digital scrapbooking

Yawning away…

/ LivE / 6 Comments

but just wanted to share with you the second set (out of four) of Pasteleria!

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LivEdesigns Pasteleria Set 2

Here’s what you’ll be downloading (if you wish to!  😉 ) Soft Sun is a patterned orange paper; Caress is a solid lavender paper; and Teal Garden is the teal patterned paper you see on the right of the preview. (Credits for some commercial use items I used to make these freebies are in the TOU.) You’ll also be getting the stitched felt oval frame with embroidered flowers (not the adorable little puppy, which is a free stock photo taken by bjearwicke. My friend Jackie would approve of the preview photo… 😉 ).

I thought it would be much easier to put a photo in the frame if I included a layer mask for it, so what you’ll be getting is a psd layered file . Just put your photo in a layer between the frame and the mask, and do a CTRL-G (CTRL-ALT-G for full version Photoshop), resize to fit the frame,  and voila! (I’m assuming everyone who downloads is using a psd-compatible software program. If there’s anyone who needs a simple PNG file, drop me a line in the comments and I’ll send you the png file  (the frame alone, without the photo mask).

Here’s where you go to get the freebie.

Missed LOAD cut-off! C’est la vie!

I missed the LOAD cut-off for Day 16 by 6 measly minutes, but that’s okay. That doesn’t stop me from attempting to create 31 layouts by the end of this month.

Here’s my LOAD Day 16 layout, (Don’t) Say a Single Word.

Daily December 11, LOAD Day 16

If you think your eyes are getting blurry when you try to read the tag on the right side, you can be assured that you don’t need glasses. Sorry… I had to blur the personal information over there.  😕

CREDITS:

Jessica Sprague’s fab Daily December template; Katie Pertiet’s grid frame; Michelle Coleman’s topper and sparkle flake; and Misty Mareda’s staples. Papers are by Michelle Coleman, Jackie Eckles, and Lori Barnhurst. Used an atomic cupcake action.

Wee Willie Winkie

is calling me to bed! Gotta go. I need to be up in exactly 3 hours as I’ve got a meeting to attend. Can’t be late, can’t be late, can’t be late (as the Mad Hatter would say).

(((((((hugs)))))) my sweeties!

PS. The next set of Pasteleria should be up tomorrow (or today… since tomorrow is today 😆 ) so do come visit soon!

Yippee!!! (First Freebie for 2008!)

/ LivE / 8 Comments

Woohoo, turning cartwheels here! I finally have something to share with you, my sweeties!

I am both excited and a bit uncertain about this kit that I’m doing, because it’s a bit of a departure from the colors I normally play with.

I have to admit: I am not much of a pastel person. Way back in the 80s (yeah, that time of mullet hairstyles, eek!), there was this curious book that supposedly would tell you which colors best suited you, based on your skin color. Does anyone recall that?

They divided the fashion color palette into seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. If I remember right (caveat: I don’t always remember right 😆 ), the Winter color scheme was supposed to be best for those with very fair skin and blonde hair, blue eyes, that sort of thing; and the colors were icy blue, icy green, shimmery sorts of colors. I remember Winter because one of my sisters qualified as that. She was born with blonde hair, and she recalls worrying–when she was little–that she was adopted, because the rest of us were all born with dark brown hair… that is, until my brother was born 4 years after and he was blonde too. 😆

Oh… they’ve lost the blond and are now dark haired like the rest of us. Go figure. 😯

Anyway, I remember being a Fall, and that suited me just fine as I’ve always been partial to oranges, browns, beiges, creams, neutrals (except for that brief phase in university when I wore nothing but black and white… thankfully, that was brief. >teehee< ).

This whole off-tangent story of mine is meant to explain why I am not really a pastel person. I like seeing them; they look absolutely fresh and soft, but I don’t feel like I know them, know what I mean? (Okay, I’m strange: I’m talking like colors were people. 😀 )

Buuuuut. It’s nice to stretch one’s wings and discover new horizons. After all, my word for January is ADVENTURE. (Have you thought of your word for the month / year yet?) And this certainly qualifies as an adventure for me!

Let me know what you think about this freeb, please? (Be honest. But be nice. 😆 )

So here’s the first set of the first freebie for 2008! (ha! alliteration there!)

