Sunday, April 29, 2007

Thank you, more LO's and a little explanation re my tutorial

Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's so great reading your nice comments, I'm glad you liked it! Some of you asking where I find the time to do this...well, I work mainly at nights and I hardly go to sleep before 3 am. I live on coke and chocolate, LOL! Then once in a while I catch up on some sleep and continue:-)

I'd like to post a couple of LO's today too. Magdalena, thank you for sending the link again, I found where the problem was - the comment section was not showing the full link so it was not your fault! I'm sorry...Anyway, after some digging in the gallery I found your LO and here it is:


I love the green border with the flowers and buttons, great LO! Please let me know your email addy so I can send you a little thank you!

And another one came to me from Karen Pereira:


What a cute baby! I love the soft colors used in this LO!

A couple of you have asked me about the tutorial I posted the other day, to be specific - why to use so many copies when using patterned paper. Okay, I'll show you the difference here. If you place the paper under the curtain and set the blend mode of the curtain layer to multiply, you'll get this:

It looks good, it shows the shading and the highlights....however, there's something wrong here, don't you think? Look at your curtain at home, do it! What do you see? Do you see how where the fold begins you can´t see the rest of the pattern because it's hidden behind the fold? And then on the next fold you can see the pattern again but NOT the continuation of the previous fold? If you copy, move and cut you'll get a realistic effect of discontinued pattern:

Do you see the difference already (Ruby:-))? Anyway, I have to credit my DH for this one because I did it first as it's shown on the first picture and couldn´t figure out what was it that I didn´t like about it. I showed it to IƱaki and he told me: 'Oh, that's cool, but it doesn´t look real because the pattern is not discontinued where the folds are.' My clever hubby!:-)

Gonna go back to working now because my grab bag is not finished yet!

Thanks for all your support and love! See you soon!

Saturday, April 28, 2007

New products in the store!!!! And how about a freebie? Yesss!

Happy Saturday to you! Enjoying the weekend? We've had quite a busy sporty day, I went horseback riding in the morning and my DH had a soccer match in the afternoon, he hasn't played in...15 years? And guess what, yes, he's already in bed and let's see if he gets up tomorrow, LOL! I think I'll have not two but three children to take care of tomorrow:-) I've got some work done two, just uploaded two new products to the store:Today I aslo wanted to share LO's made of my freebies. The first one is made by yette (sweetmisery):


Magdalena (m2m) also sent me a link to her LO but I think it's wrong because it takes me to this (made by plucky):
So, Magdalena, if you read this, please send me the correct link so I can post it:-) Thank you!

On to the freebie, that's why you're here, right?:-) I so much liked the Sloppy Paint Alpha by Ashley Olson that I decided to try to make my own. It's been so much fun! Here's the result:

If you like it, you can download it here. SORRY, THE LINK HAS BEEN REMOVED. YOU CAN NOW FIND IT IN MY STORE. Don't forget to leave some love if you do:-) It contains lowercase alpha and common symbols. All letters are black but easily recolored (the best result you get if you apply a layer style 'Color Overlay'). And one more thing - if you haven´t noticed the tutorial I posted yesterday, be sure to check the post below!

Thanks for visiting and have a great Sunday!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Friday freeeeebie....? Nonono, mini tutorial!

Hi! How are you doing? We're going to have a long weekend over here, there's bank holiday on Tuesday and my DH takes Monday off, hurrrayyyy!

