Published!

There is a brand new Somerset Digital Studio magazine, and I'm honoured to be in it!  Hollie Haradon (of Holliewood Studios and leader of Mischief Circus fame) gathered friends and made a new kit for Alice in Wonderland.  You can get it for free (yes, FREE!) when you buy the magazine.

If you want to get it, here's where you can buy it!

Discoveries

Had to share some recent finds:

http://shaunaniequist.com/burn-candles/ - this resonated with me.  Too often we save things for "special occasions" and they are never used.

http://www.green-fingerprint.com/ - a new to me blog that I am looking forward to reading from post to post

http://www.donyaluana.com/blog/ - I have been slowly reading this blog and enjoying it all

http://digital-photography-school.com/26-imaginative-images-of-inanimate-objects/ - gives me some good ideas, and was a fun read

http://www.artifactuprising.com/mobile-photo-tips - I don't use my mobile enough to take photos, so I am looking forward to trying some of these tips out

http://www.designformankind.com/2015/06/yellow-change/ - I saw this in a post from Cathy Zielske

Have a great coming week - and thank you, HRH Queen Elizabeth, for having a birthday so that we can have a long weekend this weekend.

Sunday

I actually played in PhotoShop last night.  It has been several months since I've opened/played in PhotoShop or even scrapped (computer issues followed by pneumonia).  But I had recently picked up some Indie Fonts and decided to fiddle with them in PSCS4 and add some styles.  This is Helena font, with a foam style from Mommyish, and a shadow style to give it a bit more depth.  I ended up doing days of the week, months and a couple of phrases in Matilda (another font).

Not a huge play, but it was fun!  As Helena is a cursive handwritten kind of script, some of the letters didn't join very well.  I ended up doing some joining/manipulation to make the words look better, which was an embuggerance, but hey, I am mostly happy with how they turned out.

I've been going through some Project Life blogs - I have serious blog and scrapping envy as a result.  Great ideas, and do-able, and inspiring... I just need to actually DO something.

Anyway, it's getting late - and we're light weights at night with our early starts (ie at work around 6.30am).  So I shall bid you goodnight, and good week - we are looking at -5C mornings this week... hello Winter!

A Struggling Artist

More in the sense of struggling to be an artist, as opposed to making money from an artistic venture.  I have always being doing something artsy (writing, photography, of late, digital scrapbooking and a stint as a digital scrapbooking designer) but have been in a creative slump for the past while.

And, speaking of struggling, my blogging has been irregular at best.  I'm on the highway to hell, paved with all my good intentions, but hey, I'm not in charge there yet. 

In any case, we recently entered the world of Netflix.  I'm discovering a whole new world of truly terrible television, interspersed with magical television.  Unfortunately, the magical television doesn't seem to last more than one season... but I'm still searching for a new favourite one that lasts for many seasons so that I can binge-watch it all.

A couple of months back, we were blessed enough to buy new (read: larger) drives.  It took quite some time to get them set up.  It took all that time because we were trying to find a way to backup all the data we had... and apparently we have too much stuff for traditional methods of back up.  So I got to manually back-up my data and now, frankly, I'm scared to change anything because it was such a mongrel of a job I don't want to do it all again!

My old faithful Toshiba tablet died after almost five years of valiant service, so I ended up upgrading to one of the original iPad Minis.  I really am not a fan of all my eggs in Apple's baskets (and I really am not a fan of having to manage files through iTunes) so it's been a struggle.  I do enjoy being able to pare out my iPhone's applications so that I can put more music on it, and I like the iPad because I can put my ebooks back in one place.  My daughter likes my iPad because she will get it when I upgrade (whenever that will actually happen, no one knows - however, she lives in hope).

So, back to my creative slump.  I can't call it a rut - I can't call it a rut because I imagine that you wear yourself into a rut and that's far too energetic for the inertia I've been experiencing.  Inertia - actually, that seems pretty accurate.  No action whatsoever.

A friend of mine, a wonderful artist and designer, invited me to participate in a wonderful venture last year - I learned this week that we may be published.  I'm not sure when that will happen, so it will be a wonderful surprise when it arrives.

I will leave it here with a quote that I feel I need to pay attention to:

Final Release Before My Store Closes

Gidday!

I've just set my last product to go live in store, so you have a couple more days to grab it and anything else you want before I close my doors.  Just remember to get all your downloads sorted before 1 November because that's when all my files will be removed from Deviant Scrap.

A HUGE thank you to all my friends and customers - your support has been fantastic, and I couldn't do it without you all.  MWAH!