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LivEdesigns Pasteleria Set 1

I’ve called the set Pasteleria, which is Spanish for a bakeshop or a place where you get pastries and sweet stuff (pastel + sweet = pasteleria in my twisted little mind, hahaha!) You can snag Set 1 here!

What you’ll be downloading is three papers, all slightly textured: LimeLight has a scrolly thing on its corners, Baby’s Breath has scratchy wisps of white on its edges, and Lullaby has stars and a moon surrounding it. There’s also a ribbon with a heart charm, which you can resize as you wish. Thanks to atomic cupcake, CindyDoerksen, and scrapNtag for some commercial-use items I used to make this!

By the way, pastels were supposed to be Spring (on the 80s fashion palette). If I remember right. 😉

Thank you in advance for the love you leave and please do take the time to let me know what you think (so that I know if I should quit this pastel adventure and go a different route or not…  hahaha!)

And it’s back to the DDs, folks!

After a brief and very wonderful playtime spent making a layout that belongs in my generic album (which I call Viewpoint… I’ll try to get a photo of it and upload it here), I’m back to making Daily December layouts with Jessica’s fab template!

Here’s my Daily December No. 9 (“The Gift of Christmas”) and LOAD Day 14.

The Gift of Christmas (Daily December 9)

Journaling reads:

One night centuries ago, a Child was born, God’s most precious Gift to the world. Thirty-three years later, that Child would give His life so that we could share in His forever. I hope that this inspires you, my dearest son, to keep giving and sharing, especially with those who have less than you, whether you are 5 or 33 or 105 years old.

CREDITS:

Jessica Sprague’s fab Daily December template *You won’t believe how many people love this template!* plus Katie Pertiet’s grid brush, Michelle Coleman’s Topper & Christmas papers from her Merry Little Christmas kit (recolored);  Nancie Rowe Janitz’s stamps (from her contribution to the Stand Up & Scrap Mega Kit (recolored all to fit Christmas theme); Angela Barton’s postage stamp, also from her contribution to the Stand Up & Scrap Mega Kit; and the world embellie, I made using these items: Michelle Coleman’s painted heart, Shabby Miss Jenn’s knotted ribbon (recolored), and Lisa Warren’s mini globe (Lisa’s and SMJenn’s items were also from the SU&S mega kit). Also used John’s Photoblast actions on the the photo of the children below and the one of my son with his two friends. (John has the most fab, user-friendly actions; if you use Photoshop full version or Elements and you don’t have these yet, you should check them out here! 😀 )

I was so glad that the preschool that my son attends arranged a get-together last December with a large group of less privileged children, and in so doing, they were able to give my son and his schoolmates the opportunity to really know the joy of giving and sharing time, laughter, and gifts. This joy which comes from a spirit of generosity is one which I hope my son will always know, no matter how old he becomes.

Other stuff I’ve been up to

Have you signed up for the 12-Week Photography lesson at 2peas yet? It’s so much fun to play, whether you already know the basics or not. (ha! I love any excuse to play. My mental age is probably 7. 😆 )

This week’s lesson lets you play around with the shutter priority mode in your camera. If you’re using a point-and-shoot type of camera, the equivalent would be playing around with the different auto modes, sports setting plus whatever else you want to play around with to see the differences.

And it’s a two-part lesson (not supposed to peek at Part 2 without doing Part 1), how fun is that! 😀 If you haven’t checked out the 2peas course yet, do! It’s really fun. (And you’re welcome, Jeanne. Love ya).

I’m going to check the kitchen sink photos I took and, if they’re not too embarrassing, I’m going to be back in a bit to post them here!

More adventure stories later! (((hugs)))

Missed the train…

/ LivE / 3 Comments

by about 3 seconds. THREE. seconds.

So my LOAD layout didn’t quite make it to Day 12. 😳

But that’s okay. Today is a Sunday in my part of the world. And Sundays have always been family days. I normally work on my LOAD submissions in the last 6 hours before submission deadline (hehe… procrastination habits die hard), but this morning I couldn’t, because there was Mass to attend and then we had lunch out, and then a couple of other must-do stuff that we postponed (like getting photos taken for our passports and visas… ya hear me, GFs??? This is for you-know-what happening on you-know-where in June!!! 😛 )

Bottom-line is… Sundays are family days. And so I had to make a choice between uploading my LO for the contest or putting family first. That was a no-brainer. (Not that I didn’t wince and kick myself for not working on the LOAD Day 12 sooner, but there were no second-thoughts as to which I would give up today).

