May Kit - Spring Garden

Well, this one started off slow, but once I found the groove, I just kept going. I hope you enjoy it, too!

There are 16 papers included in this kit are (15 shown). Six are solid colors with texture, 5 are polka dots, 3 are floral, and 2 are striped. I had fun making brushes and learning how to do patterns other than just polka dots with this one.

For elements, there are 6 different jeweled flowers, but there are also 6 different jewels, so you can make flowers or patterns of your own. There are 4 chipboard flowers (thanks Atomic Cupcake). And there are also 5 felt flowers with 5 felt centers so you can mix and match. I also found this cool grass brush by Katikut, and made a cool grass overlay for you to use. Then I played some more with the chipboard and made a frame with 3 flowers on the corner. And finally, I made 6 different note cards with scalloped flower edges. The white one has little blue lines for you to write on.

All this became huge, so you've got 2 different downloads.
Elements are found HERE. (link removed) (46MB)
Papers are found HERE. (link removed) (22MB)

And now... back to football! :)

Layered Template - May 2008 Planner

Here is May! I just WISH it were May again and we were on the brink of summer instead of closing in on winter. Just a side note on the photo -- this was my family reunion this summer -- celebrating my Grandparent's 60th Anniversary!

I started kind of rocky on the May kit, but I'm excited about where it ended up. I hope you like it, too. The paper and jeweled flower are from the May kit, "Spring Garden." I'll upload it tomorrow.

That leads me to a question -- specifically for Photoshop CS2 users/experts. I've created a lot of papers for the May kit using "Pattern Fill." The result is a 13MB+ file. One of them was even 20MB!!! Just for one paper!!! And the papers are nothing crazy -- just mini polka dots. So my question: how do I compress the file size without losing quality, taking it down from 300dpi, etc? I've tried flattening it. Flattening it and moving it to another document. I'm just at a loss for how to shrink the size!

Anyway, I'd love to hear any suggestions. But in the meantime, you can download the calendar template HERE. (link removed)

Now I'm off to the zoo. It's a beautiful day; on days like this, it's a crime to be inside!

May Color Scheme - Spring Garden

And while I'm in the blogger, here's May's color scheme. I'm a "brights" girl, not a pastel girl, so I thought this color scheme would be easy. Boy was I wrong! I hit a couple road blocks, but the kit is nearly done. If all goes as planned, you'll have the template Saturday and the kit on Sunday.

Piggy Back Kits - April

I need to get my little tail in gear. Andrea gave me the preview this morning, but I didn't get around to uploading it. IkeaGoddess is so on the ball that she beat me to it! :) But that's OK -- she's a pro at this.

Andrea's got her blog back up and running, complete with kits moved over to 4shared. Good job everyone for "crashing" her system with popularity!

Head over to ANDREA'S BLOG to get her April Add-On. Then have a great weekend. :)

April Mini Kit - He is Risen

Well, this one proved to be a challenge for me. I was not very inspired, especially after realizing that Easter hits in March in 2008! Oops! Then I read on Andrea's blog that she's really excited about April's colors, so I figure the two of us will balance each other out this go-round!

I've mentioned before that I scrap very little with elements -- I'm a papers girl. So it's the elements that are lacking on this kit. I made a stained glass butterfly for you, some word art that I'm really happy with, and some journal borders and frames. I was reading a "Family Circle" magazine on the plane last week, and they used these scalloped borders or lines around some of their articles or mini-snippets. I thought it would be cute to implement into a scrap kit. So you see it here!

The papers, I think you'll be happy with. I used a brush designed by 3zehn.org and removed the butterflies from the background. Then I added some textures, and you can see the 10 different papers that emerged. The butterfly papers are HUGE though, so you'll have to download this kit in two pieces. The first group has everything BUT the butterfly papers. The second group has just the butterfly papers.