Hope you're not disappointed that there's no freebie today! I've decided to post it tomorrow since I have another thing I want to share. I've discovered this by accident, just playing around (which is how things usually come in digi LOL!) and I think it's really cool! I've been working on a layout for the gals over at DigiDareYa (if you haven´t checked them out yet, do it as they have some amazing dares! Link is in the left column – The Blogs I Visit). This week is all about funky and I had those cute pics of my two kiddos in the bathtub from couple of days ago, it was the first time they bathed together. So I thought it’d be just perfect for this LO. And I had this idea to include a kind of a shower curtain. Easy to say but….HOW? First I tried luck with drapery folds by Fhung Lie which I had in my files but I didn´t like the effect and decided to make my own. First attempt was purely digi but it didn´t work... So, (okay, I’ll cut the crap:-)) I took a pic of our curtain and started to play around. And here comes my little tutorial about a realistic fold using a photo in PS CS2 (my first tut ever!). The important thing is that the curtain is WHITE (or almost white). If you don’t have any or don’t feel like extracting, feel free to use mine here. It’s a .png file and the extraction is already done in that one. Also, the effect will only work well on light to medium colored papers.
First of all, you need to extract your curtain (if you’re not using the sample above). Here’s how mine looks after the extraction:

I also added a slight drop shadow for the effect but we’re going to do it in the very end. Now open the paper you want to use and place it UNDER the curtain layer. Set the blend mode of the curtain layer to ‘multiply’. Now you should see the paper showing through the curtain with all the shades and highlights. Cool isn’t it? If the shades and highlights are not too visible, increase the contrast of the curtain layer. I increased mine to 45%. Now it looks ok but we’re not done yet. Solids should work fine with just one layer of paper. But if it’s a patterned paper you’ll need to make as many copies as there are folds. Why? Because the pattern ‘ends’ where the fold/shade is and the rest is folded hence you can´t see it, the pattern doesn´t continue, right? So copy the layer with your paper and move the copy on to the next fold. It looks better if you shuffle the paper up or down a little to create an effect of discontinued pattern. And you may also need to rotate the paper a little to adjust it to the folded line. Be careful not to cover the shading. Copy again and move to the next one. Continue until you have all the folds covered. I ended up with 7 copies. Now we need to do some cutting. If you're using a solid paper you can skip the previous steps and go from here. Ctrl+click on the icon of the curtain layer. You should see the ants marching around your selection. Invert the selection by either pressing ctrl+shift+I or from the menu bar Select>Inverse. Select the first layer with the paper and press Delete. Do the same for all the copies (for solids only once of course:-)). When you’re done you should have only the part of the curtain covered by the paper and it should look similar to mine below - I’m using a paper from Funky Funky by Sausan Designs:

Isn´t it cool, huh?:-) If you don’t understand anything please feel free to contact me – either leave a comment here or, which is easier for me, send me an email (left column under My profile).

Thanks for poppin' in and see you tomorrow at FREEBIE TIME!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Finally the invitation!

Man I'm bloggin' like crazy these days! When I started I didn´t quite know what to write but now I'm truly enjoying it! So sorry I didn´t make it yesterday...the little one refused to nap and then at night I got completely carried away by working on some absolutely unique elements! Which finally leads me to the invitation I've advertised:-) Actually, I have two invitations for you! The first one is another GRAB BAG SALE at Divine Digital taking place on the weekend 4-6th of May. It'll be our celebration of the National Scrapbooking Day and each bag will be sold for $2 only. Like the previous time, the bag contains 3 different products. I don´t have everything ready yet, I'm working hard on that special set of elements I've mentioned above, I had not seen anything similar before! It'll be a nice surprise for you!

The second event is going to be the week after, for Mother's Day, May 11th through 13th:
There will be crops, challenges, tips and classes....AND release of our TEAM DIVINE MEGA Collaboration Kit!!! There's some really yummy stuff from the designers in our team! Curious yet? Be sure to stop by and check it out! Here's a little sneak peek (my contribution to the megakit):


Okay now, I know, I suck at making previews! Maybe it's because I hate making them, LOL! Anybody out there willing to help in exchange for free access to my stuff? Rachel? (BTW, Rachel, I've finally sent you an email:-)) Gosh, I think I'm soon going to need a CT! One position will definitely be a preview maker, LOL!