So anyway, here’s my LOAD for Day 12. And another one should be coming up soon for Day 13. ha. Two LOADS in one day. That should be a good way to repair my not meeting the Day 12 deadline.

Christmas in our Home

Journaling reads:

(Subheading in white): our home is decked with boughs of holly, falalalala lalala la

(Text): i love the extra warmth and coziness our home exudes at christmastime

CREDITS:

Jessica Sprague’s Daily December template, Katie Pertiet’s Grid Brush, Michelle Coleman’s Topper plus Miriam Lima’s papers, Lisa Warren’s cardinal (recolored and applied atomic cupcake actions on this one), Leora Sanford’s star border, Emily Merritt’s buttons (some recolored), Atomic Cupcake actions

More Playing Around with Photos

Okay, I was tickled pink by the feeling of doing “assignments”for the 2Peas 12-Week Photography Effect (throwback to my grade school days when I loved homework… didn’t I say I was an alien? 😆 ), so I did another take on the Aperture challenge.

Some things I did differently this time:

1.  I didn’t attach my SB800 external flash (if you’re playing around with aperture settings and you want to create the bokeh effect, the flash really minimizes the effect a lot. Which just means that you’ll see a lot less difference when playing around with your aperture settings in a flash-lit setup). Ergo, best to shoot in a setup that uses available light.

2. I also greatly decreased the distance between my lens and the subject I was taking (in this case a small vase of flowers): again, the bokeh effect is greatly enhanced by this simple act of moving closer. You also end up with a much wider range of f/stop values (but of course, you’re limited to the end-limits that your particular lens allows).

3. Knowing that I would not print out these photos, I changed my ISO setting to 800 (normally I set mine at 200 or, in darker conditions where I want to use available light, at 400). What this simply means is that there is much less blurring that can occur with a higher ISO setting because it allows you to get the same exposure setting with a much faster shutter speed. (Shooting at low aperture values slows down shutter speed; that is why there is a greater chance for blurring to occur… unless you prop your camera on a tripod, which I –of course– failed to use this time. 😛 ) Higher ISO’s, though, also mean more chance of your photos showing up as grainy if you’re printing them out. For viewing on the web, thankfully, the graininess is practically nil.

Things I kept the same:

Simple: My Nikon D40x and my Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S lens.

Here are the shots I took today (if you look at the wooden slats and the trees, you’ll see a more pronounced difference, compared to my shots of the bikers yesterday):

1. At f/4.6

Flowers in a Vase f/4.6

2. At f/8

Flowers in a Vase f/8

3. At f/32

Flowers in a Vase f/32

Cool, right? Aperture setting is a wonderful thing! (It’s the setting that I keep my camera on all the time, actually. That’s how much I love it!)

Okay, that’s enough playing around on my blog for today! I really need to get to work on my freebs for you, or I’ll be breaking one of my New Year’s resolutions too early in the game. 🙂

Freebs coming soon! (Give me 24 hours). Hang tight! 😀

Loading up on fun…

/ LivE / 5 Comments

Got my LOAD for Day 11 done, so that I can work uninterruptedly on a freeb for you, my sweeties!

But first, while I get my creative muse all warmed up, let’s sit and chat a while, why don’t we?

LOAD Day 11 & Daily December Day 7

Little Boys in the Big School

Journaling reads:

you were so excited to visit your big brother’s school. you proudly declared to everyone you met: “we’re the little brothers of A!”

CREDITS:

Jessica’s fab Daily December template, Michelle Coleman’s Topper, Katie Pertiet’s Grid Brush PLUS Mindy Terasawa’s Groovy Boy Paper, Ribbon (recolored), Tab (recolored); Amber Clegg’s Postmarked Stamp (Explore); Sara Carling’s Aero Leather Tag & Pog

I now have 7 pages in my Daily December album (and to me, that’s an accomplishment, because note that it is now January… if not for the push that joining LOAD gave me, I would probably have completed my Daily December… uhhh… perhaps this coming December 2008. 😆 ) I’m hoping by the end of January I would’ve completed my Daily December album too! (Hey, dreaming is free! 😀 )

Playing Around with Photos

Remember a few posts ago (See Adventure: Word for the Month), I was talking about going for dinner at a restaurant with my hubby and our good friends Jun and Abby?

