BIG Knit & Stitch Freebie, Yay!

I am SO excited to present my newest digital scrapbooking freebie kit: “Knit & Stitch!”

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Asparagus Elements are Ready!

To keep with my “Asparagus” theme (check my two previous blog posts for the paper pack #1 and paper pack #2 freebies released already!) I made some embellishments to go with the asparagus papers! These turned out pretty well I think — I really love working with Photoshop! Take a look at the “Asparagus” Element Pack and see what you think! And if you need the paper, you can download paper pack #1 here (linen based papers) and paper pack #2 here (random designs in the asparagus colours.) Whether you pair these embellishments with the paper sets or not, they’ll complement your scrapping well in any green, brown or beige theme you’ve got going! The element pack comes with 17 fantastic embellishments for you to enjoy. And as always, in high quality 300 dpi resolution.

I hope everyone has had a great long weekend! Grab the “Asparagus” Element Pack HERE and be sure to drop me a note with what you think :) Enjoy the rest of your day!

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Asparagus Paper Pack #2

As promised, here’s the second pack of “Asparagus” colour themed paper. If you missed the first pack, check out my previous blog post and grab pack #1 here. Both paper sets are 3600 x 3600 pixels in 300 dpi! And to stick with the theme and release all of the pieces fairly close together, I’ll try to get the asparagus embellishments and mats ready for tomorrow’s post, too. I’ve got posts lined up with freebies to take us well into the middle of next week, I’m so excited! Hopefully you have been (or will) see an improvement on my creation quality — I feel like Photoshop has opened several more possibility doors and that I’m getting better all the time. Enjoy today’s little freebie, and I hope to see you drop by tomorrow to pick up the asparagus embellishments :)

Download “Asparagus” paper pack #2 HERE and have a great Sunday!

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Mmm… Asparagus?

I don’t really have a special love for asparagus or anything, (though we do have an inside joke about it) but the name seemed fitting to describe the colours of the paper pack freebie I have for you tonight! You know how I mentioned yesterday that I had a bunch of freebie ideas rolling around in my head? Well this wasn’t one of them, but I got suckered into trying out blends in Photoshop (yes, I said Photoshop… I have been using Paint Shop Pro faithfully all this time and kept resisting the move into Photoshop, but… alas it has suckered me in.) and somehow these papers came to be. This is paper pack #1 of the “Asparagus” colour scheme (in high quality 3600 x 3600 pixels and 300 dpi) and tomorrow I’ll throw up paper pack #2 for you :) The first pack here is all a linen texture and in the second pack I tried messing around with blends and different overlays. Not too bad for my first items in Photoshop! I’ve made a couple elements that go with all of these papers but I’m not done with them yet. Look for them sometime next week!

I have a little knitting and stitching themed kit that’s nearly done, too — done mostly in Paint Shop Pro with one or two items that used the help of some of the capabilities of Photoshop. I think I’ll be using a little of both from now on, at least until I get used to everything in PS. There are some things I can do in PSP that I haven’t quite figured out in PS so there will be a lot of switching between programs until I feel comfortable. I’m pretty excited about some things I learned today and I even started on a mini kit (resulting from some PS experiments with my favourite shades of pink!) that I’ll eventually finish for those of you out there that love pink as much as I do. So many kits on the go and so many more ideas bouncing around in my head that I want to make! There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

To snag Asparagus linen paper pack #1, click HERE. Hope you like it :) Don’t forget to read the TOU, blah blah you know the routine. Personal, non-commercial use only and all that. Enjoy! And be sure to leave me a note if you liked the paper :)

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My Recent Layouts and Pages

I’ve spent so much time lately planning out my beachy layouts for our trip last weekend to Penticton that I just haven’t had time to sit down and put them together with the actual photos! I’ve also spent too much time making and not enough time using my creations or new freebies that I’ve downloaded from others, so I’ve got some fun layouts to share this post so that you can see what I’ve been doing besides taking photos and practicing my design skills.

