No, I haven’t fallen off the earth…

Saturday, 17 May 2014 / LivE / Leave a comment

I’ve just been caught up in that roller-coaster ride called Real Life. You know what it’s like when you’re whizzing past on the fastest ride and you’re just trying not to get blown away with the wind, right? (If you don’t know what that’s like, come sit with me and tell me your secret. 😀 ).

But I’m back, and I’m home, and boy does it feel good to be back on this porch with you!

New Shop!

Lots of things have remained the same (yes, I’m still ever grateful to be blessed with so much, top of which is my awesome hubby and our now-a-bit-older sons, and everything else that makes up that roller coaster ride) and there are lots of things too that have changed. For example, we now have a new shop (which is the sister-site to JessicaSprague.com) so if you’re looking for more liv.edesigns digital deliciousness, that’s where you’ll find it now! 😉

It’s called SnapClickSupply.com, and you’re absolutely welcome to check it out if you haven’t passed by yet.

The world’s best place to shop for all your digital, photo-editing, and blogging supplies!

* Click on the image above to check out my shop *

New Product!

Another new thing: my newest product is now up in my shop and it’s 25% off all weekend!

A little note about my T+Mini Collection: this is probably one of my all-time favorite products to design (and use too!), because it’s a combination of a pre-made fully-layered template (there’s the T) and a goody-filled mini kit (and there’s the +Mini). It’s perfect for all-time use, both for days when we wish we had more time to spend documenting our precious moments before they slip away and yet find that the day is indeed slipping away (hello, template!)… and for those days when we actually do have the time to start from scratch and build up a page from a blank slate (hello, mini kit!).

The template is fully-layered and fully-adjustable, which means that it comes with everything you need to scrap on the go: just add your photos to the photo masks, type in your journaling, and bam! It’s done! OR you could add or take away from the template according to your whim… it’s really friendly and will do whatever you want.

The mini kit that comes with it is always chock-filled with goodies, complete with papers and elements that coordinate perfectly. You can use them on the template itself, and you can also use them separately on other layouts that you make… thereby building your goody-stash with wonderful additions!

My newest product belongs to the T+Mini collection, and it’s the 11th in the series.

liv.edesigns T+Mini Vol. 11-Story Circles

Here’s the layout that I made with it, celebrating thirty years of friendship with one of my besties!

I used the template as it was, and just added a few more circle cut-outs from the mini kit as well as punched confetti to complete the whole thing.

New A+wesome Creative Team!

I also have been blessed with the most awesome ladies on my creative team this year! They’re super ladies, absolute darlings, and genius artists, every single one of them. I am truly honored to have them on my team and love them to little bits and pieces.

Check out the awesome eye-candy they’ve created with my T+Mini!

I love the soft, gentle feel of Miki’s beautiful layout!

This awesome layout was created by Miki Krueger.

Reneé’s layout is so touching and so heartwarming, don’t you think so?

This awesome layout was created by Reneé Dezember.

Jana’s layout is super-fun and happy, perfect for the documenting fun times at the happiest place on Earth!

This awesome layout was created by Jana Holden.

Can anyone resist sighing, hand on heart, when looking at Lisa’s darling mother’s day layout?

This awesome layout was created by Lisa Breuer.

Summer opted to use the circle stitches alone, and I think it’s an awesome way to bring attention to her lovely photo!

This awesome layout was created by Summer Christiansen.

Margje is having a lovely time vacationing, and she came up with this superb layout while on vacation… how awesome is that?

This awesome layout was created by Margje van Arnhem.

And Chrissy documented this awesome moment in her son’s life with this beautiful layout (I love how it shows how the mini kit can be used to fit personal style choices!)

This awesome layout was created by Chrissy Guido.

New Awesome… Coupon!

Speaking of new stuff, I have something new especially for you!

I think weekends are awesome, and I thought it would be wonderful to give a little more “awesome” this weekend! To celebrate my newest product in our shiny new shop, I have a special coupon for 5% MORE off T+Mini Vol. 11 !

