New Product, New Freebie, and a Designer Spotlight Challenge at Oscraps!

Hey, everybody! It’s been quite awhile since I posted. There’s been a WHOLE LOT of stuff going on in my life, and for awhile there I didn’t have much time to even sit still, let alone design. But I’m back up and running again, with a whole lot of fun for you!

First off, do you remember the Designer Spotlight Challenge at Oscraps? Basically, it’s a challenge where a designer posts a cool freebie and a challenge. You need to use 50% of the designer’s products, and 100% Oscraps products to complete the challenge. Two lucky participants of the challenge will win a $10 coupon to my store! You won’t have to purchase anything to do the challenge: I have a couple of freebies up in the store that should give you more than enough stuff to complete a layout or two. I’m so excited to be hosting the first of the new Designer Spotlight challenges! It goes live tomorrow here in the challenge forum at Oscraps, so be sure to head on down and give it a go!

Now let’s take it down a notch when we look at my new products. I will admit to you that one of the reasons that I was having such a difficult time designing there for awhile was that I was suffering from the depression and anxiety that sometimes comes with Bi-polar disorder. I didn’t even know I had this disorder until I went to a counselor in November and was diagnosed. Since then, I’ve had a lot of emotions concerning the diagnosis, but I finally arrived on the idea that it’s OKAY to suffer from depression, bi-polar, ADHD, anxiety, and any other mental illness that an individual may have. It’s not something that a person can necessarily change, the key is controlling it and I also think that part of the issue is NOT being ashamed! So I made this kit, called Dark Season, which explores some of these difficult emotions and reinforces the idea that IT IS OKAY not to have a sunny disposition all of the time! Here’s the kit:

I also have found lately that keeping track of my emotions, what caused them, and how I dealt with them, helps me to deal with them better in the future. When I know what causes negative emotions, then in the future I can head depression and anxiety off at the pass. So I created this printable feelings journal, which also comes with a full planner, complete with meal planning, to-do lists, contacts, etc. I’ve made this planner available at a very low price, because I want it to be affordable. I want to help.

You can also get both of these items together, in a convenient and affordable bundle!

AND there’s a freebie! Please enjoy these journal cards with my compliments! (oh, and you may want to hold on to them for the challenge tomorrow! HINT HINT)

ALSO, please be aware that all profits from the sale of this kit will go to Equilibrium, the Bi-Polar Foundation. So you can feel good about parting with a li’l bit of your cash.

Stay tuned! More information about the challenge is forthcoming tomorrow.

Also, a week from today, come back to check out Long Ago and Far Away! WOW!

October’s here, and there’s so much good news!

Hey party people! I haven’t posted in a long time because.. well there’s been a lot going on in Boyerville. I’ve had health issues, and my parents in town, and just. Well. Never you mind, because it’s all over, and now things are great! Check it out.

I’m no longer at The Digichick, but I love those Chic-A-Dees, and their site is awesome, and you should spend lots of money there.

As you know, I am selling my artsy lovely goodness at Scrap Art Studio, where designs are different, and cool, and filled with fabulous artistic expression! This will continue to be the place where I feel freest to really get artsy, get my digital fingers dirty, and make a lovely, splattery, design mess!

But there’s so much more! I have a NEW HOME, mostly for my temps, is… get ready…

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES? (answer: I love them)

Insane, right? I’m freaking out myself. I’ll be moving my templates over there a few at a time. They will all be 25% off for the first week or so after going up, which puts them in at under $3 a pack, which I think is a good deal. Don’t you?

The O was one of the very first places I ever went when I began scrapping, and I would barely even BUY stuff there at the time, because I figured it was out of my league. And now I have a shop there!

The other big news is… are you ready????

Take a look at these previews, and what do you see?

THAT’S RIGHT! I’m guesting at One Story Down this month!!! I’m working on an incredibly spooky and dark kit right now to go up there next week, so keep your eyes peeled!

So this incredible month is makin’ me feel good.

Plus, I have almost 1000 likes on Facebook. SOOO I’ve decided to give away a full template pack here, ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Remember these? They were the first for-sale temps I made. Now I’m giving them to you for free! And if you bought them.. well. Send me a PM on Facebook and I’ll send you a coupon good for something.