And of course, the big family road trip last weekend to British Columbia had to be scrapped about! The highlight of the trip was that it was our first family road trip with our new puppy, Winston the mini schnauzer, who is 6 months old. Not only was it his first big road trip, it was also his first time at the beach and his first swim. Our 5 year old border collie, Oliver (Winston’s big brother) has been to Penticton several times and has swam in the lake on the beaches there before, but this was a first for Winston, so Oliver showed him the ropes and we took them to an off leash doggie designated section of Okanagan Lake to experience it all leash free. So in a way it was also Oliver’s first time getting to swim freely, too. I took more pictures that day than I did any of the other days combined! This first layout here (up, left) uses an overlay template for the photo with wording and elements that I created last week in honour of the upcoming trip in a mini kit that I named (surprise!) “A Day at the Beach.” You can snag that freebie mini kit HERE in case you missed it. The second (below, left) is a layout of my design using elements and papers from “On va à la plage” by Créé par Latham

These are just a few of the pages I’ve put together recently — and of course one page isn’t nearly enough to cover all of the excitement of our trip… so for the full album of our trip check out my digital scrapbook! (The trip and most recent family stuff is in the Family Life album). I sometimes just do a page or two at a time and upload it to the appropriate album there, so it’s always changing. Like just recently our little Winston got his first ever haircut… another one of those “of course I had to scrap about it” situations. (You know what I’m talking about!) The traditional schnauzer cut on him is so adorable and I feel like he’s all grown up now with his pronounced old man beard. Be sure to check it out in the Oliver and Winston album!

More Huugs to Feature!

A few months ago I designed a free pattern for a knitted stuffed monster that I dubbed Huug the Hug Monster©. Since then several people have made their own version, and I love featuring them! Sophia Dembling recently made a Huug of her own, which turned into a hilarious ordeal involving her Huug’s face. I love it when I see the way others create something, because no two Huugs are ever the same! Sophia did a little experimentation on her Huug’s face which turned into what she calls a disaster, but I call cute! Though I do have to agree with her — the face and the Huug body separate were adorable. Together… well… not so much ;) This photo is copyright to Sophia and her permission was given to share the picture.

Retro Teal Freebie

A new freebie, yay! While it’s obvious that pink is my favourite colour, I’m pretty passionate about certain shades of teal or sea green. It just seems like a summery colour (and even goes well with pink & brown!) — I may have to come up with a set that uses all three of these colours, but for today I have a little mini kit for you that I’ve dubbed “Retro Teal.” It comes with 6 papers and 15 elements in several various shades of yummy sea green. Just the refreshing kick you need to supplement or complement your digital scrapbooking this week.

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Back With a Knitting Project in Progress

©Weeeee’re back! We’ve returned from our family trip to beautiful Penticton in British Columbia, and we had a blast! We spent most of the day Friday soaking up the sun at Okanagan Lake in the newly fenced in and designated off-leash doggie beach with Oliver and Winston. Oliver was happy to be free to swim without the burden of his leash and really enjoyed fetching his floating orange chew toy. Winston was quick to chase after Ollie, even into the water, until he realized he could no longer touch the bottom. Though his rear end sank like a brick, his doggie instincts prompted him to paddle as fast as his little front legs could and he was an absolute riot. Once he got used to the idea of the ground disappearing from beneath him he would make short trips out into the lake after us, as long as we weren’t too far. Once he reached us we’d pick him up (more like he’d climb up our legs) to give him a break before sending him between us or back to shore. He loved it! They both did. Towards the end of our swim you could tell Oliver was exhausted but he just couldn’t resist the urge to swim out and back a few more times. You can see all of our exciting photos HERE! There are some really good ones :) AAAAND I put together a little video of our adventures that you can watch HERE.

And what would an 8 hour drive between Penticton and Calgary be without something crafty?! We hit a Zellers in Penticton for a few items and they had some Bernat Soft/Boucle yarn skeins on sale for half off and I just couldn’t resist. Especially since Lucas’ grandmother had brought along her sweater project and had shown me her method of knitting. I realized that she knits continental style while I was taught and currently knit english style. It was interesting to see the difference and she seemed to fly through her project. After reading up on it, it seems most agree continental is faster. Thanks to the fine folks over at KnittingHelp.com (my knitting bible), I’m going to try and pick up continental knitting. I’d like to see if picking up continental will be easier or harder for me than being taught english style by Lucas’ mom last summer. I really enjoy english style knitting, but it’d be nice to find which method is the fastest for me in the end. I have a few ambitious knitting projects on the horizon in time for the holidays this year planned already, and I’d like to find which way will help me get the projects done in the most efficient manner. Plus I hear if you’re fluent in both methods, doing colour work via “stranding” is easier down the road, something else I’d like to learn. Anyway, I picked up two skeins of yarn — one in Burgundy stripes and one in The Big Purple. I started a scarf for myself from the burgundy skein on the ride home and if all goes well (which it is so far!) I’ll make my mom a similar scarf from the purple skein since that’s her favourite colour. I’m using nice, big 10mm/US 15 needles and knitting loosely and I think casting on 20 stitches might be a bit too wide. I think for my mom’s scarf I’ll only cast on 15 stitches. I’m not sure how long the finished scarf will be — so far my burgundy one is at 50 inches and I just plan to go until I run out of yarn or until it seems to lay comfortably and suitably on me length-wise. I have a knitted scarf that I received from a student several years ago and it’s beautiful, but it’s 100 inches long and drags too much on short little me, so I plan to make the scarf long enough, but not too long… whatever that means ;) So I guess I’m shooting for a finished length of around 75 inches… in between where I am now and “too long.”

