Scrapdoctor Designs

Patterned Papers from Niagara Falls Fencing

2009-02-27T15:46:00.009-06:00

Papers

Commercial Use

Niagara: Fence Papers

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is another from a photo I took at Niagara Falls. The photo, shown below, is of a portion of the fencing along the walkway where the Canadian side of the Falls can be viewed. The papers are 12x12, 300 ppi, and are OK for commercial use. They are offered in dark and light grayscale, to re-color as you wish, and also in the 12 colors that coordinate with my previous CU freebies. I hope you enjoy them!

Click HERE to download grayscale versions.

Click HERE to download Colors Part 1.

Click HERE to download Colors Part 2.

Click HERE to download Colors Part 3.

This is the photo I used to make the papers:

Notes for the day:

It's been a busy week, as usual. Lots of appointments and paperwork to continue preparing for our upcoming adoption. Making great progress, though!

I do plan on releasing the same pattern used for today's papers as an overlay so you can make it in a contrasting color to the background if you like - I will also prepare a border with the same design. Should be to you in the next few days.

A question for you - I have read some concerning news that some people have been having trouble with viruses from 4Shared files - I am not sure how that stands, or whether it may have been fixed by now. So far, I have found 4Shared the most convenient format to offer files to you, but would be happy to consider other options, if anyone has suggestions. I do need to make sure it has affordable storage space, and it would be great if I could find one that notifies you of new comments without having to sift through each and every file looking for new ones! Any information you could share with me would be helpful - just click on the link below my photo at top of this page to e-mail me.

Many thanks to everyone for you wonderful comments on the last post - it's so nice to hear that I was missed! :)

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Papers - Icy Vines at Niagara Falls

2009-02-22T10:15:00.014-06:00

Papers

Commercial Use

Niagara: Icy Vines

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is a set of commercial use textured papers made from a photograph of icy vines at Niagara Falls, Ontario. The papers are at 300 ppi, 12x12. They are in 12 colors (coordinating with my previous CU designs), and in two shades of grayscale, so you can use color overlays to make them any color you like.

Click HERE to download grayscale papers.

Click HERE to download colors Part 1.

Click HERE to download colors Part 2.

Click HERE to download colors Part 3.

Notes for the day:

Well, hello again to everyone! Thank you for all your messages of concern, wondering where I've been. Here's the short story - basically, I got so busy with my mommy duties that I was not able to find time for designing. Also, honestly, I felt so guilty about not having managed to find time to properly address and pass to others the tags/awards I had so kindly been given. But, I do intend to try to keep designing, at least once in a while, and I plan for all of it to be OK for commercial use. I will not be able to take time to go through all the 4Shared files to view comments, and my apologies for that (they just don't have any efficient way to see just the new comments), but any comments you leave directly on my blog post will go to my e-mail, and I read every one of those! :)

Now for the longer story, if you're interested...

When we had our three foster children, things became very hectic as they prepared for returning to family right when we were preparing for the holidays, as well as my trying to keep up with the girls' homeschooling. Right before Christmas, we became a family of 4 instead of 7 again. After Christmas, the girls and I took a month-long driving trip - we went to see a friend in Nashville, then to my parents in North Carolina (where we hiked in the mountains and visited the Cherokee Museum. After that, we spent a few days learning early American history in Colonial Williamsburg, then spent a week skiing in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. (My husband was hired to do video production for a ski resort there, and we were invited to tag along!) Then we headed to Niagara Falls and learned about erosion and geology, then North Buxton, Ontario where we visited a museum at one of the endpoints of the Underground Railroad. Next, we visited my uncle at the farm in Michigan that was built by me great-great-great grandfather. Finally, we learned to quilt at my mother-in-law's house, then came home.

Today's freebie comes from our visit to Niagara Falls - there was heavy snow while we were there, and the mist from the falls freezes everything facing it! It made for a beautiful winter wonderland, with lots of interesting patterns of ice formation. As you can see from the photos below, only the side of objects facing the falls was iced over, but the other side remained visible. Isn't that lamppost funny??

The papers in the freebie were from the following photo of some vines coated by the falls' icy mist.

A special bit of happy news - another reason things are hectic for us right now is that a surprising and wonderful turn of events is happening for us. For the last three years, we have been planning to adopt a child, expecting it to happen via foster care eventually. However, a series of events took place that led us to a lovely young lady, orphaned in Ghana (in West Africa). She's about the same age as my oldest daughter, and very sweet. We are well into the process of adopting her, and I hope to be traveling to Africa to bring our new daughter home in the next 6-8 weeks. We all feel so blessed by this, and are very grateful for this path that God chose for us!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Floral Wreath (handmade for my wedding)

2008-08-30T16:57:00.004-05:00

Embellishment/Frame

Commercial Use

Floral Wreath

-FREEBIE-

This was one of the centerpieces I made for my wedding reception 10 years ago. Inside it, we placed a glass ivy bowl, with water and a floating candle. It is a vine wreath, on which I hot-glued a variety of dried flowers. I scanned it and modified it some for you - the download includes the original wreath, a wreath with some of the center removed (to make it easier to use as a frame), and a frame made by linking a series of wreaths together. All were created at 300 ppi and are in png format. Commercial use OK - see TOU.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Well, I only have one more day of home IV antibiotics left. I'm feeling pretty tired this week, as my husband unexpectedly had to leave Tuesday for a 2-week trip to California. He produces a TV show, and he had a cameraman back out at the last minute. But, we're catching up a bit on Lydia's homeschooling, and I'm managing to keep everyone fed, get them to school on time, etc. I'm not doing a whole lot of cooking, but there's only so much I can do on my own! :)

I have yet to find time to address all the kind folks who have left awards and layouts for me - I PROMISE I will post about them as soon as I can. I hope I'll have some computer time tomorrow, but it may just be wishful thinking. I wanted to at least get one little freebie out to you today, since it's been a while.

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Scrapdoctor Returns (finally!): Braided Ribbons and Wrap

2008-08-21T01:16:00.011-05:00

Template/Embellishment

Commercial Use

Braided Ribbons and Wrap

-FREEBIE-

Well, another major illness kept me away from blogging for a while (see below if you want to know more), but I'm back now (though may be slowed down for a bit!) I have a freebie for you today - it is a set of embellishments offered in both light and dark grayscale for easy recoloring, as well as in my typical 12 additional colors as samples. I have also included a metallic gold version. The set is all made from narrow, braided ribbon, and includes a 12-inch straight ribbon, a ribbon wrap with bow (also 12 inches but can be trimmed down to fit your objects), and the wrap and bow each as separate pieces to allow you more creative flexibility. All were created at 300 ppi, and are png files. The photo frame is not included in this download, but is available (free) in my June 8 post. (The photo itself is not included, either - I don't guess you have a use for a picture of MY kids! LOL)

Click HERE to download the grayscale versions.

Click HERE to download the colors, part 1.

Click HERE to download the colors, part 2.

Notes for the day:

Wow - it's been a long time away! I apologze for that - I would certainly like to keep you consistently supplied with freebies. However, I have been quite ill for about a week and a helf, and in the hospital (again!) for the past week. I am doing better now, and scheduled to go home tomorrow. For those of you who have been following my blog for some time, you may recall that in April, I was hospitalized with a bladder infection that happened to be from an ESBL-producing bacteria (these are the newest "superbugs," which can only be killed with IV antibiotics - and often requires the most powerful antibiotics in existence.) I had a week of home IV antibiotics at that time.

A little sidenote to teach about bladder infections: most are caused by e. coli from the person's own digestive system. We pretty much all have e.coli in our colons, and is considered part of our normal flora. It doesn't cause problems unless it gets into the wrong place (i.e., the urinary system.)

Well, this time, I developed a kidney infection, with high fever, chills, pain all over - was pretty doggone sick. The culture eventually showed that it was the same ESBL-producing e. coli again. Apparently, this organism can colonize the gut, and become part of the "normal flora," which is not possible to eliminate with medication. When I had my surgery, the incisions probably made an easy-access route for the bacteria to enter my bladder, and voila! Back on IV antibiotics again. This time, I was transferred to a different hospital to have the Infectious Disease specialist involved (because ESBL's are quite deadly). I felt better being under the care of someone who is very familiar with this organism, as most doctors I've talked to are not even aware of it yet. I'm stable now, and tomorrow am having a PICC line put in so I can go home on IV antibiotics, which I will need for 2-3 weeks. So now, I'm afraid that every time I get a bladder infection, it is likely to be the same organism and require IV's. NOw that we know about it, though, I hope they can just set up home health without having to hospitalize me first. Of course, I'm missing my kids terribly and can't wait to get home. I'm too far away for them to visit me here. There's no place like home...

Additionally, there are many people I feel I have neglected lately - to those of you who so kindly bestowed awards on me, tagged me, and left links to kits you made with my designs, I am very grateful. I DO plan to address all of these as soon as I can, but wasn't able to do more than post a freebie at this time. Hopefully I can catch up this week. HOPEFULLY........

Hugs to everyone - I've missed you!

Jeanie

Gem Brooches - Commercial Use

2008-08-11T01:11:00.006-05:00

Embellishment/Template

Commercial Use

Gem Brooches

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is a gem brooch that belonged to my paternal grandmother. It is presented in both light and dark gray for recoloring, as well as in 12 additional colors, coordinating with many of my previous CU freebies. These were created at 300 ppi, and saved as png files. I hope you enjoy them!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Yes, I'm STILL working on rezipping all my previous files to increase compatibility for you - if you have any issues with my files, please e-mail me so I can reply to you and work to correct any problems.

For those of you who have been keeping Mrs. A. (see above) in your thoughts and prayers, I'd like to update you a bit. I actually met her in person for the first time today, when I was delivering another load of baby furniture and clothing. I found her to be one of the most selfless, sweet and inspiring people I could ever hope to meet. We talked for nearly 2 hours, and I felt as if I had truly found a kindred spirit. I hope you all know how very much you have done to help her and her family. For this, I am EXTREMELY grateful. The is scheduled to be delivered later this week (Thursday), after which Mrs. A. will delve into aggressive chemotherapy. Thoughts and prayers will be needed even more then. If any of you know of good books to help her family, especially her children, cope with this, I would appreciate any recommendations you may have!

I spent a good bit of this evening playing with the sewing machine my husband got me for our 10th anniversary in May. He is a video producer and needed a large fabric diffusion screen that could easily attach to a frame, which he will use to soften the lighting during filming. It's taking a lot of time (and a lot of Velcro), but I'm having fun doing it. My old sewing machine, which had been with me for 20 years, could no longer sew backward, which made it hard to lock off the seams. I didn't know what I was missing - this new electronic type has a lot of features that make things run more smoothly. I even found a lady who refurbishes old sewing machines (or uses them for parts if she can't fix them) and teaches sewing classes for homeschoolers. I'm going to donate my faithful old macine to her and see if it can still do any good for anyone. If not, may it rest in peace in sewing machine heaven...

Out with the old...

In with the new! :)

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Make your own Block Alpha - Photoshop Action - CU (and cute baby tiger...)

2008-08-09T12:03:00.009-05:00

Photoshop Action

Commercial Use

Block Alpha - Make Your Own!

-FREEBIE-

Hi, everyone! For those of you who thought I might have dropped off the face of the earth, I haven't! :) I am so sorry it took me so long to post this, but there was a lot of tweaking to do on it, and I have also been very busy this week, having just started homeschooling my daughter.

So, today, here is my first Photoshop Action freebie - available for commercial use. This action will create a wooden block alpha in either light oak or white wood, with the letters made from a color of your choice, OR from a paper of your choice! If your paper has a larger pattern, the action also includes a sub-action to reduce the pattern size for you.

The action was created in Photoshop CS3 Extended on Mac - I believe it will be compatible with PC's, and likely with Photoshop CS2 and higher (it does involve the use of scripting). I would sincerely appreciate any feedback or comments, so I can work to make it compatible for as many of you as possible! Please be sure to read the instructions that come with the action - you will need to install the included script so that the action will run properly! :)

Click HERE to download Part 1.

Click HERE to download Part 2.

Notes for the day:

Lydia and I started homeschooling on Monday. She and her little sister Elena are enjoying it greatly, as am I. Lydia's first three weeks of Social Studies focuses on ancient Hebrew culture, so we are learning a lot - we even visited a Jewish temple last night, which was a wonderful experience.

Two days ago, we went to our local Town & Country Fair, and had a great time despite the heat and humidity. (It's been running about 100 degrees here lately.) This year, there was a Big Cats show, with the chance to have pictures taken with a 2 1/2 month old tiger cub - he was SO soft and adorable - but SUCH big paws!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Colorful Blocks Alpha - Six Entire Sets! - Commercial use OK

2008-07-30T04:37:00.006-05:00

Alpha/Embellishment

Commercial Use

Colorful Blocks

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is a big set - this is an alpha with colored letters and edging on an oak-finish wooden block. Includes capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9, created at 300 ppi, png format. SIX entire sets are included (red, blue, yellow, green, orange and purple). They are available for commercial use as well as personal use. I hope you enjoy these!