New products debut at SnapClickSupply each Friday, and for the entire weekend all those new products are on sale for 25% off. With this new coupon, you get a chance to add 5% MORE off, so that you get a total of 30% off! How awesome is that, right?

You can find the coupon code on my liv.edesigns Facebook page RIGHT HERE. It’s the most recent post on my timeline, and don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything else but visit in order to get the coupon code. Of course, if you’d like to click the LIKE button to like my liv.edesigns page as you grab the coupon, I wouldn’t stop you at all (I’d probably throw my arms around you and give you the biggest squeeze ever. 😀

Voila! That’s it for now… and thank you for checking me out despite my loooong absence from my porch. Have I ever told you how incredible I think you are? ❤

Necessity and Invention

Tuesday, 20 November 2012 / LivE / 1 Comment

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” so the proverb goes. (And by the way, did you know that the original author of this wise saying hasn’t been established yet?)

Well, in my line of work, I have to confess that I get excited by needs. And one fine day, I stumbled upon an urgent need of a very good friend of mine, Linda, who also happens to do a great job of creating layouts, designing, putting together wonderful table settings, taking stunning photographs, and… well, I digress. But yeah, she’s an amazing jack-of-all-trades, and she needed templates to put together a wedding album for friends (she took the photos, of course). And she needed it quick.

And just like that, my creative muse went on a thrill ride and this product is what is now sitting on my shelf, thanks to the inspiration from Linda.

My Foto Focus album templates are a huge collection of 26 fully-editable layered 12×12 templates for a complete album, including front and back covers. All templates come complete with a deliciously-textured paper to provide the perfect background to make your photos shine forth, as well as editable drop-shadows, photo masks, outline frames, and optional text paths. The design is deliberately kept clean and simple so that your photos and stories take center stage. The templates are so versatile that you can mix and match pages if you need more than a 24-page album, and you can even pull in your own papers and digital stash if that’s what rocks your boat!

Let’s have some amazing eye-candy, why don’t we?

Let’s start off with some stunning pages from Linda’s wedding album!

Adorable, right? When photos paint a thousand words, who needs more of the written stuff? (The text paths on the templates are optional, so here Linda has done away with text and simply lets her photos speak for themselves).

Here is a truly heart-warming and moving 2-page layout created by Chrissy. I love how it celebrates the generous spirit of her entire family in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

This wonderful layout by Lisa demonstrates how each template from the album also does a great job for single-page layouts!

On this awesome layout, Barbara does a marvelous job of taking the template and adding her own personal touch (and embellishments) to it!

Remember this wonderful Halloween layout by Rachael from some posts back? I love how the template she used totally puts the Focus on her marvelous Foto! 😉

Did I mention that this entire 26-template album set is on sale at 25% off till midnight Pacific time? Go grab it (click on the image of the product above, or click right HERE ) and you’ll never have any lonely photos suffering in the innards of your hard drives. Bring out those marvelous stories and lay them out with the help of these templates and watch with joy as your family and friends oooh and aaah over wonderful shots and equally wonderful memories!

Have an amazing first day of the week, my dear friends! I’ll see you soon! xoxo

Swirdles and Arrows

Thursday, 27 September 2012Thursday, 27 September 2012 / LivE / Leave a comment

Hey there, my sweet friends! I am jumping off the rushing bus called Real Life to quickly wave a reminder in the air that it’s a Wonderful Wednesday (till about 3 hours from now when midnight comes, Pacific Time), and that means you can still grab these two items that are on sale in my shop today!

live.designs Swirdles Stamps and Brush Set

Add the perfect finishing touch to your lovely creations with this pack of 17 extra-large swirly doodle stamps and brushes!

{Click on the image to grab them at my shop}

liv.edesigns Points of View Vol. 1 – Arrows

Point the way to the best parts of your layouts with this mega-pack of 48 arrow rub-ons in bold and pencil-thin versions, in both black and white rub-ons that are easy to recolor and in two complete brush sets that you can stamp in any color you wish!