A Day at the Beach Freebie

I am so excited — Lucas and I are packing up the boys (our dogs, Oliver & Winston) and taking a road trip to Penticton, British Columbia later this week to spend some time with friends and visit with Lucas’ family. We try to hit Penticton at least once or twice a year, and this weekend seems to be the last chance that we’ll have to make a summer trip with a new busy season starting at work soon for Lucas. Not to mention a new school year is quickly approaching and teachers go back August 28. So we’ll be spending Thursday – Monday soaking up the sun!

The last two times we’ve gone to Penticton were either in the fall or spring. It’s been 2 years since we were able to time our trip to enjoy the best part of being in Penticton: the beaches in the summer! When we went in the spring and fall of 2007 it was a bit too chilly for Lucas and I to do any real swimming, but Oliver sure enjoyed chasing the waves and experiencing the beach for the first time. He did some swimming, but we weren’t really prepared. We’ve been looking forward to going out when the weather was kind enough that the lake would be an enjoyable temperature for the whole family, and that’s our plan for this week. Even more exciting is that now it will be little Winston’s first trip to the beach. We’re hoping for some really memorable photo opportunities as he touches sand for the first time or comes in contact with his first wave. We’re sure Winston will be fearless once he sees his big brother swimming. Aren’t we a little sad? We’re getting all camera crazy and excited about our dog experiencing the beach for the first time. Can you imagine how we’ll be when we have actual kids?! Haha.

Anyway, in honour of our upcoming trip I’ve made a little mini kit freebie for you all called “A Day at the Beach” … because we’ll be spending several entire days at the beaches of Penticton this weekend! The kit includes a 3600 x 3600 pixel 300 dpi overlay “frame” for your photograph with “A Day at the Beach” written around it. Layer this onto a great beach photo and enjoy the effect of the letters cut out onto your picture! In the preview image above I used a photo of Oliver checking out the beach at Lake Skaha in Penticton in the spring of 2007, just to give you an idea of the effect you can get from the overlay when you use your own photos. Along with the giant overlay comes 4 elements: two sand-filled glass brads (square and circle), a sand button and a starfish object. I’ve included a little how to for using the overlay in case anyone has any questions. You can download the mini kit HERE, and be sure to leave me some blog comment love if you do :) Enjoy the freebie and enjoy your week! <3 scrapbook

New Freebie: Bubbles!

TWO freebies in one day?! Be sure to read the post just before this one to also grab the “My First Tattoo” minikit! :)

With teaching done for the summer, I’ve picked up an office job to keep me busy during my “off season” so I’ve not posted in a bit. But what do I do in my spare time at work? Plan out freebie kits I want to design when I get home! And that’s where “Bubbles” comes in.

My newest freebie is my biggest one yet, and even includes my very first alpha! Everything is made in 300 dpi and the background papers are 3600 x 3600 pixels. “Bubbles” includes 4 background papers, 1 glassy blue capital letter alpha, and 27 elements total! And what kind of elements are we talking about? Well, let’s see… brads, bubble frames, seahorse metal frames, doodle swirls, scalloped journaling paper, seahorse buttons galore, and several ribbons… too many things to list and picture in the preview image, that’s for sure! All in a cool summery blue palette (with a hint of lime!) that will make you wish you were lounging beach-side someplace exotic.

Give “Bubbles” a try and see what you think! If you download, please give me some blog comment love and feel free to leave me feedback so I can make even better freebies in the future. As always, everything is completely free* for personal use to thank those out there who so freely share their own designs, knowledge and kindness with the digital scrapbooking community… thank you for being my inspiration! Download here and enjoy!

* Don’t forget to read the TOU included with all freebies. Everything is free for personal, non-commercial use, but do not redistribute the files or claim them as your own! Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due if you make something with this kit and post it somewhere. Full TOU can be found zipped up inside the kit. If you have any questions about it, don’t hesitate to ask. :) Thanks!

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