I love downloads! Here's another one ...

I'm loving that I figured out how to add downloads to my blog ... I could hardly sleep last night ... so many different things that I can work on to offer as {free} downloads to everyone.

Here's a design that I originally created for baby announcements. I've adapted the design so that it can be printed as a 5"x7" photo ... all you have to do is add the picture of your choice in the space provided and you are ready to go! If you are a digital scrapper ... add a couple of words if you want!

You can download the file here.

Of course this is just for your PERSONAL USE ONLY ... and if you show it on your blog/website it would be nice if you gave me credit for the art with a link back to here.

Here's what the png overlay looks like (minus the green box and the words "photo here")

Here's how to use the png overlay using Photoshop:

1. FILE>NEW> create new document width  5", height 7", resolution 300, color mode RGB

2. FILE>PLACE> my png overlay file

3. FILE>PLACE> find a picture that is suitable for framing

4. In your layers palette move your picture so that it is under the png overlay.

5. Using your move tool move the picture around in the opening so that you crop the picture in a pleasing way ... you may want to enlarge or reduce your picture at this point for better cropping.

6. Now you are done and your 5x7 picture is ready for printing!

Enjoy!

Lorrie

linking it up at anything related {tuesdays}

testing - downloads to share

I've been away for the past 5 days ... at a conference in Ottawa, Canada. We were with patent and trademark lawyers (and their spouses) from all over Canada, USA and the United Kingdom. It was a business conference for my husband and I spent a lot of time on tours of museums, art galleries and historical buildings. I had an amazing time ... took lots of pictures and drew lots of ideas in my sketch book.

Last night I did a quick check of my emails and a couple of blogs. I stubbled across a couple of interesting blogs by Malia and Megan that lead me to http://www.mediafire.com/tour.php . Last week I mentioned that I would love to learn how to add downloads to my blog so that I could share some of my art, etc. and I think that I figured it out by following Megan on Shabby Blogs ... Megan has some beautiful {free} downloads for blogs.

So ... I'm going to test this out and see if it works!

I have had a few people ask me about how I cut out some of my pictures ... so I'm going to share one of my latest "photo die cuts" with you. The design inspiration for this photo die cut is anthropologie and is one of my current favourites. You can see how I used the die cut on my first photo ... which, by the way, is a shot that I took of the ceiling in Ottawa's Museum of Civilization ... don't you just love the graphics and the colours.

Hopefully ... if I have done this right ... you can download my die cut file here . If you can't download it, please someone tell me in the comments section!!!

Here's what the png file looks like ... a combination of three different rectangles.

And here's a quick lesson on how to use the photo die using Photoshop:

1. open a new document.

2. FILE>OPEN> to find a picture that you want to use with the die cut.

3. Open my png file.

4. In the layer palette make sure that your picture is above the die cut ... this is very important! ... you will be working on the layer with your picture for the next step.

5. Next you are want to group together your picture and the die cut so that the picture will take on the shape of the die cut ... basically, the picture will look like it has been cut out. To do this go to LAYER>CREATE CLIPPING MASK (in PSCS2) or GROUP LAYERS (in PS) or GROUP WITH PREVIOUS (in PSE).

6. You can move the picture around by clicking on the photo layer and using your move tool. You can change the size of the photo or move it around to get it just the way you want ... have fun!

I am still learning

I'm really new to the world of blogging. Oh yes, I had been following (silently) a few blogs on and off for a couple of years but that was about it. I had dreamed about having my own blog but I thought that it was too difficult to learn and besides, who was "I" to think that anyone would be interested in what I was doing or have to say?  

I got brave a little while ago and started my creative blog ... mainly to help me to document "things" that I have been creating because I have always (secretly) wanted to write an arts and crafts related book. Having a blog is the best thing that I have done. I've been connecting to so many creative souls in such a short period of time. And learning to blog isn't that difficult ... it's actually kind of fun!  I still want to learn how to add links so that I can offer free digital art and project sheets ... if anyone can help me with that detail - I'd appreciate it! It's been a great adventure so far and I am always amazed by how many great blogs and inspiring people there are out there.

I was very excited to receive a blog award last week from Carol The Answer Is Chocolate . I didn't even know what a blog award was until I met Carol!!! .... see, I'm still learning!

The Trendy Treehouse Award

So in the spirit of the award and to "pay it forward" I'm going to AWARD the Trendy Treehouse Award to

10 blogs that I think have been "on trend" and that have been inspiring me lately:

bird from a wire

by jen

celebrate creativity

dream create share

love is my religion

jenni horne

rebecca sower

pretty little things

crafting chicks

spring lane designs

wow ... it was hard to pick just 10 ... but I hope that you have time to check some or all of these blogs out ...

have wonderful day today!

Enjoy life ... this is not a dress rehearsal.

live in the sunshine ... swim in the sea ... drink the wild air

I just finished this collage on the weekend. It was one of those pieces that I struggled with because I knew that I was going to give it to some special and I was trying not to over think it too much and just let it flow.