This was actually a delayed get-together for New Year’s, and a celebration of the completion of the article I wrote for a feature on Jun and Abby for a glossy magazine which features the who’s who in Asian society. It was the first time that Jun agreed to be featured at length in a magazine, and he had a whole set of conditions, one of which was that I do his write-up! Now how cool was that! 😉

On the other hand, it was extremely pressuring too–I mean, when someone believes in you that much, it’s scarier to slip on the tightrope, right? Even if you happened to slip because your foot was itchy, know what I mean? So anyway, the other thing that made it really difficult for me to complete the article (aside from my frustrating habit of self-editing) was the fact that the story of Jun and Abby is soooo rich, so wonderful to tell, so I had a really hard time trying to meet the 5000 character limit (and that was already increased from the original 4000).

But I was happy when I clicked SEND (roughly 24 hours after I had my eye surgery) and my article made its way to the mag editor’s inbox. I furnished a copy to Jun too. The very next morning, I received a basket of the most delicious rice cakes with coconut cream sauce, and a gold box filled with homemade polvoron (the best way I can describe this is milk-sugar powdery “cookies”)… and this note:

w-note.jpg

I have known Jun since I was 13 years old, and this is the first time I actually got a handwritten note from him. 😆

I must also qualify that I could never have written the article on my own: it was actually the product of a lot of prayer and divine grace. 🙂

So where does the subheading of this post “Playing Around with Photos” come in?

Well… I mentioned that hubby and I were a bit early for the dinner we were having with Jun & Abby, so we walked around, checking out the new mall… I wanted to take photos, but I had to settle for using my cellphone camera because I (kick self, kick self) foolishly resisted the urge to take Cameran along.

When I downloaded the photos, I was pretty shocked. Wait a minute, these aren’t too bad, considering I took them with a cellphone and with pure available light (which was actually not that available, as the skies were dark! 😆 )

Chateau 1771

This is the restaurant where we had dinner. The man on the right was using his cellphone for the right intention, while I was using mine to take photos. Crazy.

Chateau Take 2

We just opened this restaurant last December in the new mall (5th phase of a larger mall). One of the reasons Chateau is totally dear to our hearts is because when my hubby and I got married, we held our reception in the same restaurant (although it was in a different location then).

Since I already embarrassed my husband enough by taking photos >teeheehee< I decided to go all the way! I totally could not resist the play of lines and lights in the entire place!  Here’s more proof:

Don’t these lines remind you of the outline of a house?

I am totally tickled that this shot has been taken by a cellphone camera. C.E.L.L.P.H.O.N.E. camera. Amazing. I had no idea it would come out looking like this (so obvious that I haven’t been using the camera function on my cellphone, huh? 😆 )

The walkway that leads from the driveway and into the rest of the amazing complex (restaurant is on the left side of the photo) reminded me of the Getty Museum walkway with fountains. The long blocks in the middle are the beginnings of fountains (did I mention that the mall is new? So there’s still a lot that’s being done but it’s already looking awesome, even at this early stage).

The Walkway

More Photo Play

Over at 2peasinabucket, there’s a great photography course (free! couldn’t get better than that! 😀 ) given by Joanna Bolick, which promises 12 weeks to better photos. I thought it might be fun to try out their challenges. The one for this week involves using your camera in the Aperture priority mode (I loooove aperture priority mode: that’s the mode that I shoot in about 98% of the time. I only change when I need to do macros… so far). 🙂

The exercise involved shooting something, anything, using the lowest aperture setting that your lens has, then somewhere midway, then at the highest setting. Comparing the photos would reveal the change in the bokeh (that blurry look behind the subject that you’ve focused on).

I know that it would’ve been better if I used a lens more adapted to portrait photography (and therefore with a higher range of f/stop values–or aperture size, or quite simply, how wide the lens opens), but I was too lazy to change lenses. I use a Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S lens and love the range it affords me, so actually, I’ve never taken it off to change to another lens since I put it on. 😆

The downside of my laziness to change lenses is this: the lowest aperture setting I could get was a 4.5, and the highest was a 16. I should maybe try with a different lens to get a more dramatic look, but for now, I’m okay with what I got (Geez. Lazy!)

