Cherish Each Other

My computer/internet was not working last week - so I had to get the creative juices flowing again. Not having reliable computer access these days is difficult for me - I'm so accustomed to just being able to pop on anytime. Hopefully this time I've got it all set up ok so that the next big storm won't knock everything out again.

I used the color blending mode here to make the swirl brush and the title seem like the were part of the background paper - this way the texture shows through. The patterned papers were too bright so I applied a light sepia overlay to them (just used the sepia photo filter to change a piece of paper to sepia and then just changed the opacity). For the main phot to have that retro feel, I took a copy of the original and changed it to black & white and then layered them on top of each other and set the opacity of the B&W photo to 75% so just a hint of the soft colors from behind would show. I also applied an inner glow to the paper square to give them a bit more dimension.



Page Idea from Love You Always by d2vasquez at the digichick
Kit Haute Spring by Zoe Pearn
Ric Rac from Bows & Ribbons Vol 3 by Bannerwoman Designs
Brush from SwirlsII by Stephanie Shimerdia (obsidian dawn)
Stitched Button from Stitching by Petja24
Edge Overlay from Zoey by Clara Wallace
Fonts - Mom's typewriter, 4990810, IKHI00GLA3

I'm working on a freebie called Little Athlete - I just need to find some time to finish it and do a couple more layouts - I'd really hoped to get 12 done this month - if I hadn't lost that week I might have gotten it done.

Love Your Smile

It's not often that I use only one kit for an entire LO - fortunately it worked out in this case. That's three LOs I've gotten out of this kit, so I'd say it was worth the cost. I did this LO for this week's scraplift challenge at the digichick.

Thought I'd share a few tips in case you hadn't run across them elsewhere yet. For the date text that is on the curve of the curve I used a text template since PSE doesn't do text on paths. But then I also changed the blending mode for the text to overlay which made it blend into the background paper - changing the opacity would have given similar results I'm sure. Blending modes are a neat thing to try if you haven't already.

For the labels I used the Embossing Tape font, but it's flat looking, so I used the emboss filter. I haven't figured out how to get it to be any color besides gray when I do this so I have to recolor the text when I'm done, but I like how it looks.

For the word smile, I found a new font - Soopafresh at dafont, typed in the text, simplified the layer and then covered it in a paper from the kit. Since it was also dotty like the white paper and I had the text exactly where I wanted it before I clipped the paper, the dots from the black & white papers match up exactly - I thought that was a cool effect. Then I added a drop shadow and a simple outer bevel to give it dimension.








Page Idea from Sweet Child of Mine by Kalli at the digichick
Kit Happily Ever After by Mary Fran
fonts - Problem Secretary, Embossing Tape, Soopafresh

Now for the conclusion of From a Little Baby. I won't make you wait any longer to get the final pieces, they are all here - Part 4, the Template and the Add-On. The Add-On includes some word art & an alpha. I've set the template up to be super flexible, so I hope it helps you track your child's growth. The size labels are available in 3 different fonts, and if you do a 2 page LO it will go from birth to 10 years.

Thanks for the comments - I can't wait to see some LOs!







Pick up Part 4 of From a Little Baby HERE (other 3 parts are available in previous posts)
Pick up the Add-On to From a Little Baby HERE
Pick up the From a Little Baby Template HERE

The number of downloads has dropped by about a 100 with each part, so there should only be about a handful that get these last two pieces. Interestingly to me, part 1 keeps getting more downloads each day, but not the others hmmmm???

Packing up the Pappis

WOW - is that red or what? When I first got supplies (paper ones back then) to start the girls baby books I only bought pink & green papers, now their books are full of color.

A few firsts for me on this LO - I've never used a B&W photo. Others do it all the time and it looks awesome, but when I try I just feel like the photo gets lost. This time it was the perfect solution since the photo wasn't that great and the focus needed to be on the pacifiers anyway. Doing the spot color was pretty easy - I just created a copy of the photo, changed it to B&W, and then erased the B&W photo so the pacifiers could show through in color.

Picking a font for this LO was hard for me - it had to be something that could withstand the bold red background, but not bring the focus away from the picture. I ended up using impact and then playing with the size after simplifying the layer. Then I ran the sponged canvas action on it and then embossed it to make it more 3D.