Download group one HERE. (link removed)
Download group two HERE. (link removed)

Piggy-Back Kits - March

Andrea has blessed us with another add on kit, full of her wonderful, rich textures. Would you believe this is only her 3rd kit (and 1 and 2 were January and February)? I think I've found an addict! :)

As a note: Andrea used my word art in this kit and has altered it to a "copper" type finish. I have given her express permission to do so, while crediting me.

While I have given her permission to do so, PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MY WORD ART AS YOUR OWN. If you would like to use any of my designs for commercial endeavors, ask first. Even though I did create this calendar to be used for gifts, they weren't intended to be sold.... let your conscience be your guide. :)

Anyway, without further ado, head on over to ANDREA'S BLOG to get her fabulous addition to the March kit. (site currently down)

A NOTE FROM ANDREA: I had so many downloads today that I ran out of transfer on my website. I uploaded it to 4shared for now. I won’t have anymore transfer until October 1st. If you want to change the link to the file, here it is: 4SHARED

Keep on leavin' her love at 4shared. :) And please don't share this link with anyone else; direct them back to my blog or Andrea's blog to get the freebies.

Layered Template - April 2008 Planner

Welcome to April 2008. I hope you enjoy this layered template, created at 8.5x11, 300dpi. The papers used are going to be available starting tomorrow evening on this blog. For now, you can download the template HERE. (link removed)

And other than that... would you believe I'm so tired I'm at a complete loss for more words? :) So it's short and sweet tonight. :)

April Color Scheme and Question

Here we have April's color scheme. You know... originally I was thinking that I'd hit April and Easter together -- but then it hit me that Easter is in March this year! Doh! Regardless though, April has my Easter mindset. I went with purples and golds because it's a "regal" month with the King on His throne! And besides, Easter should be celebrated year round! :) I'm not able to get on my "fun" computer for a bit, so unfortunately, the template and kit won't be ready until next week. Hopefully earlier than later!

Also, just a side note... I'm a procrastinator and don't work very far ahead (in other words, I'm not done with April yet, never mind May, June, July...). I also want to keep a little bit of anticipation alive. That said, I plan to release each month's color scheme in order and not skip ahead. So you'll just have to keep checking back! :)

Now my question and request...

I've had one wonderful person let me know that they are unable to see my polka dot overlays from "Lucky Me" and my scalloped paper from "Winter Wonderland" on their computer. These are PNG files, however, this person did mention she was able to see my other PNG files. Is anyone else having problems opening up any files? That's my request: if you do, please let me know!

I'm not really sure what the problem is with the PNG files mentioned though. When I went to "Save for Web", a warning came up saying it was too large and may lose something, but still saved just fine from my end. I'm wondering if "visibility" is what it lost. If others are having problems with those files, too, I'm guessing that's what happened. If anyone can clue me in on what may be going on, I'd appreciate that, too! :)

Thanks! :)

Piggy Back Kits - February

Ann Scraps has made another FABULOUS add-on to the "Chocolate Covered Cherries" kit. Once again, these textures are just fabulous. And she's tapped into one of my severe weaknesses: polka dots! Ooh, and check out the cool faceted heart border!

Thanks SO much for participating again, Andrea.

If you'd like Andrea's portion of the kit, go let her know how much you appreciate her work. Her blog is here:
http://www.dumalski.com/Main/Andreas_Blog/Entries/2007/9/19_Anyone_for_Chocolate_Covered_cherries.html

Piggy Back Kits - March

I've got another person "playing along" with me! YAY!!! It's so much fun to see people muster up the courage to try their hand at designing. Susan is another woman who hasn't done a kit before. Check out these fabulous papers she's created to coordinate with the March kit. She's got some wonderful textures and fun stripes going on with her papers.

You can go to her blog at ladiesue.blogspot.com to download the whole thing.

THANK YOU, SUSAN!!!

March Mini Kit - Lucky Me

And without further ado, here's the mini-kit for March. I hope you enjoy it! I actually had fun making this one. Now of course, I'm stuck on April.... Hmmmm...