That's it for today. I have a freebie ready for you but I'll post it either tomorrow or on Saturday so you have something to look forward to!:-)

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned not to miss the freebie!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

More LO's, DigiDare # 32, sneak peek and an invitation

Hi there, how are you today? I'm posting 2 days in a row, wohooo! This hasn´t happened since I started blogging:-) Lots of things to share these days, I'm gonna flood you with pictures! First - more LO's from my fans (LOL!). This one is from LuAnn:

I love how she arranged the stars! And isn´t her little princess just gorgeous?:-)

Another link came to me from Brooke (in Oregon:-)) who has used my frames on her blog to frame the family pictures:


Beautiful children, Brooke!!! I'm glad you had a good time in Prague despite the weather. I love that city, you know I grew up there...and I love going back from time to time.

Thank you, ladies and don´t forget to check your email for the treat!

This week I've finally made time to play along with the DigiDares again. This time we were to scrap a wish/wishes we have for our loved ones. I came up with this last night, I like how it turned out (considering that I didn´t have a slightest idea when I started, LOL!):


Credits can be seen here.

Okay, we're in a row here! I hope you're not bored...no? Not yet? Here we go then...oooops, my little man just woke up, off I go! I'll continue later on (if he lets me, he's getting jealous of my laptop, LOL!). See ya later!


Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Lots of LO's today :-)

Good morning and happy Tuesday! First of all I want to thank you for all the wonderful comments left here and at 4 shared, it's truly appreciated! Today I also wanted to post some LO's I've received from you (the little incentive works, huh?:-)). It may seem a little vain:-) but it feels really satisfying to see my work in 'action'! So - the first one is from Anne, using actually two of my freebies (Anne, I left a comment on your blog because I can't seem to find a contact to send you your well deserved prize. So pls send me an email so I can fix you!):


Another one is from Dara:


And yet another one from Holly aka hluebner:



And this is using one of my older freebies also made by Holly (the frame cluster):


I absolutely love the picture of her DH in the kitchen, lol!!! Be sure to check her BLOG as she's offering tons of beautiful freebies too!!!

Thank you so much ladies, great work! Don't forger to check your email!

I've managed to finish the LO of my little man (finally!) for his monthly 'report':



For credits go here.

I really like the bottom right picture and I'll probably scrap it standalone too. I treated the photo with a cool technique learned from Jessica Sprague.

Last thing today - I've received an email from Jenny that she can´t download the scalloped frames. I've checked and 4 shared seems to be working just fine. Anybody else with a similar problem? If so, let me know, please.

Okay I think that's enough for today. But I'll be back tomorrow with a little sneak peek and an invitation for you so be sure to stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Thank you, news and freebie (of course.-))

Hey guys, how are you doin'? Thank you SO MUCH for your awesome comments! I'm really happy that you liked the frames and, what is more important, that you can find use for them! Actually, one of you (only one!:-( ooooh, what am I gonna do about it?) has sent me a link to the LO she made with the frames. Thank you, tnchick!


I know what!I'm gonna give you a little incentive, how about that? Whoever sends me a link to the LO he/she has made using my freebies gets a little thank you from me - like another little freebie, lol! Starting TODAY, that's it - tnchick, can you please send me an email so I can send you a link to one of my goodies? Thank you! Oh, and before I forget, Rachel, thank you so much for your super-long comment:o) Reply is on the way!

So what's new? Well, nothing, really, this past week I've been recovering from my trip to Prague (vacation, huh?) Not really, alone with two kids:-) I've been sleeping like a maniak this past week! And I've been working on new stuff for the store and also for you (yes, freebie! - at the end of the post as usual, lol!). And I've been enjoying the beautiful weather we have over here. It's amazing, like in summer! Actually, one news - my little man turned 6 months yesterday, one of the many milestones in his life. I can hardly believe it, it seems like he was born yesterday! I've also been working on his monthly LO but it's not finished yet.

I'll stop teasing you now, okay....so tadaaaa, here it is - this weekend´s freebie:


The pack contains 14 hand-drawn swirls (God bless the tablet, lol) - not all are shown in the preview. And the swirls are cut out from aged newspaper. Hope you like it. You can download it here. SORRY, THE LINK HAS BEEN REMOVED. Please leave a comment if you DL, I always like to know what you think! Sort of market research for me - 'this is great, I'll use it, gimme more of those' or 'yeah, it's neat but....'. Thank you!

