New In The Shop: Rain!

As long as there's rain here, I might as well give you some too--except mine's a bit cuddlier. =) I've finally finished a quite large kit that includes an alpha (caps, numbers, punctuation), 10 papers, and 42 elements ranging from frames to critters. It's pretty gender-adaptable, too--I know I'm always looking for kits like that! Here are the previews. First, the elements:



And the papers:



And the alpha (also available separately):



And here's a quick little layout:



Credits: Everything from the Rain kit (Heather T., Get Digi With It). Fonts: You Are Loved and Helena's Hand. Journaling reads: "There is nothing quite so freeing as a PUDDLE (although, personally, the Subaru and I could have done without the mud bath)!"

Getting There

For a challenge by Black Dog Designs, at her new Out Of The Box challenge blog. I did, and did labor over this one, and there's a lot I'm not pleased with, but I certainly went well out of my box (and fell into the drink, I think)!



Credits: Love card by Katie Pertiet (Designer Digitals, Simple Spots). Metal heart by Creashens (Catscrap, Bye Bye Birdie). Letter paper by Jesse Edwards, Journaling Challenge 12-21-08. Composition book by 3 Pixel Chicks (3 Pixel Chicks, Chick Your Grade). Shelf by Jofia Devoe (Digichick, In My Mommy's Dream). Chalk by M. Paige (Oscraps, To The Blackboard). Hanging frame, bolts, and rope frame by Natali Designs (StudioGirls, Countryside Kit). Dried roses by Monica Larsen (DSPB, Floralis). Other elements mine, aided by stock photography from StockExchange or Morgue Files, or my own. Fonts: Tahoma and 1942 Report. Journaling reads:


Getting there


I'm not sure where there is.


It used to be that all I wanted
Was to get married
And have kids.
And it didn't happen.
And it didn't happen.
And it didn't happen.
And after the third time,
I said to myself that perhaps
It wasn't supposed to happen
And threw all of me into other things
My Ph.D., my teaching, my deviant self.
And then, of course, it happened.
And really, once you get there, it's
Almost the end of everything, because
The child is a black hole of love and attention.
Inside of me, inside an older, more temperate
More attentive me, there are other aspects
Waiting to be birthed:
The artist, the poet, the lonely
Watcher, overwhelmed with beauty.


I love where I am now
But I still see a path
Running ahead like moon on the water
And I pray for clear skies.

Fantastic Freebie!

Well, ok, the freebie is named "Fantastic." =) I came up with it while I was doing this layout:



So I'm giving away the background, with stitching, the heart/sun, and the flower/butterfly cluster. I hope you can enjoy them! And do have a wonderful and safe holiday break... (Click on the preview to go to the download section. Comments -most- appreciated, thank you!)

New In The Shop: Ginkgos & Wordart

(I'm never sure whether wordart is word art or wordart. Ah, the things I stress over... ;)

But, I do have a nifty new kit out, full of beautiful ginkgo leaves based on one of my stamp designs:



And I think I'm going to do a series of "You Are My..." wordart pieces, the first of which is up:



So of course, I couldn't find anything better to do than think up a new one for the layout I made with the ginkgo kit:



Hope you find these new items tasty!

Catching Up On Layouts & Stamps

I have recently just discovered K'Lynn of Black Dog Designs and her magnificent layouts through the Gallery Standouts. I'm mesmerized by her multi-layered artwork, the way she sees detail and the way she can extrapolate an item from a kit and make it really work in an entirely different context. I'm also a touch in awe of her technical skills, too. =)

Being the sponge that I am, of course echoes of her work are going to filter through my stuff for a while... certainly in this first layout. There's a bit of Vinnie Pearce in there too, of course, but man, I need to get some more skills into my tired fingers...

I've been sitting on a kit of mine, Rain, for some time now. I keep on vacillating between artsy and more child-oriented, so of course nothing's coming together real well, but I'm building bits of it here and there. I've used some of that stuff in the following layout, as well as 2 papers from Paired Paper Pack at Get Digi With It. Fonts: Typewrong and Soul Mission. Journaling reads: Sometimes the only place you won't get tossed about is inside your head."



I also wanted to get some more CT work done before the rush of the holidays. I made one with some Vinnie Pearce stuff that's not coming out till January so I can't show it to you, but I made another with some of her awesome templates at CatScrap. A child's ability to brush away the cobwebs of adulthood is amazing and humbling:



Credits: All Vinnie Pearce at CatScrap. Give Me Simple Template Pack No. 2. Papers from Moments of Special, New, and Typography Corner pack No. 1. Little red heart from I Live For, globe from Playing in the Snow, and pearls from Naturals. Font: Prestige Elite Std. Journaling reads: "you take things at face value -- your innocence sees so clearly."