{Click on the image to grab them at my shop}

And here is just a little sampling of the awesome layouts created with these two products by the awesome JessicaSprague.com creative team!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

* Layouts created by the JessicaSprague.com Creative Team: Monica, Meg, Sarah, Jana, Lauren, Erica, Erin S, Jenn M, Joanne A, Lisa C, Margje, Miki, and I inserted one by me in there too :D.

Click HERE to see more awesome layouts!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, folks! And if any of you happen to find where the extra 24-hours-to-a-day are hiding, do share with me! 😀

Lovin’ the Fall

Tuesday, 25 September 2012Tuesday, 25 September 2012 / LivE / Leave a comment

The season, that is. I love the rich earthy colors, love the dance of falling leaves, love the cool breezes that leave whispered secrets in their wake.

And the season is the inspiration behind my newest product on my shop’s shelves: Falling for You!

Now you can bring the splendor and glory of fall to your layouts and creations with this pack of 36 real leaves, lovingly and oh-so-carefully scanned and extracted so that all the delicious texture and detail is preserved. You’ll have loads of fun creating with these… and then watching your friends as they reach out and try to touch the leaves to see if they are indeed real!

{Click on the image above to grab it at my shop}

Oh, and did I mention that these are going at 25% off till midnight tonight (Eastern Standard time)? Go grab ’em if you want ’em (and you know you do ;)).

And here are some super-awesome layouts created by the most amazing artists of the JessicaSprague.com Creative Team!

Falling for Miki’s Layout:

Miki also used my The Joy of Childhood Paper Pack, Loopies Vol.1 – Flutterby Rub-Ons & Brush Set, and Needs + Wants: Eyelets Galore 01 on her layout above.

Falling for Amy’s Layout:

Amy also used my Paint Swashes Vol. 2 on her layout above.

Falling for Antonia’s Layout:

Antonia also used my Livin’ It Up Mini Kit, Livin’ It Up Paper Pack, and Paint Swashes Vol. 4 on her layout above.

Hope you have an awesome day with lots of things to fall in love with today, my dear friends! 🙂

Two more hours…

Thursday, 20 September 2012Thursday, 20 September 2012 / LivE / Leave a comment

That’s right. Two more hours to take advantage of these Wonderful Wednesday deals! (Yep, am getting right straight to the point to make the most of your time >teehee< 😆 ).

Just a Buck

One-Buck Wednesday brings you this today for… just a buck! (I crack myself up).

{Click on the image above to grab this at my shop for half the price till midnight Pacific time today!}

square one – (noun) the situation in which you begin an endeavor and to which you return when all else fails.

My Square One collection contains mini-kits that you will turn to time and time again whenever you need to get your scrapping mojo going. Each set in the collection comes complete with everything you need to create quickly and differently (perfect so you can use and reuse the items, combining them with the rest of your goodies in your digi-stash).

Square 1 No. 1 – Dream Big is the first in this collection, and it’s particularly special because you get an overflowing serving of goodies: there are two 12×12 highly-textured, distressed papers with just a touch of grunge and 13 elements, including crumpled foil stars, stitches, doodled stars, glitter trails, and painted chipboard circle embellies, with and without shadows for your ease of use. Get creative with the tons of variations you can do with the elements! (Hang stars from the stitches, pile up the circle embellies, scatter glitter trails where you wish—the world of creativity is yours to explore!)

To give you an idea of how wonderful and versatile this mini-kit is, here are some awesome layouts by the JessicaSprague.com magical artists:

Layout by Becky

Other liv.edesigns items used by Becky on her layout above are: Washi All About Tapes – Lilac, Mask Me Photo Masks, Winter Breeze Paper Pack 1, Heart Puffies, Line Art Rub-Ons & Brushes, Loop-D-Loop Labels, and Squiggle Borders. Awesome! 😀

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used my Afternoon Stroll Paper Pack on her layout above.

