What's going on

Hi,
I'm sorry I don't have the filter challenge ready. Infact i writing to let you know I won't be posting until Jan. But don't worry I plan on coming back full force! I just have too much going on right now, two birthday parties to plan and christmas. I also want to organize all my non digital pictures and convert them to digital. So if you have any suggestions on that i'd love to hear it.
Also have alot of decluttering to do in my home. I stayed up till 3am on thanksgiving cleaning and organizing my playroom! What a change! Its so nice to go in there now. I also went through my boys room and removed three laundry baskets of toys! They both have birthdays coming and christmas. We are begging friends and family not to get toys! They like bath bubbles and super hereo shirts which are alot easier to find a place for than toys. I don't have anything against toys just too many of them kwim?
My dh grandma has her 3rd chemo treatment next friday. She's been struggling but hanging in there. We are a little worried though because she said she's not sure she can handle one more treatment. On the same day the Dr's will be running a bunch of test to see how the cancer is doing. I guess the life expectancy with the type of cancer she has is 18-24 mos in good cases, so were pretty upset about that. But we are praying that God will give her strength to hang in there. Mostly that he will give her comfort. She has fibromyalgia on top of the cancer so she is in pain most days.
I will be going with my sister on sat for an all day scrap. Since I don't do traditional I will be using that time to organize my photos. I will also be working on a framing project. I love having more than one Christmas tree(usually do two). Last year I got an idea for tree #3, a heritage Christmas tree. I want to put framed black and white photos all over the tree of our ancestors then a photo of my kids from each year. I'll only be doing one tree this year though, between the dog and my nine month old one tree will be more than I can handle keeping an eye on. My dog will put anything in his mouth that doesn't move and well if my little girl is anything like her brothers at that age most of my ornaments will end up at the top of the tree. LOL.
Well enough rambling... I may stop back before the year ends and you may find me in a forum from time to time. I will still be checking my email so please feel free to drop me line.

Happy Holidays! See you next year!

FILTER FRIDAY CHALLENGE - CUTOUT And Layout

click on photos to enlarge

Filter Friday again! This week the filter is cutout. I think this filter is pretty cool. It gives photos a cartoon or artsy look.

You can find this filter under filters, artistic, cutout.

After clicking on cutout you have three adjustments to choose from, number of levels, edge simplicity and edge fidelity. You may need to play with these to get the desired effect.

My original photo

Here's a layout I created using my before and after photos.

Journaling reads:

Lilacs are one of my most favorite flowers.The color and fragrance invigorate me. When we moved into our house a little over three years ago I started collecting them.I currently have 9 different varieties and I’m adding more every year. Can’t wait til spring to see these beauties again!

Credits: Everything is created by me. The font is florabetic

Want to join the challenge? Jump in anywhere any time time. Try the filter out if you like to share your masterpieces leave us a link in the comment section for that filter.

Have a great weekend!

PSE FILTER FRIDAY CHALLENGE - EMBOSS

click on photos to enlarge

This week we are trying out our emboss filters. Here is a lo I made. I used the emboss filter on the pink and blue photos.

LO credits: paper and stitching from Emma part 5 by Amy W. Designs.

Journaling strips are from the harvest spice kit by Shabby Princess.

Fonts: Charlie, do i like stripes, eight fifteen

Before I start I just want to note I don't claim to be a filter expert. There are many different ways to use the filters this is one way to get you started.

You can find the emboss filter under filter, stylize, emboss.

Once there you can decide the angle, height and amount of embossing.

I'm not that crazy with what you end up with.

I removed all color. For those of you who don't know how to do this go to enhance, adjust color, remove color. It took me a few weeks to find that when I first got pse. I couldn't believe there was no way to make a photo black and white until i found that button. You can also do this by going to enhance, adjust color, color variations, then click the circle that says saturation, desaturate to your liking.

I then changed the color of my photo by adjusting the color. You do this the same way you would to remove color but click on midtones instead of saturation. You can also change the color by adjusting the hue and saturation. Find it under enhance, adjust color, adjust hue and saturation. You will need to make sure colorize is checked.