Here’s what I took (the change is most obvious if you look at the sofa and the pillows behind the bikers in each photo)

At f/ 4.5 :

Bikers f/4.5

At f/8 :

Bikers f/8

At f/16:

Bikers at f/16

I would have preferred to shoot outside in daylight, but it’s been raining (strange, for this time of the year), so the skies have been dark and cloudy (not nicely overcast, which would have been more preferable, really). Oh well.

Alrighty then, can you believe playing around has cost me almost all the daylight today? Gotta get working on those freebies for you!

Catch you later! (((((hugs))))))

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

/ LivE / 6 Comments

why, yes, even in my own home, as of last night! 😆

Christmas, my friends, has officially arrived in our home as of December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. 🙂

It’s a good thing that my dear hubby does not believe in filling every nook and cranny of our humble home with Christmas decor, because it makes my job of decorating that much easier. 😀 Also, it totally helps that I have five sons who can help me put up the Christmas decor (well, okay, four… 😛 )

What I really love is that I now have some real Christmassy photos to use for my Daily December album, which has been up in the air (or more correctly, stuck in my camera’s memory card), instead of the daily-any-month photos that I’ve been taking since December began. 😆 I’ve been trying to decide whether to post the photos here or maybe make a layout and post THAT here (need a push to actually start scrapping those photos, and this might be it! haha)… but while I make up my fickle mind on that issue, here’s something again for you!

(And some nice music by two of my favorite people to keep you entertained as you download 😉 )

This freebie is actually a spin-off from the Winter Shimmer kit, so you might notice that the papers are similar to some in Winter Shimmer, except they’re in more playful, brighter colors (and the striped one is new, and the creamy one has a different texture). This came about because my dear friend Jana loves pink christmases, so I decided to go ahead and make a pink version. The elements on this mini kit are not the same, though, so you might want to snag it as well. 😀

Since this is a mini kit, you’re getting all of it in one download. Aside from the four papers, I’ve made a chipboard arrow with a snowflake accent, a Christmas tree calendar transparency accent, and three silver-bookplate tags with gemstone brads. One of the tags has wordart on it. Thank you’s are in my TOU! And that’s the whole kit, my dears!

Thank you for letting me know that you can still do with more Christmas kits; this one is for you and you and you, and all of you, my sweeties!

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LivEdesigns Jolly HollyDays (Winter Shimmer Spin-off) PReview

Download Jolly HollyDays here. Now much as I’d love to sit on this porch swing with you, I really must go to bed as my fingers are frozen from the cold and it’s almost 5AM in my part of the world. 😀

ETA: Sorry, download link is no longer available.

Love to all, and to all a goodnight! (((((hugs)))))

Winter Goes Metallic!

/ LivE / 15 Comments

with the last set of the Winter Shimmer Kit!!!

It’s getting pretty busy around here, with all the preparations for the holidays. How are things in your home? Have you done any shopping yet? (If you tell me your list is all ticked off, I’m going to sit on the floor and bawl! Or… hmm, since that’s not very productive, maybe I’ll send you a ticket so you can come and do all my holiday preparations for me! Does that sound good to you? 😀 😆 😀 )

Only 17 days to go till The Best Day of the Year, and in some places where my friends are, they’ve got snow bringing on the brrrrs!!!

Here’s something to keep you company while you scrap by the fire:

Winter Shimmer Set 3:

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LivEdesigns Winter Shimmer Set 3

There are 4 papers here; one is patterned, the other has a frosty, icy row of white snowflakes at the top, and the 2 are shimmery blue and lavender almost-solid ones. All are highly textured, as usual. I went crazy with the elements (and the snowflakes too, heehee), so you’re getting a metallic blue snowflake border which coordinates with all the papers in the entire kit (I tried putting it on each paper and it goes well!). There are 3 gem-centered pewter hanging accents, and so that you can hang them on your layouts, I’ve included 2 metallic snowflake brads–the ones you see on both sides of “Christmas 2007” which is a pewter Christmas label. There’s also a snowflake paper clip and 2 journaling sheets (to write your Christmas wishes for Santa? 😆 )

To make the paper clip look realistically attached, just CTRL-CLICK on the layer thumbnail of whatever element you’re attaching the clip to. You should see marching ants around it. Then target the layer that the paper clip is on. Take your eraser brush and start erasing the paper clip parts that should be behind the element. Voila! 😀

Hope you like this last set of the Winter Shimmer kit. I’ve got some exciting ideas for more freebies, but do let me know if you’re sick of Christmas freebies already (there are so many going around, right? Have you had enough? 😆 ) Download Winter Shimmer Set 3 here. There is no zip password this time.