Click HERE to download primary colors (red, blue and yellow).

Click HERE to download secondary colors (green, orange, and purple).

Notes for the day:

Thank you to all the people who have offered thoughts, prayers and donations for "Mrs. A." Your compassion and generosity are astounding, and I am MOST grateful. Together, we will make a big difference for this family!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

I think I solved the problem! :)

2008-07-28T09:01:00.005-05:00

Wooden Elements - Cherry - Commercial Use OK

AND, for those who have had difficulty opening some of my files:

I did a LOT of experimenting with different saving techniques, scripts, formats, etc. yesterday to try to figure out once and for all why I keep having occasional e-mails from folks unable to open certain files. My tests revealed that apparently it was not a problem with anything I was doing in Photoshop at all, but actually came from the program that zips the files!

So, I believe I know how to fix the problem - I need to re-zip EVERYTHING with new settings. So that everyone can use my freebies, I'm going to make this repair work my top priority. Those who have had problems opening my prior files, would you please download today's freebie and e-mail me to let me know if it has resolved?

Here's a quick freebie - just some wooden frames, photo corners, tag and such, cherry finish, 300 ppi, png. Zipped using the new, improved settings, LOL! PLEASE let me know if there are any issues opening the files - I think it's all fixed and I want to be sure.

Click HERE to download.

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

A Bow of Many Colors...

2008-07-26T22:24:00.006-05:00

Templates and Layered PSD file - Embellishment

Commercial Use

Multilayered Stitched Bow

-FREEBIE-

I really enjoyed making today's freebie - I had a request for layered templates, and later a request for a particular bow, and this was the result. Everything was created at 300 ppi, one is a PSD and the rest are PNG's, and all are available for commercial use.

Most importantly for designers, I think, is the layered PSD file. It contains one layer for the center stripe, one layer for colored stitched edging, and another layer for gold edging, so you can choose which edging style you want. The color overlays are already in place - all you need to do is select the layers you want, double-click on the color fill layer and select your colors.

And...for those of you without Photoshop, I have also included grayscale templates you can use for your designing. There are 4 templates: one with a gold edge (you can just select the grayscale portion before recoloring), then three with the edge in a dark, medium and light shade, respectively.

There are also 30 completed bows, in many colors - 18 are in the same color scheme used in my prior CU freebies and 12 are in a variety of other colors. The latter are primarily to show you the multitude of looks you can achieve by using one color for the center and another color for the edging.

Please let me know what you think of this - and please send me previews of any kits you make with it - I'd love to see your creations! :)

Click HERE to download Part I (the layered PSD file and the grayscale templates).

Click HERE to download Part II (the colored bows that coordinate with my prior CU freebies).

Click HERE to download Part III (the bows in assorted colors).

Notes for the day:

First of all, thank you SO much to those of you who have participated so far in helping the foster mother described at the top of my blog. Some fellow bloggers have even kindly offered to spread the word on their own blogs, for which I am VERY grateful! So far, I have been able to purchase some of her most-needed items, and will be working on cleaning them up this weekend. Your donations, thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated - every bit helps!

On another wonderful note, our foster children got to return home with us this morning! It was SO good to cuddle them in my arms again! I am now healed enough to lift the baby's weight, but I'm not sure how long before I can carry the toddlers. But, healing is going well - feeling stronger each day.

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Baby Blocks, and Yard Sale kits are now free for Commercial Use!

2008-07-25T15:14:00.006-05:00

Alpha/Embellishments

Baby Block Alpha VI

Marie

-FREEBIE-

This is the last of the pastel baby blocks - but I'll have some brighter blocks coming to you soon! This set is in peach, created at 300 ppi, png files, with capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9. Drop shadows for preview purposes only. Commercial use OK. The set is named after my grandmother, Marie.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I've got some fun freebies lined up for you - that's why I'm having to post more than one a day! ROFL But, the kids (some of them) return tomorrow, so I'll need to slow down my blogging to spend a lot of quality time with them. My biological kids are still out of town. Lydia returns from my parents' house on Wednesday, but Don's mom is playing it by ear as far as when Elena returns. They both seem to be having such a great time together, I'm starting to wonder whether grandma is planning to send her back at all...LOL

Today, I received a note in my C-box from Sarah saying that she would love to see some CU grass stuff. I carefully thought about it for a LONG time...about 10 seconds...and decided, "Why not?" I was planning to release most of my designs for S4H/S4O use anyway (with the exception of those that used CU items made by other designers, to avoid violating their TOU's), but since I'm not interested in profiting from designing, why not commercial use? So, Sarah, my entire Yard Sale kit is now available for commercial use. Have at it! The TOU included in my baby block set from this post will now be the one to apply to the Yard Sale kits. However, the TOU is not yet actually IN the Yard Sale downloads, and I honestly don't have time to do that today. But, over the next week or so, I plan to review my kits, and change most of them from personal use only to commercial use. I will let you all know when this process is completed, and give you a list of which ones are included in the new CU frenzy! :)

Love and hugs,

Jeanie

Baby blocks part 5, and see part 6 in next post...

2008-07-25T15:00:00.008-05:00

Alpha/Embellishments

Baby Block Alpha V

Landen

-FREEBIE-

Another set of baby blocks - almost done! This one is in yellow, created at 300 ppi, png files, with capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9. Drop shadows for preview purposes only. Commercial use OK.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I have been trying to figure out a slideshow I liked for displaying my visitors' layouts, kits, etc. I tried Picasa, and found an album with a bunch of Blogger pictures. I started deleting ones that were duplicates or that I didn't want in the slideshow. AFTER I deleted many, I read the "are you sure you want to delete?" window more carefully and realized the pictures were then removed from my blog! Whoops!!! So, today I had to go back and replace many images on my blog. I also had a LOT of phone calls to make - fortunately, I could do both at the same time, for the most part.

For those of you who read my posts by subscribing to my newsletter or feed, please take a look at the top of the blog itself - a wonderful lady is in need of help, and I hope you will read her story.

I've got another freebie to post for you, and some cleaning to do before the kids come home tomorrow morning (yay!!!), so I'll end here...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Pregnant Foster Mom with Cancer Needs Help

2008-07-25T02:03:00.001-05:00

The following is the story of "Mrs. A." as was previously at the top of my blog. I have updated the story there, but wanted to keep the original details of her plight in a post, so those who don't know about her yet can find out what this assistance effort is all about. So, here it is:

Hi, everyone - I wanted to let you know about a dreadful situation I was called about several days ago. As most of you know, I'm a foster mother - I received a call that another foster mom is in serious trouble and needs help. (I'll call her "Mrs. A.") Here's her story: She has 5 children ages from around 7 to 18 or so (some biological, some foster). She found out she was pregnant just after she found out she has breast cancer. She has had some chemo during pregnancy, but not the strongest kind because of the baby. Now she has metastatic cancer in other organs, so they have to take the baby early to give her more aggressive chemotherapy. On top of that, her husband was laid off a few weeks ago, and since he's a union worker, he can't look for another job because they will lose their health insurance. They don't have enough money for their house payments, and they had NOTHING for the baby (a boy) except a changing table. And, they are STILL committed to helping the children in their home. Even with their struggles, they are dedicated to helping others. Some friends and I are doing all we can to help her - we're buying furniture, clothing, bottles, diapers, and all we can for her. But, we can't do it alone. With your kindness and generosity, we have most of the gear the baby will need, but still need to help with diapers, formula, etc. Also, they are in desperate need of help with electricity and mortgage bills, groceries, etc.

I offer all my designs to you for free, and will continue to do so. Considering that, if you feel that you have benefitted from my designs, I hope that in return you might consider making a donation to help Mrs. A. and her family. Please click the Donate button (at the top of blog page) if you would like to participate - even the smallest amounts will help. Even if you cannot donate, thoughts and prayers for the family would be appreciated as well. Thank you for anything you can do!

More awards - I can't believe it! :)

2008-07-24T13:27:00.014-05:00

Alpha/Embellishments

Baby Block Alpha IV

Audrey

-FREEBIE-

Second freebie of the day - baby blocks part 4 of 6. Mitzi, if you're out there, please check my prior posts and you will find the pink blocks you were looking for! :) Again, these have capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9, created at 300 ppi, png format, and OK for commercial use...

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I am feeling lots of love from you wonderful folks lately - you bring me LOTS of joy! To top it off, I have recently been given two more awards! First of all, Mozz from Forever More Creations

bestowed this adorable award on me - given my fondness for small children, I find the childlike look of the award so cute and sweet. Mozz has a wonderful blog with some very intricate designs, many with a lovely vintage feel, and many also with a bit of a magical flair. Please visit her and check it out!

Another award was from Joni at http://jonigray.blogspot.com - it's my second time to recieve this particular honor, and I'm very grateful! Joni, too, has some very beautiful designs, so please go check out her site! Her designs have a very clean, crisp feel to them, and I particularly like her "Romantic Memories" kit with its Oriental theme.

For both of these awards, the rules are the same:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

I'm taking the liberty of combining, so that the following 7 people I am nominating to receive BOTH of the awards shown above! Congratulations to all of them for their wonderful work! :)

1. Mabelle of mydigiSTYLE.com - Mabelle's designs are very personal, and her stories deeply moving. Shes bares her very soul in her designs and cares very much about her visitors. You will frequently find that Mabelle posts rewards for people who have done something nice - sometimes it's just a set of those who e-mailed comments to her, or those who posted layouts to her gallery...but you know that when you leave her some love, it really does matter to her. She has changed the look of her blog periodically, according to her latest life events it seems. Her newly designed site is very contemporary and bold! She is a true innovator, having created digiscraPOD - taking digiscrapping to a whole new level by making a podcast about it! Who would've imagined! And it's as lovely to listen to her as to read her blog. Please visit Mabelle - plan to stay a while to get to know this wonderful woman with a very big heart! :)

2. Elizabeth of Pillowgirl's Scraps - Elizabeth has some great designs - She first captured my attention with her CU stashes - they are alway chock full of VERY useful CU items! She also has given away a number of fantastic freebies, many of them also for CU. She has a set of overlay freebies that I think are some of the most practical and usable ones I've had.

3. Les Kits de Scrapteam Photofiltre - You will hardly believe your eyes when you see the HUGE number of pieces in each of these kits. Each is a collaboration from several designers on the team, but always fits together wonderfully. They do not skimp on details in the least! Some of their kits are very unusual refreshing. I just LOVE their style!

4. Adelina of Adelina's Designs - Adelina has gorgeous designs, very intricate and delicate. She clearly puts a lot of care into her work. She typically offers incredible quickpages as freebies, which coordinate with her latest kits for sale. Her site is well worth a visit!

5. Nicole of NBK Proudly Presents... - Nicole has some truly amazing work! I can hardly think of anyone from whom I have downloaded so many kits! Even when my hard drive is full to the brim, I see Nicole's latest and think, "Something else will have to go, because I MUST have this gorgeous creation!" Her designs are really an inspiration.

6. Vicki of A Work in Progress - I have NO idea how she does it, but Vicki has been cranking out great, versatile new kits day after day after day! Does she have the secret to finding more than 24 hours in a day? I wonder...hmmm. Somehow, rarely a day goes by without another lovely creation from Vicki in my inbox (I am a loyal subscriber). I love the way she includes her color swatches for each kit - it's a great way to help people modify their other embellishments to match those in the kit! Vicki is also a lady with a lot of joy for life, and a great sense of humor.

7. Xandra of Xandra Martin Designs - When you visit Xandra, you'll find that she has a lot of fresh and cheerful kits for you. I have a great deal of respect for Xandra, as I first found her site when she was part of a huge, wonderful kit to benefit children with autism.

8. (Yes, I'm cheating a teensy bit and nominating an eighth blog for both awards...hey, since there are two awards, I actually COULD nominate 14 blogs...)

Last but not least, I wanted to call your attention to a wonderful blog I hope you will visit soon. Benevolent Boutique is "digiscrapping for a cause." Each kit sold in their boutique is created to raise money for their charity of the month. For example, July's charity is Reece's Rainbow, and organization devoted to helping children with Down Syndrome. Please visit their lovely shop, and help out those in need while you shop for your goodies! :)

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Another alpha and a peek at how my CU items are being used!

