OH HALE, TEMPLATE TUESDAY!

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I'm a template junkie!  Love to use them, love to design them!  I've made you a neat sunburst type frame which has 19 separate petals to which you can clip various papers if you like.  Just think, you can finally use all your favorite papers at once!  Teehee!  Think outside the box on various ways to use this frame once you assemble it your way.  You can have half of it on the page or coming in from a corner of the page, use it to showcase a photo, some word art, or even your journaling.  Be creative!  I'd love to see what you make with it, so feel free to email me with your lovelies!  Without further yick-yaking, here is your FREEBIE preview:

DOWNLOAD HERE

I've included a thumbnail of my own layout in the zip so you can see what I did with the frame and how I used it.  This is what happens when I take inspiring classes like the PhotoShop Friday lessons from Jessica Sprague.  I go wild making things between the weekly classes!  I'm taking a free class there now which combines hybrid and digital card making techniques, and we get a daily lesson.  That will keep me busy for awhile!  Yeah!

The weather is scorching hot here, the humidity is high.  Thank goodness for all the water available!  We pretty much stay in during the heat of the day and venture out after the sun drops in the evening to enjoy the amenities of living here.  July and August will be the hottest months of the year, and after that it's back to normal fair weather the rest of the year.  Ahh, yes! 

My house is still busy.  Today we pitched in to keep an 11 year old boy who is the son of our son's fiance who works, of course.  You know how when it rains, it pours?  This sweet gal's air conditioner went out in her home this weekend and her childcare person quit for greener pastures.  We are fairly decent at problem solving after so many years of being subjected to the need to do so constantly, so nowdays we simply "connect people" much like putting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together.  This little guy today kept my DH so busy playing buddy all day and nearly talked his ears off.  I think they both had a good day!

I will leave you with a little more inspiration, my own scrapping since my last post.  Templates were used which I've collected from forum challenges where I hang out online, and I got hooked on a kit with very cool summery colors, SED_Flopped Flipped Revamp, which can be found at Enchanted Scrap Studios.

Alrighty then, as Bruce Almighty would say; that's enough inspiration for one sitting, right?  The kit I mentioned above is a colorful one, hey?  I fell in love with it for the tropical summer look.  The ocean background is a snapshot I took on an evening outing, and in one LO I faded the opacity of it down to about 70% just experimenting.  I'm going to make you guys a freebie QP from that, so be sure to stop back in to pick that up soon, may get it to you this week.  I hope I've shown you something that may inspire you to create yourself.  More to come soon!

Until then, Happy Scrapping!!

TOOTLES!

MONDAY MOTIVATION!

No matter how helter-skelter my house and daily life are, I crave a few minutes to scrap and manage to squeeze it in (even if it's just a few minutes with my cup of java!).  I'm getting lots of photos this time of year, so a "Project 365" or "Project 52" is no problem here!  I'm just crazy about using templates when trying to scrap and pressed for time.  Wow!  They are just wonderful to help out the ol' braino get a jump start!  I got these pages finished and was so pleased with them I just had to share:

These are my in-laws visiting now; Nanny in the middle (my DH's mom), her sister on the right and sister's husband on the left taken at my nearby local pier.  You can see that those beautiful heads of platinum hair run in his family, and he aquired his when only 25 years of age.  The base of this layout is BH_Template05 from Bhaven Designz.  It's quite a good example of how sometimes "less is more" in that it is simplistic but quite lovely to showcase certain photos or portions of them.  I'm certain that I will be using this template very often.

The two LO's above were made using the same template, CWC April Template Challenge from Enchanted Studio Scraps forum.  I love this one and how differently it can look after loading the photos and different papers, etc.  Whew!  I get so excited!  Both of these were put together using kits from the ESS forums Pixie Pouch Challenge made by designer Chaos Lounge and kit, SED_Flopped Flipped.  The largest font on both LO's is called JI_Evzone, and I find it to be a super cool one. 

That's all I have to show you for the moment; just doing a quick drive by here today!  Haha!  I'm staying on the move right now but hope to be back with a FREEBIE maybe tomorrow, so stay tuned in.  Thanks to all who leave me their comments here and over at 4Shared when you download.  I read them all and appreciate your taking a few seconds to say something and connect in some way.  Chat again soon!

TOOTLES! 

FLEETING JUNE + A FREEBIE!!

Hey everybody!  Hope your month is going well.  My June seems to be flying by with the speed of light!  We got "Nanny" (DH's mom) down here on the 13th to spend a month with us.  She is rehabing from several occurrences in the last six months which include a stroke, back surgery, pneumonia, and complete changes in her meds.  Sounds just aweful, I know, but she is doing pretty well considering all that and her 74 years of age.  We told her to consider this a vacation for herself, but we are exercising her mind and body in gentle ways.  She is playing some computer games which is good for hand-eye coordination as well as exercising the mind, and we have her on a walking program of three times daily.  One evening this past week we took her to our local pier out over the ocean, and she walked all the way to the gazebo out on the end of it, sat and enjoyed watching the ocean waves, the sunset, and all the folks fishing, and then she walked all the way back in before dark fell.  I got some good photos of that, so I'll post some of those later.  I have to mention we got her a pair of "Shape-Ups" by Sketchers to help build up the muscles in her calves and thighs, and before the purchase I tried a pair on myself to see what all the hype was about.  Wow!  They are GREAT!  They definitely do what they are advertised to do for you physically.  Check 'em out if you haven't already!  Their price is hefty, but I think ultimately they would be worth it if you use them faithfully.