Made more custom shadows using the liquify tool, I'm getting pretty speedy with those and I just really like the unique results. I struggled trying to decide whether I needed to add a fastner of some sort to hold down the notepaper or picture, and tried a few things that didn't feel right, so in the end I left them off.



Notepaper from breathe easy freebie by KSharonK Designs
Grunge Overlay from Grungy Overlays by Misschifis Scraps
action - sponged canvas by Atomic Cupcake
fonts - cac futura casual, impact

And now for what I'm sure some folks have been waiting for - the next part of From a Little Baby. My computer time has been limited this week as we moved the twins into big beds, and I have to guard against them escaping before they fall asleep. Thanks for the comments - I hope you like this next part. About 100 more folks downloaded part 1 than part 2, so they either didn't like the kit or they missed the 2nd part - it's still available in the previous blog entry.


Pick up Part 3 HERE

Friend for Life

This LO consists of 5 components - background, frame, picture, quote & date. I tried to make it snazzier (is that a word), but ended up deleting anything I added, so I decided just to leave it simple.

I did edit the photo with a filter plug-in for PSE from Optikverve Labs, its really neat (and free!) and you can get it HERE



Papers from Organic by Kay Miller
action - inked edge by Atomic Cupcake
font - CAC futura casual


Now for Part 2 of From a Little Baby. I have a few ideas for some things, so an add-on will definitely come as well. I really appreciate those that cared enough to leave a comment - those are truly inspiring, and make it feel as if the effort is worth while to someone.


Pick up Part 2 HERE

Like a Little Chick

My first LO without a picture. Seems a little strange, but I didn't have a good picture to go with the LO, and I couldn't come up with a way quickly to add one, so I just did without - besides, their MDO teacher, Ms. Debbie does these great sketches. I have another spring one with their fingerprints I need to scrap yet too.

Funny, I bought these Straight Set ribbons a while ago and wondered if I'd ever use them and now I can't stop using them.

The color challenge over at the digichick this week was orange, which inspired me to get this LO done - their challenges have been great for getting my most current LOs completed.








Folded Paper Brush from Paper Damage by Adobe
Ribbons from Straight Set by Natalie Braxton
Stitching by Manu
Grid Overlay from Basics Overlay by Pton Designs
Knot by Knotted Stitches by Katie Hadfield
Alpha by Dirty Feet Designs
Heart Brush from Endlessly by Seishido
Actions - inked edge by Atomic Cupcake
Fonts - 2peas chatterbox, stamp act, kid print
chick sketch & saying by Ms. Debbie @ MDO

Now for another little freebie. Last week I revisited one of my older LOs that I had done in Powerpoint and wanted to do in PSE. Decided to make a small kit which I have broken into 4 pieces and one template. By the time I give it all away I'm sure I'll have an add-on too. Here's a preview of what I have so far - 14 papers, and elements in all the colors, the labels go all the way to 10 years. You can click on the image to see a larger version, some of the items I had to make smaller to fit in the preview.

Pick up Part I of From a Little Baby HERE

Stayin' Cool at the Pool

This LO was inspired by the weekly scraplift challenge at The Digi-chick. Somehow have a deadline makes me more creative.

Challenges are aptly named it seems, in addition to getting me to create another LO, they also challenge me to learn new things - this week I was able to use the Distort-> Polar Coordinates to turn straight ric-rac into circular ric-rac, the trick is to make sure your object is 200% taller as somehow it shrinks when it turns into a circle. I haven't been able to really make it work with text yet. I'm also really pleased with the gel action that makes it look like there is water sploshes on the paper - at least I hope it looks that way to everyone else.








Page idea from I Love U by Jennilyn at The Digi-Chick
Kit Happily Ever After by Mary Fran
Stitching by Natali
Flowers from Funky Flowers by Flergs
Ribbons from Straight Set by Natalie Braxton
Split Splat Brush by Stephanie Shimerdia (obsidian dawn)
Graph Overlay from Basics Overlays by Pton Designs
Grunge Overlay from Grungy Overlays by Misschifis Scraps
Actions - gel by Atomic Cupcake
fonts - CAC Norm Heavy, Retro Rock Poster, CK Ali's Writing

Bubbles

I suddenly seem to have a fascination with using black as the background paper. I guess it really sets off the bright colors in the photos.

I was browing galleries today looking for inspiration as I want to get some LOs done this month - what I really need to do is 3 Easters and 2 Birthdays, but instead I find something that looks neat and I know I have a photo to do something similiar and off I jaunt down a different road.