After I removed and added color I ended up with this.

The emboss filter can also be used for sharpening photos. Here is a link I found on that.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=20935431

Want to join the challenge? Its easy, just try the filter out for yourself then post a photo or lo using your photo on your blog or gallery. then simply leave us a comment with a link so we can check it out. There are no deadlines jump in whenever you'd like!

Hummie's Themed Thurday - Comfort

click on photo to enlarge

I wasn't sure what how to do my lo at first. I looked at Hummie's and hers was about the comfort of wine. Which made me realize I don't really do anything to comfort myself.

When I think of comfort the first thing that comes to my mind is my bed! lol But I couldn't take a picture of that because then I have to make it (something I rarely do...sad but true) and my husband was already in it. Before I had kids cups of tea and long soaks in the tub were so comforting to me. Now thats a luxury I can rarely afford. (time wise i mean).

Anyway I needed to dig a little deeper and that is how I came up the journaling.

Journaling reads:

I find great comfort in the truth of God’s word. Knowing that all my needs and my family’s will be met. In mark 6:25-34 he tells us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, or wear. He already knows what we need. And if we seek him first and his righteousness all these things will be given to us. He also says do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Isn’t that the truth! We have been greatly blessed by the Lord. I am so thankful for all he has given to me the good and the bad. All my experiences made me the person I am today. While I believe I am still a work in progress, it is comforting to know that God is always with me. If I should stumble and fall or should I fall flat on my face he is always there to hold my hand and lift me back up. Amen for that!

Fonts used: papyrus, georgia, missed your exit

Birthday Invites

Sorry I never got around to the filter challenge for last week. I got side tracked making invites for my son Joshua's birthday party. He is so into batman. I thought it would be fun to really personalize his cards so he did a little photo shoot for me in his costume. He is so excited! I used pse filter cutout to give him a cartoon look. For the background I used a coloring page found at http://www.coloring-book.info/coloring/coloring.php?id=4863 .

I created the bat from a font called batben and filled in the letter.

Other fonts used: Georgia, house sitter

I plan getting a photo cake made. I am working on a design now as soon as its on the cake I'll post a picture.

Thanks for stopping by!

Beware of the spider man web shooters

Spider man web shooters make great gifts...not so much.

I had to take myself and the kids to get flu shots today. I made a deal with my boys (2 and 4)if they did a good job I'd get them both the spider man web shooters they've been wanting. Well they did such a great job! I was so pleased. They wanted to give my two year old a shot in the leg because usually that is easiest for them at that age. But I had talked to him about it all week about getting it in the arm and he already decided which arm he wanted. So that's what they did and he didn't even flinch! what a tough guy. My oldest was very hesitant but he did it and needed a little hug and gave a little whimper when it was over. hehe

So back to the web shooters...first they cost more than I thought they would. I don't know why i thought they would be around $15. they weren't. One was $26.99 the other was $27.99. Not exactly what i was planning on spending...but i made a deal. They are pretty cool and the web is similar to silly string. I realized right away that this is a toy that must have adult supervision at all times. lol I gave them a special place to use it, one that would be easy to clean up. One came with a water squirter and a dart thrower, the other came with a reversible mask. My oldest used up his web string in about 5 mins flat. He then continued to beg and plead to use his brothers because he still had some left. I told him no. I leave the room for 5 mins to find out my oldest got a hold of his brothers web shooter and sprayed his entire bedroom and closet with it. If you've ever dealt with silly string you have some idea of what a mess this can be. I spent the next 45 mins give or take, trying to shake,sweep and scrape this stuff up. While the boys sure had fun with this toy. It's totally not worth the mess or money. the cans last 5 mins maybe a little longer if your kids aren't spraying it constantly. The refills are around $8. So unless you like throwing money in the garbage I wouldn't recommend it.

So after the doctor appointments and web shooter fiasco I've had no time to get the filter challenge in order. My niece (8) is coming for a visit tonite. we are having a beauty nite,manicures,pedicures and facials. I will do my best to get the filter challenge on tomorrow...
Have a great weekend!