I had a birthday since my last post, and a very cool thing was all the great digital gifts I received in my email from all the shop forums I hang out in.  I didn't expect such wonderful surprises, and I surely want to thank everybody!  Benefit of posting your birthday in your forum profile, very cool.  At any rate, all of the sudden at my house we went from zero cake to too much cake in one day!  The best cake of all was made for me by two of my grandchildren who are 8 and 4 years of age.  Guys, you ROCK!!

The weather here is scorching hot every day, so we are in the pool much of the time and grilling outdoors often.  Our neighborhood pool is huge and even its water is warm from the sun like bath water!  Nanny has enjoyed getting in and walking in the water for more exercise too!

Even though I haven't found time for posting more often, I am keeping up with my PhotoShop Friday classes and have signed up for a free card making class beginning on June 28th at Jessica Sprague.  Registration is still open for that class if you're interested.  I totally love her self-paced classes.  I can do them when I can find the time to spare.  It ROCKS!!

I've designed tons of digital papers which I may give as freebies someday when I get happy with tweaking them enough, but in the meantime I've used some of my own creations to make today's FREEBIE for you.  We all need a big stash of frames to reach for when in the mood to scrap, so I played around with my own design of an overlapping type frame and came up with two dozen to give you in this pack which I've called "FUN FRAMES".  These are 300 dpi png files, easy to resize larger or smaller without loss of quality.  I did put a drop shadow on them to make them sort of pop off your pages a bit.  I hope you'll be able to love and use them in your own scrapping to come!  Here's the preview:

DOWNLOAD HERE

I will leave you with some scrapping inspiration through some layouts of my own I've just recently finished . . . . .

 

That's pretty much the sum of what I've gotten to finish since my last post, and summertime is, in all probability, the season when I snap the majority of my photos.  I wish I could scrap as fast as I snap!  (And that should be my new motto!  Teehee!)  Until next time . . . . .

TOOTLES!

TOTF = TEMPLATE ON THURSDAY FREEBIE!

Happy Thursday everybody!  I've been a busy bee since my last post!  We had a couple of cook-outs over the weekend to test out a grill that's new to us, and there's no sense heating up the thing for just two so I always invite folks in for the grilling sessions!  I love how it makes the neighborhood smell so good and folks just wander in on the lawn.  You can be having a party before you know it!  Cool!  During the first part of this week, DH and I helped an elderly friend empty out a huge 4-bedroom home he had sold.  We worked solid for 12 hrs. and got it all shifted around in one day, amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.  I've always worked better under a time-line type pressure anyway.  I get way more done when I have deadlines of sorts.

I even have managed to squeeze in some personal scrapping and design work!  Yeah for me and you both!  Stay with me here to see some of my layouts, and your freebie will follow!

This was made with a great Quick Page which inspired me to wrap up the Mister and practice up on doing some journaling.  I was reading up on a site's monthly challenges where journaling was emphasized as being so important for posterity, and I agree, we should do lots of it.  The kit is "Mr. Fix-It" by Scraps by Andrea, found at Stuff to Scrap.  This QP was designed by one of their CT's who's blog is Christins Creations. 

I created this for the current template challenge in the forum at Misses BeeHaven Digital Scrapbooking where the theme was your take on "blue".  I just happened to have lots of current snaps where my peeps were sporting lots of blue, and isn't that hydrangea gorgeous!

Doing another challenge in the Misses BeeHaven forum, I worked up my desktop for July with a theme of "summer picnic" using "Summer Smiles" by Kim Cameron of Groovy Scraps and "Spring Picnic" from the Blog Train of the Stuff To Scrap designers. 

This is just a fun page I whipped up from scratch and inspired by a conversation had with my youngest DD who is a groomer and mother of two.  Please vote for her project submitted to Pepsi Refresh for grant money to build a "no-kill" doggie shelter on her land.  You can do this in the gadget box at the top right of my blog.  You register and sign in to the Pepsi Refresh site, and you can then vote daily to help her win.  This is an ongoing project and voting spree as each month the top 100 finalist in each monetary category move on into the next month's running for one year.  She has managed to stay in the running so far, but she needs to finish in the top 10 one month to get the grant she has applied for.  I surely would appreciate your support as often as you can think kindly of a doggie!  Thanks all!  In this page, I practiced up on "stroking" in PSE, and the font used is called "Fancy Pens", probably from DaFont for free.