Layout by Heather:

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used my Softly, Gently – Solid Papers on her layout above.

Layout by Erin U:

Erin also used my Loop-D-Loop Labels on her layout above.

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used my Hush Labels from my liv.esimply collection on her layout above.

Layout by Joan:

Layout by Heather:

Other liv.edesigns products used by Heather on her layout above: Warm Wuv, Soft Hugs – The Elements, Softly, Gently – The Kit Elements, and Alpha Clips.

Layout by Erica:

Other liv.edesigns products used by Erica on her layout above are my Swirdles Stamps & Brush Set and Windsong Paper Pack.

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used these liv.edesigns products on her layout above: I Sing for Spring! – The Kit and Winter Breeze Paper Pack 2.

Layout by Jana:

Jana also used my Winter Breeze Alpha on her layout above.

Layout by Joanne:

Joanne also used my Tabby Tabs and Sketched Framers on her layout above.

Layout by Margje:

Margje also used these liv.edesigns products on her layout above: GrungeaRound Vol.1 Masks & Brushes, Livin’ It Up Paper Pack, Whispers of Spring Paper Pack, I Sing for Spring! Kit, and Alpha Clips. Wonderful!

Layout by Heather:

Heather also used my Warm Wuv, Soft Hugs Kit and my Softly, Gently – The Kit Elements on her layout above.

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used my I Sing for Spring! Kit and Winter Breeze Kit on her layout above.

Layout by Joan:

Layout by Miki:

Miki also used these other liv.edesigns products on her layout: Joy of Childhood Paper Pack, Joy of Childhood – Kiddos, Warm Wuv, Soft Hugs – The Elements, A Whole Lotta Love Rub-Ons & Brush Set, Sketched Framers, Paint Swashes Vol. 3, Snippets Word Pack – Rub-Ons & Brushes, and I Heart Doodles 2. WOW, right?

Half-Price!

And because Wednesdays are truly Wonderful, I’ve got this paper pack going at half-price till midnight Pacific time today:

Here’s a view of what each paper looks like:

{Click on any of the two images above to grab these at half-price till midnight Pacific time today!}

This paper pack contains ten deliciously-textured 12×12 solid and patterned papers. Each and every one of them echoes the soft, gentle colors of nature and the quiet comfort of spring awakening. And, take note! Even if they’re spring-inspired, they do a fantabulous job all year round (imagine those whites and blues on winter layouts, or the greens and blues on summer-y layouts… you get my drift ;)). These should be the perfect complement to your fabulous creations, guaranteed to make your projects shine!

And again, some awesome layouts by the absolutely-awesome JessicaSprague.com Creative Team, to show you these papers at work:

First off: Margje’s Layout

… and if it looks familiar to you, that’s because it was just featured above: a great way to show how different items from different packs and kits can be combined! (Scroll up to see the other liv.edesigns products that were used on this layout).

Layout by Emily:

Emily also used these liv.edesigns products on her layout above: Click! – The Elements, I Heart Doodles Rub-Ons & Brush Set, and Needs + Wants: Stitchies Vol.2 {Spring Garden Collection}.

Layout by Miki:

Layout by Lisa B:

Lisa also used my Paint Swashes Vol. 2 and Nature’s Canvas Paper Pack on her layout above.

Layout by Carol:

Carol also used my I Sing for Spring! Kit, Afternoon Stroll Paper Pack and Alpha Clips on her layout above.

Layout by Lisa C:

Lisa also used my EZ-PZ Template 08 – And Then, Needs+Wants: Stitchies Vol.2 {Spring Garden Collection}, and Maskerade {Photo Masks} on her layout above.

Layout by Lisa B:

Lisa also used these liv.edesigns products on her layout above: Paint Swashes Vol. 2, Brownbagger Paper Pack, Needs + Wants: Stitchies Vol. 2 {Spring Garden Collection}, and Circle of Life Template {Fit 2 a T Vol. 1}.

