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!)

{Click on image for larger view}

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.

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)))