Thursday, September 20, 2012

Moonlit Oasis - Free for a Limited Time

I made it to Round 3 of the Next Designer Contest at DSS. This is traditionally the no-CU round. This year it was a little different. We could use CU, but only what was provided in the Grab Bag for winning the previous round. We were also told to add an accent color to the provided palette, and that part of the judging criteria is supposed to be how accurately we are able to colorize gray scale CU elements. In addition, we needed to list out what tools we used to create our elements. Once again, there need to be at least 10 papers and at least 24 elements. The inspiration for this round was another gorgeous photo from Captain Kimo. And here is my entry....


The gorgeous inspiration photo by Captain Kimo, from which our palette was derived, was of twin mosque towers in Bahrain. As I was thinking of a theme and title, I was inspired by the mid-Eastern subject of the photo. I started thinking about the Arabian desert and finally settled upon Moonlit Oasis as a title and theme.

My kit was created in PS CS5. There are 10 papers and 24 elements. The added color is violet.

For the papers, I combined standard PS brushes and textures with my own overlays, textures, brushes, patterns, etc and with the overlays supplied in the CU gift. 

The 24 elements are as follows:

those Created by me in PS using standard brushes, shapes, patterns and filters and CU as indicated:
pyramid, stone wall, stone well, palm tree (palm fronds are based on one of the CU leaf templates), two unique border elements, circle frame (decorated with swirl from CU notecard pack), film strip frame (used modified CU style), glitter flourish (used CU glitter style), leaf sprig (used a modified CU layer style), moon and clouds, rolled flower (used a modified CU style), tag (string extracted), pearl scatter, and washi tape.

those recolored and decorated/styled from CU gift:
butterfly clip, Journal block and pocket, 2 striped ribbons, square frame 

those extracted from my own photos/scans:
flower, fabric flower (button center from CU pack), stitched bow, stitched knotted ribbon 
[not many extracts in this week's kit, burned out on extractions last week, LOL]

And here is the preview:



Download links are available in the DSS gallery [link]. Sorry, download links expired.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out the other awesome entries!




Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Sailor's Moon - Free for a Limited Time

I made it to Round 2 in the Next Designer Contest at DSS!! This week we chose our own color palette from an inspiration photo. The kit needed to have at least 10 papers and 24 elements and have something to do with the moon. (The moon is the common thread throughout the competition this year.)


I went with a nautical navigation/sailing theme. My kit was inspired by the sailors of yore who sailed across oceans by the light of the moon and the stars! I  included sailing and beach elements.  I can see this kit being used for beach vacation layouts and maybe even heritage/immigration layouts!

You get 10 papers, including solids, traditional patterns and "artsy." All are 12x12 at 300 ppi and suitable for  printing. The 24 elements are: a weathered square frame, a decorated round frame, a lighthouse, sailing word art, a full moon, a metal moon, a metal star, a tag, a button, 3 unique flowers, tied grass, a knotted ribbon, ribbon ropes, a captain's wheel, an old compass, a telescope, a life preserver, a barrel cluster, a post cluster,  a fence, a bow and coiled rope. And here's the preview:


If you like it, you can download it from the studio gallery [link]. Sorry, download links no longer active.

While you are there, take a look at the other great kits being offered!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Free Minikit - Magical Moonrise

I've been on a bit of a design hiatus lately as I was focusing more on genealogy. But it's that time of year again and DSS is holding their annual Next Designer Contest. Round 1 started on September 1 and ends tonight at midnight. The theme of this round was Moonrise with a palette that included various shades of purples and blues. The requirement was to create a mini kit consisting of 5 papers and 12 elements. I wasn't planning to participate, but in the end I just couldn't resist! So here's my entry for Round 1: Magical Moonrise.


The kit consists of 5 12x12 inch papers, 2 solids and 3 patterned. The 12 elements are a frame, 2 paper flowers, a paper sprig of foliage, a knotted ribbon, a tied ribbon, a button, a journal tag, a glitter ribbon, a glass moon, a glass star banner and a sprinkle. All papers and elements were created at 300 ppi and are suitable for printing.

If you like it you can download it from the DSS gallery: [sorry download expired]. The download link will be active at least until October 1. While you are there, check out the awesome kits!

Enjoy!