Anyway, this kit is created at 12x12, 300dpi. All elements are 300dpi and do not include drop shadows.

Included in this kit:
5 heavily textured papers (thank you www.textureking.com)
5 heavily patterned papers -- I had a bit of fun with Photoshop! :)
5 Polka Dot overlays -- you can "make" your own papers with these (please don't redistribute as your own).
1 Gold Chain and 4 Charms -- I did these both with and without the links. The links have the space cut out where they hook to the chain.
4 Chipboard Shamrocks (thanks www.atomiccupcake.com)
4 Stamped Shamrocks (thank you again, www.atomiccupcake.com)
4 Sticker Shamprocks
4 Stamped and Doodled Shamrocks (thanks once again, www.atomiccupcake.com)
1 Word Art (6 color schemes) -- of my favorite Bible Verse, Philippians 4:13.

This is a 48+MB kit. You can download it HERE. (link removed)

Layered Template - March 2008 Planner

OK, I have to admit it.... I'm kind of excited about this kit! You've got shamrocks galore -- luck coming out your ears! :) But you'll have to wait. The calendar template comes first.

In my LO using the calendar template, I flipped the design horizontally. I also used papers and one element from the upcoming "Lucky Me" kit. I'll be sharing the kit either LATE tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

I also have to add: this is my personal favorite Bible verse -- always has been. If this verse doesn't empower you and give you confidence, nothing will!

One more thing -- thank you for all of the wonderful well-wishes for my daughter. I was absolutely blow away by all the message of prayer and concern. Humbled would be another great description. My daughter is milking her injury for all it's worth! She doesn't HAVE to wear the sling and ACE bandage, but WANTS to. So she wore it to church. When the nursery attendants asked what happened, she matter of factly said, "I broke the collar bone." Yes, she loves attention! She seems to be a little clingier than normal, indicating the pain is still there. However, that's the only clue I have to her pain level -- she's playing, sleeping, and acting just like normal. All things considered, she's doing wonderful. As I keep reminding myself through this hectic week -- it could have been SO much worse!

And onto the download. Again, it's 8.5x11 at 300dpi. Download is available HERE. (link removed)

March Color Scheme - "Lucky Me"

Here is the color scheme and theme, "Lucky Me," for March. I'd love to have you join me in making mini-kits! :)

My goal for this weekend: Sunday get the March Template up. Monday get the March Mini-Kit up. I have to be away from Photoshop (work, family wedding, etc), from Monday to Monday. I plan to bring my computer with me for the family wedding, but who knows how much scrapping time I'll have. Long and short of it -- March's Template and Mini-Kit will be the only posts/freebies until NEXT week.

February Mini Kit - Chocolate Covered Cherries

It's so funny to me doing hearts -- I never use hearts! LOL!

Anyway, here's February's kit. I got a little stuck in a "heart" rut. There are 5 pretty cool polka dot papers, 3 stripey/plaid papers, 3 "silk" look papers, and 5 papers with a scalloped edge and hearts punched out of it. There are also some decent sized tags perfect for matting or journaling. I made 2 chocolate hearts -- one is solid chocolate, the other a chocolate drizzle. Originally, they were going to be bronze metal, but I think I got hungry! My favorite part of this kit: the stitched felt heart stack. I've been trying to do felt for a long time, and I finally made one I was satisfied with! Oh, and there's word art as well, but it's not in the preview. I have 5 different color versions of the word art, which you can see in yesterday's template.

This kit in total is about 53MB, so I had to put it in 2 uploads.
Download HERE. (link removed)

Piggy-Back Kits - January

I am SO excited. I received the best email from "Ann Scraps" today -- it included an add-on kit to my Winter Wonderland kit for the January calendar. THANKS SO MUCH, Andrea, for "playing" along with me! I love the grungy papers and had to go pick them up myself! Great work!