Today I used a gradient for the first time to create the two colors on the black paper using an overlay. A few custom shadows for the ribbons and then I "cut" the strips for the journaling.



Page idea from Bubbles by jak8396 at yourfavoritepair
Polka Dot Paper from JUMP by Digitreats
Overly from Dirty Overlay by Sugarplum Paperie
Ribbons from Set Straight by Natalie Braxton
Circle Stitching by Natali
Straight & Zizzag Stitches from Basic Stitches by Britt-ish Designs
Date from Date Bits 2 by Misty Cato
Actions - inked edge, pristine chipboard by Atomic Cupcake
font - the blue cabin

I couldn't help myself and made just a few more things for the Spring Denim kit, so here's a few more papers, flowers and cardboard borders to add to the collection. You can click on the image for a larger view.



I've disabled comments in 4shared. If you've really liked the kit and use it somewhere I'd really appreciate a comment back here someday and a link to your LO so I can leave some luv and see my kit used in another way.
You can pickup the Add-On HERE

And to Pam F who asked for suggestions on how to get started designing.
I use PSE5 so I think anything is possible - I won't ever be able to do what those with a doodle pad and PSCS3 are able to create, but I'm constantly amazed at what PSE5 is capable of doing. For me, purchasing actions from Atomic Cupcake has enabled me to create things that would take me an eternity (or longer) to figure out and those little touches add so much to elements. After that, it's just about slowly accumulating commercial use resources to modify and find things that inspire you. I am not planning on ever selling my creations - I don't want a job, I just want to enjoy my hobby and be able to make things for others to enjoy as well.

Spring Out Loud - Kits for Charity

There is this fabulous site called Songbird Avenue. Each month a designer or designers get together and create a fabulous kit. This kit is sold for charity with the entire proceeds going to a designated group each month - and the kits really are fabulous. Please check out this month's kit Spring Out Loud created by Leora Sanford (Little Dreamer Designs) with Jan Crowley and Meredith Fenwick. Funds raised (minus paypal fees) from this kit will be donated to the "Women in Literacy Initiative" at ProLiteracy Worldwide.

Go check it out at Songbird Avenue!

Texas Wildflowers

This LO was inspired partially by my desire to create a kit called Denim Spring and the design was inspired by the pictures chosen for the LO - hence a circle since the whole thing just kept feeding itself. I'm really happy with some of the papers & elements - still trying to work on the right ratio of items when creating a kit. I love how the floral sheet turned out and I figured out how to make ric rac - at least for today using Distort->Wave, we'll see if I can remember the next time I want to do it.








Glitter Frame from Paper Bag Frames by Lindsey Jane Designs
fonts - Jane Austen, Death, 2Peas Hot Chocolate
Papers, Elements, Word Art from Spring Denim by Scraps from Sarah Belle

this kit was made possible by the fabulous
designer resources of the following people.
Andrew Buckle
Atomic Cupcake
Misty Cato
Pton Designs
Robyn Gough
Seishido Brushes


And it's a great day, because I'm giving it all away - a kit and a template! Happy Friday! (I'd love it if someone could tell me why all this white space shows up when I use a table to put photos side-by-side.)








Download the template HERE
Download Papers 1 HERE
Download Papers 2 HERE
Download Elements 1 HERE
Download Elements 2 HERE

I'm not a huge fan of 4shared, but until I have time to figure something else out, it's my choice. The files are big, but I didn't have the patience to break them down further.

Hands Down

whoo-hoo - I got a LO completed during 1 nap!!!! I don't think I've ever done that. This LO really isn't that complicated, but I think I have more people to credit than I have items on the page :-).

This page will always be special as these are my girls little handprints at 31 months. I love it when they do this type of project at Mother's Day Out. I certainly haven't figured out how they do it and not get prints smeared everywhere - years of experience I guess.









Black paper from Vintage Oreo by Summertime Designs
Shape Template from Decorative Templates 04 by Keley Lopes
Sequins from Kimmy by Raspberry Road Designs
Staples from Dreams Do Come True by Brit-ish Designs
Paper Overlay Notebook from Basics-Overlays by Pton Designs
Paper Texture from Commercial Use Grunge by Pineapple Plantation Designs
Layer Style from Brown Bagging It by Misty Cato
Scotch Tape by Mellykat
Font - Pea Sarahloo, Pea Reese