2008-07-24T12:20:00.010-05:00

Alpha/Embellishments

Baby Block Alpha III

Mason

-FREEBIE-

Hi, folks! Here's another set of baby blocks - we're almost done - there will be six pastel colors in all when we're done with this little series. Part 4 will be posted later today or tomorrow. I'm going to have to try to post more than once a day, I think, because I have too many new designs to share with you! Woo-hoo! As usual, the blocks have capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9, created at 300 ppi, in png format. Commercial use OK if you want! :)

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I am so excited to see that some designers have started using my CU freebies in their kits, and some have sent me previews to share with you!

I think I'm going to have to create some sort of slideshow/album of these to put on my blog...I'm looking for one that looks like a book and flips through pages - if you know of a nice one, please let me know where to find it! I'd love it if it lets me put in captions so I can tell you the websites for these great designers, too.

Here are two kits by Sue - "All Dressed Up" uses my doilies, and "In the Spotlight" uses my disco ball ornaments. Sue has a great, unique flair in her designs! You can download them at Sue's site: http://numbbumm.blogspot.com.

Next, we have a "Cheerful Grunge" kit by the lovely and VERY witty Julie, using my folded stitched ribbons - you can download it at her site, http://julieitis.blogspot.com.

I have also been receiving some interesting requests - I'm having LOTS of fun with those, and hope to have the resulting designs available for you soon!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Baby Boy Blocks and a new "do"

2008-07-21T23:31:00.005-05:00

Alpha/Embellishment

Baby Block Alpha

George

-FREEBIE-

Another baby block alpha for you today - this one in baby blue. Again, it has 36 blocks, including capitals A-Z and numerals 0-9. All created at 300 ppi and saved as png files. Commercial use OK. Happy scrapping - enjoy! Remember, more colors are on their way soon...

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

My husband alerted me Entertainment Weekly's "Web Obsession of the Week" - If you are a Journey fan, click HERE to see something funny...it's a fake movie trailer for "Journey at the Center of the Earth."

My little girl, Elena, as been after me for a year to get a short haircut. She usually changes her mind a lot, but in this one she persisted. At first, I wasn't sure what to do with her short hair - I'm used to long hair, easy ponytails, etc. But I think I finally figured out how to style it right- and I think it's adorable because it lets her look the way SHE wants to! Just look at how happy she is. Here's how her hair progressed over the last 12 months...

Hugs,

Jeanie

Baby Fever

2008-07-21T13:21:00.007-05:00

Alpha/Embellishment

Baby Block Alpha I

Shawna

-FREEBIE-

I have been working on some wooden blocks for you - this is the first in a series of baby pastel colors. These were created at 300 ppi, and are in individual png files. There are 36 blocks - including capital letters A-Z and numerals 0-9. These are OK for commercial use if you wish. More colors coming soon, and a special surprise at the end of the series...

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Sorry I haven't posted for a while - I have been working on these blocks as well as some actions for a long time. My little girls are away this week visiting grandparents - Lydia is in North Carolina with my parents, and Elena is in Illinois with Don's mom. I miss them terribly, but I know they're having lots of fun. Our foster children are coming for a visit tonight - can't wait to see them! This is our last week before they move back in with us - I know they have been very well taken care of, but I will be so happy to have them back here and cuddle them in my arms.

For those of you who volunteered to test my alpha action mentioned at the top of the page, I have kept all of your e-mails and plan to send the action out to you soon, after a bit more testing. It will first go out to those with Photoshop CS2 and higher for Mac or PC. For those of you with earlier versions of Photoshop, or with Photoshop Elements, I need some more time to figure out whether or not there is a way to make the action work for your programs. A lot of people have asked whether there are still openings for testers - just to be clear, I am not placing a limit on the number of testers. If you're interested, you're in! :) And, as soon as testing is complete, the action will be made available to everyone.

My friend Lilou, who has been making very intricate and beautiful designs, has decided to open up her designs for commercial use. She has created a new blog for this, called Collection Artiste Lolotte. These are FREE commercial use items. Click HERE to enter her new site, or click her blinkie in my left sidebar. As I understand, all the items on her previously existing sites are now free for commercial use as well. Click HERE to visit her digiscrapbooking site and read (in French) her details on her this decision. You will also find there a list of her other sites that are included for commercial use. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how she is able to make so many beautiful designs so quickly. I think you will agree this is an extremely generous gift that she is giving us. What a fantastic lady with a real passion for designing! Please visit Lilou and leave her some love and appreciation for her generosity...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

I folded these just for you...

2008-07-16T22:07:00.005-05:00

Template/Embellishment

Commercial Use

Stitched Ribbon (Folded)

-FREEBIE-

Since I gave you the straight stitched ribbons in the last post, I felt they needed a little jazzier version as well, so here is the same set of ribbons - but all funny and folded this time! Again, offered in 12 muted colors, as well as light and dark grayscale. All created at 300 ppi, png format. As has become my habit lately, these are available for commercial use - please remember that it gives me a great emotional (and creative) boost to see my CU items used in your kits or layouts, so please send me previews of what you have done with my designs. (And if you permit, I'd love to post such creations to my blog to share with my other readers - along with a link to your site, of course!) So, let's see what you come up with! :)

Also, please remember that I'd be happy to try to fulfill requests - I can't promise that I'll be able to make everything you ask (I'm still a designing newbie), but I'd love to try. Have you ever been making a kit and thought, " I wish I had a _____ - it would be just perfect for this kit..." ? Well, now you can just step right up and ask for it. Be as specific as you can about what you'd like. For example, if you need a bow in a particular type of ribbon, with a particular style, even a certain basic shape (you can just send me a rough sketch of the shape you want) - just give me the details and I'll try to make it for you. Just e-mail your request to me - I try to answer all e-mails within a couple of days.

The understanding, though, is that if I'm making requested designs for free, I would plan to share them with others on the blog - after all, the more people that can benefit from it, the better, from my point of view. (However, if anyone feels it is important that the design be exclusively theirs, I'll be glad to discuss options with you - just e-mail me.)

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

We started the day with a fantastic show of love from our kids (see previous post)...Also today, we took our minivans (with 5 kids, we sure need them) for their safety and emissions inspections. They are both Toyota Siennas. Mine passed with no problem - it's our young vehicle at only about 110,000 miles. Don's minivan, however is a tiny bit older (we've had it for over 10 years) and has 285,000 miles. It's been a GREAT vehicle, rarely with any maintenance needed. We intended to drive it until after 300,000 miles. But alas, it has now failed its emissions inspection and needs a catalytic converter to pass inspection. The converter will cost more than the van is worth at its age, so it's going to minivan heaven tonight...I did some quick investigating of Toyota's Certified Used Vehicles online, found one essentially just like mine, same year and all, but a different color. It might just be too weird, even for us, to have the same make, model, year AND color! So, as soon as Don returned from work, I told him his van's grim prognosis and sent him packing to St. Louis to look at the replacement I'd found. And the verdict is...it's a winner! He's happily driving it home as I type this... :)

Goodnight all,

Jeanie

These will have you in stitches!

2008-07-16T20:05:00.007-05:00

Template/Embellishment

Commercial Use

Stitched Ribbons (Straight)

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is a grosgrain ribbon with stitching along both edges. It is straight, 12 inches long, created at 300 ppi, in png format. As with my other recent CU items, this is presented in 12 muted colors, as well as in light and dark grayscale for coloring to your needs. (I also made a folded version of the same stitched ribbon, and it will be yours in my next post!) Enjoy!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

We had an interesting day today - lots of fun and a big change. First of all, from about 8:30 this morning until after 1:00 this afternoon, my darling daughters were slaving away very secretively in our back room at something, and refused to let anyone come near their little hub of activity. They were getting along so well, and showing reassuring signs such as bringing the broom and mop back there and asking for cleaning supplies, so we let them do their thing. By the time they emerged, they presented us all with elaborate party invitations with a list of about a dozen activities we would enjoy during the party. They charged a penny for admission, but kindly provided a penny in each invitation. We entered a beautifully decorated room with ribbons all over, noticed that everything had been thoroughly cleaned (even the floor was bright and shiny) and saw a lovely little child-sized table all set for the celebration. We were treated to crafts, music and dancing, code-cracking games, story and joke time, a lovely snack of grapes and salami, an elaborate puppet show, and a group rest time. After all that (which took most of the afternoon), we each received carefully wrapped presents from the girls. Elena gave some of her precious preschool artwork, and Lydia gave adorable paper dolls, for example. It was a very lovely afternoon, and one I'll always treasure, as the girls showed all the joy, sweetness, generosity and love that makes motherhood such an amazing blessing.

My little girls, having worn themselves out with the party and a late afternoon swim, have dropped from exhaustion. They can catch some much-needed winks while I catch a few moments to write this post to you...

...to be continued...another freebie awaits you tonight!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

No-Hassle Tassels

2008-07-15T17:33:00.006-05:00

Template/Embellishment

Commercial Use

Tassels I

-FREEBIE-

Hi, it's me again! Back with a freebie for you - here are tassels for personal or commercial use. As usual, they are png files created at 300 ppi, in 12 colors as well as in light and dark gray for recoloring. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only. I hope you enjoy them! Thank you for the nice comments on yesterday's tutorial - I'm glad it was useful even to some of you! When I use a grayscale item such as this, I like to use overlays to recolor it rather than the recoloring brush or color replacement. In this case, I use the color over the object by using the layer style to create a color overlay, selecting the color, then setting the blend mode of the color overlay to overlay (or sometimes, if I'm trying for a deeper color, I'll set it to color burn or play with other blend modes.) Have fun - I hope you enjoy them!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I had a pretty relaxing day today - I got to sleep in, then catch up on paperwork and phone calls while my parents took my girls to a "Mystery Science" class at the St. Louis Science Center. The class involved trying to solve a mystery from a mock crime scene - what fun!

I had a talk with Lydia's allergist today to let her know about her worsening nut reactions - turns out that based on more recent studies over the past few years, the allergist actually recommends giving the Epi-Pen for nut-allergic patients much earlier in the reaction now. Now, I'm supposed to give her the pen then go to the emergency room as soon as she has the first tiny hives after ingesting something that may have contained nuts! This is going to be a drastic change for us, as previously we had only been told to give Benadryl, observe her, and use the Epi-Pen only if her reaction became severe - i.e., trouble breathing! So, if any of you have nut-allergic children, or have nut allergies yourself, you might want to check with your allergist to see what their current recommendations are.

Have a great evening,

Jeanie

Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?

2008-07-15T16:21:00.004-05:00

Well, that's no ordinary rabbit - that's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!

Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!

Anyone recognize these quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail? This is one bunny that might be worthy of a role in that movie! One of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time...I just had to share it with you.

I'll try to be back in a while with more digiscrap goodies for you...

Hugs,

Jeanie

My First Tutorial :)

2008-07-14T11:16:00.006-05:00

Tutorial

Using Overlays

-FREEBIE-

As promised yesterday, here is my first tutorial for you, as requested by Sharon. It will teach you the basics of using overlays, making use of my recent Mystery Overlay for examples. You can obtain much more interesting effects using a variety of colors and textures underneath, but for teaching purposes, I used the overlay simply over a plain pink background. I hope you will find it helpful! For those of you already familiar with overlays, I would appreciate any feedback or corrections to the tutorial - it was done strictly from my own experience rather than from a professional instruction manual. Please leave feedback either in the comments section or e-mail me! :)

The tutorial is provided below as a PDF document for you to download. (If you do not have Adobe Reader, you can download it free HERE.)

Click HERE to download tutorial PDF file.

Notes for the day:

Had a lovely visit yesterday evening from our foster children - the baby has a new, adorable little curl of hair - it was wonderful to hold her again. My recovery is going well - feeling stronger each day. Today, I'm allowed to start riding in a car, but can't drive on my own until next week. At least I can get out for a little change of scenery!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Second freebie today! :)

2008-07-12T16:19:00.014-05:00

Overlays/Papers

Commercial Use

Mystery Overlays I

-FREEBIE-

OK, I'm feeling generous today - and I'm ready to share my next little treat with you. This is a set of five overlays in grayscale as well as 12 colored papers I made using these overlays. All were created at 300 ppi, 12x12, and are available for personal or commercial use. All of these overlays were made from the same scanned image of an item in my house. It's something I've used many times, though not for several years now. It was made in 1984, and now it's gone for good. It might be hard, though not impossible to find another one these days. Now for the big question...what on earth is it??? I would LOVE to hear your ideas - please leave your guesses in the comments below!

I just love little games - remember that my Shrubbery kit and Hay Day kit both have little games for you, too - only a very few people ever found my "needle in the haystack," but some did, so it IS possible! Just zoom in a LOT! I recently saw another "needle in the haystack" promotion (from Sticker Planet), and I laughed at how easy THEIR needle is to find! Here is theirs...

Click HERE to download overlays.

Click HERE to download colored papers part I.

Click HERE to download colored papers part II.