I looked for weeks for the perfect words for this collage. It was my original intent to just add some small word elements into a design that I had already "worked out" on paper ... but a funny thing happened the day I stumbled across this quote ... I realized that this quote is really what I wanted to "say".

All of a sudden the lettering became the focus of the design ...

     

                                   

I planned out the lettering on my computer first ... finding the right mix of fonts and the correct spacing. I painted all of the lettering one colour and then added details with a black china pencil. I used too much black on a few of the words and was not really happy with the look ... so I experimented with glue and some Martha Stewart luster microbeads.  I was so excited when my teenage daughter walked by me as I was finishing with the microbeads and asked me if I was making this for her because she really liked it!  I knew at that point that I was "done". 

Today I'm going to wrap up the collage ... it's not for my daughter ... I made it for my neurosurgeon. Tuesday June 15th is the one year anniversary of the day that I had brain surgery.  I wanted to give something that I had made with my hands to the doctor that "saved" me and gave me a second chance. I can't wait to give him this tomorrow. He always told me when I was in the hospital that he liked to see me because I was always smiling ... I hope that this will make him smile tomorrow. Life is good!

lanyards for fashionistas

I am going to attend a conference with my husband for a few days next week ... I love conferences - meeting people from all over the world, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, cocktail and dinner parties and most importantly, a reason to wear something other than jeans and a tee shirt! My only complaint about the conferences is that we are asked to wear name tags all of the time and they are attached to really "sporty" looking lanyards. I like the idea of wearing name tags but not ones that look like I should be at the gym when I'm wearing a cocktail dress and heels. Well, let's just say that I wore the standard issue lanyard the first time (see my "before" picture above from Spain) but the next conference that I went to I made my own lanyards from some simple black beads (see my "after" picture above from Italy). My lanyards were a hit with all of the ladies and everyone wanted to know where I bought them! 

I have been unable to find the lanyards that I had made over the past few years ... we moved a year ago and I'm still searching for a couple of boxes that have been misplaced or "thrown away" by mistake ... so this week I made a couple more lanyards to take with me next week.  My new lanyards have more of an Anthropologie feeling to them with a mixture of vintage and new materials. I was very inspired by a couple of my new Somerset Studio magazines - Belle Armoire Jewelry and the new Jewelry Affaire. If I have time, I'm going to make a couple of extra lanyards to give to some of my friends at the conference.

By the way ... the groovy patterned "tape" graphics on my first photo grouping is by Katrina @ pugly pixel . I found her "free art" through my e-course with Kelly Rae Roberts . I thought that it worked really well with my Anthropologie inspired layout!

digital scrapbooking with Jan Hosford

I've been on my computer this morning playing with a couple of new digital scrapbooking kits that I just received yesterday from Jan Hosford. Jan is a very talented artist that I have had the pleasure of connecting with online this week during my "flying lessons" ecourse with Kelly Rae Roberts. As soon as I saw the kits I knew what I wanted to do with them and here's a little story about my completed page ...

Our first cottage had a playhouse that my husband built when our first daughter was 2 years old (she is 16 now). He wired it for lights and a couple of electrical outlets so that we could be in there on raining days during the summer. I decorated the playhouse by painting flowers on the walls and floor. I sewed curtains and cushions for the child size wicker furniture from of old quilts. I still remember the weekend that I spent outdoors painting the wooden table and chairs with a plaid design and flowers. We spent a lot of time in that playhouse ... drawing and making crafts, reading story books and having lemonade tea parties with stuffed teddy bears and rabbits. Both of my daughters loved that playhouse for so many years. I was so happy when we sold the cottage to very close friends of ours a few years ago because they had small children and I knew that they would enjoy the playhouse too. Our friends have now outgrown the cottage and are getting ready to move out. I'm not sure why but it suddenly hit me this week that we are not going to be able to visit the playhouse anymore. The new owner of the cottage is a single guy so I'm thinking that he really isn't going to want a girl's playhouse in the backyard! Oh well ... we will always have our memories!

Here's the two kits from Jan Hosford at The Digichick shop that I used to create this page ....

... I think that I will send this off to Costco for printing! Have a great day!

nyc memory book ... thanks to Michaels Stores

I have finally finished my three nyc memory books ... I made three copies - one for my dear friend Karen, who received hers the other weekend, one for me and one to send to Michaels  head office to thank them for sending me to New York to see the Martha Stewart Show.

I created all of the pages digitally with a combination of my pictures, nyc maps, vintage papers & postcards, and other digital elements that I created or bought on line ...

 

I left space on the back of each page so that Karen and I could each write our own handwritten notes about the trip ... I used BasicGrey chipboard books as the base ...

I tied a bunch of ribbons to the binder ring and added a little jewellery chain that I made ... I added a piece of the nyc subway map to one piece ...

I'm ready to send this off in the mail tomorrow. Thanks again Michaels ... we had a wonderful time!!!