For those of you wondering where to get it... well just let me tell you! Head on over to ANDREA'S BLOG where she's got it ready and waiting for you. Would you believe it's her first kit!? Way to go, Andrea! And thank you for your generousity!

February Color Scheme

I forgot to add the color scheme for February. Oops!

Here it is. It will be called "Chocolate Covered Cherries." If you'd like to make papers/elements of your own in these colors, just let me know where they're at, and I'll send people over to visit you! ;)

Layered Template - Februay 2008 Planner

OK, today I have bad news, and then I have two bits of good news.

The BAD NEWS:
My daughter (age barely 3) fell out of bed yesterday while she was napping... onto a hardwood floor... landed on her shoulder... broke her collar bone. Ugh! Thankfully, she isn't in much pain. Isn't crying at all. Sleeps through the night despite it all. Really the only time we can tell she hurts is if we touch her collar bone or pick her up too high on her armpit. Spent the day at Urgent Care and the docs... in other words, got a LOT of work done (yeah right). As I mentioned, this month was already crammed full. Extra doctor's visits were not supposed to be part of the equasion. One little "Thankful Thursday" -- for some reason, she LOVES going to the doctor! Guess she doesn't remember her last shot. That's OK by me!

OK, now the GOOD NEWS:

#1: While I was in the hospital waiting room, I could see the staff computer in the back room. Their screen saver was their hospital web info. It included some cool color blocking pages. I now have about 10 more template idea! LOL! (Yes, scrapping even in hospital waiting rooms!)

#2: This is the obvious -- here's today's freebie! LOL! OK, weak effort on that "good news" -- but hey, I'll take what I can get right now. I'm stressin' a bit! My head is spinning from "life." Why is it just when you think you've got things under control, Satan comes at you to make sure you know you don't -- that you truly only have God to rely on, because you just can't do it yourself! Get behind me, Satan!

Anyway, onto the LO. My thoughts are getting random, and I can "hear" you all laughing at me. :) tee hee...

Today's page is for February 2008. I just realized I didn't even include any holidays on these, but I guess I was figuring you could add your own. Yeah... sure... that's what I was figuring... I didn't FORGET or anything! :)

The papers, hearts, and word art are all part of my February kit, "Chocolate Covered Cherries," which I'm currently stuck on, but hope to have to you sometime this weekend.

You can download February right HERE. (link removed)

January Mini Kit

Well... without further ado, here is my first attempt at designing a mini-kit of my own. I'll admit -- I prefer making templates! I'm a "minimalist" scrapper, so elements are really challenging for me. I think once I've finished the calendar year, I'll retire from designing kits! LOL!

This kit is actually 12x12 papers at 300dpi, so you get the full size! I may do my templates smaller, but I like bigger papers so that I can crop them down to size as I like them!

OK, so what's included, you ask?
4 scalloped borders/ribbons
4 scalloped papers
8 patterned papers
1 set of word art in 4 colors (not pictured -- seen in January calendar page from a couple days ago)
18 glitter snowflakes
18 chipboard snowflakes (thanks, Atomic Cupcake, for the action!)
18 chrome/silver snowflakes

The total file size is 49MB. You can download it HERE. (link removed) I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Word Art - Jeremiah 29:11

I had a special request for some word art, specifically Jeremiah 29:11. While I've already set the verses for the calendar templates, I know this is a favorite verse of many. So here is the word art for it -- feel free to substitute it on a monthly template, or use it on any other LOs you'd like. I hope you enjoy it! Definitely a wonderful verse; full of promise and hope!

This verse is 300dpi and about 5 inches wide. You can download it HERE. (link removed)

I also want to add... my baby had surgery this morning. Minor surgery, but when you're a mother, there's no such thing as "minor" surgery. He literally was in and out in 5 minutes. We barely had time to use the restroom, and they were calling us back. Needless to say, he came through it with flying colors (tubes in his ears). Anyway, this verse is especially poignant for today -- a good reminder that God has my little guy firmly in His hands and under His protection. God is so good and I am so grateful.