Notes for the day:

Those of you who have been faithful readers of my blog may remember that a few weeks ago, we had a huge allergy scare with my darling daughter, Lydia. I am very optimistic now, as we have finally decided what to do about it. We are pulling her out of the public school, since they had way too many close calls last year (sitting kids with peanut butter right next to her, etc.) We looked into homeschooling and discovered a version that I think will be perfect for us, and more importantly, perfect for Lydia's personality. It's an actual accredited school, so she'll have her own teacher to grade her work, etc., but it is a distance learning program. So, I will be the one doing the lessons with her in the safety of our own home. The school is called Oak Meadow, and uses an interesting education philosophy I hadn't heard of before. It is "Waldorf-inspired," and as such focuses on building children into creative, inquisitive lifelong learners. They bring back the basics, with some classic literature, music, art, and even field trips about the local community and natural surroundings, all with a very integrated approach. Lydia sampled some of their lessons and was SO excited to learn more - she wanted to do more schoolwork instead of playing! I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to participate in her learning - I was feeling so disconnected with her education last year, as all we had was one conference with the teacher in the fall. I'll let you know how this new adventure unfolds! :)

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

I'm back! :)

2008-07-12T14:09:00.006-05:00

Embellishments

Commercial Use

Doilies for Elena III

-FREEBIE-

Hi, everyone! First of all, thank you SO much for all your thoughts and prayers. I'm sorry that I haven't posted in some time - I have just not been up do doing much since my surgery on Monday. I have, however, taken advantage of little moments here and there to make up some more CU freebies for you. So, here's another one - the third in the series of doilies. Again, created at 300 ppi, in 12 colors (coordinating with my other recent CU items) as well as in light and dark gray for recoloring to your needs. I hope you enjoy them, and please check back for more goodies soon! :)

Click HERE to download.

My surgery went fine...

I had my hysterectomy and all the associated procedures on Monday. Thankfully, the frozen section showed no cancer! Yay! I only stayed in the hospital two nights, and after being pretty out of it the first night, was feeling pretty good the next night. I came home on Wednesday, and my mother-in-law has been helping here all week. I've had some more pain with trying to get up from my chairs and sofa without the benefit of hospital rails, but I'm doing OK. I think my recovery is going to be pretty uneventful. A couple of days ago, our foster children came here for a visit, which was WONDERFUL! We're hoping to see them again tomorrow. Felt so nice to be together again! I sure wish I were allowed to post photos of them, but I'm not. Suffice it to say that they are adorable, sweet children and chock full of personality! My biological daughters are working very hard to be on their best behavior, and are being incredibly helpful. My parents are coming tomorrow to take over babysitting me for a while so my mother-in-law can have a well-deserved break!

My first award!

Last week, the amazingly talented and witty Linda of Bon Scrapatit Designs gave me my first award! (She also gave one to my daughter Lydia for her blog!) Thank you SO much, Linda, for this wonderful honor!

The rules of the award are as follows:

1. The winner can put the award logo on his or her blog.

2. Link the person you received the award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you've nominated.

So, the blogs I nominate are:

1. Digitreats - The ever-so-popular designer of the Skip, Run and Jump ABC kits! Pamela works very hard to keep us supplied with wonderful freebies and her warm-hearted stories are a joy to read.

2. Curly Wirly Twirly Girlies - Erika is a vibrant lady with a wonderful sense of humor, a lot of heart, and tons of great new ideas. She has created fantastic freebies, and I'm always so excited to see what she comes up with next.

3. Sophisticated Scraps - Lisa has gorgeous, unique designs, and many are commercial use freebies. A great resource, and a really nice lady!

4. Mallu Brasil Designs - If you love sparkle and glitter, this is the place to go! She has amazingly intricate, ornate designs. Lots of very versatile swirls, frames, etc.

5. Attic Treasures - Anneli posts gorgeous freebies, very unique, with a Victorian style. Perfect for vintage layouts! She's also a fantastic lady!

6. Julie. It is. - Julie's musings on life are full of humor, wisdom and interesting twists. She has very unique designs, often with very powerful meaning. Please check out the layout in her July 4th post, "The price of summer." That picture just seemed to speak volumes to me!

7. Aprilmouse and Hanulienka - These gifted ladies have a bright, fresh, cheerful style. They clearly put a lot of care into the detail in each kit, and seem to have lots of fun doing it!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Important Message re: png files

2008-07-06T19:02:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone! I hope you are having a good weekend. I wanted to let you know that I have encountered some people having problems opening my png files. They work fine on my computer, but today I tried on a PC (I have a Mac) and the png files were somehow transformed into "Fireworks" files. I am not sure what is going on with this, but will certainly investigate it when I am able to. Please rest assured that if you have downloaded a file that won't open for you, just e-mail me and I will gladly do everything I possibly can to get you a working file! I'm sorry, but it will take a few days before I can begin working on this, as I am having major surgery tomorrow.

In case this issue has anything to do with the action I created to separate the png files, I am holding off on having any of you test the action until I do further troubleshooting.

I am doing OK emotionally about the surgery itself, but I'm missing my foster children already (it's only been a few hours) - the Children's Division insisted that it would be better for my health to have them at another foster home for the first 3 weeks of my recovery. The other foster parents are fantastic, though, and we'll visit as often as we can. Thanks to some of you who suggested it, I did make a little brag book to send with the kids, full of lots of happy pictures!

I'll be back with you as soon as I can...

Love and hugs,

Jeanie

Dinphy's Satin Ribbon and Bow

2008-07-04T09:08:00.005-05:00

Embellishments

Commercial Use

Satin Ribbon and Bow I

-FREEBIE-

I love fulfilling requests - it's a lot of fun to make someone happy! Dinphy recently asked for a plain, straight ribbon, possibly with separate bow. So...here it is! This is a 12-inch narrow satin ribbon with a separate delicate bow. Each comes in 12 colors, as well as in light and dark grayscale for easy recoloring. I think I like the colors I've used for examples of the CU items, so I'll plan to continue using those same colors. That way, as you collect the CU items, you will have a color-coordinated set! :)

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Happy 4th of July! I hope you are all going to have a wonderful weekend. We are planning to take it easy at home - get some cleaning done, play with the kids, etc. Then, tonight we're going to grill in our backyard and watch fireworks. Our yard is in the perfect place to be able to see the city's fireworks display, so we don't have to go to the park and fight the crowds! Much more relaxing that way...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Doilies for Elena II

2008-07-03T04:00:00.002-05:00

Template/Embellishments

Commercial Use

Doilies for Elena II

-FREEBIE-

Same colors, different doily...today's freebie is another doily I crocheted years ago, in the same colors as yesterday. Again, it was created at 300 ppi, is in png format, and presented in 12 colors as well as in light and dark grayscale so that you can recolor it to suit your needs. For commercial and/or personal use. I hope you enjoy it - it was always one of my favorite doily patterns to crochet. It's not too often that one finds patterns for square doilies!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I am still planning to send you more freebies made from my "stone wall" photo. We also have many more ribbons in store!

We're planning a busy holiday weekend for the 4th of July - we'll sit in the yard to watch the city's fireworks display (we have a perfect view form our yard with no fighting the crowds), but will likely spend the rest of the weekend cleaning. Oh, what fun...but we've got to do what we've got to do!

Thank you as always for your very kind comments - they are MUCH appreciated! However, please note that I have been having trouble accessing my 4Shared comments, and their tech support folks are trying to figure out the problem. So, if you have posted anything needing a reply on 4Shared, please feel free to re-post it on my blog or e-mail me, as I'm not sure how long it will take to get the "Review Comments" button working again. Hopefully soon?...

Hugs,

Jeanie

Doilies for Elena I

2008-07-02T12:18:00.007-05:00

Template/Embellishments

Commercial Use

Doilies for Elena I

-FREEBIE-

Years ago (before motherhood), I spent much of my free time crocheting doilies. So today, my gift to you is one of the doilies I crocheted - it is presented in 12 colors as well as in grayscale (both light and dark) to recolor to your liking. The doilies were created at 300 ppi, saved as png files. This series is named in honor of my 5-year-old daughter, Elena. I would love to see anything you make with this or my other designs!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

If you downloaded my last design (Lace Ribbon I), please note that there has been a correction to the file - so please be sure to download the updated version.

For those of you who don't know yet, I have only 5 days until my big surgery - I'm planning to try to prepare several designs ahead of time so I can keep the freebies coming to you while I'm in the hospital. Then, while I'm homebound and not able to do much physically, I hope to make plenty of goodies! :)

My 8-year-old daughter, Lydia, has posted a new freebie today. It's an add-on for Digitreats Skip - click HERE to check it out!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Just a note today...but more goodies very soon!

2008-06-30T17:10:00.004-05:00

Hi, everyone! No I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, LOL! :) I just wanted to let you know that I have not forgotten you...I have just been extremely busy with unexpected doctors' appointments, as well as a wedding this weekend. Also, I have a little one not feeling well and needing lots of cuddling. I love to cuddle, but I sure wish she felt better. Saw the doctor today, and I feel confident she'll feel well soon.

For those of you who volunteered to test my Photoshop action, thank you! I will be sending it out as soon as I finish the PC version. As far as PSE, I need to obtain a trial version of it so I can figure out what it can and can't do. I'm not sure if my action will be able to be modified for PSE (Adobe says it can't) - but I'm going to give it my best shot. Unfortunately, the PSE trials aren't available at present, but might be by July 1st. Additionally, if you have e-mailed me and not had a response, rest assured that I will get caught up enough to reply to you very soon.

If I can get some free time tonight, I may be able to get something made for you, otherwise it will be tomorrow.

I have had some visitors inquiring about my little "Pocket Brain" - for those interested, it is a Passport, made by Western Digital. I've been very happy with it, but keep in mind that any hard drive can fail, and portable ones more so because of the risk of dropping it. So, always back it up!!! Click HERE for a link to read more about these devices if interested.

Hugs,

Jeanie

Another CU Freebie - Lace Ribbon I

2008-06-26T22:12:00.006-05:00

Embellishment Template

Commercial Use

Lace Ribbon I

-FREEBIE-

I recently had a request for some ribbons, so I'm starting to play around with some. Here's a pretty little lace ribbon for you - it's 12 inches long, 300 ppi, in grayscale to be colored to your liking. I have provided both a light and a dark version to make it easier to work with a variety of colors. I hope you enjoy it! I've had a sudden urge to focus on commercial use freebies rather than entire kits - it seemed to me that there are SO many free kits out there and not nearly enough freebies for CU. Please let me know in the comments below whether or not it meets with your needs - I'm here to serve...LOL! :)

Click HERE to download. File corrected and reuploaded on 6/30/08, so if you downloaded on or before that date, please re-download! MANY apologies for the inconvenience!

Notes for the day:

I'm so excited about the great response my daughter is having to her new freebie blog - she's had nearly 2000 visitors so far, and only posted her first freebie 9 days ago! MANY thanks to Anneli of Attic Treasures, who featured Lydia on her blog, and to Linda of Bon Scrapatit, who listed Lydia and me in her "Hot New Designers" list! It means SO much to me, and to Lydia. Please visit these wonderful folks - they are two of my favorite designers and offer LOTS of gorgeous work! You know, I have to say that all of you in the digital scrapbooking community are fantastic people - your comments, kind words, and hugs bring SO much joy and fulfillment to my life! Love ya!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Disco Fever in Technicolor this time...

2008-06-25T06:40:00.005-05:00

Embellishments

Commercial Use

Disco Ball Ornaments

-FREEBIE-

Well, I had so much fun making yesterday's disco ball that I decided to give it to you in a variety of fun colors - I think they would make great little ornaments, so I also included a little silver ornament hanger loop. It's a separate file, so you can use these with or without the loop - without, you could use them to decorate your frames, flowers, tags, etc., especially if you shrink them to near-sequin size! The set includes the disco ball in 17 different colors, including the grayscale version so you can color it to your own liking. I found that as far as blending modes for the color overlay, color burn worked best for dark colors, and vivid light worked best for lighter colors. I hope you'll enjoy using these - they are for personal or commercial use, and I'd LOVE to see anything you make with them (or any of my designs!)

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR DESIGNERS - ANYONE WANT A FREE CU ACTION?: I am working on an action to make it easy to separate your small elements (especially alphas) and save them into individual png files in one step with a Photoshop action. I used this action on today's freebie, and had also used it on my Lemon Jell-O Alpha. (Worked great, at least for me, LOL!) Right now, the completed version has been tested for Mac, in Photoshop CS3 Extended. I also have access to a PC, so I'm working on a version for PC as well. I would like to see if anyone will test this action for me on other versions of Photoshop, both on Mac and PC. I want to make sure it's adequately tested before releasing it widely. So, please click link under my photo at top of page to e-mail me if you are interested! (Please be sure to tell me whether you're using Mac or PC, and which version of Photoshop.)

Click HERE to download.