ETA: Sorry, download link is no longer available.

I decided to do away with the zip password, as that is the reason for the orange sign coming up on my 4shared site. The only reason I placed zip passwords was to make sure that those who snag the freebies do pass by to say hello on my blog (I always love having you visit! 😉 )… but I really don’t want to give you unnecessary hassle and I can’t help thinking that those of us who have a deathly fear of viruses (who doesn’t?) may just have their fears stoked by that sign, even if it only means that 4shared couldn’t check my files for viruses due to the password. Phew!

To make a long story short, download and extract without hassles, my dears! 😀  😀  😀

Have a happy day, and thank you so much for the love you leave! (((hugs)))

Nuts? Nuts? Anyone?

/ LivE / 1 Comment

I’m looking at a bunch (and when I say bunch, I mean a WHOLE bunch) of letters from three different schools that my three sons attend (one in preschool, one in elementary, one in high school) and I’m slowly going nuts. Here’s a sampling:

* Notice of Christmas outreach program for the poor orphaned children (that’s nice. I have prepared the box of goodies; just have to find some nice functional toys to share with them… that my kids won’t kill me for giving away… deadline for wrapping all of this is like an hour away)

* Notice of FOUR different days’ worth of practices for some dancing activity for parents for the Christmas program of R (my kid in Sixth Grade) – now this is NOT nice. I don’t dance unless I’m under the influence of alcohol (and, aside from a few sips of red wine now and then, I have not had any alcohol in the last 20 years… and have not danced since too–publicly at least 😛 ). I didn’t go to the first 2 past practices and I informed them that I would do anything–clean the whole school after the program, maybe even lie down on the ground and turn myself into a mat?–just to be excused from turning the dancing activity into a huge disaster.

* More Christmas programs and Christmas activities, and a parent-teacher conference to boot–for A, my eldest in high school. I truly dread the PTCs at his school because they last forever and a day. But claiming the report card takes even longer, with more winding paths to tread along, for those who don’t attend the PTC… so what choice do I have?

And that’s not all on the list of school activities to attend to (and have I told you that they overlap on days and times?)… but let me not bore you to tears.

Now here’s my question: does anyone know of a doctor who can divide me into three, or maybe even clone FIVE copies of me (three to attend to these activities plus one more to attend to real life errands and another to do my Christmas shopping) so that the original me can stay at home and play?

😆

Let’s talk of better things, shall we? 😉

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LivEdesigns Winter Shimmer Set 2 Preview

Let’s talk of snow and winter and Christmas (don’t no one mention shopping lists, okay? Shhhhh! )

😆

Here’s the latest set of Winter Shimmer (with the last set slowly nearing completion). There are 3 papers here, all in colors that coordinate with the first set and the third set still coming: JackFrost is a shimmery solid, toned paper; Magical Morning is another shimmery snowflake-studded one; and the last one (on the leftmost area of the preview) is a text-patterned paper with Merry Christmas in different languages all over the world (I googled these, but the only ones I can remember are English, Filipino, Spanish, Italian, French, Kenyan, German, Hawaiian, Dutch, Russian, Latin… and I forget the rest. 😆 )

This set also comes with an acrylic accent tag (from what I’ve read, acrylic is on its way to being one of the big scrapping fads) ; a gem-dotted frosty tree accent, and two metal frames with snowflake accents. (Thank you as always to atomic cupcake {totally fab}, and to claudmey and takatula of stock.exchange for the photos I used on the preview).

Here now is Winter Shimmer Set 2. Zip password is pax (which is Latin for peace, which I really need a lot of now.  😆  )

EDIT:

Please see post above for the new link and the new zip password for this Set 2 of Winter Shimmer. I really don’t understand what is happening to my 4shared links, but I uploaded a new file for you to download. Sorry about this totally unnecessary hassle. 😦

I know that I promised this within 24 hours… but in my part of the world, I try to make 24 hours stretch as much as it can and still, I’m not always lucky. 😀 Hope you like this just the same!