Layout by Carol:

Carol also used my Softly, Gently – The Kit Elements on her layout above.

Layout by Miki:

Miki also splashed color on her lovely, lively layout above with my paint swashes collection: Paint Swashes Vol. 1, Paint Swashes Vol. 2, and Paint Swashes Vol. 3 !

And a little surprise: I’m featuring two layouts done by our wonderful ladies at the Spraground who used my Whispers of Spring Paper Pack! Thank you, dear robyn47au and linny6, for your awesome work!

Layout by Linny6:

Layout by robyn47au:

Have an amazin’, awesome, wonderful Wednesday!!!

Back in the Zone

Saturday, 18 August 2012 / LivE / 1 Comment

After what feels like centuries of not scrapping a layout, I stole a bit of time today to create one for the JessicaSprague.com Weekly Challenges (which I head along with my good friend Linda). I must say: it feels great to be back in the scrapping zone!

The basic requirement of this week’s challenge, Shades Of… , was to create a monochromatic layout. A monochromatic image or work has shades of limited colors or hues, usually one particular color and all its shades and tints (lighter or darker versions of it). I think monochromatic images hold a particular appeal because in them, light and darkness, highlights and shadows, and color tones (both shades and tints) work together to communicate a particular mood and emotion.

It’s been rainy for the past weeks, and two weeks ago in particular were pretty gloomy, what with the floods caused by “the storm that wasn’t even a storm.” It was on one particular afternoon during that week that my boys at home and I indulged in the perfect comfort food, designed to brighten hearts and tummies with a bit of edible sunshine. The photo that I shot of our mid-afternoon snack (before it got gobbled up) just begged to be the subject of this challenge, and so here’s what I came up with:

Credits:

liv.edesigns Summer Solstice Patterned Paper
liv.edesigns Roundabout Photo Masks & Labels
liv.edesigns Paint Swashes Vol. 1
liv.edesigns Paint Swashes Vol. 4
liv.edesigns Paint It Up Vol.1
Fonts: Peoni Pro, Petita

Speaking of comfort food, what’s yours? (Perhaps I’ll find I have a craving to indulge in yours this afternoon, heehee ;))

May your Saturday be filled with luscious delights too, my dear friends! And now, back to work I go… Over and out!

Round and Round We Go

Tuesday, 7 August 2012 / LivE / 2 Comments

Quick poll: how many of you smile and go skipping down memory lane when you hear this?

Ah, those days of youth. (Insert wistful sigh here). Dreams then, memories today: isn’t it amazing how music brings both together in a seamless, wondrous mix?

Anyway (before I get carried away with memories of those days of big hair and rebellious teenage angst), it was precisely Spandau Ballet singing in the background when I created this newest product in my shop:

{ Click on the image above to grab it in my shop: It’s 25%-off till midnight Eastern Standard Time today (Monday) }.

With my Roundabout Photo Masks & Labels, you can now blend your photos and even your paper accents beautifully and naturally with just one click (an alt-click on your clipping mask ;)).

There are 12 unique and individual circular masks with some yummy grunge. Each one has been hand-created and scanned, then lovingly extracted so that you get absolutely REAL grunge! The masks each measure between 3-5 inches (though as always, these are incredibly easy to resize to fit your specific needs) and come in black (transparent-background) .png files.

And because versatility and having options is a great thing, I’ve also included 12 pre-measured circular labels to go with your photo masks if you wish!

I’ve also included a few tips for use right on my product description page in my shop.

Here’s a little example of how these work for photos and for accents (love the quick and easy blending with the background, all with one click!):

And here are a couple of amazin’ layouts by the JessicaSprague.com Creative Team ladies!