Have a great rest of the weekend and see you soon!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Alive and kickin' (and a FREEBIE!)

I'm back!!! Finally...I've had a great time, thanks for your wishes! The only thing which was driving me crazy was the internet connection. My second day in Prague I went to an internet cafe and what a surprise - I couldn't get neither to my blog nor to any of the galleries, nor to my store...the only pages that were loading without problems were Gmail and Photobucket! Any other was giving me an error. Eventually it connected for a bit about half an hour later and I managed to get to the blog but from there it didn´t let me go anywhere. And it also let me put a couple of products in the store. I kept trying the following days from different locations and it was always the same story. Except that the other locations only let me go to Gmail. And the weirdest thing ever - I could get to the blogger - to the dashboard, I could even write a post and publish it (that's how I got to post the previous message) BUT it didn´t let me view the actual blog!!! Anyway, taking it from the bright side - being without the internet for a week (whooohooo, that's almost unbelievable, lol!) I've done a lot of work! I've just finished uploading two new products to the store - a frame cluster (both in layered .psd format and a one-layer .png, lol!):


And a paper pack:


Okay, okay, I know what ya'll asking - 'oh, that's great but does she have the freebie she has promised for us?' What do ya think, huh? Of course I do! And sorry again that I haven´t made it earlier:-( So this time it's a pack of 4 aged scalloped frames - 2 square and 2 rectangular, slightly bent with a realistic shadow under. Here is the preview:

If you think you can use it, you can download it here. SORRY THE LINK HAS BEEN DISABLED! Please leave me some love if you DL! Thank you and have a great day!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Connection problems

Hi guys, haven´t heard from me in ages, right? Well, I'm vacationing in Prague and I'm having connection problems, can´t connect to some pages...have a freebie for you but don´t know if I manage to upload it so please be patient:-) Latest on Monday as I'll be back home. See ya!

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Here again:o)

Hi! I just wanted to thank you for all your nice comments and congrats! Erin and Leslie: your comment made me laugh so much! Glad that you don´t have to look for tassels anymore! And I've finally got my FTP all set up at DivineDigital so I have added 2 products! You can check them out here!

Thanks for stopping by and wish you all Happy Easter!

Friday, April 6, 2007

The BIG news is finally here!

Hi there, I'm here again! Two days in a row, that's something, huh? I just wanted to finally tell you the BIG news, toot toot!: I've accepted an offer and will be selling my designs at DivineDigital!!! Isn´t that great?!? Got another offer at the same time but decided to go with only one for now. I'm so excited about it!!! This past week I've been busy sorting out things, contract, set up, finishing my products etc. My entree to the store coincides with one year anniversary of the site so there's gonna be a big Grab Bag sale which you don´t want to miss!


Be sure to stop by because my Grab Bag is gonna be there too and it's gonna be full of goodies!

Hey, but it doesn´t mean that I won´t give away freebies anymore, okay, I WILL! Actually I've just made one for you to celebrate with me! It's a set of 12 tassels which are gonna be a perfect finish to your heritage or vintage pages! Here is the preview:

And you can download it here. SORRY, THE LINK HAS BEEN DISABLED. Please don´t forget to leave some love if you DL, you know I love reading your comments!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Happy Easter!

Hi and Happy Easter to you! I'm just popping in today to share a couple of LO's done using my freebies. Hey, thank you again for your awesome comments, I love reading them! BTW, Anuska, I'm quite surprised there's somebody else scrapping in the Basque country, lol!

So, these are both using my kit Memories. I received this link from Jenny79 (thanks again, Jenny!):



And another one from Pett:


And the news I had for you? Yes, I'll tell you, don´t worry...don't forget to stop by on Saturday because you know it's FREEBIE time!!! Good night or good day to you!