So, here it is - the very last product from me:

Thank you again - and I'm sure I'll see you around digiscrap land, as a fellow scrapper.  :)

Closing Time...

It's with a heavy heart that I announce that I will be closing my store doors at DeviantScrap on 31 October.  Life has been kicking my butt these lst few months, with everything out of balance.  

So.  Everything is on sale, grab a bargain before they're gone for good!

Thank you, all, for your support!

One Dollar Alpha Sale!

On sale now, the following alphas are all $1, including my Monograms in Pink.

Grab them from my store, here!

New In Store - Absinthe Mini Kit (PU)

You can find the new kit here!  :)

Have a great rest of your weekend, and a wonderful week to come!

Everyone Loves a Sale...

... so I'm just giving you a head's up that there is going to be a fabulous celebratory sale for DeviantScrap's THIRD birthday!!

Oh, and speaking of DeviantScrap, Hollie and her hubby, Nic, are busily revamping and glamming the store!  Can't WAIT for the new look - it's GORGEOUS!

I'm also trying to kickstart my Altered Emporium page on Facebook, so if'n you're a Facebook-er, feel free to like me there:  Altered Emporium

See you at the end of the month with my sale ad!!

WOOOT! I got published!

I know, it was a surprise to me, too.  :)

Hollie Haradon, our fearless leader at DeviantScrap.com, wrote a fabulous article about DS and our collaborative efforts for Midnight Reverie - can't wait to see it!  I knew that was happening, but didn't realise that I'd be named, or that I'd receive my own copy of the publication.  It hasn't arrived yet - drat you, Australia Post - and I can hardly wait!

I will link you up when it finally arrives!!

almost Happy New Year and a freebie!

It's almost New Year, and I wanted to make a printable calendar:

I'm going through a rounded-corner phase, and I just like the simplicity of printing on 4x6" photo paper (I love to use matte photo paper for that kind of printing) so that I can print what I want and when I want.

I have a very hard time sticking to colour schemes, so having a calendar that you can tart up (or not) works for me.  :)

So, however you celebrate it, have a wonderful New Year (when it arrives)!  :)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

I try and fail with albums and they're expensive to import from the states... I just bought a Sn@p album and inserts and bits and pieces (over $100!!) and got it home and went... yeah, I don't know how I'll go with the odd sizes.

So I thought, well, I really love the style/concept of Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful album but don't have access to a 6x6 binder or anything that would be useful.  I ummed and aaahed about the whole shebang - I wanted to do a Days Til Christmas album for Tayli but wanted a super simple way to do it.  Then suddenly it's the evening of 1 December (yesterday) and I thought "Crap, if I don't do this now, I'll have lost the first day!".  So, I made up a 6wx4h template up to use, and snuck upstairs to take a photo of Tayli sleeping.

Once I made the template and set the whole album up (this is one of THE most fantastic things about scrapping with Lumapix Fotofusion - you can create a whole album in ONE document!!!) I went through everything in my stash to make the colour scheme.  I have a loooooooot of stuff, but I couldn't find anything that I loved until I went through some of the more recent bits and pieces I bought from The Lilypad in conjunction with my CT kits (Kate Hadfield & Michelle Godin)...

Finally settled on Pink Reptile Designs' Dear Santa papers, Kate Hadfield's December Doodads, Michelle Godin's Snarky Snippets: Christmas, and Valorie Wibbens Pocket Stuffers No.2.  Fonts are Buciebol Huomenna and Scrap Brother.  This, of course, may all change - I have difficulty sticking to an album-long colour scheme!!  ROFL. 

Now you're probably thinking, hey, she's a designer - why the heck didn't she use her own stuff?  Well... that would be because by the time I made something it would be a couple of days in to December and by that stage I would have lost the will to live and the album would never happen.  Besides, I'm a HUUUUUGE fan of tartan, and Pink Reptile Designs' Dear Santa papers have the coolest tartan paper I've seen in a while.  It didn't hurt that she also had a cute word search paper.

Anyway, I'm going pull all of it together and print it at home on Christmas Eve.  That way I can have it ready for Tayli on Christmas morning... okay, that's the theory so far!

I have released a brand new art journal mini kit in store - called, oddly enough, Art Journal Mini and is on sale for $1.50.

I'm the host of the December art journal challenge/chats at Deviant Scrap.  You can find my prompt here - you are welcome to join in!

Making a newsletter list...