This one, by Debra:

I just love Debra’s lovely showcase of her gorgeous grandkids! She also used my Brownbagger Vol.2 Paper Pack, Loopies Vol. 2-Loopy Love Rub-Ons & Brush Set, and Paint Swashes Vol.4 Rub-Ons & Brush Set on her super-fab layout above!

This one, by Chrissy:

Love how Chrissy’s very bright and colorful fun layout uses an enlarged version of Roundabout Photo Masks, and I love how that fab photo just blends into her background papers so naturally.

Et voila! I hope you had a fun time checking out the eye candy and probably bobbing your head to Spandau’s music, and perhaps even smiling at a suddenly-recalled memory or two of those 80s days. (If you feel the urge, please DO share those memories with me in the comments below. I’ll bet we’ll have a fun time remembering together!)

Here we go loopy-loo!

Tuesday, 31 July 2012 / LivE / 2 Comments

Here we go looby light… (Admit it, you were singing along, weren’t you? ~teehee~).

It’s a Monday, and you probably know by now what that means: it’s time for some More in Store Monday Madness! Toot the horns and break out the confetti cos here we go Loopy Love! 😀

{ Click on the image to grab Loopy Love from my shop }

Loopy Love is the second volume of loopies, which I hand-scribbled, scanned and carefully extracted for you. They’re perfect for adding a delightful whimsical look to your creations, and I’ve included outlined and filled hearts in this set. They come in individual .png files (transparent background) which are easily recolored, and in a complete brush set so you can stamp in any color of the rainbow.

And because it’s Monday, that means you get these set of 30 babies at 25% off all day Monday till 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time! (You can click HERE or on the image above in case you feel the need to include these in your stash of goodies).

Curious about how these can work wonders? Here are some totally awesome creations by our extremely talented JessicaSprague.com Creative Team members:

Barbara’s Layout:

I just love the colors on this layout, and the way Barbara flawlessly combined all the individual items on her layout to create a wonderful unified whole! Barb also used these other liv.edesigns products on her layout: Brownbagger Paper Pack Vol. 2, Paint Swashes Vol. 2, and A Whole Lotta Love Rub-Ons and Brush Set.

Margje’s Layout:

Margje’s portrait is so artfully done and so original, it literally takes the breath away and leaves one delightfully awed. Margje also used these other liv.edesigns products on her layout: Smudge It Vol. 1 Stamps and Brush Set and Needs + Wants: Alpha Stampede 1.

Meg’s Layout:

I think it’s so cute that this adorable little boy looks so much like my friend Meg, who created this oh-so-cute and oh-so-happy layout. AJ’ssuper-sweet smiles are just to-die-for too!

Amy’s Layout:

Amy‘s heartwarming layout is a precious testament to motherhood. Love her choice of very gentle, muted colors too.

Eye candy on a Monday: it’s the perfect start to the week, isn’t it? 🙂

Have a madly wonderful Monday, my dear friends!

Beautiful Mess

Tuesday, 24 July 2012 / LivE / 6 Comments

If one looks deeply enough, one will find beauty—often the most profound kind, even—amidst what might otherwise seem to be, on the surface level, nothing more than clutter, disorder, chaos. And thank goodness that it is so, for in the middle of a mess—whether it’s something as small as spilled milk on the floor or the bigger mess of a broken heart —it is often that glimpse of beauty that provides the thread of hope that we cling to (the sweetly-whispered apology of the milk-spilling culprit or the slow smile that finally breaks through copiously-shed tears).

Yes, there is often beauty that can be found in the midst of dire straits. Plus, to be perfectly honest, in a home dominated by five rowdy boys, it really helps to think of any kind of mess as beautiful. Especially when you think about the clean-up that inevitably comes on its heels (heehee 😆 ).

So you see, I’m no stranger to a little bit of mess. In fact, I think it belongs right at home in works of art too.