I did some with 3 Pixel Chicks stuff:



(Credits: Everything by 3 Pixel Chicks, Together Kit, with a little touch of Centure Gothic for the date.

I also did another for Sande Krieger at 2 Peas. She really has a huge selection, and since I got it all at once, it's all new and shiny for me. There is also rather little bundled as a kit--much of her work is in series (a whole bunch of frames, a whole bunch of tags, a whole bunch of papers, etc.), so you get to pick and choose a lot... Her little kit of houses called Home Is Where The Heart Is really inspired me on this one!



I also did one with my own kit, Merry Christmas:



And finally, in other news, I've finished a new stamp plate for Art Neko. Unfortunately, Candice (the owner of the store) feels that business has been too slow to produce a new plate at this time, but I hope it will get out there eventually! Here's a little preview (just a bit from the center--you can't see everything!)...



I hope you have a great week!

New In The Shop!

To continue in the Christmas vein, I have this cute kit that re-uses some of the CATW elements, but in more traditional colors. In addition, there are some nicely grunged papers, and some great ornament frames!



And remember that little chick from a while back? Here's the full mini-kit!



And finally, a really nice assortment of grungy/distressed papers that come in pairs, one with swirls and flourishes, the other softly textured. They all look super-nice together, and you can use them most anywhere.



Ta Dah! *lol* I'm soooooo enjoying this. =)

Big News: My Shop!

I'm so pleased to be selling at Get Digi With It -- a dream come true, to have my own shop! Now go buy something! *lol*

Bloghop Freebie: Christmas Around The World

A massive endeavor by Kimberly (Fishin' Mom Designs), this mega-megakit features designers from many different parts! Go check 'em all out at the Christmas Around The World site--but not before you snag my little bit of it! Just click on the image to be taken to the download site. I'd sure appreciate any comments you'd care to make--you'll have to leave them on the blog, though, as 4shared no longer allows them! Joyeux Noël... =) (No longer available, sorry)

And Yet Another CT...

...for Sande Krieger! I was so very pleased--Sande is another of those Class A-Quadrillion-Plus designers. Here's my first layout with only her stuff, available at 2Peas:

SN&R Bloghop: Winter Projects

A special welcome to those of you hopping over here from Scrapbook News & Review!

Here are a couple of winter projects for you starring the fabulous goods of Vinnie Pearce, currently selling at Catscrap. These layouts feature her newest kit Playing In The Snow, full of glittery goodness! Vinnie is an amazing artist and digital designer. She always comes up with the most imaginative elements--I find her incredibly inspiring.



Winter Wonderland uses most everything from Vinnie Pearce's Playing In The Snow kit (Catscrap), but also a paper from My Pet Elephant, a brush from New, a star from My First Bike. Font: Mea Culpa. Journaling reads: "Winter’s wonderland will always, always, always be magical to me."



This one is a picture of pine cones that I took just this last Saturday... with fake snow! *lol*

Credits: All Vinnie Pearce (Catscrap). Template from Give Me Simple Template Pack No. 1. Most papers and elements from Playing in the Snow, but also with a paper from Give Me Simple and one from My Pet Elephant. Stitching from Us kit. Swirl from Grunge Swirls. Star from My Pet Elephant. Fonts: Ink'd God and F25 Executive.

Chance Discovery: Tinting

You can change the color of a photograph in several ways, notably with the hue/shift sliders, or the selective color sliders. If you want the whole photo to be in shades and tints of the same color, you first desaturate it (make it black and white, but keep the RGB mode--instead of turning it into a grayscale image), then fiddle with the hue/shift sliders. But that doesn't quite get it, as all your blacks shift color--if you want a really light color the blacks become really light too.

HowEVER, if you keep your color photograph and add an adjustment layer (the little half black, half white icon at the bottom of the layers palette) of "Solid Color", pick your color, then set that layer's blending mode to "Color" as well... ta dah!! Now you've got a tinted photo, versus a colorized black and white. The contrast values are still really sharp, *and* you've got color everywhere you want! KEWL!

Here are two screen shots:

Desaturated, then recolored (click the "colorize" box) with Image-->Adjust-->Hue/Saturation (click on image to see more fully):



And now with the Color adjustment layer set to color blending mode:



The difference is really noticeable in Allen's pants, for example. I remember being bummed last year when Stef talked about being able to do this easily in CS3--in CS2 there's no explicit option for this. So, yay!