Blog Facelift and New Facebook Page

Well it seems like forever since I last posted to this blog, so I thought an update was in order. Since winning the Second Chance Contest at theStudio I've been plugging away going through the tutorials and videos at the digi design academy. It's been a lot of fun and extremely valuable watching Sherah. She not only demonstrates the mechanics of designing various kit components, but the videos also give insight into her design philosophy, digital organization and work flow and processes. I've definitely picked up some new ideas and techniques which I've incorporated into a new kit that I'll be posting here very soon -- so check back for that.

In the meantime, I've implemented some of the "marketing-type" changes -- including the redesign of my blog header to add clickable buttons as well as the creation of a facebook page for designs by jmdt. I'm working on getting the facebook page integrated with my blog postings, so hopefully that will happen beginning with this post. (Next on my list is integration with google+)

That's about it for now -- I'll be back soon with a blog freebie!

Great news plus Just for Fun Mini - Free for a Limited Time

First of all, I have to say that I am totally thrilled about winning the Second Chance Contest at DSS! I thought all five of the designers in the final round created awesome kits so it was quite an honor to be selected. The prize is a scholarship to their Digital Design Academy. I am hoping that what I learn from the Academy combined with the skills I've been acquiring from the ps4all learning group and various online photoshop tutorials will enable me to really kick my designs up a couple of notches!

With the contest being over, I have deactivated the links for the three kits I created: Summer Afternoon, The Way it Was and Dancing Under the Stars. So if you have come here from a freebie engine and are looking for one of those kits, I apologize for the inconvenience. However, for the next month or so I have a new blog freebie - Just for Fun. It's one of my standard minis consisting of 5 papers and 10 elements.

I created Just for Fun to try out some new techniques and actions. It's a bit of a departure from my usual style, but I'm actually very happy with how it turned out. It's got the look and feel of paper scrapping. The elements are: a frame, a clip, a bow, rickrack, a stencil, a curly ribbon, a paper bird, a rolled paper flower, a paper leaf and a button. The papers are 12 x 12. All elements and papers are 300 ppi so that completed layouts are print-quality. And here's the preview:

If you like it, it's available on my skydrive account: [link]  Sorry, freebie retired.

Dancing Under the Stars - Free for a Limited Time

Here is my entry in the final round of the Second Chance Contest at DSS. The requirements for this round  were to tie into a theme of midnight, include an alpha and create a kit of with a maximum of 14 papers and 40 elements. Other than that, it was a free-for-all. This round was particularly hard for me because it takes me much longer than 4-5 days to create a kit of this size. I also had several other commitments this past weekend, so time was a very limiting factor.

My midnight theme was "Dancing Under the Stars." I recently read F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and the Damned" and "Bright Young Things" by Anna Godberson. Both are set in New York City in the jazz age of the 1920s. So I was thinking of speakeasys and flappers and cigarette girls as inspiration. The kit mixes glamour and romance with a little bit of shabby.


You get 12 full size papers, 28 elements and alpha (upper case, lower case and numbers). The elements include: 3 bows, 2 button bows, 2 curled ribbons, a disco ball, 2 dress forms (one plain, one with a dress), 3 flowers, 3 frames, a glitter border, the moon, stars, iron flourish border, 2 pins, ribbon lace strip, pleated ribbon lace, a pocket watch, a 6-pointed star, a tag and a candle. I created several of the elements (including the dress and dress form, the moon, stars, candle and disco ball) entirely in photoshop. And here's the preview.

Download links are in the DDS gallery here: [link] Sorry - this freebie has been retired

Enjoy and download soon as it will only be available for a short time!

The Way It Was -- Free for a limited time

Yeah! I made it to the next level in the Second Chance Contest at DigitalScrapbookingStudio! As a result, I needed to make a mini-kit of 4 papers and 10 elements with no CU at all - no brushes, actions or stock photos for elements and textures. Also the theme was to be "evening news" and the style vintage. So here's what I came up with:

Here's the description: 

Famous news anchor Walter Chronkite used to sign off his broadcasts with the phrase, "That's the way it is." As a take off on that, I decided to call my mini-kit "The Way it Was." It's a vintage kit with a news/media theme.

In keeping with the contest rules, no CU was used in the creation of the kit or the packaging (including my designer button). 

The kit contains four textured papers, 2 with subtle patterns. For the elements, I tried to do a mix of photoshop generated and extracted from my own photos. 

The elements are:

- flower w/ button center (flower and button extracted, thread generated)

- film frame and square frame (both generated)

- journal stack (newspaper, flower, leaf extracted, note paper generated but distressed with overlay 

that was created from a photo)

- foliage (extracted)

- postcard (extrated; curl added in ps)

- radio (extracted)

- ribbon (generated)

- rivet/brad (generated)

- tag cluster (key, string extracted; tag generated)

The download link is available in the kit description in the dss gallery [link]. (Sorry - this freebie has been retired) While you're there, check out the other free minis -- there is some gorgeous stuff to be had!!