STRIPS PSD downolad

STRIPS TIFF download

STRIPS PAGE download

STRIPS PNGs download

So there you guys go! That’s a pretty good blog post to make up for being such a stranger, yes?

I’ve also been thinking. Would you be interested in having a little bit of an art journaling workshop HERE on my blog? I have some art journaling ideas for the dark season, either the dark season of life, or literally the dark season of the year. And if you are interested, we’ll do them here on my blog!

Okay, have yourselves a merry little Friday, and enjoy!

 

New Releases and a Coupon!

Hey everybody!

Thanks for stopping by! I know lots of people are here for my Digital Scrapbooking Studio Design Contest freebie! That’s awesome, and you can grab it in the next post down. But while you’re here, why not stop and take a look at the new release I have today at the Digichick? I also have a great coupon you use at either the Digichick or Scrap Art Studio. Swell, right?

First, the new release!

There are two templates in this pack, available in both 12×12 and 81/2 x 11 sizes, and in PSD, TIFF, PNG and PAGE file formats. The ad above shows layouts made by the talented team at The Digichick. Here are a couple by my team. This one is by Shawna, using Adventure by Sherwood Studi0:

And this one is by Andrea, uysing Kashmir by Sweet Digi Scraps and Etc. by Danyale:

They do good work, don’t they?

Okay, I promised you a coupon, didn’t I? Well here it is:

 

That’s a great deal! And I’ll give you those store links once again.

Scrap Art Studio, where I sell my artsy scrap kits, and

the Digichick, where I have a guest spot selling templates.

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day!

Painted Moonlight Minikit Freebie

DOWNLOAD DISABLED! This will soon be available, with the former facebook freebie, as a maxi-mini at a special guest spot!

 

Hey everybody! Just for funsies I all of a sudden decided to enter the Digital Scrapbooking Studio Next Designer Contest! Don’t know why, I just found out about it and thought: Why not?

So here’s my offering! Click above to snag it, and don’t be afraid to leave comments.

Also, while you’re grabbing freebies, why not head over to my Facebook Page where, if you’re a fan, you can snag this coordinating Exclusive Fan Freebie! WOW! 

Thanks all!

Displacement Map tutorial

Note to self: If you decide to make a comment on Facebook about how awesome displacement maps are and how everybody should do them, then maybe you should at least have a link to point to so that people know what you are talking about. Because I then decided to make this tutorial, and I did, and the image that I used ended up not even being, like, all that displacement-y, and so this tutorial did not work as dramatically as I wanted it to. But here you go anyway, and have faith that if you use it, you will be happy with your results. It’s a great thing to learn!

Okay. So we are going to put a fly on a wall. Except the wall is this cool looking wall in a parking lot downtown, and the fly is this cool graffiti fly.

See how if I just set it down on top of the wall, it just kind of looks like it’s floating above it? It doesn’t look like it’s sitting nicely in all the nooks and crannies. A displacement map will make it look more like it belongs there. You can use it anytime you put something flat onto a textured surface.  And this is how you do it!

We’re going to make TWO adjustment layers. One Hue/Saturation and one Brignthess/Contrast. Bring the saturation down so that the image is black and white, and move the contrast UP.

Here’s how it looks after I’ve applied the adjustment layers.

Merge down the adjustment layers, then add 1 px of gaussian blur.

Okay, you can read that! LOL. Save your map as a PSD somewhere you will find it. Then, move your element onto your textured surface.

Go filter/distort/displace

Stick with the default settings. I’ve never changed them.

Then it will have you open your map. This is the black and white image you just made.

Now here’s where it’s not as displacement-y as I wanted it to be. But you should still be able to see a difference.

Here’s a close up.

And then I did some more design magic ™ and made this paper.

For the curious: I changed the blending, erased it with a splatter brush, and added some mud.

And because I love ya, here’s a file containing the wall picture, the fly png, the finished paper, and a PDF with the slides from the tut. WOW.

TUTORIAL FREEBIE DOWNLOAD!!

I hope this all makes sense. If it doesn’t, please feel free to leave questions and I will do my best to answer.

