Please bear with me if I get a little long winded here today. I've made quite a few discoveries in the past couple days.
1. People are watching whether you know it or not. Namely J a.k.a. Joyce. I discovered while at the funeral home last night that a comment left by "J" on a previous post was actually my wonderful cousin.
2. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I sat down and figured out how to do a 3 column template for a blog. What? I still only have 2 columns? Well I know that. I didn't say I did it for this blog. I started a new one. Right now there's really not much there, it's just a work in progress. I suppose if you want to know more about it you can check out my profile. I started it under an entirely new account so I'm listed as a team member (or whatever you call it)
3. Even when I think my stuff is junk, there may be someone out there who likes it and appreciates it....lol
4. I have not been a very good blogger. To my wonderful followers who are also EC members, please accept my apologies. I meant to add each of my EC followers to my favorites. Several of you slipped through the cracks in my brain and so may not have been getting drops from me. I fixed it tonight, added each of you to my favorites and those are the first drops I do each day.

Now I have a freebie for you. It's a hodge podge collection of stuff that I threw together. Three of the papers that I used for my "A" page are included in this mini kit.

If you would like the mini kit you can download it HERE
Finally per request I also have step by step directions for how I did my last layout. Since it's getting late though, I will be back with that tomorrow.

I feel like I've been in a complete fog for the last several days. I haven't wanted to do anything but lay around and sleep. Today I finally feel like the fog has lifted and have a little bit more energy, YEAH!
To share a couple edits with you. This first one was a picture I took of one of those plastic outdoor chairs. The chair is just a plain off white sort of color. I added a blank layer over the original picture and colored in the roses. Then I just played with different blending modes till I liked the way it looked.


Just a random picture I took when we were at the last concert in the park. Mainly all I did was crop the picture, clone out a coke bottle and a persons butt, then messed around with levels and color curves.


I also did a couple layouts. I had that song "I never promised you a rose garden" stuck in my head. I'm not sure if that's the title to the song but maybe you know which one I mean. Anyway, I took the edit I did of the chair and used it as an overlay for the top of the page. I used the words from the song to put on the page of the book and dug up a picture from our wedding. Not your typical wedding layout, but then I'm not necessarily your typical scrapper.


Here's another one. I used pictures from my walk at a nature trail I visited as overlays on both papers.

Yeah! Summer has officially arrived. Now if the weather will just start acting like summer on a more consistent basis, I'll be one happy little camper.

This weekend our little town had their sesquicentennial celebration. That's 150 years. Last night they had an awesome fireworks display. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit out on my deck and watch it from there. Of course I had the camera with me. I've never taken fireworks pictures before and I had to try it. Lets just say it was NOT a huge success...lol I got a couple shots that were sort of cool looking but by no means could they be considered good pictures. You know me though, I'm not one to throw away lousy pictures. I pulled out 3 different ones plus a picture of the American flag, layered them all together using different blending modes and VOILA! I shared it with Wade, and I really should have learned by now that he is not going to give me a positive reaction on any of my masterpieces....lol He just doesn't have the same appreciation for my creativity as I do. Hm, maybe if I did an edit of a race car, driven by a naked woman holding a can of beer he might look twice....lol


After I did that I started working on a layout for some of the pictures. I used two of my fireworks pictures and the third one (at the bottom) is part of a mural that is painted on a wall of one of the building in the borough park. I'm not sure who painted it but they did an awesome job.


Before I put everything away, I came up with another mini kit and quick page for you. You get 5 papers, 6 elements and the quick page.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that silliness and playing is just for kids. I strongly believe that holding on to your inner child is what keeps you young and happy. I personally bring out the inner child frequently. Of course sometimes it's to throw a temper tantrum but that's another story...lol.
My inner child likes to draw, and I don't care if it's good, bad, colored inside the lines, or even recognizable. My inner child also likes to fabricate stories, because I really don't like drawing all that much, I do stink at it. BUT, I did have fun with a tutorial I found to make a picture into a cartoon drawing. I did this one real quick just to try it out so it's not that great, but like I said it was a lot of fun. I got a little carried away with the burn tool but I was real careful not to draw in all the wrinkles on my face...lol


I also did a little playing around a did a layout of my all time favorite aunt. This was a very old picture of my Aunt Mary. There are so many wonderful stories I could tell you about this woman but I won't bore you with all of those. She sure was something special though.

I also put together a mini kit for you. In the kit you'll find everything I used in my layout plus a quick page. I couldn't think of a name so I just went with Mary since that's who the layout was about.

That's right. I have a BAD ATTITUDE!....LOL
You could say it wasn't a great morning at work. I think the straw that broke the camels back (or in this case the bakers) was when I set out to do my favorite chore of the day. Freezer work, UGH! I went in the freezer to pull things to stock the shelves and discovered wall to wall ice cream carts. These are pretty big carts and they don't maneuver real well. The owner comes walking in the freezer and said something to me (can't remember what it was) and my response was "I'm trying very hard not to say any bad words"....lol So he says, "here, I'll help you". He started to move the carts out of the freezer for me and I was standing off to the side waiting. Just as he got one cart out the freezer door, a 6-7 foot high stack of frozen bakery products came crashing down and hit me on the top of the head. I wasn't seriously injured, but I was now quite miffed. I took an unscheduled smoke break (yes I'm a smoker, so sue me...lol), ran my mouth off a little then went back to work. Then the headache started. Not a bad one but enough to be annoying and make me even more irritated. I decided right then that I was going home and someone else could do my work today. So that's what I did.

Here's a wonderful quick page that I got from http://censloft.blogspot.com/search?q= I just love her blog. She has the quick page up for a freebie, so you should stop by and grab it.


Here's my Duke. Just a pic I took of him the other day. The background is a piece of cardboard that I made. It was amazingly easy to do. Maybe I'll put it up as a tutorial for you in another post.


Now a freebie for you. At least it's here for anyone who didn't mind sifting through my chit chat to find it. (Did that sound like sarcasm?...lol) This is a small sampler kit with the things that I used to make the layout of my grandparents. It includes 1 background paper, 1 antique grunged edge, a journaling edge piece, a mask, a fern and 1 quick page.

You can grab it right HERE

Yesterday I put up the list for the Hippity Hop Blog train. Today even though I'm a day early I'm going to put up my part for the train. Snag my freebie today and then come back tomorrow and check out all the other wonderful freebies available at each stop.

Yes, today is my birthday. I can even admit that I'm 47. When the heck did I get so old?....lol
Anyway, my kids came over to give me a card and gift and I made them sit for a little group picture. It's not the greatest but I haven't done anything to it yet.

This is what they gave me. Isn't that the sweetest? I took a picture of the card too but I won't bore you with that...lol



So in celebration of my birthday I'm going to give all of you a gift. This is a kit that I threw together after I had this bright idea. I made some papers using some pictures I had and it reminded me of a couple times when I was out walking with my camera and clearing my head. Sort of my conversations with God. His way of helping me to ease the stress of everyday life. After the papers were made it led to thoughts of how God has been pushed out and banned from way too many places. I decided that I would make this kit and offer it here as a freebie because God is allowed on my blog. Also, I've changed my TOU for this kit to include commercial use. After all we're talking about God here and who am I to tell someone else how they can or can not use Him in their life. Even though this is called conversations with God, it's not a purely religious kit, but their are a few items included that are.
I did two separate previews, one for the papers and one for the elements but their is only one download. I hope you like the kit and would love to hear what everyone thinks about it.

Congratulations Miawa! You won with 40% of the votes.
Although you've already seen the preview for this kit, it didn't have a name then. So now, here it is. I present to you "Miawas Purple perfection" I had decided when I started the contest that the name of whomever won would be included in the name of the kit. A big thanks to everyone who suggested names. You really came up with some good ones. Also a thank you goes out to Photo editing beginners for voting on this and making the decision for me. There's no way I could have picked just one. I would have had to combine them all and had one great big humongous name...lol Miawa, look for a message from me on how to collect that candy bar.


There's nothing left now but to give you the download link so you can go snag your freebie. You can download the kit by clicking HERE

One final thing before I go. I know I said the other day that I was going to wait until Monday evening to post this, but I forgot until after I put this up that I was doing it that way...LOL Senility is a crazy thing.

Well you should be, because I have a little freebie for you today....lol Who couldn't use a little "Luck of the Irish" This is just a small kit. It includes 6 papers, and 12 elements.


If you like it you can download it HERE

Just a reminder, don't forget to get your suggestions in for the "name the kit" contest. You only have until Friday and then I'll start the poll.

Another one of my cafe mom groups, Scrapkit design 101, posted a challenge. I didn't have to come up with a very big kit for this one. The requirements were to follow a given color palette, design 5 papers, 5 elements and 3 frames. I'll admit that this is not the best work I've ever done. The color scheme isn't really my style but that's the one that was given.
So anyway here it is. I just called this one Springtime.


If you would like the freebie you can get it by clicking HERE

After I put up my last post I set my mind on finishing a little project I've been working on. The winter weather has been wearing away at me and making me long for warmer climates. To help ease the chill, I came up with my new kit "Spring Fling" It's full of soft colors and spring time elements. You get 14 papers, 31 elements, 1 folded edge paper and 1 quick page.



Now that you've checked out the preview, spring on over to 4 shared and grab the freebie HERE

After writing my last post earlier tonight I started feeling guilty about being such a slacker. I dug into the files and started working on my newest kit. This one is for all the dog lovers out there. So here it is ready for you to scrap all those canine shots and tell your puppy tales. Oh and by the way, that is the name of the kit, "Puppy tales".


Well that's it, now you know the drill. To get your freebie click HERE

I had planned on posting last night. I was all ready, I had the file uploaded to 4shared and then it hit me. I forgot to add the credits to my TOU. The little voice in my left ear said "Go ahead and post it, who's going to know?". The little voice in my right ear replied "I'll know, and you can't do that." Needless to say the voice in the middle of my head told me that I was too tired to add the credits and wait while the file uploaded again and that the voice in my right ear was absolutely correct, you must give credit where credit is due.



So tonight I have a small Valentines kit for you complete with corrected TOU. This one is called "My funny Valentine" and you can download it by clicking HERE

I started a digi scrap kit some time ago but with all of the holiday hustle and bustle and trying to make things for Christmas, it got put on the back burner. Finally I got back to it this week and finished it. Although, when it comes to scrap kits, are they ever really finished? There is always one more thing that could be added or an alpha that could be created (I'll just add here that I really don't like doing alphas, that's why you'll very rarely see one in my kits) I think with me, it's more a matter of I simply run out of inspiration or ideas and that is when I say "It's finished".
This may be a little early in the year to come out with but I have a thing for birds and birdhouses so here it is. "Home Twee Home"



You can download the kit HERE

Today I have a present for you. I came up with a little kit for New Years.



You can find the download for the freebie HERE

Just in case I take another long break from blogging, I'll wish everyone a safe and happy New Year now.

I wanted to share a scrap book page I did recently. The picture is one I got from my cousin not too long ago. The two little cuties dressed in red are yours truly and my cousin Rich.




The kit I used to make this page is called "Christmas memories"



Oh my did you notice that? It says it was designed by ME....lol If you remember some time ago I was talking about a cafe mom group "scrap kit designers" that had a challenge to create your first kit. Well this was the one that I did for that challenge. Of course this isn't really my first kit but I suppose it is where my little hobby started to grow. I would have shown you this one sooner but the challenge spanned out over a couple of months and it actually still isn't over but I thought I would show it to you anyway. I'm also giving it to you as a freebie. My Christmas gift to anyone who happens to stop by.
You can download the freebie HERE

I made this with my new kit.
It all began with one little reindeer. After finishing him I was on a roll and started adding a few things here and there. Some of the girls over at cafe mom were making snow globes and I've been wanting to give that a try. I found a tutorial for making one on http://www.escrappers.com/ and this one fit right in with the kit.


This kit would be great for any winter or even Christmas layouts. When you download the kit, let me know what you think. This is kit #7 for me and I don't get a lot of feedback so I'm not sure if they're getting better or not....lol If there's something I can improve on, let me know, I swear you won't hurt my feelings.







to get the freebie click HERE

Some time ago I was introduced to the art of tea bag folding. If you aren't familiar with it, you fold squares of paper and then join them to make medallions. (to learn more you can check out this site http://www.cardsandcrafts.freeservers.com/teabaginst.html ) For a while I was printing out tea bag tiles by the dozens, cutting them out, learning different folds and then using them to make greeting cards. Eventually I moved on to a new creative outlet and the teabags were retired to the craft drawer. That is until the other day, when I got the idea to scan them and use them for scrap booking

This is one of the medallions I rescued from my craft stash


After I scanned and extracted this one it led to 3 more, followed by some related embellishments, and before I knew it I had a whole kit put together. For lack of a better name I simply called it "Tea Time"

The kit includes:
16 papers
1 alpha set (upper case only)
28 embellishments which include
-2 borders (1 tiled and one punched)
-4 bows
-4 buttons
-1 envelope
-1 journal
-1 note paper
-3 paper clips
-1 photo mat
-1 pen
-1 raffia button bow (ready to add on top of a button)
-1 swirly
-1 tea bag
-1 tea cup
-4 tea bag medallions
-1 tea bag tile
-1 word art


So are you dieing to see what it looks like yet? Well then, without further adieu, I present to you, "Tea Time" I loved the combination of warm dark colors blended with the softer pinks.




Now, I could either pour you another cup of tea or you can click HERE to get the download. Stop by again sometime and maybe we'll have coffee.

My final post for today is a freebie. It's called "Tis the season"
It includes 8 papers and 13 elements. I was going to include an alpha set as well but I've discovered that I am not a fan of making alphas. If anyone knows of a quick and easy way to do them, please share your secrets. Enjoy the kit, and I would love to see how you use it. Send me an email or a link to what you've created.



to download click here

I set out to make some doodles the other night and before you know it I ended up with something completely different. It started with a blank snowman, then the eyes, nose, mouth and stick arms. After that I had to dress him (no self respecting snowman would stand out in the cold without his hat and scarf) Before you know it I was adding papers, word art, and some other little goodies. Before I created a blizzard in my computer room I thought I would end it here and offer it to all of you.



you can get him by clicking the preview or here
The funny looking snowman in the upper corner with the hole in the middle of his face is so that you can put your own face in there if you want.
I wasn't sure about putting this up for a freebie or not, especially after looking at what my talented sister just made but I remembered my quote from a few days ago and went for it.
Check out my sister, she's awesome http://www.prettypixelsct.blogspot.com/