I've been playing with mailchimp today to create a subscription/newsletter list.  Here's hoping it works okay!!

I'm hoping that if you click here, you should be able to subscribe.

Give it a shot, as I will be putting in special deals, sneak previews and freebie information in the upcoming newsletters.

Black Friday Sale

Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you that celebrate!

Secondly, Deviant Scrap is having it's annual Black Friday Sale - so leap on in and bag a bargain!

Happy Shopping!

Over for another year... see ya, DSD!

The sale may be over, but I have a new kit - which i've got on sale for 40%!

Here's my store - happy shopping!

And a big thank you to our respective Service folks, who put their lives on the line each day for us.  God bless you all.

iDSD Is HERE! 40% Sale at Deviant Scrap

It's always a wild weekend of activity during international Digi Scrapbooking Day!  Everyone stretches their dollar as far as they can, picking up bargains galore!  DeviantScrap is having a store-wide 40% sale, so run over and snag a deal!

My store is also 40%, with a couple of items thrown in at 50% off.  Remember, prices return to normal on Monday 5 November, so be quick!

The November Deviant Muse is out, too, with freebies and games and challenges!  Prizes to be won, people, grab your copy and join on in!!

We've also got a brand new Art Journaling section, including gallery and new challenges!  Be sure and check out JoAnn's first prompt!!

Happy scrapping SHOPPING!!!

Retiring Halloween Kits/Elements

I love this time of the year, and I also love a bargain.  

So... here is a pre-Halloween sale for you 

Halloween-celebrating sales-lovers: 

 All products that are marked down to 50%

will be retired on 1 November -

so bag a bargain before they're gone for good!

I'm a Bad Blogger...

... I probably need one of those signs that names and shames me - but I am sorry that I don't keep more up to date with what is happening in my store and with my amazing team of talented arteests.

Firstly, I have a new kit in store - Creepy Crafty.

It's currently on sale for $4.00, and will go up to RRP $5.50 next week.

Because we're ALL in shock that I've actually blogged, I'm going to end here.

OH!  The October Deviant Muse is out - RUN and grab your copy and your freebies - we have some excellent tutorials this month (as always).

Have a wonderful week!!

Deviant Scrap Birthday Sale - 30 Apr to 6 May

 

Yes, it's Deviant Scrap's Second Birthday!  The whole store will be on sale!

click here to be taken to my store!

Go, shop and have a great time!  There are coupons to be won by participating in games and challenges - you can find all the details in the May Muse (which is being released on 30 April to coincide with the store-wide birthday sale).

Kit for a Cause... for our Patty Anne and Zoey

What happens when 23 of the industries top designers come together?

Beautiful music is made.

We are paying it forward to help one of our own.

Bugs and Patty Anne Henderson are icons in the music industry when it comes to lending a helping hand to those that needed a little lift. Time and time again Bugs would don his guitar and play a set or two filled with music and love to lift the spirits and souls of those that needed it most for whatever reason. If someone was ill and needed help with medical bills, or a natural disaster hit and a community was devastated, Bugs, Patty Anne and their daughter Zoey, were there to share their love, hope and comfort with those in need. They gave freely of their time and talents to help raise money for some of the worthiest causes, no questions asked.

Last year Bugs was diagnosed with liver cancer, and on Friday, March 8th Bugs passed away. And just like Bugs and Patty Anne have done for all their lives, we would like to pay it forward and honor someone that has given so much to others.

Patty Anne has been a backbone to the digital community since day one. There is no one more dedicated to helping our community grow then her. She is generous, kind and supportive, in time, creativity and patronage. It is our privilege, at this time, to turn the tables and extend our hands to her. 100% of all proceeds from the sale of this kit will go directly to her and her daughter with all of our love.

"I'm With The Band" includes:
2 alphabets, over 75 papers and over 340 elements…that's over 1GB of amazing goodies!!!!!!!

A BIG thank you to the following designers for making this kit possible.

Altered Emporium
Art by January
Beth Rimmer
Clementine Design
Crowabout StudioB
CryztalRain
Eena’s Creation
Finecrafted Designs
Hidden Vintage Studios
Holliewood Studios
Marta Van Eck
Mr. Whiskers
Pink Lotty Designs
Priss Designs
Tumble Fish Studio
Rucola Designs
WendyP Designs
Fiddlette Designs
Julie Mead
Paula Kesselring
sherrieJD
Tangie Baxter
ViVa Artistry

This kit is for personal use only.

I made these four layouts with it:

We love you, Patty Anne and Zoey!