Oh, and before I forget, a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who shared your snow and winter stories with me as you downloaded. I totally LOVE reading everything you write, and it always brings a smile to my face and warm fuzzies to my heart. Sending you all warm fuzzies as well, to keep you nice and comfy in your part of the world where you can watch snowflakes drift outside your window. And thank you too, for all the invitations to come and make snowangels in your yards. I just might show up one of these winter years. 😉

Have a happy day, my sweeties!

The weather outside is fright’nin…

/ LivE / 12 Comments

not here where I am, thankfully. But whenever I think of cold weather, I remember with a chuckle an email I got from my dear brother, who now lives in North America with his wonderful wife and kids in a place particularly known for its biting cold during the Christmas season. Last year, having newly moved to this place from a busy city in the same part of North America, he sent us an email telling us that the temperature was like -43ºC and he said “Now I know why that Christmas carol went ‘The weather outside is fright’nin’ ‘ ”  😆 I guess when icicles are threatening to hang from the orifices of your body, then that really is frightening!

But this new kit I’ve started is NOT frightening (I hope!) hahaha.

I’ve been wanting to create a nice shimmery effect on paper, inspired by my recent shopping spree (oh those Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales are wicked!!! 😛 ) at Little Dreamer Designs (ahem… among other wonderful places like here, here, here, and here. I loved, absolutely loved, totally loved, Michelle Coleman’s Glow Kit and had to have both the paper pack and the elements… and in the process influenced a few of my friends 😉 to pick up the same pack for themselves as well. If you don’t already have it, it is a MUST. Wonderful wonderful kit! Thank you for creating it, Michelle!

So anyway, I spent around 3 days researching and trying to find out a way to produce that nice shimmery glow digitally (aided at one point by my dear friend Veevs who is the cyber-search expert, especially–but not limited to–when it comes to sales of digital stuff… 😆 ). In the end I was so confused with all the input I had been reading that I just decided to play around with Photoshop and do a bit of this and that here and there… and this is what I came up with. I know it’s far from Michelle’s wonderful kit, but there’s nothing like the feeling of satisfaction derived from just working hard on creating something that you see in your mind and finding, when you’ve translated it onto paper, that it’s not half bad actually. 🙂 (At least for me… hehehe. I hope you like it too!)

So here’s the first set of the Winter Shimmer kit. Zip password is starlight I kind of went way out of bounds in terms of color choice here, because these colors are not the ones I would usually play with, but somehow when I imagine what winter is like, these are the colors that bounce up and down in my mind’s eye. Yeah, I know, I have only seen snowflakes ONCE in my life, when I was about six years old, in Belgium… and I’ve never even touched the Real Thing called snow. On my list of Things to Do Before I Get Too Old: make snowangels in the snow. So don’t be surprised if you ever happen upon a fifty-five year old lady having the time of her life lying on snow and waving her arms and legs about: chances are that would be me. 😆

ETA: Sorry, download link is  no longer available.

{ Click on image for larger view }

LivEdesigns Winter Shimmer Set 1 Preview

This set comes with 3 shimmery papers, one with a night winter scene called Starburst (I wish I could show the entire paper in the preview–as this is my favorite in the set, but I had to put in the other parts of the set in the preview as well). There’s also WhiteLight, a light greyish-white one with snowflakes; and Bliss-ard, which is a mostly-solid, highly textured one. There are 4 glittery snowflakes that measure about 6 inches from end to end which you can upsize or downsize as you wish… and you can use them for accents on your page.

There’s more to come, for sure… I just have to finish a special project that my playground girlfriends and I are producing for our dear Jessica. 😉

I’ll be back soon!

Oh and PS. I was extremely extremely moved and touched by your comments. Actually, I always am, but this time was awesome in a special way, because some people really made an extra effort to leave such inspiring comments. Thank you so much. (Thank you, Tina and Ruth K, for your extra thank-you’s for all those who forgot them). Huge hugs to you all! Your words, the time you take, the effort you make to write down your comments: PRICELESS. Thank you. Seriously.

Alright! Back to the salt mines! Visit soon for the next installment of Winter Shimmer!

Have a happy day, my sweeties!

Ho Ho Ho

/ LivE / 20 Comments

Here’s the last part of the Christmas Lullaby kit. It’s always a bit sad for me when a kit ends… but also exciting because that means I get to do work on a new kit! 😀

And because you’ve been soooo patient with the downloads of Set 2 (all four parts of them), this one will be real quick to download!