Layered Template - January 2008 Planner

Let the Planner Pages begin! Of course, we're starting with January. I thought this Bible verse was appropriate for the start of a NEW year. In my LO, you can see a couple pieces (snowflakes and paper) from the January mini-kit, which I'll upload later this week.

The planner page is created at 300dpi, 8.5x11 in Adobe Photoshop CS2. To download your layered template, click HERE. (link removed)

January Color Scheme

I want to share with all of you what January's kit color scheme will be. Sometime this week, I'll be posting both the January 2008 Planner Template, as well as a coordinating kit (which obviously can be used with it or not...whatever you'd like).

The kit / theme will be "Winter Wonderland."

Why, you ask, am I sharing the colors with you? I thought it might be a fun and commitment-free way for other designers and/or want-to-be designers to try their hand at making papers and/or elements.

So... if you'd like to design some pieces for a mini kit of your own in these colors, just email me a link to your blog, and I'll send others to you to check it out as well, when I release my kit sometime this week.

Even if you don't get it done this week, just shoot me an email or leave me a comment, and I'll link to your blog post with coordinating design elements.

Have fun!

Layered Template - 2008 Planner "Weekly" Pages

Here is the next installment of the 2008 Planner. This is the weekly calendar that can be used or not used, depending on how you want your planner to look. I plan to print 52 of these for mine, so I have planning pages for each week of the year. You can use the same photos for each page, or change them up -- imagine how many different photos you can have for your 2008 planner!

The zip file for this contains one left page and one right page. These are 8.5x11 layered templates created at 300dpi in Photoshop CS2. My example is the top part of the photo. The pages you'll receive are the bottom part of the photo above.

Have fun creating!!! :) Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. This just happens to be the ONE day of September that has no writing on our calendar -- so we're getting a babysitter and enjoying us a date night. I think we'll go to a Mongolian grill and out to a movie. And that means, I need to get ready!

HERE. (link removed) is where you download these 2 pages.

(Added 9/9/07): I received this really cool idea from Heidi about how she plans to use these pages: Sarah, I am loving these!! What a great idea!! I think I may make one of the picture spots a "Notes" box (you know, for those misc. things that don't really go on a day), oh I just figured it out--a notes box on one side and a grocery list on the other side.....thank you!! :)

Layered Template - 2008 Planner / Calendar

Papers & Ribbon Border by Bren Boone "Summer Afternoon"

Alright, I'm ready to reveal the "teaser" I referred to a month or so ago. It's not complete yet, so it won't probably be a template-a-day, as I did before. But for some reason, life got more busy than it was before, too... :) My goal is to release a little mini-kit with each month. This could prove to be interesting, as I've really never done kits, and I don't use a lot of elements! So we'll see what comes of all of this.

To date, I've got templates done through July, but kits only complete for January and February. In other words, I can guarantee the month templates, but not the kits. I may get frustrated with those before I get finished! And you guys may have to tell me not to even bother with the kits if they prove to be no good! LOL!

These templates are all 8.5 x 11 (300dpi), so you can print them on regular paper and bind them however you choose. I've been hunting for printers who bind this size in portrait orientation for a reasonable price. Shutterfly, whose Photo Books I absolutely adore, only does landscape orientation in the 8.5x11 size, which unfortunately won't work. I have emailed them asking if they plan to do portrait orientation, however they do not do it at this time, nor do they see it on their upcoming horizon. Perhaps if enough of us email them.... :) If anyone knows of any reasonably priced printers/binders, I'd love to hear about them and I'll certainly recommend them/link to them here.

Another little "disclaimer" of sorts on this 2008 planner. I'm designing it the way that I intend to use it. Because my faith is my center, I am choosing to design this with a bible verse word art for each month and the cover. As always this will be on its own layer, so you may remove it if you choose. However, it WILL be included on every page.

And with all that mumbo jumbo... HERE. (link removed) is the link to the template.

Now back to catching up with real work! :)