Hummie's Themed Thurday - work

Here is my lo for Hummie's themed thursday's this week.

I also wanted to let you know that I probably won't be posting much for a while. I will still try to do hummie's themed thursdays and filter fridays. But other than that I won't be around much.

Life has just gotten too busy and I am so far behind. I have not been motivated to design at all. Partly from lack of sleep. Since my oldest started school it seems like someone is always sick and waking up all through the nite. Right now my littlest one is sick and her poor nose is running like a faucet. Lack of sleep usually doesn't bother me so I stay up til 1 or 2 in the morning to get stuff done. But I can only do that for so long before getting burned out. Well I'm burned out and the little ones are not sleeping at all So I'm taking a little break.

We also got some bad news about a month ago. My husband's grandma found out she has cancer (she's 80 something). The doctors are not sure what kind it is yet but it's pretty much through out her entire body and bones. So the outlook is not so good. Her daughter (dh's mom) will be flying in on Wednesday to see her and our family for at least three weeks...

I will be back tomorrow for Filter Fridays...

Hummie's Themed Thurday - Dots

This is my layout for Hummie's Themed Thursday this week. The theme is dots so I this layered template by ScrapTwelveCreations.

The super cute papers and elements are from Happy Scrap Girl! She has just completed her first kit called Little Pumpkin. You can find it in her shop at scrapmatters here.

16,435 and counting

Believe it or not that's how many digital pictures I've taken since my first child was born almost five years ago and its still not enough! I have no idea how many pictures the rest of you take but would be interested to know. I think that's quite a few but most are not what some might call the "money shot" But I couldn't bear to part with one. My older two do not sit or stand still for long so I have quite a few that are the side and back of the head shots. lol




I forgot to add something to the treats no tricks kit. A little ribbon if you want it you can download it from 4shared here.

Have a great day!

New kit and a freebie!

I've completed my trick or treat kit! Decided to call it Treats No Tricks and its a mini kit with bonus alpha.

Its on sale for $1.49 for one week only! You can find it in the shop here.

You can also pick up a quick page freebie to go with it.

Download here

I have a few other sales in the store my Shabby Autumn reg $4.99 on sale for $2.99! and October Morning on sale for $3.99.







Find these and all my other designs at Digital Scrapn Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

In case you missed the FREEBIE

You can grab it here

It coordinates with my latest kit October Morning. You can grab the kit or just the papers.

Find these and my other kits a Digital Scrapn Designs here

Special thanks to my pal HSG for adding me to her list! Thank You!

Stop by the gallery and post your layouts we love to see what you create!

http://www.digitalscrapn.com/gallery/

FILTER FRIDAY CHALLENGE!

Today we are working with the pse photocopy filter. Which I happen to use quite a bit. I like to make coloring pages with them for my kids. We create coloring books using pictures taken with friends or family for gifts. They're always a huge hit! Another fun thing to do with coloring pages is to add you and/or your childs photo to other coloring pages. There are tons of free coloring pages online with super heroes, elmo etc. I run the filter on a photo then add it to a premade page. You can add your own text to create your own personalized book (for personal only use I would think). Ok enough rambling...

You can find the filter under filter, sketch, photocopy. You do need to choose both background and foreground colors. I choose black and white because I want to print my photo as a coloring page.

After the filter is selected you have the option to adjust the detail and darkness of the photo.

Here is my before photo of my boys hitting the arcade on our trip.

My after photo and boys latest coloring page

I decided to try it out in color because I don't normally do that. Here is what I got.

Wanna join the challenge? Simply try it out for yourself and if you'd like to share your photo or layout using this filter simply leave us a link in the comment section.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

New Kit is in the store! and a freebie

The new kit is in the store at Digital Scrapn Designs!! I thought I was never going to finish! You can find out all the details here.