And so I’ve found a way to bring it to the digital world of creation while sparing you the discomfort of the post-creation clean-up! Awesome, right? 😉

These three new products are debuting in my shop today:

Splatters Vol. 1 Rub-Ons & Brush Set is a collection of large splatters:

Splatters Vol. 2 Rub-Ons & Brush Set is a collection of single splatters and a few widespread splatters for those times when you want just a little bit to use as an accent, or when you want to combine a few splatters with the larger splatters

Splatters Vol. 3 Rub-Ons & Brush Set is a collection of clustered splatters.

These are really fun to use, and you can choose one, two, or all splatters from each individual volume… or you can go have all-out fun, combine the splatters from all three volumes, and have a totally splatterrific time (hm! splatterrific is cute—i think that’ll be the name of my next splatter product! ;))!

Each product is linked to my shop (just click on the images above) … and have I mentioned that these are 25%-off today (Monday till midnight Eastern)? Woot! 🙂

To see these splatters at work, check out the absolutely magnificent artworks of our super-fab JessicaSprague.com creative team below! (Have I ever mentioned how much I just adore these ladies? To little bits and pieces, I tell ya).

This one is by Linda:

Linda is my dear-designer friend (of In the Making Design) who is taking a hiatus from designing and has rejoined the best-ever JS creative team! She used Splatters Vol.1 on the layout above, along with my Beach Party freebie that I gave away during the recently-ended JessicaSprague.com Birthday Bloghop.

This one was created by Sarah:

Sarah created this super-fun layout by combining Splatters Vol. 1 and Splatters Vol. 3. She also used my Brownbagger Vol. 2 Paper Pack and my Freedom Is Good Paper Pack – The Solids.

This one was created by Miki:

Miki created this to document her lunch with another one of our CT members Julie (we love to get together in real life ;)), and she used Splatters Vol. 2 on this layout. She also used my Swirly Words Stamps & Brush Set, Storyteller Frames – The Bundle , Livin’ It Up Mini Kit , and Warm Wuv & Soft Hugs – The Elements.

This one was created by Margje:

Margje’s wonderful work of art was created with Splatters Vol. 1 and with my Nature’s Canvas Paper Pack too.

This one was created by Jen F:

Jen’s adorable Seussical layout was created with Splatters Vol. 1. She also used my Smudge It Vol. 1 Rub-Ons and Brush Set.

This one was created by Meg:

Meg created this super-summer-y layout (and wonderful documentation of her son’s perfect frisbee form) with Splatters Vol. 3. She also used papers from my Beach Party Birthday Bloghop freebie.

This was created by Amy:

Amy created this swimmingly wonderful layout with Splatters Vol. 3!

Here’s hoping you have a splatterrific week, my dear friends!

Perfect Imperfection

Tuesday, 10 July 2012Tuesday, 10 July 2012 / LivE / Leave a comment

An oxymoron?

I think not.

There is a Chinese proverb that says:

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

Though I do believe it is important to strive to work toward perfection (in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it’s called self-actualization—thank you, Psych101 ;)), I just as strongly believe that there are many beautiful, wonderful things that are amazing not in spite of but precisely with the little things that make them not-so-perfect. The sweet little freckles on your niece’s pretty face. The little twitch in the nose of my youngest son while he concentrates on a Math problem. Your best friend’s little personality quirks that can be both infuriating and endearing at the same time. Ah yes, there is perfection in imperfection (and doesn’t God’s perfection shine brightest in His children, greatly imperfect though each one of us is?).

I like the idea of imperfection in art, too. Which is the inspiration behind my latest product in my shop:

If you love the handmade, realistic look on your digital creations, you’ll love this easy way to get all that great texture and realism on your projects and layouts.

Smudge It Vol.1 Rub-Ons & Brush Set has 18 smudges that I created in real life with real art schtuff, then scanned and extracted lovingly so that all the little details are retained in each smudge. These are perfect for adding that handmade look with just a little messiness and a whole lot of goodness! Perfect imperfection! 😉

And here are some amazingly perfect layouts done by the awesome JessicaSprague.com Creative Team!

This one is by Jana: