Free for a Limited Time - A Genealogist's Stay-cation

It's week 3 of the Next Designer Contest at the DigitalScrapbookingStudio and I once again entered with another mini-kit. This is the round where no commercial use products are allowed. In other words, the kit needs to be created from scratch with just the standard features of your software program(s) and your photos. This year CU4CU products (brushes, patterns, etc) were allowed as well, But I don't own these (at least not ones that would be applicable to the theme I chose). So I wound up using my own brushes, patterns, textures and layer styles in combination with the standard brushs, shapes, patterns, textures, filters and tools built into the software.

The theme for this round had to center around a "Stay-cation." I chose to create a kit suitable for genealogist/family historians with a focus on scrapping cemetery gravestones. But I think it is versatile enough for any type of heritage page and possibly even baptism/christening, confirmation, etc.

There are 8 papers and 16 elements. The elements are: 2 frames (one with "glass"), a ribbon, a bow, 3 balls, an ornamental stone disk, a stone cross, a tombstone, a flower, 2 foliage sprigs, chalk lines, a stack of old books and a journal card. The frames, journal card, chalk, and metal button on the ribbon were all computer-generated with some using scanned textures. The other elements were scanned and/or photographed and extracted. The graphics programs I used were Photoshop, ArtRage and LiveBrush - but primarily Photoshop.

The kit is pictured below and is free for a limited time.

Download links are available at the DSS gallery here: [link].  Sorry, link expired.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out the other great kits while you are there!

Free For a Limited Time - By the Sea Mini Kit

I was absolutely thrilled to do so well in the last week's NDC at the DigitalScrapbookingStudio, and entered again this week. The theme for this week was beach getaway and the requirements were to make a mini kit with 8 papers, 17 elements and 3 clusters. We also had to chose a beach photo for inspiration and the creation of a palette.

I had a hard time getting started with this because I didn't want it to be a re-hash of my "Sailor's Moon" kit from last year. So I really did my best to avoid using the same or very similar elements - which was a little hard to do as I was looking through my beach-y photos and stash!

My inspiration photo of the Salty Dog is one that I took when we were at Hilton Head, South Carolina back in the summer of 2008. In keeping with that, I was going for slightly shabby and weather-worn -- but still a little sparkly!

There are 8 papers, 5 painterly/patterned and 3 in coordinating solids. The 17 elements are: 2 frames, 3 flowers, a grass sprout, a foliage sprig, a tag, intertwined ropes, a ribbon, a nest, a shell, driftwood, a letter in a bottle, dangling shell charms, a glitter spray and a sand splat.

There are also 2 frame clusters and a driftwood cluster. All are pre-shadowed.

If you like it the download links are in my description on the gallery page at DSS [link].  Sorry, link expired.

Grab it soon because it will only be available for a short time. You can also grab some of the other great kits while you are there!

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Free For a Limited Time - Back Road Treasures Mini-Kit

Yes, I haven't posted here since the beginning of the year... But I'm back now with a new free-for-a-limited time mini!

This is another one for the next designer contest at the DigitalScrapbookingStudio. A color palette was provided plus the theme of "Road Trip." Also required exactly 12 elements and 5 papers (3 patterned and 2 solid).

My take on this was a leisurely drive on a Sunday afternoon. No highways, staying on the back country roads where there are more farms and fields than houses. And you just never know what treasures you may find! Thus the kit: Back Road Treasures.

What you get is five papers, 2 "painterly" and one more traditionally patterned and 2 textured solids.

The 12 elements are a battered wood frame, a green grill, a car, a berry sprig cluster, a paper flower cluster, a battered road sign, a cluster of 2 glass bottles, a butterfly, a mulberry paper tag, a stitched and pleated ribbon, a strip of washi tape and a "textury" paint smear.

The paint smear was created in ArtRage, the other papers and elements were made using Photoshop CS5. My biggest challenge with this kit was the transparency on the glass bottles. Hopefully I achieved something close to realism! And without further ado, here's a preview of the kit.

To download, you will need to go to the gallery at the studio [link] where download links for skydrive are provided.  Sorry, link expired.

Grab it quick if you like it!

Thanks for looking!

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!

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!

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!

American Patriot 2012 - Free for a Limited Time

Last summer I created a kit called American Patriot. I released it as a freebie in 2 parts - the first for Memorial Day and the second for the Fourth of July. This year I decided to revisit the kit. I added new papers and elements and reworked others. I am releasing the entire kit as a freebie for 1 week in celebration of the Memorial Day Holiday here in the United States. Here is the preview:

The kit contains 12 full-sized (12x12 inch) papers and 24 elements: a metal frame, a paper frame, a stamp frame, a wooden cross, a straight ribbon, a folded ribbon, a length of rick-rack, a stitched paper star border, 3 unique flowers, 3 unique bows, a wooden button, a wooden arch, a butterfly, a firefly, a puffy star, a circle of stars, a scatter of stars, a tag, a leaf and a sprig of foliage. All are created at 300ppi and suitable for printed layouts. While patriotically themed for Memorial Day, the kit is versatile enough for a variety of layouts.

If you like it, there are 3 zip files to download accessible from [this link]. Grab them soon as they will only be available for a week.  Sorry, this freebie is retired.

Enjoy the kit and the Holiday!

Spring Is In the Air - Free for a Limited Time

Well, it certainly has been a while, but I decided to join in the color challenge at the Studio and create a mini-kit this month. The kit contains 6 papers (12x12 inches) and 12 elements: three unique flowers, a frame, 2 unique intertwined ribbon sets, a button, a tag, a bead scatter, a bead chain wrap for the frame, a paper butterfly and a torn paper border. Here's the preview:

This kit can be downloaded at skydrive: [link] but it will only be available for a limited time - so if you like it, grab it soon!

Sorry, freebie retired.

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!