These four LO's were made using a blog train collab, "All The Dirt", by the designers at Digital Scrapbooking Studio.  The 4th one uses a wonderful free template by Le Pingouin Designs I found available at both Digi Scrap Depot and Divine Digital.  These pages feature none other than my little extreme preemie Angel Baby, Mason.

And, now for your FREEBIE treat!  Here is my very own Template #6 for you.  I'm becoming a real template junkie myself, loving to both use them and make them!  Here's the preview:

  

DOWNLOAD HERE

As always, this is a one-pager, 12x12", 300 dpi and includes the psd file, tiff file, and all png files so it can be used by a variety of software programs to suit more folks.  I hope you can use and enjoy it.  If you like it, please leave me some encouragement either here or at 4Shared.  It helps to spur my creativity and giving nature.  Here is my own LO using it again with the "All The Dirt" collab kit:

Oh to be that young again!!  Don't we wish?!!  That's all my jabber for today.  Thanks for dropping by and come back real soon.  I've a lot on the burner for ya!

TOOTLES!

SATURDAY SPECIAL + HOME AGAIN!

That's right!  I'm back from my whirlwind jaunt up north once again, and whew!!  I've been exhausted!  I took yesterday totally off from any physical exertion just to recooperate.  We took a more scenic route this time to stop in at Rustburg, VA, (suburb of Lynchburg) to check up on my DH's mom who is staying at his older sister's gorgeous 12-acre farm there.  His mom is 72, a widow of several years, and has had a difficult time over this past winter with some lower back surgery, a bout with pneumonia, and then a mild stroke.  It's difficult to be so far away during these times, all the while feeling like you should be there to help out more.  It's the "catch 22" of life, in general, for sure.  If all goes well with her rehab program she is doing now, we plan to bring her down to the beach to visit for a month this summer.  We enjoyed getting to see the farm for the first time and all the new animals, not to mention his relatives and two new babies!  I got some great photos!  We took this detour stop-in going up and coming back, so even though the visits were short, they were worthwhile.

At our northern-most destination, our hometown, it was great to see my parents and my brother once again as the town honored my Dad as having been a war veteran; and my brother flew in from Phoenix, AZ, to bestow the honor and be the keynote speaker at the ceremony since he is retired military also.  I got to see my bro in full military dress uniform even though I think the temperatures had to be in the 90's that day!  I felt for him!  His speech was wonderful and brought tears to my eyes as he recounted to those present all his memories of local veterans who had served and passed, belonging both to our community and to our own family.  My Dad got to ride in the town's closing parade on Memorial Day, and all these festivities were held during their local annual Dandelion Festival.  It was a good weekend!  We relaxed, visited, and ate well.  LOL!  My mom is doing so well, too!  She is so saucy!!  Here's a layout I've done already with a couple of the oodles of pics I shot:

The photo on the right is what remains of my immediate family.  We once were five but have been only four since 1969 when I lost my sister who was two years older than myself.  Losing a firstborn seems to be a repeating scary trend in my extended family on both sides.  My Mom is my inspiration to try to overcome and keep going through it all.  She is so "gritty" tough, and I say that with love. - The photo on the left shows my Dad and brother on stage in a decorated gazebo before the ceremony and speech.  By the way, I constructed this LO using "Afternoon Delight" by JW Digi Scraps and her "Mom For Ages" cluster frame.  Font at the top is "Phoenix" and font at the bottom is "Park Avenue".

Next up for your learning inspiration, I've totally enjoyed completing my 5th PhotoShop Friday lesson from Jessica Sprague.  I simply cannot rave about these mini lessons enough!!  The following two layouts will show you what I learned so easily in this "less than 30 minute" lesson, so look at them closely:

 

Above is my LO before the technique is applied . . .

 

See how the photo is now black and white all except for that popsicle?  Amazing, right?!!  You should treat yourself to these lessons, one each week for a buck!  Sign up at the website for a reminder email weekly so you don't miss "One Buck Wednesdays".  The cool tricks and time saving techniques Jessica teaches are totally awesome and easy!!  The template and all papers you see above are included in the download for the price!  That's a deal!!  Plus, your tutorial video is always available online at the website in your account for you to review anytime as often as you like, forever!! 

Alrighty then!  On to your "Saturday Special" FREEBIE!  I have my very own 5th template for you today!  Hope you can use and enjoy it.  I whipped up a quick LO with it using my BFF's new puppy which she just got this week!  Isn't he adorable?!!  She tells me he is a Danish Sheppard and that the breed is used for service dogs, extremely intelligent.  This little fella is only 11 weeks old. 

 

Again, I used "Christmas Card Stock" by JW Digi Scraps to whip this together of this pooch.  Can't tell I'm a fan of her's, huh?  Here's my template preview:

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

As always, I've included a psd file, tiff, and all pngs so hopefully lots of software users will be able to utilize my templates.  This is a 12x12 inch, 300 dpi.  Enjoy, and please let me know if you like my work by leaving me some love either here or at 4Shared.  It so helps to spur me on!  I read them all.

Thanks for tuning in again, and please do come back often!  I have oodles of goodies to share!  Until next time . . . . .

TOOTLES!