I also have a little freebie that coordinates with the kit

sorry freebie expired

New Challenges in the forum

The forum is growing at Digital Scrapn Designs
Maneater has posted 2 new challenges and the latest is quick element challenge. Check out the link below for more info.

http://digitalscrapn.com/forums/index.php?topic=50.0

Lori has added a lot of great new items to the store. Check it out here.
I decided to add a few more items to my October morning kit and I'm just wrapping up the trick or treat kit. So stay tuned...

Filter Friday Challenge - Crystallize

Crystallize is the pse filter of the week. You can find it under filter, pixelate, crystallize.

This filter is pretty easy to use. Simply adjust the cell size and click ok.

My photo before

click photo to enlarge

After

click photo to enlarge

So try if out for yourself. And if you'd like to share your creation with us please feel free to leave a link in the comments section of this post.

I'm back kind of

We'll I'm back from our trip. We were actually only gone for about three days but I just have been able to get back into the swing of things. We had a great time! It was so hard to leave.

I will try to stop back later today with the filter challenge and more!

We're going on a mini vacation!!!!

We are going on a spur of the moment trip to a water park resort in the WI Dells for a little r&r. I'm so excited I can't wait! Been couped up in this house too long. The boys are so excited to swim and they always have a blast when we go. Of course I really don't want to be seen in a bathing suit considering I had a baby this year...but I think most moms feel that way. I don't care I'll just try to suck it in as best I can. lol

Anyway I don't have a laptop so I will be offline until we return and are settled back in.

Have a great week!

Rachel

Its Filter Friday!!!! Accented Edges

Its that time of the week again! We are trying out accented edges this week for the Filter Friday Challenge. I had fun playing around with this filter. No need to choose background or foreground colors. You can find this filter under filters, brush strokes, accented edges.

From there you can adjust the edge width, brightness and smoothness.

My before photo

After using medium brighness and very smooth about 10-12.

After using dark edges and smoothness about 10-12.

So go ahead and try it for yourself. If you would like to share what you came up with leave a comment with a link to your photo or layout.
Have a great weekend!

Hummie's Themed Thursday-Star

My layout for Hummie's Themed Thursday. This week's theme is star.

credits: I used stars by designing on the edge. fonts are freebooter script and perpetua.

Generic vs. Genuine Ink that is

When it comes to shopping I must admit I'm a cheapo. Actually I prefer to call myself frugal but that could be subjective. Anyway, I have been using generic ink for years and love it. Occasionally I would end up with bad one but considering the cost is about a third or less than brand names I could live with that. I tried a few different generic brands and found one I could rely on. Well here's where my problem starts. I ran out of ink a few months ago and still haven't bought any. My one year old printer was discontinued at some point in the last year making it harder to find. Also I really don't print many pictures for myself. I like looking at my pictures on the computer just fine. I print a few here and there to frame and the rest go to friends and family. Well when my last child was born 8 months ago I sent out birth announcements using my generic ink and the quality was amazing. Well about six months later some of those have faded. So this leads me to believe that generic ink is not the way to go. But some of them still look beautiful so could it have been the paper? I have no idea. But i really don't feel like paying $60 for genuine ink refills.
So I have a few questions for you.
Do you use generic or genuine when you print from home?
Do you prefer to go out for prints or order online?
Do you think the paper makes a difference?

Thanks have a great day!

I'm still alive

Hi
I'm still alive!!!! I spent the weekend trying to get caught up with a few things around my house. I also spent some time working on my flower beds. I have a little over ten so that's going to take a while. I also tried to relax a little. My 8 month old is upset with me right now because I wont let her play with the electrical outlet. What a mean mom huh? And my dog just threw up on my couch. So I'm having one of "those" days. Thinking of my couch reminds me of when we first bought it before we had children. Everyone wanted to know why we choose such a light color if we wanted to have kids. We just laughed and said they'll just have to eat at the table. Well I think everyone's laughing at us now. Its been almost 5yrs since our first child was born and throw in a pup who thinks everything is a chew toy and that couch is about ready for the curb. But that wont be happening anytime soon. Nothing new until the kids are much older. lessoned learned. lol!