My favorite product EVER (so far)

is this Botanica kit. I keep saying that, and maybe I should chill out about it a bit, but I can’t, because I love it! This right here is why I design: because sometimes I have an idea, a spark, an inspiration, and then it turns into something, well, not something physical, but at least something that’s there, that exists, and that I can then put out into the world and see what comes back. It feels really awesome when it’s going the right way, and this one really just clicked for me. Just chugged right along!

Anyway, here’s the scoop:

This is my Botanica kit. Sigh.

And some info about it:

Full of texture, color, and plenty of distressing, this kit celebrates the abundant life outside in your own back yard! From the lowly beetle to the sunflower seed, from the dandelion to the butterfly, and even some vintage fairies thrown in for good measure, this kit will help you to be like the flower and turn your face to the sun!

Includes:
4 colored and splattered “solids”
4 painted and distressed neutral “solids”
6 lovingly hand-painted floral botanical papers
2 vintage fairy post cards
5 insect stickers
2 flower stickers
3 very large flairs
3 frames
One mason jar, available with the lid on and with the lid off
One paper flower, complete with stem and extra leaves
One stylized sunflower seed spill
2 rusty metal swirls
One set of delicate wings
3 dirty word arts
A full alpha with upper and lower case, numbers, and some punctuation

That’s the shop description. The real shining point in this kit are the painted botanical papers I made, which you can’t see from the previews, so here’s one so you can give it a good gander:

It just has so much of my heart in it. It’s paint spatters from paint I painted, images I converted to the painted style, it has that little varmint, the snail, to remind you that there is adversity with beauty, and all of it is perfect together. Yeah, that’s a bit metaphysical and hairy fairy, but hey, that’s me! Life is dirty and gritty and gorgeous!

Here are some layouts created by members of my Creative Team:

This one’s by Shawna, and she used one of my More Mondrian templates as well.

This one’s by Kerry, and if you like the look of it, you’ll want to check out the Digichick September collab as well, because the template will be included in it! The board background is in the template.

This one’s by Judith from the SAS CT. Check out her pretty, pretty blending!

So yeah, there you go! It’s 25% off for the next week, so grab it up!

Thanks for your time and enjoy your burrito!

 

 

Facebook 300 Likes Freebie!

Our Facebook page has reached 300 likes! YAY!

That means you get stuff! Yeee haw! A free template!

But first, have you guys been to the Homecoming festivities over at the Digichick? There’s fun and prizes galore! Yesterday we had a parade with lots of really awesome hybrid floats made by CT members and Hybrid Chicks. Look at what Corrin made for us!

And we threw “candy” aka coupons. In case you missed it, here’s mine, and it’s good till the 31st

You can also click here to go on a scavenger hunt for a ‘backpack” full of really great, high dollar coupons!

Okay, here’s your freebie!

PSD and TIFF file download

PAGE download

PNG download

Meanwhile, I’m working on a kit that I think is my favorite thing I’ve ever designed. I’m not kidding. Here’s a wee peek:

EEEK! I love it! It’ll be released next week! If that whets your whistle for Art Journaly goodness, be sure to head over to Scrap Art Studio where my whole store is 25% off! Might I suggest the Possibilities patterned paper pack?

Well alrighty then! Y’all go back to your Sunday! And enjoy your burrito!

The Digichick is Back in Business!

Whew, remind me not to wait so long between blogging/sending out a newsletter, because a lot has happened and I feel like I have SO MUCH to cover! I’ll start with the big news, that you may have already seen from the banner. THE DIGICHICK WILL REOPEN TONIGHT, and with a big bang (wait, don’t I have a template pack called that?) We’re having a homecoming, with many of your favorite digichick designers from days gone by coming back with new products, a great collab, and lots of fun and surprises! There’s going to be a big, storewide 35% off sale too, and I have two, count ’em two new template packs up in the shop for your scrapping pleasure! One is wild and crazy and looks like I just dumped my whole stash onto the pages. The other is a bit more scaled down, at least for me (LOL). So hopefully there’s something for everybody. 

This is Lifescapes Lite, the scaled down version of my style. Should go together nice and easy for you!

And this is History Repeating, with lots and lots of wacky repeated geometric shapes, which should let your imagination run wild!

