and three totally cool ribbons I made with the help of card-maker extraordinaire, Jenny Gropp:



And here's where you can go to get the rest of the goodies:



Have fun!

Grit: A Freebie

I've had this alpha just kinda hanging around for several months now, and just happened to use it on a layout today:



Credits: Background paper by Vinnie Pearce (Pixel Canvas, Single FLORA white [recolored]). Photo is masked with some of Anna Aspnes's brushes from her Fruehling kit (Designer Digitals), and the splotches up top are by Katie Pertiet (DD, 2PM Chat Freebie) covered with Vinnie Pearce's Woodland Boys paper. The alpha is mine (Grit). Branch by Katie Pertiet (From My Porch Brushes), and the darling little owl is by Rhonna Farrer (2Peas, Back To School kit).

I blended 4 photos into one--the beach, and bay in the background, are only about 1/2 as wide! Did it for a challenge at 2Peas--lots of fun! Not so complicated, really--just used layer masks with a small gradient along the right edge of each of the photos, moved the photos up or down to make him about the same size/perspective, blended the horizon line and the sky (that was really the trickiest), took off the real shadows--they extended out of the photos--and put in much smaller ones using a burn tool, then cropped the whole thing so it would fit.

Anyway, I thought you guys might like having the alpha, too! In my layout I used it with a Soft Light layer blending mode and a drop shadow. [no longer available, sorry]

Published!

Finally! I was asked, about 2 years ago, to collaborate--along with some really great card and scrapbook artists--on a book on Asian scrapbooking. The funny thing is that I wasn't really scrapbooking then (I hadn't heard of digital scrapping yet). But Kristy Harris, the owner of Far Flung Craft, was also wanting cards--and Asian cards, I can do! So I made a bunch of cards, and Kristy wrote her book, and it's finally in production! Powell's Books doesn't list it as available yet, but it does seem like it's finally becoming a reality. Whee! I can't wait to see it!



That calla lily card on the front is mine, similar to this one:

Awww, man....

Pixel Canvas's shop conked! Now it might not be open till Monday. Poor Vinnie!

Pixel Canvas is OPEN!

Oh you guys, go and check it out! Pixel Canvas is Vinnie Pearce's new shop, and BOY does she have some spectacular goodies! Plus, she's giving away prizes to those who register, so be sure you do that... Here are some of the layouts I've made with her yummy designs:







(Stitching by Anna Aspnes, Designer Digitals, Mama Page Set)

Doesn't she have just beautiful stuff??

Robin Frame Freebie

I made this little birdie today, and decided to perch him on a frame... Hope you like him! [no longer available, sorry]



I'm still procrastinating. YIKES! *lol* And here's a layout I made with it:



Credits: Background paper mine (Early Summer Light), as well as the robin frame. Swirl from Anna Aspnes (Designer Digitals, Web Challenge 18-5-08). Stitching and holes also by Anna from her Mama Page Set. Heart tree by Katie Pertiet (DD, Love Grows No. 1). Fonts: Chocolat Bleu and Freeze!. Journaling reads:"As a new mother, I always worried whether everything was developing just right. You can't know how pleased I was to see you playing with your toes."

Here's a layout I made with a bunch of Shaui's freebies, and a couple of purchased items:



Credits: All from Shaui at Fei-Fei's Stuff (Oscraps) or from her blog. Base (shapes, frame, stitching) is a freebie template, Circled, with papers from her freebie Crumpled pack and from her I'm Krafty kit. Orange bloom collection from a fabulous freebie, Flowerbunch. Font: Tintinabulation. Journaling reads: "sheer joy of an evening on the beach."

Shaui sells under the Fei-Fei's Stuff label over at Oscraps, and her blog is over there in my sidelines. Awesome stuff!

And meanwhile... I've been having a blast creating layouts for Pixel Canvas, Vinnie Pearce's soon-to-be shop. The shop opens Saturday... WHEEEE!

Fishermen

Just a little layout from our trek to Lincoln City yesterday:



Credits: Everything mine. Frame and leaf embellishment, and stamp frame, from freebies (Fall Leaves and Quilted). String from my Daisy kit. Background paper is also a freebie (Mediterraneo mini-kit). Fonts: Ginga and Telegraphem.

Shrooms 1 Freebie

Ok, I'm totally procrastinating... I'm actually somewhat of an amateur mycologist--spent one summer in Maine at my Grandpa's lake cabin and roamed the woods with a basket and scraps of waxed paper, and a stick. I dug up hundreds of mushrooms, took them back, drew them, disected them and drew them again, and took spore prints. It was fascinating!

Not that these have much to do with reality. *giggles*

[no longer available, sorry]

It's coming... Fall Leaves Freebie

Oh, we had another glorious fall day today at the coast, and drove about an hour north to Lincoln City, just to visit. Saw a bay full of tree carcasses, a macaw, and I got a ton of cute pics of DH and Allen... before the latter took a major slide across a parking lot a little later on. Poor guy. He even put a bandaige (that's how he says it, kind of half-way between "Band-Aid" and "bandage" on his nose... vertically. =) It's so sweet how he's *absolutely* oblivious of other people's perceptions of him. =)

Anyway, I've been feeling Fallish, so here's a little embellished frame for you! [no longer available, sorry]

Discoveries

Oh, man, I just discovered Shaui's blog, Fei-Fei's Stuff. I swear, my computer's a gig heavier. I love her stuff!! She sells over at Oscraps, too. Scrumptious goodies!

I first saw her designs on Timounette's blog, but then I found out that Shaui is also going to be on the same Creative Team as I... for Vinnie Pearce!! Little ole me, fancy that. I am so pleased I'm afraid my smile will unzip my head and what few brains I have will fall out... heh. 'Tis the ghoulish season, after all... Anyway, I am psyched!! Vinnie's shop, Pixel Canvas, should be open in a couple of weeks. Watch out scrappin' world!