(Link now corrected - sorry for any inconvenience!)

Notes for the day:

My daughter, Lydia and I both had add-ons listed by Pamela at Digitreats today - it's so much fun to share the fun of designing with my little girl! There are lots of add-ons on Pamela's site, and her latest Jump elements are just adorable - so click HERE to jump/skip/run over to Digitreats to check it out...

I'm still playing with the "stone wall" creations (see yesterday's post) - more freebies for you very soon!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Disco Fever! (from a stone wall....)

2008-06-24T12:03:00.008-05:00

Element, Background, Overlay

Commercial Use

Disco Ball

-FREEBIE-

Hi, there! Well, I got just enough stuff off my hard drive that I could create a little something for you...so here is today's freebie for CU. It's a shiny disco ball, with the background included as a 12x12 paper. All created at 300 ppi. I also included a separate overlay of the scattered reflections, so that if you want to place people or objects on the background, you can put reflections over them as well. Believe it or not, this disco ball was created using the following photo of a stone wall I saw on my weekend vacation!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

So, today's CU freebie is another of your "thank-you" gifts for helping me reach my goals. I guess now I'll have to set some new goals and keep the gifts coming at you!

This weekend, I had fun with my camera, looking for interesting textures to use in designing. I loved the look of this wall, and I'm having fun seeing how many different things I can design from this one photo. So, more freebies coming soon! :)

Hugs,

Jeanie

Hard drive overload!!!

2008-06-23T15:15:00.008-05:00

Some LO's to share...

and an explanation...

and a little tiny freebie...

Sorry I've been away so long...believe it or not, my laptop got SO full that I couldn't even create a new Photoshop document! So, my freebie plans went on hold for a while (we were out of town, so I couldn't transfer files to my external hard drive). My SWEET husband got me a little present - a portable drive! It's not a jump drive (which is all I asked for) - it's about 3x5 inches and 250 GB, but can fit in a pocket and doesn't even need its own power supply! ( I named it "PocketBrain") I'm not sure whether I was a techno-geek before, or if marrying him made me one...but if this isn't romance I don't know what is! He went to a HUGE, fantastic electronics store he'd never been to, and he came home with this amazingly thoughtful gift and NOTHING for himself! I never thought I'd find such a wonderful man. (BTW, the printer he got me for our anniversary is fantastic, too - I can print pictures and have the colors look just the same as on the monitor!)

Anyway, I've spent the last couple of days trying to figure out how to best reorganize my digiscrapping stuff so I can make freebies again - and I've cleared out almost enough space. I just had to resign myself to the fact that I'm going to do a lot more designing than scrapping my own photos, so I might as well put the wonderful freebies I've collected on the "PocketBrain".

So, while I get my hard drive cleaned up sufficiently, here are some adorable layouts sent my my visitors:

This one is from Dawnabelle, using my "For the Love of Lemons" series. Dawn has her own blog now, and created a really cute birdhouse - to visit and download her awesome freebie (CU, nonetheless!) - click HERE!

Next, Amy of Fostering Creativity has made these sweet little invitations, also using "For the Love of Lemons," as well as "Yard Sale" and a little golf ball I made for her. To see more of Amy's designs, please visit her HERE. After e-mailing back and forth with Amy, I decided to make all of my designs available for scrap-for-hire and scrap-for-others. However, some of my designs used actions or templates made by others, so please wait for the official announcement to use my designs for such purposes - I still need to hear from a couple of CU designers...

So, here is your tiny freebie to tide you over until the bigger ones (which are on their way, I promise...) - this is a golf ball. Yes, that's it. No preview, no nothing. Just a golf ball. (See Amy's invitation above for what it looks like!) Can you tell I feel inadequate just giving you this? LOL I'll make it up to you VERY soon!

Click HERE to download the golf ball...

Hugs,

Jeanie

April Flowers - Commercial Use Freebie

2008-06-19T07:30:00.005-05:00

Embellishments

Commercial Use

April Flowers

-FREEBIE-

Well, you did it again! I have now met TWO of my stated goals: a kit downloaded over 1000 times (Yard Sale Part 7: Shrubbery), and over 10,000 visitors! I promised you treats when these occurred, so here's the first one - I didn't expect both goals to be met the same day, so I'm still working on your next thank-you gift! :) These are 6 flowers for personal or commercial use, the same ones used in the last 2 recolored sets. They are from actual photographs I took this April after some friends gave me bouquets for my birthday/get-well. They are at 300 ppi, grayscale. Please let me know what you think, and I would also love to hear what types of commercial use freebies you would like to see.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Well, we're heading off to Indianapolis today! I'm so excited to go to the Children's Museum again - this will be the third visit for me and the girls, but the first time for my hubby and the rest of the kids! Don was finally able to break free from work long enough to go there when he found out they have a new animation exhibit - he is a video producer, loves movies, and will find the exhibit lots of fun, I'm sure!

We had a fun night last night - my daughters went grocery shopping with me and were incredibly nice to each other the whole time, then came home and baked cupcakes together. We all stayed up late having fun baking (and eating...). There was so much joy and laughter, I just wanted to keep those moments forever. So, a picture is as close to forever as I could get...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

April Flowers - Add-on for Jump

2008-06-18T22:55:00.004-05:00

Embellishments

April Flowers

Add-On for Digitreats Jump

-FREEBIE-

Just a quick post tonight to give you yesterday's flowers in the Jump colors - this set includes 8 flowers in various colors, as well as a little bouquet. The flowers were all extracted from photos of bouquets I received this April. All are at 300 ppi. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Thank you to everyone who visited my daughter's new blog, and a special thank-you to those who left comments or hugs for her - she is SO excited to make more freebies for you! A link to her "Lydibug Garden" is at the top right of my blog.

We're leaving tomorrow for Indiana to visit the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, as well as my brother and sister-in-law. We will have internet access there, but I'm not sure how much computer time I'll have. So if you don't hear from me before then, have a great weekend!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

April Flowers - Add-on for Skip

2008-06-18T07:46:00.012-05:00

Embellishments

April Flowers

Add-On for Digitreats Skip

-FREEBIE-

Hello, everyone! Sorry it has been such a while since posting. Things have been crazy lately (see notes below if you want to read why). Today is my first experience in add-ons - I have created some flower embellishments and colored them to coordinate with Digitreats Skip. If you haven't yet found Digitreats' Skip, Run and Jump ABC kits, you're seriously missing out! Click HERE to check them out. :) The set includes 6 flowers and a little bouquet. The flowers were extracted from photos I took myself of some bouquets I received in April for get-well/birthday wishes from my friends Donna and Jennifer. My TOU has been amended, and so for this set, scrap-for-hire and scrap-for-others is OK - see TOU for details. I am hoping to make my older kits available under the same TOU, but I have to wait until I hear from some designers whose actions were used to create some elements. I will make an announcement at the top of my blog when I know more!

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

Well, we had a rough weekend. My oldest daughter, Lydia, developed a "swimmer's ear infection." She was feeling miserable anyway, but was finally well enough to go shopping to order her birthday cake and spend a gift card she received for JCPenney. We went to the bakery to order her cake (with a custom picture we made on the computer), and she had a donut. She has a nut allergy, but the donut had no nuts, nor was it in a tray with anything with nuts. However, by the time we were almost ready to check out at JCPenney, she started itching, and within about 4 minutes had developed severe hives from her chin to her ankles. She has never had a reaction like that before. Fortunately, we were only about 1/2 mile from the Urgent Care center, so we got her there right away, where she had to get a shot of epinephrine and a bunch of Benadryl. Her oxygen saturation declined to 83%, she started coughing, and the doctor later told me he had been worried he might have to intubate her. Fortunately, the epi worked in about 15-20 minutes, and she's fine now. But, it gives me quite a scare regarding school this fall - they supposedly have precautions in place to protect her and the other kids with food allergies, but they had several dangerous mistakes last year, and now that her reactions have gotten so severe, we can't risk any accidents. If they can't come up with a fool-proof plan, I may have to look into homeschooling!

On a brighter note, after Lydia recovered, she and I worked together on setting up HER new freebie blog - Lydibug Garden! She is designing scrap kits herself now (though she has only just turned 8 years old). All of her freebies are from her own drawings or concepts, but I am just helping her to learn how to make her ideas a reality in Photoshop. She's learning fast, and having lots of fun. Her site is ready now, and we posted her first freebie last night! Here is her preview - click HERE to visit her blog, where you can download her freebie. (She has a generous heart and chose to make it available for commercial use!)

Hugs,

Jeanie

Shadowboxes - Commercial Use Freebie!

2008-06-12T08:12:00.011-05:00

Commercial Use Elements and Template

9-Compartment Shadowboxes

-FREEBIE-

Well, you did it! I promised that when one of my goals was met (1000 hugs, 10,000 visitors, or 1000 downloads of a kit), I would reward you...and I now have 1150 hugs on my hugs counter, so it's time for a thank-you treat for you! :)

Today's freebie is for personal AND/OR commercial use - I have created a shadowbox with 9 compartments, perfect for displaying smaller elements in your layouts. For designers, it may be a nice way to display items in your previews! The shadowboxes are JPEGs at 300 ppi, and are all 12x12 so that you can use them as a background paper if you like, or size them down as needed. I have included 4 shadowboxes: cherry, dark oak, light oak, and a grayscale version you can use as a template and recolor to your liking.

I have amended my commercial terms of use: basically, I have tried to make them as flexible as possible for you. (See detailed TOU in download.) Credit is appreciated, but NOT required unless the design is offered in its unaltered form in a product for sale (so that nobody thinks either of us pirated from the other). You MAY even redistribute the fully-colored versions (just not the grayscale versions) in their unaltered form, as part of a larger kit.

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

Please, please, please send me examples of anything you have created with my work - I would love to post them on my blog if you permit!

We have been very busy lately, trying to resolve what arrangements will be made for the foster children after my surgery on July 7th. We had hoped to have them still live here, but with family here to help. We fought as hard as we could for that, but the Children's Division insists that they be in "respite care" for the first 3 weeks of my recovery, meaning that we will still technically be the foster parents, the kids will live somewhere else. I worry how they will handle the separation, and hope that they won't lose ground with the emotional and developmental progress they have made with us. But, we will be allowed to visit with them and intend to do so as much as possible so they know we haven't abandoned them. So, if you could send good thoughts or prayers their way, it would be appreciated! I guess this means I'll get even MORE time to make goodies for you! (Of course, I can't justify that unless I also spend some of my extra time catching up on non-exertional housework and organization - I'm years behind in filing, and I have a big craft area to clean - won't be needing those traditional scrapbooking supplies now that I've seen the light of going digital!

I'm working on more CU freebies for you, which I intend to use as rewards for reaching more of my goals. So, keep those warm fuzzies coming - comments, e-mails, hugs, new subscribers to my newsletter, or C-box messages all make me happy...and feeling very happy puts me in a very generous mood! ;)

Hugs to everyone, and thank you for visiting,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Lemon JELL-O Alpha

2008-06-09T23:56:00.003-05:00

Alpha

For the Love of Lemons

Lemon JELL-O Alpha

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is the last actual kit I have planned in the "For the Love of Lemons" series (you're probably sick of lemons by now, LOL!) - but I might work on some quick pages for you before it's all over. So, here it is the Lemon JELL-O Alpha! This set includes all the capital and lowercase letters, as well as many symbols, totaling 90 characters. You will also receive the glass bowl filled with cubes of lemon JELL-O. All are pngs created at 300 ppi. The bookshelf is the same one available in yesterday's post - to get a different color, just adjust "levels" to get more of an oak look! Special thanks to Atomic Cupcake for the free (yes, FREE!) Jelly action used to create this.

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I'm nearing some major, exciting milestones - I'm hoping to soon reach 1000 hugs (I have 890), 10,000 visitors (I have over 7732), and to have one of my files downloaded 1000 times (Yard Sale Part 7: Shrubbery has been downloaded 975 times so far). When I reach ANY of these milestones, I intend to celebrate by giving you a commercial use freebie - exactly what it will be has yet to be determined...so keep those "warm fuzzies" coming, and you'll be rewarded! :)

To Aunt Anne regarding your comment yesterday: though I am interested in Photoshop actions, I won't forget "the PSE people" - I am just not sure which features are available in PSE and other versions of Photoshop. Hopefully, I can learn more about it! I also hope to work on some commercial use templates that can be used in any of your digiscrapping programs.

I had some wonderful news today - my brother got a new job and is moving to San Antonio, Texas! Should be a great move for him. Congratulations, Andrew! But, he's not moving until AFTER our trip to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, so we should be able to visit with him and my sister-in-law while we're there. I'm really looking forward to that - I don't get to see him as often as I'd like.

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Home Decor

2008-06-08T17:55:00.004-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Home Decor

-FREEBIE-

I had some serious fun creating today's freebie! I love cherry furniture, and had initially thought of making a simple little kitchen cabinet to display yeterday's recipe cards. Then, as usual, I got a bit carried away and created a bookshelf/curio hutch from scratch in Photoshop. The curio hutch is actually a piece of furniture I'd love to have but haven't found the right one yet. It was fun constructing each tiny piece - I especially liked working on the glass doors. The crystal door handles and colored gemstones are commercial use gems from Christy Skaggs - aren't they pretty? Anyway - here's the loot for today: 2 striped papers, pink and yellow (12x12), a chrome beaded swirl (again, an action from Lisa at Sophisticated Scraps) in pink and yellow to coordinate with my pink lemonade set, a green mini topiary and a mini lemon topiary, three colored gems, 2 frames, a small keepsake box and a lemon patterned bow. And yes, the displays ARE included today - you will receive a cherry bookshelf, as well as an optional front you can layer over it (after filling the shelf with your own goodies) that will turn it into a glass-doored curio hutch. Some items are shown twice to let you see more detail. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only, except the shadow inside the cabinets, which are part of the design.

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments - I so enjoy hearing from people who like my work! It really inspires me. If any of you have requests/suggestions, I'd love to hear them - you can e-mail me or leave a comment on the blog or in the C-box. (If you leave requests on 4Shared, I may not get them, as it is so tedious to look through comments on every single file - I wish they had a way to just see all new comments!)

Here is a hint of things to come tomorrow, which will be last actual kit from the "For the Love of Lemons" series. Anybody know what it's supposed to be? I may still send some quick pages your way, though! :)

I'm working on creating some Photoshop actions, which I hope to test and share with you soon - stay tuned!

Hugs to all,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Lemon Kitchen

2008-06-07T22:24:00.010-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Lemon Kitchen

-FREEBIE-

Today, let's go to the kitchen for some more lemons! I have always loved seeing lemon kitchen items - and last year, I finally had my kitchen painted yellow and filled it with just about all the lemon-themed goodies I could find - dishtowels and potholders, a ceramic spoon rest, salt and pepper shakers, wall decorations, and even a kitchen timer shaped like a lemon! (The timer is probably my favorite of all.) So, I'd like to share some "kitcheny" lemons with you, too. This installment of my "For the Love of Lemons" includes lemon-adorned recipe cards in 3x5 inch and 4x6 inch sizes, an 8.5x11 inch piece of stationery, and a bowl of lemons. All items are created at 300 ppi. Sorry, the cabinet is "for display only"...but check back tomorrow for a download full of display items - hint, hint! :)

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

My husband has been out of town for about a week now, leaving me to manage 5 small children on my own. I just got the baby down to sleep, the boys crashed a while ago, my 5-year old is curled up and "ZZZ"ing away on the couch, and my 7-year old curled up in the chair next to me, now snoring on my shoulder as I write this. So, I'll be brief...don't want to miss MY chance to catch a few winks!

I had a message from Josey a few days ago asking the total number of files in the updated "Painted Odds and Ends" download. Josey, there are 16 total, but the TOU is in each of the 2 parts, so there are actually 15 unique files. The chipboard bracket without the png extension can be deleted - it's the old version. Sorry for the confusion!

By the way, my friend Erika at Curly Wirly Twirly Girlies has been posting some really pretty and unique freebies - she's really on a roll! She also very generously shared the tricks she has been using for her latest creations. You might want to hop on over there and check it out... :)

I'm so saddened that Lisa of Sophisticated Scraps has bowed out of the freebie business - she was unfortunately a victim of piracy, and had someone giving away her pay kits. Worse yet, when she posted a blog entry about it, suddenly the number of downloads for her kits on the pirate's site skyrocketed - people visiting her own blog took advantage of her plight and went to the pirate's site to snag the pay items for free. It's so sad that some people spoil the joy of this for so many others. The loss of Lisa in the digiscrap freebie community is great (for example, see her chrome beaded swirl in my last set - a high-quality action she gave for free), but she does still have her store open and has lots of neat stuff in it. Click HERE to visit her store, Designer Scraps...her items are listed under "Sophisticated Scraps Kits" as well as "Commercial Use" and probably sections I have yet to browse...

OK, so I guess I wasn't so brief after all - oh well, it gave me chance to snuggle my sleeping child a bit longer!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Yesterday's download has been updated

2008-06-03T22:35:00.004-05:00

Just a note for you today - thank you to Sharon aka Scrapcat 4914, who alerted me to the fact that the green grungy paper in yesterday's download wouldn't load, and that the chipboard bracket yielded an error message. I checked it out and found that the file extension didn't make it onto the bracket, and the paper file had somehow become corrupt. So, I redid them and uploaded the new set onto 4Shared. So, for anyone who downloaded yesterday's freebie before now (10:40 pm CST), please return to yesterday's post and download the updated zip file. I will continue to try to sort out why this happened to avoid it happening in the future. Thank you for your patience, and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience!

Hugs,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Painted Odds & Ends

2008-06-02T22:47:00.012-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 6: Painted Odds & Ends

-FREEBIE-

Today I have for you the next installment of the series - this set is based on the original lemon painting I did, which led to the creation of the "For the Love of Lemons" series. As always, the kit was created at 300 ppi, papers are 12x12, and other elements are png files. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only (though some shadowing inside the boxes is part of the design itself.) Included are 4 papers (lemons on canvas, lemons on vellum, grungy yellow and grungy green), a yellow patterned ribbon, 3 bracket shapes, 2 boxes, a beaded chrome swirl, and a chipboard plaque with the lemon painting. I enjoyed playing with many commercial use items in making this set, including FafBr's box action, Atomic Cupcake's cracked paint and chipboard actions, a chrome beaded swirl action very generously posted as a CU freebie by Lisa of Sophisticated Scraps and really fun grungy patterns by Obsidian Dawn.

Click HERE to download Part A,

Click HERE to download Part B.

Notes for the day:

Well, we made it through the dance recital! The girls both did a great job. My little Elena was the tiniest girl in the show - I overheard several people talking about how cute the "little one on the end" was. She danced to "I'm a Ballerina" and "Dancing Cuddlebug." But, the poor girl developed a fever as the recital started, worsened quickly, but insisted on going through to the very end nonetheless. What a little trooper! (I did offer her the opportunity to go home several times...) Lydia had a blast goofing around with her friends backstage, and looked so pretty in her genie costume for "Arabian Nights." Her other dance was all country - "What the Cowgirls Do." Daddy videotaped the recital, and brought pretty bouquets for his little girls. The recital kept them up way past their bedtime, so both were sound asleep when we arrived home. Zzzz...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Painted Paper

2008-06-01T12:24:00.011-05:00

Paper

For the Love of Lemons

Painted Paper

-FREEBIE-

Hi, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive - LOL! I've been sick again - bronchitis this time, plus my daughters' dance recital this weekend. Any dance moms out there know how hectic THAT can be! Just wanted to post a little something for you - I'm sorry it's not a bigger collection, but I'm still working on the rest and didn't want you to wait any longer! So, today is a paper, JPEG at 300 ppi, in a canvas texture, with a pattern made from my lemon painting that kicked off this whole series! So, consider this a teaser for the next installment..., and I'll be back with more for you very soon...

Hugs, Jeanie

Click HERE to download.

Notes for the day:

I've been tagged again, and so soon after the last one! This time, it was by Cindi at Cindi's Scraps & Stuff. She has some really cute stuff on her blog - check it out HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here are some more facts about me:

1) When I was a doctor, my favorite parts of the job were delivering babies, then taking care of them as they grew older - I love to witness a child's developing personality and milestones! Every once in a while, I run into kids I delivered, and it's always a special feeling!

2) I haven't liked to read since medical school - I guess I had to read WAY too much when I was there - enough for a lifetime! I greatly prefer creating things...

3) Before I got into digital scrapbooking design, my hobby was playing Sudoku. My favorite is Samurai Sudoku, which has 5 Sudoku grids all connected together. It's a fun challenge!

4) I am terrible at keeping my house clean, and I hate to cook meals (though I do enjoy baking). There, Don - I admitted it publicly! ROFL...

5) I am a baby addict - I love taking care of babies, and can't get enough of them. I love their softness, their smell, and especially their laughter! I feel so fortunate that one of my foster kids is a tiny sweetheart we've had nearly her entire little life - I could just hold her all night long...and often do just that...

6) I love certain numbers - for example, when the clock reads 11:11, when the date makes sense two different ways ( like 1/9/87 = 1987), or when the odometer in my car turns an even thousand. I'm pretty excited that in only 600 miles or so, my odometer will roll to 100,000 miles! (I guess I shouldn't be so happy - it means my car is getting older...) When I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, my due date was 7/7, and two of my best friends were also pregnant, due 9/9 and 10/10! I LOVED that!!! One of those friends now has two daughters, born on the SAME date 3 years apart! How cool is that?

7) Even when I was a kid, I always hated Kool-Aid!

Now, for the next part...Cindi, I'm really sorry, but since I JUST tagged a bunch of people, I don't feel right doing it to them again so soon! Plus, I have to get ready for my daughters' dance recital Day 2 NOW, so if I spend any more time on this, it won't get posted today! I hope you understand... :)

Hugs everyone!

For the Love of Lemons: Buttons & Bows

2008-05-24T20:10:00.012-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 5: Buttons and Bows

-FREEBIE-

I have another freebie for you tonight - it coordinates with previous parts of the "For the Love of Lemons" series. It's an embellishment pack in shades of yellow, green, blue and pink. Included are five bows, five buttons, five ribbon curls, and a lemon-shaped gemstone. The two yellow ribbon curls are meant to look like lemon rind! All elements are png files, created at 300 ppi. Drop shadows are for preview purposes only. Thank you to Christy Skaggs for her cute ribbon curl templates, Atomic Cupcake for their button action, and FafBr for her satin bow action and gemstone action (with Patricia Amaral). While I like the purity of creating everything from scratch, these templates and actions are lots of fun, too!

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

We had a lovely anniversary last night - we had 2 of the 5 kids with fevers, so no dinner out. However, we exchanged gifts, and I was so glad that Don liked his - I had bought him a nice watch, which will be engraved once he is sure it's the right style for him. He got me some stuff to encourage my digiscrapping addiction - a wonderful book on Photoshop tricks called How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3, and a new printer! Woo-hoo! Isn't he WONDERFUL? Thank you, Don! Can't wait to play with these...

Thank you to everyone who has been leaving comments for me - they are much appreciated! You know, I truly feel blessed to be experiencing the camaraderie, hugs, encouragement and love found in the amazing online community of digital scrapbookers! Keep on going out there to make and preserve your precious memories!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Big hugs to all of you,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Sugared Lemon, Glitter Swirls, and Bonus Paper

2008-05-23T11:13:00.029-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 4: Sugared Lemon, Glitter Swirls, and Bonus Paper

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is a continuation of my lemon kit and coordinates with previous parts of the series - we're starting with some embellishments now. This set includes a sugared lemon, glitter swirls in 3 shapes and 4 colors, each with and without sparkles. All are png files, created at 300 ppi. I have also included a bonus "lemon rind" paper just for fun!

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

First of all, my apologies for being absent this week. I have been insanely busy with doctors' appointments. I had to see a gynecologic oncologist as well as my urogynecologist. Since I needed a hysterectomy for other reasons anyway, and we still don't know whether my mass is cancerous, I'm scheduled to have surgery July 7th after some further testing. They'll send the specimen to the lab, assess it while I'm out, and the oncologist will be on standby to remove lymph nodes, etc. if there's any cancer. So, by the time I wake up and find out the diagnosis, it will already have been removed. For someone who hates waiting, that will a pretty good deal! I'll have about 6 weeks of recovery time, which on the bright side, should give me LOTS of time to play with Photoshop making goodies for you! There's always a bright side! :)

Now, my main concern is figuring out how to best make arrangements for the kids. The more times a foster child has to be moved, the more traumatic it is for them, so I hope to find a way they can remain with us. For them, as well as for our own girls, I don't want them to be bored all summer just because I'm stuck at home. So, I'm thinking I might be able to hire a college student to be a nanny for several weeks as a summer job - that way, she could take the kids out to park, pool, etc. Our family has offered to help, too, but I feel that 6 weeks with 5 kids is a too much for me to ask of anyone unless it's a paid position.

Finally, I'VE BEEN TAGGED for the first time - by my friend Erika at Curly Wirly Twirly Girlies! As far as I understand, these are the rules, since most times, I've seen it with 10 facts:

1) Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2) Share 10 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3) Tag 10 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here are the 10 facts about me:

1) I went tandem skydiving once with friends from med school to celebrate finishing our board exams!

