Card Design: Scribbles Designs Challenge # 3 Midway Point

Hello everyone.  We are at the halfway point in our third Scribbles Design Challenge.  There is still lots of time for you to come on over and enter.  The theme this month is 'Shades of Green or Easter'.

Entering is easy peasy:

• Please use a Scribbles Designs image.  You can purchase your Scribbles Designs images HERE or you can find some free sentiments from Sandy's personal blog HERE.
• Follow the theme of the challenge. 
• Enter as many times as you'd like.
• Combine your entry with other challenges.  
• New projects/cards only - no back linking.  

You have until 9pm PST on April 14th to come over and play with us. Winners, chosen by Random.org, receive 3 digital images; additionally, there will be 1 digital image handed out for each of the Top 3, chosen by the Scribbles Designs Design Team.  

Here is a card to provide you with a little inspiration.  This is the front...

Here is the inside...

Here are the card details, I hope I haven't forgotten anything...

General Notes:

• Another sympathy card.  I'd love to say that I made it to put aside in my stash of cards but unfortunately that isn't the case.  One of my husband's colleague's Father-in-law died this week so this one is going out to her.  It was originally going to be a 'friendship' card.  Sandy's image of the flower is so versatile that I was able to switch in a different sentiment at the last minute.

Digital Image:

• Flower (front):  Sandy's image is just the one flower.  I took the image, copied it, resized it, flipped it and voila, now I have two flowers. If you are interested in purchasing this image it is available HERE.  I opened the image up in Photoshop Essentials and coloured in the image to match the papers I had scanned in. 
• Since the card was going to be a small one (5.5 x4.24), I knew there was no chance I would be able to stay within the lines with my markers.  I think it turned out okay.  When I chose the peaches for the flower, I didn't realize at the time that if you look closely on the left hand side of the DP, there are thin lines of the exact same colour running through it so that turned out fortuitous.  I coloured the background in behind the flowers using the yellow-green colour in the DP just so that it didn't look so stark. 

Digital Sentiments:

• With Sympathy (inside):  This is a relatively new sentiment offered by Sandy. It certainly came in handy this week.  If you are interested in purchasing this image it is available HERE.

Paper Products:

• Card base: Crafts Brand Cardstock, pastel green coloured--available Dollarama.
• Designer Papers:  Floral paper & solid green (front & inside)--K & C Company Designer Paper--green colours collection. 

Ribbon:

• Offray creamy coloured ribbon--from a stash my momma gave me so I don't know where it came from.

Challenges I hope to enter include:

• Word Art Wednesday -- Challenge #73:  Anything Goes
• Crafter's Digital Art Centre --  Anything Goes 
• Pin & Tack--Spark Your Creatitivity Now Challenge -- Challenge #8:  Anything Goes
• 613 Avenue Create -- Challenge #13:  Anything Goes with Flowers
• Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog -- Think Spring

I may be adding to this list as the week or month goes by.

So, what are you waiting for?  We look forward to seeing what you create.   Come join in the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by and please leave some love if you have the time.  As I've now added to my comment section, thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog and to write me a little note. Whether you are a regular, here for the first time or popping over in your official capacity as a DT member, please know how much I appreciate the words that you leave behind. Your encouragement helps me to become a better designer.   I try my best to reply to your comments (when an email address is available) but that is getting more and more difficult as my plate fills up with new responsibilities, new roles, and new obligations.  If I don't get the opportunity to thank you personally, know that I don't take a single comment for granted. Thank you for your understanding.

Until next time,

  
 
Note: I apologize if there are any formatting issues.  This is a scheduled post and we all know Blogger has a mind of it's own.  If it turns out that something looks wonky, i.e.--part of the sentence a different size than the rest, I'll fix it as soon as I'm able to.

Card Design: Scribbles Designs Challenge #3--Shades of Green or Easter

It is time for the next challenge over at the Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog.

This month we are looking for projects with Shades of Green or Easter.  So show us your designs covering the spectrum of the colour green or your Easter related cards--either theme is just fine.

Green is the colour of nature.  It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility and a strong emotional correspondence with safety.   Green also has great healing power.  It is the most restful color for the human eye and can even improve vision.  Additionally, green suggests stability and endurance.  Dark green is commonly associated with money, ambition, greed, and jealousy.  Yellow- green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.  Olive green is the traditional color of peace.  Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.  (Author Unknown. (2002-2013). Color Meaning. Available: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html. Last accessed 13th February 2013.)

 So what will you come up with and will your project have any significant meaning?  It doesn't have to have any particular association with the meaning of the colour, I just thought it might be interesting to share with all of you what the different shades of the colour green mean, just like I shared what the colour red meant during the last challenge.

Don't forget that in order to qualify you MUST use a Scribbles Designs image, following the theme of the challenge. You can enter as many times as you'd like and you are welcome to combine your entry with other challenges.  However, we ask that you enter new projects/cards only - no back linking.  This challenge will end at 9pm PST on April 14th.

The winner, chosen by Random.org will receive 3 digital images.  Additionally, there will be 1 digital image handed out for each of the Top 3, chosen by the Scribbles Designs Design Team.  We look forward to seeing your interpretation of this month's theme. 

You can purchase your Scribbles Designs images HERE.
You can also find some free sentiments from Sandy's personal blog HERE and there is a free one over on the challenge blog as well. 

To help inspire you, here is a card I created using two of Sandy's wonderful images from the store.  You can purchase the sunflower frame HERE and the sunflower on the inside is available as a freebie HERE. 
 
Here is the front of the card... 

Here is the inside...

Here are the card details, I hope I haven't forgotten anything...

General Notes: 

• If Olive green is the traditional colour of peace, I hope that includes peace of mind.
• This is card will be going to my Godmother in recognition of my Godfather's passing a couple weeks ago now.

Digital Image:

• Sunflower Frame:  The image on the front of the card is Sandy's sunflower frame image and is currently available HERE in the store.  This is such a beautiful image.  When coming up with my layout I had decided that I wanted the focus to be on the image and sentiment but when I had it printed out and was placing it, I just wasn't happy with what I was seeing.  Thus, I came up with the idea to print another copy of the frame, fussycut around both and then stack them kitty-corner to each other.  I'm not sure what you guy's think, but I am pleased with the effect.  It was coloured using Copic markers.  Flowers:  Y13, Y15, Y17 (petals); E21, E23, E25 (centre).  Frame:  G20.
• I made a minature version of Sandy's Sunflowers 1 image and used it as line art on the inside.

Digital Sentiment:

• Verse on front:  The sentiment I used on the front is available HERE.  I offered it yesterday as part of my 100th Follower celebration.  I just centred it within the frame before printing it out.
• Inside sentiment:  One I created.

Paper Products:

• Card base: Crafts Brand Cardstock, pastel green coloured--available Dollarama.
• Designer Papers:  Floral paper (front & inside)--K & C Company Designer Paper--green colours collection.  Dark green (inside)--same.

Ribbon:

• Crafts brand 1/2 inch mint green ribbon--from Dollarama.

 Challenges I hope to enter include:

• Crafter's Digital Art Centre --  Anything Goes 
• Pin & Tack--Spark Your Creativity Now Challenge -- Challenge #7:  Anything Goes
• Word Art Wednesday -- Challenge #71:  Anything Goes
• 613 Avenue Create -- Anything Goes/Optional Sketch
• Make It Monday -- Challenge #131:  Anything Goes (always)
• (Pin)spirational Challenges --  Picture Inspiration

So find that stash of green paper and haul out all your green markers OR show us your Easter cards.  Remember you have an entire month to enter at the Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog.  While you are there, please check out the great inspiration offered up from my colleagues on the DT.  We look forward to seeing what you come up with for this month's theme!   

Thank you so much for stopping by.  As I've now added to my comment section, whether you are a regular, here for the first time or popping over in your official capacity as a DT member, please know how much I appreciate the words that you leave behind.  Your encouragement helps me to become a better designer.   I try my best to reply to your comments (when an email address is available) but that is getting more and more difficult as my plate fills up with new responsibilities, new roles, and new obligations.  If I don't get the opportunity to thank you personally, know that I don't take a single comment for granted. Thank you for your understanding.

Until next time,

  

Note: I apologize if there are any formatting issues.  This is a scheduled post and we all know Blogger has a mind of it's own.  If it turns out that something looks wonky, i.e.--part of the sentence a different size, font or colour than the rest, I'll fix it as soon as I'm able to.

Picture Inspiration: A Sea of Green

If you are new to my blog and would like to know why I started Motivational Mondays, please go HERE.

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Before I get on with today's picture I just wanted to say my Firefox issue is resolved.  While trying to create this post in Chrome I became more and more frustrated as the night went on.  Not only was I having problems with fonts and sizes, it no longer allowed me to link pictures.  So I said to myself, "self if we don't figure this out soon, there is going to be a really large hole where the computer is supposed to sit."  Self agreed that wouldn't be good for any of us since we spend a significant portion of our waking hours on the Internet. So we I decided to do a search for wonky Firefox issues.  Apparently this happens a lot where suddenly pages no longer load or just parts do, and other troublesome issues occur.  There is also this really neat feature called a reset button because apparently un-installing, re-installing, etc. doesn't do the trick.  The best part is that it tries to preserve all your data, bookmarks, etc.  So I tried that and it really actually worked.  Wondering if my Blogger issues were tied into having to use Chrome, I started typing again and tried to set things with my regular font and normal size and for now things seem to be cooperating.  The only thing I've had to reinstall so far is the dictionary.  Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to have Firefox back.  So here is my question.  If Google is the author of Chrome and Blogger, why doesn't Blogger function properly in Chrome?  Things that make you say hmmmmm......

Anyways, enough about me.  It is time for another picture inspiration.  As I mentioned last month when I did this the first time, I have decided to explore different forms of motivation and inspiration.  So at least once a month during a Motivational Monday post, I will offer up a photo that will hopefully inspire you in some creative fashion.  Many challenges use pictures to help motivate their participants to create something new and unique.  I myself am often in awe of the pictures I see on my daily journey; so I've decided to share some of them with you. Maybe you will be inspired simply from the interesting colour combinations that work together or you might zone in on a specific texture. Others may see shapes and some of you may see something that no-one else does. 

One person last month actually did create a card based on the photo I displayed and she came up with a very creative interpretation.  If you are ever inspired to create something using a picture I display, I'd love to see what you come up with.  Maybe I should be creating a whole new section in the gallery.  What do you think?

Since St. Patrick's day is next weekend and spring is right around the corner a few days later, I thought that a little green was in order.  This photo taken by Marc Adamus is from Photobotos and may be displayed for viewing on websites.  If you would like to keep a copy of this particular picture, I've linked it so that it goes back to the originating site.  If you grab a copy of it to display on your own blog please just link back to the page that hosts the image and the photographer’s credits.  

So what do you see when you gaze into the depths of this picture?  What elements speak to you?  Does this picture inspire you to create something new and unique?  Let me know, I'd love to hear all about it.

Now I am off to re-edit my post for tomorrow that is riddled with editing issues because I did it before this one while working in Chrome and it would look a little strange if I tell you I got everything fixed and then you read that I'm having problems.  For those of you who have really come to know me you know I have difficulties with anything that doesn't follow the lines of logic.  So I suppose I need to make sure I do so myself.

Until next time,

Holiday Handout: Day 1

We are soooooo close to Christmas, I can almost hear the sound of reindeer hoofs on the rooftop and smell the wonderful fragrances of Christmas time.  It may still be 15 days away but those days are going to fly by much too fast for my liking.  So today I present you with a holiday handout.  I don't know exactly how many there will be so come back often to find new goodies posted as we lead up to that magical day.

Today's goody should come out roughly 3.5 in. by 3.5 in. if brought up in Photoshop or in Microsoft Publisher.  For some reason in Inkscape (the program I use to create my digital designs until I learn how to use Photoshop Essentials) it comes out as being almost 12 in. by 12 in.  Actually, when I import it into the blog and choose original size it also shows up super huge.  I honestly don't understand why the pixels of the image enlarge so much when I save it as 300 dpi.  The original design stays small but the exported png breeds exponentially.   However, that is what happens when you don't have a background in digital design and fly by the seat of your pants hoping that what you create will turn out all right somehow by the grace of God and a little luck thrown in.  Sorry, bit of a run-on sentence going on there.  Just out of curiosity, when you import the images that you download from this blog into the programs you use, are they super big too?  If anyone knows of some great sites where they have easy to understand tutorials for Photoshop Elements, I'd love to know.  Just drop me a comment or an email.  I'd be ever so thankful.

So, now for your goody:

Hope someone out there can put it to use.

The Christmas countdown continues...

Until next time,

 

Nail Design: Christmas Colours

While my nails continue their pilgrimage to sufficient design length (if you are interested in the back story click HERE), I present you with another design from last year.  It is currently posted on my personal page at the Cool Nails Art website.

Instructions:

• Start with a clear base coat to protect the nails. 
• Paint entire nail with red.
• Next paint about 1/3 of the nail with a green appropriate for the season.
• Add a stripe with a glittery gold polish painted on where the red and green meet.
• Finish with 2 coats of a good quality top coat and you have some pretty fingers all dressed up for the Christmas season.

Another pretty simple design!

Now a special surprise freebie that you will only find by actually reading this post because I'm not putting it into the labels or search parameter nor telling anyone where to find it.  It is just for those of you who took the time to read through this post.  Call it an early Christmas gift.

This paper is produced at 300 dpi and is much larger than what appears here.  Enjoy and let the countdown to Christmas begin.  Keep checking back for more goodies this week. 

Until next time,