Hope you enjoy! (if you like it, download soon it will only be available for a short time) 

Summer Afternoon - Free for a Limited Time

Over at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio they are celebrating their Birthday Bash during the month of September with many special activities. And, of course, one of those activities is the annual next studio designer contest. There are some absolutely gorgeous kits being offered for free -- check them out in the studio gallery [link].

I didn't get around to entering the contest -- not a great time with school starting and hurricane Irene followed by a week of rain and flooding in our area. But they are allowing designers who missed the start of the contest, as well as those eliminated in round one, to enter the Second Chance Challenge. So I entered that for a chance at free enrollment in their design classes. And so all that is a very long introduction to my latest freebie - Summer Afternoon. For this challenge we needed to create a kit with 6 papers and 20 elements - including a cluster element. The kit name and theme (Summer Afternoon) as well as a kit preview template was provided. The designers could chose their own color palette and needed to make an "eye-catching" product name/label for the preview.

My kit has the required 6 papers - all 12x12 at 300 ppi. The elements include a rectangular frame, a perspective triple stamp frame, a double circle frame, a vine, a leaf spray, 2 flowers, a wooden butterfly, a wooden canary, a wooden teapot, a wooden button/brad, a lacy mat, a long curled ribbon, a short curled ribbon, a bow, an iron flourish, a rope with beads, a wooden sign/plaque, a line of cross stitches and a cluster frame (based on the double circle frame). So here is the preview:

Download links are provided in the gallery posting: [link].  Grab it soon as it will only be available for a short time. (Sorry - this freebie has been retired.)

Summer Afternoon was inspired by the rustic elegance of my Aunt and Uncle's "cabin" on the lake. I spent many summer afternoons there over the years. Here's a layout I created with the kit that shows some of outdoor scenes at the lake:

That's about it for now... thanks for stopping by my blog and hope you enjoy the kit!

Summer Dayz Mini-Kit (Free for a limited time)

Here's my latest free mini-kit. It's called Summer Dayz and was created for the color challenge at DSS [link]. It consists of the usual 5 papers and 10 elements, all created at 300 ppi. Papers are full-sized (12x12 inches). The elements include: a pleated ribbon and matching bow, a button, a fabric flower, a frayed fabric heart, a flower, an iron frame, 2 seashells and a stapled string. The color palette is soft greens, blues and a pop of yellow. It reminded me of a lazy summer day - hence the kit name and the "themed" elements. Here's the preview:

download from skydrive [link]. (Please let me know if there are any problems with this link - thx.) Sorry - this freebie has been retired.

American Patriot Part 2 - Free For a Limited Time

Well I promised a part 2 for my American Patriot Mini Kit series on or around July 4th. It's a little late, but it's here now! It uses the same color palette as part 1. (If you want part 1 and haven't downloaded it yet, do it soon as I will be removing the link shortly.) Part 2 has 5 papers and 10 elements: two bows, one folded ribbon, 2 frames, a stitched border of paper stars, a star circle, 2 flowers and a wooden fan. The papers are full sized (12x12 inch) and all elements and papers were created at 300 ppi, so resulting layouts are suitable for printing.
Here's the preview:

If you want the mini kit, download here: [skydrive-link] Sorry - this freebie has been retired

And to all of you in the USA - hope you had a great Fourth of July holiday!!

Whimsy Mini-Kit - Free for a Limited Time

I have another free mini-kit. This one was made for the color challenge at DSS. It contains 5 full-sized 12 x 12 inch papers and 10 elements. They include a circular frame, a string of pennants, a pinwheel, a fabric flower, a plastic flower, a crimped ribbon bow, a torn paper strip, a stitched rick-rack strip, a dragon fly and a balloon. I called it Whimsy because it's meant to be light and playful. For the most part the papers have sort of a water-color feel and the elements are meant to be, well, whimsical! And here's the preview:

If you like it, it's available for a limited time here on skydrive. (Sorry - this freebie has been retired.)

Tropical Vintage Mini-Kit - Free for a Limited Time

DigiDes came up with another great color palette for the color challenge at IvyScraps again this month, so I decided to join in. This kit has a vintage style with a tropical twist - hence the name Tropical Vintage! You get 5 full-sized 12x12 inch papers and 10 elements. The elements include: 2 frames, 2 rosettes, an iron grill, a brad, a curled two-tone ribbon, a tag, a lace mat and a hydrangea bloom. The elements and papers were all created at 300 ppi and so the resulting layouts are suitable for printing.

I am trying something a little new with the download. Instead of 4shared, I am giving skydrive a try. If you have any problems, please leave a comment and let me know. If this doesn't seem to work, I'll go back to using 4shared.

download-from-skydrive (Sorry - this freebie has been retired)

Thanks for looking!!