Here’s what Set 3 looks like:

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LivEdesigns Christmas Lullaby Set 3 Preview

Here’s what Set 3 has: one highly textured solid paper, one glitter frame, one chipboard journaling tag with metal flourish accents and built-in flower brads, a Christmas flower jewel-accent, a paper clip with the same accent, and a safety-pin accent with the colors of the kit (with a bit of blue thrown in 🙂 ). The pin comes as a full pin to give you more flexibility; just use your eraser brush to adapt it to your layout. Thank you’s are in my TOU Credits. (And thanks also to Zela whose stock photo I used for the preview). As usual, all items coordinate with the previous sets and come without drop shadows. (I placed shadows on my preview though).

Download Christmas Lullaby Set 3. Zip password is happyhollydays … just a reminder… type in the password instead of copying and pasting it so that you don’t get any errors when you extract the files. 😉

ETA: Sorry, download link is no longer available.

I’d like to take this opportunity to give huge cyberhugs to all of you, my sweeties, who take the time to leave love as you download. I was a bit amazed that there were more than 330 downloads of Set 1 and only 53 comments. I hope there aren’t people who are hotlinking to the 4shared… I hope they’re sending their friends over here to download. It’s just the proper thing to do, don’t you agree? 🙂 🙂 🙂 So thank YOU, my dear friends. Wish there were enough words to express how wonderful it is to read your comments (and I do read them, each and every one of them, and they truly warm my heart… and inspire me to create more!)

Which is exactly what I am about to do right now. Create a new kit for you!

Have a happy day, my dearies!

Tonight’s the night!

/ LivE / 11 Comments

It’s gonna be alright… Ain’t nobody gonna stop us now… Come on, everybody, sing along that Rod Stewart song along with me!!!

😆 How’s that for a flashback to the 70s huh? 😆

We’re finally launching the Big Project tonight. Here’s what the invite looks like:

Our Father ~ The Book Launch

Will post more stuff about it tomorrow. Just have to get through the launch tonight (and get through my closet as well: I have no idea what I’m going to wear, as I don’t own any dresses. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll go in my usual jeans. hehe) Can you tell I’m just a teeny weeny bit stressed about this? (I hate publicity; I like hiding in the background; I’m shy. Seriously! 😆  ).

Here’s part of the layout I made about this project (made the bigger layout as part of our Now We’re Rockin’ course lesson):

Journey of a Dream, Partial Layout Item

{ Credits: Circle Template by Jessica Sprague }

Okay, enough about that and on to our much-delayed freebie!

Lullaby and Goodnight…

The reason I call this much-delayed is because it took me approximately 6 hours to upload this to my 4shared site, a lot of fiddling around, a lot of waiting, a lot of harumphing, deleting, re-zipping, re-testing, some more harumphing, until I was able to get this uploaded. 😆 Turns out it was some kink in my zipped file, I think. It did okay with the extraction and password when I tested it, but for some reason it would take forever to upload!

So, phew!, at least it’s working now and I have the link for it! Yippee! You have no idea of how much I’ve been itching to get this to you (so I hope you like it, or … that would’ve been five hours gone to waste. hahahaha!!!)

Here’s what Christmas Lullaby looks like (This is Set 1):

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LivEdesigns Christmas Lullaby Set1 Preview

I call it Christmas Lullaby because the colors are softer and more muted, sort of reminds me of a peaceful, quiet Christmas. There are 3 highly textured papers in this set, along with 5 different textured brads. (Loads of Thank You’s for the materials I used are listed in my TOU credits!) There’s more coming… I’m very excited to post the next set for tomorrow (alpha tags! woohoo! with enough space for a bit of journaling on them! ), so don’t forget to pass by for that one as well! 😉

Download Set 1 of Christmas Lullaby. Zip password is quietpeace

ETA: Sorry, download link is no longer available.

Oh… and one more thing… since I’m really getting into the Christmas spirit, I think I’m going to come up with two more separate Christmas kits. Keep passing by for those too!

Well. I spent the whole day trying to upload this and now I have to ~groan~ start getting ready for the Big Project’s Big Event. Anyone want to go in my place and pretend they’re me? You’re most welcome!!! 😆

Have a great day, my sweeties, and thank you for the love you leave in my blog as you download! Hope you like this!