I've completed my latest kit October Morning and plan to have that in the store in the next few days or so. One of my girlfriends stopped by yesterday. She wants me to design some birthday invites for her daughter's golden birthday. So I'll post a few pics of that when I'm done. Also working on my trick or treat kit hope to have that completed soon. Just have to find the time this place has been a zoo lately!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

The picture is my oldest son Jacob's latest creation from preschool.

Friday Filter Challenge-Rough Pastels

This week I'm challenging you to try out your rough pastel filter. You can find it under filters, artistic, rough pastels.

From there you have options to adjust the stroke length, detail, texture, scaling and relief.

My before photo

Hope you are enjoying the challenge. I know I've been having fun trying out filters I wouldn't normally use.

Wanna join the challenge? Jump in wherever and whenever you want. There are no deadlines. Simply try the filter for yourself and then leave us a comment with a link to your photo or layout using the filter of the week.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hummie's Themed Thurday - Joy

My layout for Hummie's Themed Thursday. This week is joy. I choose to use a picture of some blue hyacinths from my garden last spring. They are one of my most favorites flowers. The color and the fragrance are so beautiful. They were also my grandma's favs. She was such a joy to be around and a sweetie. I miss her. I created the effect by playing with the lighting highlights and shadows. Eventually I'd like to add her photo too. I only have a few and they're tucked away in a box somewhere...
I'm going to attempt Moms and munchins today. Its a group at church for moms and kids. The kids get to play while the moms watch a video and fellowship. My two youngest are pretty clingy so not sure how well that's going to fly. Wish me luck!

Have a great day!
Rachel

Catching up... Hummie's Themed Thursday-read

Finally getting caught up here. This is my lo for Hummie's themed Thursday for last week. I used papers from my shabby autumn kit. The green ppr is a recolour. Font is georgia.
Ok on my way to make the one for this week.

A little preview

Just thought I'd give you a teeny tiny preview of a few papers from the kit I'm working on. Just have a few more elements to create and I should be finished! Also have a trick or treat kit in the works. Hopefully I can get that done before Halloween! Thats all I have time for now.

Have a nice day!

Ramblings and my verse for the week

As things have gotten pretty busy lately its nice to stop for a moment and reflect. I love putting verses that "speak" to me on scrapbook pages. Its eaiser to read than my hand writing lately. lol And when ever I need a quick bible fix all I have to do is click my mouse and read some of my pages. This verse is a great reassurance to me as a scramble through my day trying to do 5o million things at once and never doing anything well. I feel so much better when I remember yes God is with me. He is the one who gives me strength and he will help me. And when I think I just cant do anymore he will lift me up and probably tell me rest.

I went through and posted the Friday Filter Challenges for October and November. Lots of fun ones. Stop by on Friday to check em or join in!

A New lay out

I finally got a chance to scrap. So here's a lo with the photo from my latest filter challenge glowing edges. I've been having a lot of fun trying different things with the filters and finding out what works and what doesn't. I will try to post tomorrow with next month's list of filters. Gotta go I've got to get to bed at a decent hour for once!

Have a great day!

Journaling reads

The moment your big brother headed off to school you had to try out the new skateboard. It is so enjoyable watching you do your “tricks”. At only two years old you are quite the daredevil! so energetic and full of life.

fonts used: bungnipper, earwig factory, oedipa, adobe carlson pro

FILTER FRIDAY CHALLENGE - GLOWING EDGES

Its Friday again! That means its time for the Friday PSE Filter Challenge! This week we are using the glowing edges filter. You can find it under filters, stylize, glowing edges.

Here is my original photo

There is no need to choose foreground or background colors for this filter. Once you have your layer selected choose glowing edges. You will receive a screen with options for adjusting the edge width, brightness and smoothness. When your satisfied click ok.

Here is my end result

I had a lot of fun playing with this filter and was rather suprised by the results.

Want to join the challenge? Leave a comment with a link to your photo.

Remember there are no deadlines! Jump in whenever you want!

Have a great weekend!