2) I was planning to skip my senior prom in high school because the boy I liked was going to prom with someone else. My friends decided that I HAD to go, so they set out to find away to force me not to miss it - they spread word around to get people to vote for me to be a prom queen candidate! Much to my shock, I made it on the list, so I did have to show up. And then more shocking still, I actually was voted prom queen! I had never been one of the super-popular girls who were cheerleaders and always queen candidates, so my theory is that people were just glad to see someone different as a choice and voted for the underdog!

3) I was in two rock bands in college - I played keyboards and sang - mainly 80's cover songs. Yes, I wore black spandex, had huge hair and everything! It was a fun contrast to my usual boring, "good-student" kind of life.

4) My favorite band of all time is Journey. About 22 years ago, I saw them in concert during what was said to be their last tour. We had marching band practice the night they were in St. Louis, and our band director threatened an "F" for the year to anyone who went to see Journey. I HAD to see them, so I found a different weekend with no band practice and took a road trip to their concert in Cleveland. My friend Kelly was supposed to go along, but had severe stomach pain the night before - the doctor wouldn't let her go in case it was appendicitis. So, we regretted her missing that concert for the last two decades. BUT, now Journey's coming back to St. Louis (with Heart and Cheap Trick) on September 13th - so I'm going, and I'm taking Kelly and my daughters with me! Woo hoo!!! It will be my girls' first rock concert - but they love Journey - they watch an old DVD of theirs all the time.

For any other Journey fans out there, their new album, Revelation will be released June 3rd. It includes a CD of new songs, a CD of remixed classics, and a DVD of a live concert earlier this year. You can preorder it at the Journey store, or at Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart's site has audio previews, which sound AWESOME!) I can't wait to hear the whole thing...

5) I used to keep myself awake during lectures in medical school by crocheting doilies. Crocheting didn't take any real concentration, so I could focus on the lecture well - plus we took turns typing up the notes from tape recordings, so there was no need for me to take any notes!

6) In college in southern California, I had a math class with a lab session that was optional, so I rarely went (it was very early in the morning). One morning, I decided to get up early and go to the class. As I was getting ready, there was a big earthquake. It scared the dickens out of me! I took it as a sign from God that He didn't want me going to that math lab, so I never went back!

7) When I was in first grade my teacher submitted one of my paintings - a princess - to an international children's art exhibition in Tokyo. And it won a gold medal! I also won a nice set of Pentel oil pastels, which I still have. I even let my budding artist, Lydia, use them to make a very special card for her daddy. Here's the painting - what do you think?

8) I didn't find out that my cat, Shaundy, was a boy until he had been with me for 7 years! (It's a good thing I didn't become a urologist...) I had thought of this cat as the most feminine creature I had ever seen - it really threw me for a loop! I had adoption papers form the Humane Society saying it was a female, they had done the "fixing" surgery and never mentioned anything unusual (my friend owned him at that time), and he had very long white hair - I never bothered to look under all the hair! But, he rolled over one day, and OMG!!!!

9) When I was in high school, my brother and my dad did BMX (bicycle motocross) racing. When my mom thought about trying it, I decided I couldn't be the last one, so I entered a race. There were 3 parts to the race - in the first one, my contact lens fell out. So, in the second one, I couldn't see where I was going and crashed, breaking the handlebars of my brother's bike. I also broke my knuckle - OUCH! But, I draped my hand over the broken handlebars and finished the third race. The boys ran at least three more races past me while I plodded along - but I got a first place trophy since I was the only one in the girls' division! :)

10) Today is my 10th wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Don - I love you SOOOO much! I hope you like your present....I've had it picked out for months! Time with you is precious!

And now for some favorite folks I would like to tag...please visit their WONDERFUL blogs!

1) Derek at DerekMDesign (fantastic Grandmother's House series going on)

2) Anneli at Attic Treasures (gorgeous vintage and Victorian elements)

3) Mandy at MeeGee Designs (vibrant, fun papers, a great sense of humor, and a super-nice lady)

4) Linda at Bon Scrapatit Designs (beautiful, long-running kits and lots of fun to read her stories)

5) Bethany at Elegant Word Art (she picks the most wonderful quotes and does amazing things with them)

6) Nicole at NBK Proudly Presents (gorgeous, intricate, elegant works of art)

7) Xandra at Xandra Martin Designs (a wide variety of fun kits, and I admire her for her role in the charity Autism Awareness mega collaboration kit!)

8) Elizabeth at Pillowgirl's Scraps (one of my favorite stops for commercial use items - her CU stash boxes are jam-packed with great stuff!)

9) Kimberly at Tattered Angel Quotes (a fantastic lady, a devoted foster/adopt mom and creator of beautifully designed word art)

10) Vianne at Creative Designs (elegant, highly detailed, intricate kits and elements)

I would have loved to tag Doris at Tempus Fugit, but she's on vacation until June 16th - well worth visiting her blog, though!

And to my many other favorites - I'll getcha next time around...LOL!

Hugs to you all,

Jeanie

Tire Tracks: A Very "Dirty" Story

2008-05-18T02:16:00.010-05:00

Paper

Tire Tracks: A Very "Dirty" Story

Erika made me do it...LOL!

-FREEBIE-

Hi again, everyone! Didn't think you'd have another freebie from me tonight, did you? I didn't either, but here's what happened. I was on one of my favorite sites, Curly Wirly Twirly Girlies, and I saw this preview of some tire tracks - I read further and saw that Erika was laughing at herself for it, though I saw lots of potential fun in playing with her tracks. You've just got to read her adorable story about creating these tracks - it turned into a family event! Anyway, I put the tracks on my dirt paper, played with embossing a bit, and e-mailed Erika the result. She asked for me to post it as a freebie - I felt SHE should be the one taking credit for it, but she insisted that I post it here and MADE me promise to do it! LOL

Click HERE to visit Erika, download her very fun tracks freebie, leave her some love, and read her cute story! By the way, Erika also has a freebie sand paper - tracks sure would look nice there (think dune buggies...). Hint, hint, Erika! Click HERE to get the sand paper! I'm sure Erika would love to see your layouts with these tracks (and so would I!)

OK, here's the dirt...

Hugs,

Jeanie

Click HERE to download.

For the Love of Lemons: Lemonade Overlay and VERY Silly Add-Ons!

2008-05-18T00:06:00.007-05:00

Add-Ons/Overlay

For the Love of Lemons

VERY Silly Stuff for You! Not to be taken too seriously.....

-FREEBIE-

OK, folks, I'm just in a goofy mood tonight. So, here's what I've got for you. I had a couple of comments that almost sounded like requests, but I'm pretty sure they were joking...however, I decided to take them up on it and give you the results! LOL The first is for 2fishies, who said, "My boys love lemonade. Just need to figure out how to work the pink in - ha ha!" So, here is a version of the lemonade paper with a BLUE background for you. Then, I thought you all might like to choose your OWN background, so I included an overlay of the lemonade glasses pattern - use it over any paper you like! Secondly, for Aunt Anne, who commented, "I love pink lemonade!!! Might we be seeing some pink lemons too???" So, why not! I made some very silly pink lemons for you, Aunt Anne! Enjoy! :) Earlier today, I received word that there may be a problem with the zipped file of the pink lemonade paper. So, I redid it and included it today as well. For those who already have yesterday's freebie, I also put a link on yesterday's post to let you download JUST the paper if that's all you need, plus I updated and corrected the original file.

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

I found some fun stuff today - I went to Atomic Cupcake looking for their Epoxy Action, and found that they are offering several Photoshop actions as freebies - and they're cute, useful ones, too! Click HERE to hop on over there and check it out!

See you soon with more serious freebies - a little silliness is good for the soul sometimes, but I figure you can at least use the overlay! LOL :)

Hugs,

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Pink Lemonade

2008-05-16T19:47:00.008-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 3: Pink Lemonade

-FREEBIE-

Anyone thirsty? I have a treat for you! Tonight's kit is the third in the series and is based on lemonade - pink and yellow. Created at 300 ppi, it contains 7 papers and 7 embellishments, including pink grosgrain flourish and straight ribbon, two glasses of lemonade (one yellow and one pink), a whole lemon, a juicy lemon slice, and a white and yellow bow made with FafBr's "Adorable Satin Bow action. Thank you also to Pillowgirl for her adorable CU overlays! (Some are even freebies - well worth checking out!) The lemon painting and lemon wedge are in the first kit of this series.

Click here to download.

(Link updated 5/17, as the pink paper with lemonade may not have zipped properly the first time. If that paper is all you need, just click HERE.)

Good news...I think...

Today, I finally received my biopsy results - they did NOT find any cancer! Woo-hoo!!! The biopsy was completely normal, which is great except that it doesn't give ANY explanation for the mass seen on the ultrasound. So, I'm a bit concerned that the mass may have been in that first biopsy that was lost or that it was too deep to get with this kind of biopsy - I won't know more until I just have it all taken out (which needed to be done for other reasons anyway). But at least I can take my time in scheduling the surgery, and I can finally get a good night's sleep tonight! I want you all to know that all your love and support helped me SO much through this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This weekend, we have a foster parent appreciation dinner (with childcare provided - yay!) - it's going to be a treat to enjoy a nice evening with some really amazing people! On Sunday is our girls' dance recital dress rehearsal. It's supposed to be pretty nice here, so maybe some gardening this weekend, too?

We are toying with the idea of a weekend trip to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis - we're 4 or 5 hours away, but it's always worth the trip. They have SO many fascinating exhibits, with much to interest adults as well as children. (In fact, I think I could spend an entire weekend exploring it without the kids!) Apparently, they currently have an exhibit about animation, and since my hubby is a video producer, it would be great fun for him. If you're anywhere in the Midwest, you might want to consider a visit there - click HERE for more info!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend -

Lots of hugs,

Jeanie

Thank you for all the hugs and love!

2008-05-16T12:57:00.003-05:00

Just a note to tell you all a couple of things:

First of all, thank you SO much for all the wonderful, encouraging comments you have left. Each comment brings a smile to my face, as do the virtual "hugs."

Second, I am SO glad that so many people liked my kits enough to download them. My intent in purchasing a premium 4Shared account was to be able to give you DIRECT links to my files so you wouldn't have to wait for downloads to begin. Unfortunately, this premium feature is capped at 10 GB per month. There have been enough downloads that we had about 8.5 GB yesterday alone, and over 30 GB for the month so far. This means that the direct links won't work anymore, and it reverts to the usual wait time for the download to begin. I am SO sorry about that - I really wanted to do this as a thank you to all of you, but at the current rate, the only way I could get enough bandwidth would cost $500 per month! (Sorry, there's just not enough money for that...LOL) BUT, I am having my husband check on some other file sharing options, maybe through the same company that provides his business server. I'll let you know if I can find any way to make everything hassle-free for you! :)

I am hoping to be back with Part 3 of my latest kit later today, or maybe tomorrow. Until then...

hugs to you!

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: French Country

2008-05-15T20:05:00.016-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 2: French Country

-FREEBIE-

Tonight is the second part of "For the Love of Lemons" - I hope you enjoy it! This kit includes five papers in yellow and blue, as well as embellishments including straight grosgrain ribbon, two grosgrain flourishes, three tiles, and a blue satin bow made with a lovely action by FafBr. The lemon painting and lemon wedge are included in yesterday's freebie. The papers are 12x12, and everything was created at 300 ppi.

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

Thank you SO much for all the encouraging comments - you all really help to keep me going on tough days! My repeat biopsy result is not ready yet, but may

be ready tomorrow. I feel that I'll be able to handle whatever it is - I just need to know what I'm up against so I can figure out what to do about it!

I have had some comments that the new DIRECT 4Shared links are working well for you - please let me know if you have any problems at all. The last 48 hours completely used my monthly bandwidth, but I'm still waiting for an answer from 4Shared as to whether that just affects ME when I'm downloading, or whether it will cause problems with the direct links. (Obviously, direct links won't do a bit of good if they're invalid 2 days into the month...) So, please let me know. I just want to make your visits and downloads pleasant and hassle-free!

My friend, Marie H., sent me some adorable tags today - I just have to show you! I don't think she knew yet that I had just begun my lemon kit! Believe it or not, mice and lemons were two of my favorite things as a little girl. I have fond memories of sucking on lemon wedges and drinking lemon juice straight from the bottle; I also collected mouse figurines, and I still have the collection!

Back soon with more goodies for you! (Hint: Anyone thirsty?...),

Jeanie

For the Love of Lemons: Lemongrass

2008-05-14T21:13:00.013-05:00

Theme Kit

For the Love of Lemons

Part 1: Lemongrass

-FREEBIE-

Today marks the official beginning of my new kit, "For the Love of Lemons." It is based on a painting of a pair of lemons I did with acrylic paints several weeks ago while watching TV with my family. The kit will include many papers, embellishments, frames, and more. Tonight's portion includes many of the yellow and green elements, therefore called "Lemongrass." The kit is created at 300 ppi, and all papers are 12x12. Included are: 7 papers, a tag showing my original painting, a yellow bow, yellow lace, and a lemon wedge (entirely created in Photoshop).