Your Eyes: Another Font Freebie

To go along with this layout I made last night... I don't know why, but his eyes get me every time. So piercing!



Credits: Background paper by 3 Pixel Chicks (Watercolors); overlaying paper on a template by Anna Aspnes (Designer Digitals, Torn N Tattered Paper Templates No. 4 B), and a blend of Lynn Grieveson's In Distress paper (DD) with a paper from the New Beginning Collections by Raspberry Road Designs. Picture is framed by Katie Pertiet's Posted Frames (DD). Swirls behind that are by Rhonna Farrer (Swirls V. 14). Jewelish peacock and flower from Lynn Grieveson's Nanyang Kit. Font: Your Eyes, a new font I made just for this layout.

And here's the link to the font (just click on the pic):



(All elements in this little preview are mine.)

Latest Layouts

The first one, Us, uses everything from Vinnie Pearce's new freebie kit, Us.



And this was a fun exercise in blending. There are two photos, and I've used gradient layer masks on both. The leaf has a radial mask, since it has a clear focal point; the second has a linear gradient mask going from left to right. I also used a low opacity paintbrush to soften up the blend lines, as well as the darkness of the sand ridges in the leaf photo. I love how serendipity points the sand direction right to Allen's silhouette!



Credits: All Designer Digitals. Background paper by Lynn Grieveson for the Chat Freebie (9/14/08); corner & edge decorations by Anna Aspnes (both her Hipster Plumes & Korners No. 2 and the Fruehling Elements Kit). Fonts: 3rd Man and Reprobate. Journaling reads: "colored leaves / the gathering of the gulls / sand migration / a nip at the ears / and you, always you / and me, following behind // Fall at the beach // the best time of the year"

Life flies

We brought Jamesie home tonight, and he's actually totally cuddly and really a lot more responsive--and a lot less in pain, seemingly--than we expected. Not that I think that it'll change his prognosis, but I've really enjoyed snuggling with him tonight.

But here's a layout I made earlier today, with him in mind (and, by the way, you're going to have a tough time seeing much of anything if your monitor isn't calibrated properly ;):



Credits: All Designer Digitals. The base is from Kellie Mize's Tortuga Template No. 58, for the frame, staples, flower; also her stitching in the upper right from the TT No. 100. Anna Aspnes for the stitching holes and mask in upper right (Mama Page Set and Floral Art No. 4). Katie Pertiet for the lovely little butterfly (From My Porch Brushes). Font: butterbrotpapier. Journaling reads: "life flies / on little wings / of hope, and love"

More and more, I find that this medium is really suited to how I visualize my poetry, which is in short bursts but nonetheless with a lot of resonance. I also like how I can lay out the lines to my liking, instead of being bound by more conventional paragraph/line spacing.

And here, for a complete change, is a layout with all 3 Pixel Chicks goodies:



Credits: Most everything from the sweet new template from 3 Pixel Chicks, Party Time Edition, except for the "2" (Font: Franklin Gothic), which is overlaid by a "Stripey" paper also by 3 Pixel Chicks (Seasonal Canvas Papers, Chickita Designs), and the journaling, which is overlaid by a Chick Your Grade paper. Font for journaling: Pooh. Journaling reads: "Still a touch confused by this whole birthday thing, Allen required yoghurt, presents, and Grandmama to FINALLY produce a smile!"

The Sea Is For Drowning

Jamesie, our darling gentle giant cat, has just been diagnosed with a horrible enlargement of the liver, and is very, very sick. And we are very fearful for how it may end. Coming so soon after Oso... it's rough. So I apologize for not keeping up with the blog for the last couple of days or so.



Credits: All Designer Digitals. Jessie Edwards and Katie Pertiet for the frames (Web Challenge 080308, and Posted Frames No. 2). Katie Pertiet for the shell brush, from her Beachy Clusters. Twill ribbon and ledger label from Katie Pertiet's Shell Collector No. 4. Anna Aspnes contributed a mask and paper for inside the frames from her Floral Art 2 masks, and from her Mama Page Set. Font: Undo 35. Journaling reads:

"the sea
is for days
when I have
not enough tears

for when I need

to drown in sorrow
to drown my sorrow

for when I crave
beauty

to crack open
the marrow of my soul"

A Couple of Layouts I've Liked...

The newest, Explore:



(All by Katie Pertiet of Designer Digitals! "The New Black" paper pack, Posted Frames, Sunprint Stamps, Floral Ledgers No. 2, Embraced Sentiments, From My Porch Brushes, Lil Bit Tags, and Floral Monograms alpha.)

and one for the blur challenge over at 2Peas, Move it:



(Credits: All Designer Digitals. Papers by Katie Pertiet (My Country and Shell Collection 4), Lynn Grieveson (Kiwiana and Chuff Chuff), Mary Ann Wise (Enjoy The Journey), and Anna Aspnes (Mama Page Set). Overlays by Katie Pertiet (Beachy Clusters) and Anna Aspnes (Hipster Plumes: Korner Edges 2). Frame by Katie Pertiet (Posted Frames). Font: Telegraphem. Journaling reads: No lazy days on the beach for you. Tag reads: Move it. )

Heart Flower Freebie

Just a little layered template to help you pass the time -- and it's easy, too! Tip: take the photos you want to use for the little rectangles, set your crop tool to make a 2x2" square, then drag the photo over the appropriate layer. Make a clipping mask, then move the little square around until it shows what you like... lot easier than resizing the whole picture every time, plus it'll save file space.

Here's the layout I made with it (the fonts are Porcelain and Enchanted Prairie Dog):



And here's the freebie! (Click on the image to go to the download area)