American Patriot Part 1 - Free For a Limited Time

I hope everyone in the United States enjoyed the Memorial Day long weekend. It is now (unofficially) summer in the northern hemisphere!! Originally called Decoration Day, the purpose of Memorial Day is to honor those men and women who died while serving in the military. In that spirit I am working on a kit called American Patriot.  Part 1 of American Patriot is now available as a free mini-kit. (Look for part 2 on or about July 4th). What you get are 5 full sized (12x12 inch) papers and 10 elements: a frame, a ribbon, a length of ric-rac, a bow, a leaf group, a flower, a puffed star, a folded paper butterfly, a wooden cross and a star scatter. The kit was created at 300 ppi so that any layouts made with it are suitable for printing. And here is the preview.

If you like the kit, you can download here from 4shared. (Sorry - freebie retired)

Enjoy!!

Timeless Mini - Free For a Limited Time

Recently digides posted a color palette on her blog for a challenge at IvyScraps. (Check out her blog posting for a preview of the gorgeous starter kit she has available for the challenge.) The color combination is very trendy with shades of grays and gray-brown and a pop of yellow. Now I actually have 2 nieces who are getting married this summer, so I immediately thought the palette would be perfect for creating a classic, elegant kit that I could use to scrap some of the awesome wedding photos that I am hoping to take! But my vintage/ancestor photos are never far from my thoughts either. So I am trying to create a kit that is suitable for both. So far I have this mini that I decided to call TImeless. With iNSD ( inter-National Scrapbooking Day) coming up, I decided to post the mini as a freebie. What you get is 5 full-sized papers (12in x 12in) and 10 elements: a frame, an iron bird cage, a clock, a curled ribbon, a bow, a flower, a eucalyptus branch, a wire swirl, a button and a brad. As always, everything is created at 300 dpi and is suitable for printing. And here's the preview:

Download here from 4shared. (Sorry - freebie retired)

Hope you like it and Happy iNSD everyone!!

Secret Garden Mini -- Free For a Limited Time

Here's my latest free mini-kit, once again made for the color challenge at DSS. This kit contains three 12X12 inch papers and seven elements - all created at 300 ppi so they are suitable for printing. The papers are highly textured with lots of layers of overlays and brushes - and I love the way they turned out!! The papers (along with the color palette) reminded me of garden paintings and were the inspiration for the kit title and the elements. The included elements are: the iron grill, the ribbon (these are separate, NOT intertwined as shown on the preview), the cluster frame, the flourish/swirl, the butterfly, the vine and the tag. And here's the preview.

If you like it, it is available for download at
4shared (Sorry - freebie retired)

Shabby Valentine Mini-Kit - Free for a Limited Time

I just finished a new mini kit called Shabby Valentine. It has five papers and ten elements. It combines glitter and glitz with shabby and distressed. The elements include a large oval frame with inlaid heart shaped gemstones, a glitter border, a folded and curled ribbon, a curled strip of lace, a flower, a folded heart, a Love tag, a leaf, a gemstone brad and a flower with stem. The papers are 12x12 inches and all elements and papers were created at 300 ppi so they are suitable for printing. I used the color palette for the Color Challenge at DigitalScrapbookingStudio so hop on over there and check the other minis for coordinating kits.

If you like it, here's the download link:
4shared (Sorry - freebie retired)

Thanks for looking and Happy Valentine's Day!

January Blues Mini-Kit - Free for A Limited Time

First, I wanted to thank NanaScraps for letting me know about the designer contest at StuffToScrap. I really appreciate that you let me know about it, but I decided to pass on it because I've got some major projects that I have to finish up. I don't think I have the time right now to tackle a designer contest. (maybe the next one :) ). That being said, I still want to do some designing, so I decided to make a mini for the color challenge over at DigitalScrapbookingStudio. So here it is -- 5 papers and 10 elements. It's called January Blues. I started out thinking a wintery kit, but wound up adding in some vintage! The elements are a string of beads, a line of stitching, a torn paper frame, a ribbon curl, a tag, a flower, flowers on a stem, a knotted ribbon, a vintage pin (hanging by a safety pin) and a double staple. The papers are 12x12 inches. Both the papers and elements were created at 300 ppi so that layouts made with the kit are suitable for printing.

It can be downloaded from
4shared here. Sorry - this freebie has been retired.

Also, don't forget to hop on over to DSS and check out the mini-kits from the other designers.

Take care (and stay warm if you're in the Northern Hemisphere) and enjoy the freebie!

Long Over-Due Update

It's a little belated, but I hope everyone out there in cyberland had a great Christmas/New Year holiday!

Now for an update that is really long overdue -- but better late than never :)! Anyway, the digital scrapbooking store at which I was selling closed in November of last year. My original plan was to apply to another store right away, but then things got a little crazy. The bottom line is that I am currently taking some time off, but plan to get back into designing soon. I'll probably start posting a few freebies, and then start looking for a new store to sell.

Hope to be back soon!

~jmdt