Click here to download.

Credits and thank you to FafBr for her "Adorable Satin Bow" action, and to Atomic Cupcake for the lace template. I've had SUCH fun playing with actions and templates lately!

Congratulations to Karen, the third winner is the "needle in the haystack" contest from my Yard Sale: Hay Day post! (So far, winners are Lois, Mandy, and Karen - keep on looking!)

Below is my lemon painting, which you will see interspersed throughout this series:

Notes for the day:

For those of you who enjoy the constellation series, don't worry, there will be many more of those coming. They will primarily be released when I am working on other kits and therefore interspersed among the rest. If anyone is waiting on a particular constellation, feel free to e-mail me, and I"ll try to do that one next.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been sending good thoughts and prayers my way. It helps to keep me going. I had a tough day today - received the results of my biopsy from Monday. Unfortunately, the result showed none of the tissue that was supposed to have been biopsied. In other words, somehow things were messed up in the operating room such that the specimen did not make it into the jar before it was sent to the lab! Unbelievable, isn't it? My doctor was very kind and caring about the whole thing, and I feel grateful to be in his care. He worked me in for an office visit only an hour or so later, and did an office-based version of the biopsy. He is hoping we'll have results in 24-48 hours. So, I'm starting the waiting game all over again. I think the unknown is even worse than a cancer diagnosis - at least once I am diagnosed, I can take the necessary steps to get better. So, any hugs (see hugs counter to left), comments or e-mails would be welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Hugs to all of you,

Jeanie

Bright Confetti Overlay

2008-05-11T15:42:00.011-05:00

Overlay

Bright Confetti

My Mother's Day Gift to You!

-FREEBIE-

Happy Mother's Day! Today, we're taking a break from the constellation series so I could give you something bright and cheerful to celebrate! This is an overlay - confetti with sparkles (the black background is just for preview purposes.) It is created at 300 ppi, in png format. I hope you enjoy it - I plan to create a kit coordinating with this eventually, but I wanted to share this part with you now. Happy scrapping!

Click HERE to download.

Can I have a hug? :)

You may notice that I have a new widget on the left - it's a hug counter! I saw it once before and thought it was such a cute idea - you can click on it to leave a "hug," and there is a link below it in case you'd like a hug counter of your own! I could use some hugs right now, actually, since I am scheduled for my biopsy tomorrow. Of course, I am hoping that it's not cancer, but praying just for the strength to deal with whatever the result is. It didn't look too good on the ultrasound. Thank you to everyone who has already sent well wishes my way...I really appreciate it!

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Starlight: Constellations 7 - Andromeda

2008-05-08T19:59:00.011-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight: Constellations

Andromeda (Chained Lady)

-FREEBIE-

Today's freebie is the next in a cluster of related constellations - Andromeda, the Chained Lady. The constellation is included both with and without lines, as well as the title, all at 300 ppi. The actual png files are sized in proper proportion to the other constellations, though resizing has been done for preview purposes only. Sincere apologies for not having posted in some time - some medical issues have been going on. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to be back soon with more for you. And yes, the big kit is still coming...

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

I hope you will enjoy this constellation. Please bear with me on the big kit - I found out in the last couple of days that I need to have a biopsy done on Monday - I have a mass that is worrisome, and they need to determine whether or not it is cancer. I kind of emotionally checked out for a while, but designing for you is my "therapy," so I'll be back as much as I can manage. Thank you to everyone who has left me kind messages and well-wishes. It means a lot to me!

On a brighter note, I was up VERY late last night exploring a wonderful digital scrapbooking freebie site, one of my favorites, Digiscrapbooking by Lilou. Click HERE to visit her. She has an amazing array of kits and embellishments, and gives SO many that I feel I could spend weeks there and still not see everything! Be sure to take a look at her Dentelles collection, and see the closeup images to appreciate the detail she puts into her work. It is truly amazing! Her blinkie and link to her site are also on my sidebar to left. I hope you enjoy your visits as much as I do! Below are some closeups of just a few things I found at Lilou's to show you the detail...

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Starlight: Constellations 6 - Perseus

2008-05-05T21:37:00.017-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight: Constellations

Perseus (Hero)

-FREEBIE-

This is our sixth of the constellations, Perseus (Hero). I selected it because of its close proximity to yesterday's posting, Pegasus. There are interesting stories about the connections between the two (as well as another in the story...). As before, this is a set of title with constellation (with and without lines), in png format, 300 ppi. As before, the actual png files are sized so the constellations are in proper proportion with each other (though this one and Ursa Minor look larger and brighter due to resizing for preview purpose only.) Who can guess which constellation I have planned for tomorrow?

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

A note to Katey M. (oniska) who posted on 5/1 requesting a treadle sewing machine - yes, I do take requests, and try to do them if I'm able. I'm working on yours, but need to get some more detail about how you would like it to look. Please e-mail me so we can discuss it, and I'll get something made for you! :)

Sorry to be so brief tonight - it's been a tough day. I had some tests done this morning which were abnormal, and have to return to the doctor tomorrow morning to discuss options, so I've spent most of the evening looking up info online. I'll share more later, when I know more. If you would wish me good news, I would appreciate it.

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Starlight: Constellations 5 - Pegasus

2008-05-04T02:09:00.023-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight: Constellations

Pegasus (Winged Horse)

-FREEBIE-

Today's constellation is the fifth in the series, Pegasus (Winged Horse). As with the rest of this series, the constellation is included both with and without lines, as well as the title, all with a glow, in png format, 300 ppi. Star light, star bright, I wonder which stars we'll share tomorrow night? :)

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

I am so pleased to announce that I received my first two layouts! Arianna T. touched my heart by creating these two LO's for my 7 year old daughter, Lydia. She used some of my designs in the first, but featured Lydia's recent artwork in both. (See previous post to see this artwork.) It was such a sweet gesture, and meant very much to Lydia and to me. Thank you, Arianna! LOTS of hugs to you!

We had a fun but busy day yesterday - we had our adoption class, which gave us lots to think about! Then, we picked up the kids and took them all to the park/playground. We sure enjoyed just watching them run around and have such a good time!

Two people have e-mailed me with trouble getting png files to open properly. If this has happened to you, please e-mail with as much information as you can, such as the type of computer you use, the program you're trying to open the files into, and the program you used to unzip the file. This info may help me determine what causes the issue for some and not for others. And, of course, I will gladly find a way to get the files to you - in the past, e-mailing the file (unzipped form) directly has solved the problem. If you want to have my designs, I'll do whatever I can to make sure you can have them, and have them working properly! :)

Hugs,

Jeanie

Starlight: Constellations 4 - Hercules

2008-05-02T22:55:00.009-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight Part 4

Hercules

-FREEBIE-

Whew! Only one hour to go before midnight, but I managed to get another constellation to you as I had hoped! This is the fourth in our series, Hercules (the Hero). As before, the constellation is presented with and without lines, as well as the title, in png format, created at 300 ppi, and in proportion to the other constellations in this series. More stargazing ahead...stay tuned!

Click here to download.

Moving Day!

I have officially moved my blog to this location on Blogger. It seems to run much faster, and is easier for my visitors. All of you who subscribed via e-mail will continue to receive newsletters from the new blog. However, I believe those subscribed via RSS feed will need to re-subscribe. (Sorry for any inconvenience, but I think this will benefit all of you overall.)

Remember, I'd love to see (and post if you permit) any layout you've done using my designs! Also, if you have any requests, please let me know and I'll try to accommodate them if I can. The entire Yard Sale kit arose from one visitor's request for a grass overlay! :)

Hugs to everyone,

Jeanie

Starlight: Constellations 3 - Orion

2008-05-02T15:55:00.011-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight: Constellations 3

Orion

-FREEBIE-

Today is our third constellation - another of my childhood favorites, Orion (the Hunter). As with the rest in this series, the constellation is at 300 ppi in png format, and includes the constellation with and without lines, as well as the title, all with a soft glow.

If I have the chance, I'll try to post another for you tonight, since I missed yesterday! :)

Click here to download.

Notes for the Day:

Well, we have only had two winner so far in the "needle in the haystack" contest from Yard Sale Part 4. Lois found it first, then Mandy. I've had a couple of folks think they had found it, but hadn't. OK, I'll help you all just a bit, but finding a needle in a haystack isn't supposed to be TOO easy! LOL So, here's a picture of the needle, so you can clearly see what you are looking for!

We've had lots of winners, on the other hand, for the shrubbery quote contest from Yard Sale Part 7! Congratulations to all of you, and the prize is still available for more winners!

We've had a busy couple of days - but some fun ahead. This weekend, we are taking a class that will allow us to become licensed to adopt children from foster care. As much as I love fostering, it is so hard to say goodbye when the kids return to birth families. We'd love to be able to offer some a permanent home - there are so many kids out there just waiting for a "forever family." It's the start of a new chapter in our lives...

Starlight: Constellations 2 - Ursa Minor

2008-04-30T15:00:00.008-05:00

Embellishment/Overlay

Starlight: Constellations 2

Ursa Minor (Small Bear)

- FREEBIE -

Today is the second of our constellations - of course, it you have Ursa Major, you will need Ursa Minor to go along with it! As with yesterday's design, the constellation is at 300 ppi in png format. It includes a version with lines, as well as one without, and the title - all with a soft glow. The constellations are enlarged for purposes of the preview, but for the actual files, I have kept them in proper proportion to each other. I suppose I'm a stickler for details! LOL. See you back tomorrow for more stargazing...

Click here to download.

Notes for the day:

First of all, thank you so much for all of your comments, and for those of you who wished my son well. He's doing much better - back to school today.

I am making considerable progress in getting my older designs onto this new site - I will post them as soon as they're ready to go! So far, I'm loving Blogger, and plan to kiss the old site goodbye ASAP!

I am also trying to figure out a way to share my files with you directly, so you won't have the wait time of 4Shared. However, I'm not sure if it's possible - there may be limits on downloads with any of my other options. That wouldn't work, because I'd hate for any of you to try to download and find that the limit for the day was already exceeded. So, more research in store, and I'll let you know what I find out!

Hugs to all,

Jeanie

Scrapdoctor Designs

Patterned Papers from Niagara Falls Fencing

Papers - Icy Vines at Niagara Falls

Floral Wreath (handmade for my wedding)

Scrapdoctor Returns (finally!): Braided Ribbons and Wrap

Gem Brooches - Commercial Use

Make your own Block Alpha - Photoshop Action - CU (and cute baby tiger...)

Colorful Blocks Alpha - Six Entire Sets! - Commercial use OK

I think I solved the problem! :)

A Bow of Many Colors...

Baby Blocks, and Yard Sale kits are now free for Commercial Use!

Baby blocks part 5, and see part 6 in next post...

Pregnant Foster Mom with Cancer Needs Help

More awards - I can't believe it! :)

Another alpha and a peek at how my CU items are being used!

Baby Boy Blocks and a new "do"

Baby Fever

I folded these just for you...

These will have you in stitches!

No-Hassle Tassels

Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?

My First Tutorial :)

More ribbons and the answer to yesterday's mystery

Second freebie today! :)

I'm back! :)

Important Message re: png files

Dinphy's Satin Ribbon and Bow

Doilies for Elena II

Doilies for Elena I

Just a note today...but more goodies very soon!

Another CU Freebie - Lace Ribbon I

Disco Fever in Technicolor this time...

Disco Fever! (from a stone wall....)

Hard drive overload!!!

April Flowers - Commercial Use Freebie

April Flowers - Add-on for Jump

April Flowers - Add-on for Skip

Shadowboxes - Commercial Use Freebie!

For the Love of Lemons: Lemon JELL-O Alpha

For the Love of Lemons: Home Decor

For the Love of Lemons: Lemon Kitchen

Yesterday's download has been updated

For the Love of Lemons: Painted Odds & Ends

For the Love of Lemons: Painted Paper

For the Love of Lemons: Buttons & Bows

For the Love of Lemons: Sugared Lemon, Glitter Swirls, and Bonus Paper

Tire Tracks: A Very "Dirty" Story

For the Love of Lemons: Lemonade Overlay and VERY Silly Add-Ons!

For the Love of Lemons: Pink Lemonade

Thank you for all the hugs and love!

For the Love of Lemons: French Country

For the Love of Lemons: Lemongrass

Bright Confetti Overlay

Starlight: Constellations 7 - Andromeda

Starlight: Constellations 6 - Perseus

Starlight: Constellations 5 - Pegasus

Starlight: Constellations 4 - Hercules

Starlight: Constellations 3 - Orion

Starlight: Constellations 2 - Ursa Minor