Meanwhile, during the Digichick hiatus, I split my brand! From now on, the Digichick will be the exclusive home for my templates, while my other items have their home at the fabulous new Scrap Art Studios!  Dude, have you BEEN to Scrap Art Studios?  You need to go, NOW! It’s your new destination for art journaly stuff, which is definitely where my soul wants to go (if we’re allowed to get poetic here.) I have two new releases here since my store opened. First, a mini kit that coordinates with minis by all the other designers in the shop this month. This is my first August color play, full of super romantic shapes and tones:

The other is this big giant bundle called Possibility, which, I think, is where your dream starts: with admitting to yourself that what your heart wants is POSSIBLE.

Everything in my Scrap Art Studio shop is 25% off right now as well, so you can get everything of mine at a substantial savings right now, which means you should  probably go and get your save on!

I will be back soon with CT layouts and freebies, so keep your eyes peeled! (gross, right? I don’t like that phrase, it just kind of skeeves me out. Peeled eyes. Blech)

Lifescapes Templates, now available in PAGE format! Plus,FREEBIES!

Okay, where to start, where to start…

First off, I have been asked a time or two to make my templates available in PAGE format, so I looked into it and decided that, for the time being at least, I’m going to make them all available in PSD, TIFF, PNG AND PAGE formats! For one thing, the PNG files are ginormous. SOO big I feel bad even zipping them up for download. Some people just don’t have the room on their drives for a bunch of multi-gig png files that they have to reassemble anyway. It just makes more sense from a customer service standpoint to do it that way. So what I did was I downloaded the 30 day trial version of CM Storybook Creater 4, and I converted my next set (available August 9) to PAGE files. If there is demand enough, it’ll totally make sense for me to buy it, as converting the files myself is a breeze. I also converted the freebie that I offered with my designer focus at Real Life Scrapped to PAGE format!

Click on the image to  head on over to Real Life Scrapped where you can download it in PSD, TIFF, PNG or new PAGE formats!!

Also, tomorrow is new release day at the Digichick! I am releasing my first ever FULL PAGE KIT, a collaboration with Jen of Girl Boy Girl designs. This kit is inspired by the book Hoopla,  which I got at the library. Found it incredibly inspiring. I used to do a lot of cross stitch, but often found the selection of patterns to be… well, not to my taste. Ahem. Nothing against the patterns out there, but I just prefer something a li’l bit more .. well, more me! LOL I found myself will all kinds of design ideas, and I figured, heck, let’s make a kit!

Here’s the preview. You can snag it at my Digichick Shop tomorrow (Thursday, 08/02/12)

 

Oh and PS, my guest spot has been extended another couple of months. Come on Lifescapes fans! Buy my stuff and then maybe I’ll get to stay! 😉

Anyway, in honor of this new release, I’ve decided to update my fan freebie on Facebook with coordinating glitter styles.

 

And while I was messing around making the glitter styles, I made these glitter flairs to see how they looked. I kinda loved them, so I kept ’em and thought you might like them, too! Click on the image to dl!

 

Here are some inspiration layouts for the kit. CTers and fans rawked it, as usual. Oh PS. I haven’t done a CT call yet. I don’t want to do one till I know where exactly my shop will be for keepsies. So for now, what I do if I need some layouts, is I put up a quick shout out on my facebook wall. So if you are in the market for some freebies, keep your eyes glued to my facebook wall! DON’T LOOK AWAY! (jk, jk, LOL) But yeah, that’s where I ask for help.

 

 

By my pal, Clara!

 

by Meg

 

a cool art journaling page by Carolyn

by Chel

 

by Girl Boy Girl team member Kristen

Okay, everybody, thanks for stopping by, and have a great Thursday!!

 

Designer Focus at Real Life Scrapped = coupons and a freebie!

Hey there, cats and kittens!

Hey there! Hope all’s awesome in your part of the world!
Have you guys registered at Real Life Scrapped yet? Meg’s put together a pretty awesome scrapping community where all are welcome. There are all manner of forums, a totally open gallery, and lots of opportunities to get involved. I like it as an alternative to some of the more established sites where it’s easy to get lost.

Anyway, you can go over there and read an interview with li’l ol’ me. There’s a coupon… well, I guess I shared the coupon code with you here in the newsletter. Whoops! 😉 But you’ll have to head to Real Life Scrapped to snag the tempalte freebie I made. Looks like this:

Anyway, get yourself on over there and snag up some goodies!