So Sorry MIA

Yes, I have been absent for a while and will be for a bit longer so just wanted to let my faithful Followers know not to give up on me totally yet LOL

We have had to move again! Landlord/Farmer came and told us a few weeks ago that he was putting his property on the market next yr and we had to move out. Lots of bad feeling there which I will go into later but suffice to say, we found somewhere in town (which I am just about coping with), we are  lot broker and now have a loan to repay to my eldest (God bless her and her hubby for making this possible), and are trying fit a lot of stuff into a very small house.

I will be back but probably not til the end of January as I am going to Tasmania with my family after this move for a well deserved holiday!! Hang in there with me please and I promise Freebies for your patience. In the meantime, make sure you have checked the site for freebies which I haven't removed the links for yet.

Look after yourselves and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Halloween Freebies!

So are you all geared up for Halloween ? Here in Australia it certainly is becoming a more widely spread celebrated holiday, but hasn't reached us here in the middle of nowhere yet.... probably 'cos no one is willing to traverse our exceptionally long driveway LOL

I made this Kit, Flairs and Alpha some time ago but haven't offered on my Blog as a freebie for a while so thought some of my new Followers may like it. All freebies are for Personal Use Only!

 A perfect kit for scrapping Halloween pages! Now is the time to catch up on last years layouts, or... get in early for this year and create the layouts and add the photos later on!  LOL  This kit is full of gorgeous elements including a Haunted House and 2 Friendly Ghosts!

Kit contains:

6 papers - textured
2 badges
2 brads
3 charms
2 flowers
3 pagewraps
2 tags  and
heaps of spooky elements to add to your Halloween pages!  Witches and Bats and Cats... Oh My!

All files are created at 300 dpi and papers are sized for 12x12 layouts. Shadows have been added and items resized for previews only.

Links to download Kit:

4Shared:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three


Box:


Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Alpha:

An OOEY GOOEY Slimey Alpha for your Halloween layouts. This Alpha has a style applied to it that makes it Slimey and Glow-In-The-Dark. Perfect for Halloween layouts, but also for any other "ooey gooey" layouts that you create!

Alpha sized at approx 2 inches tall, but maybe resized to suit your needs.

Kit contains

26 letters, all individual PNG's
Numbers 0 - 9, all individual PNG's
Exclamation Mark
Question Mark

Link to download Alpha:

4Shared:

ALPHA

Box:

ALPHA

Flairs:

Halloween Flairs.... 20 fabulous, gorgeous Halloween Flairs just waiting to be added to your Halloween layouts as the finishing touch! Wonderfully cute costumed kids, ghosts, bats and spooky words abound these glossy buttons. They are sized at a useful 2 inches, but can easily be resized to fit in with your needs!

Kit includes

20 Buttons in PNG format.

Drop shadows on preview only
BONUS: Background paper included. Check out my "Frightfully Good Alpha" for the letters used in my Title.

Link to download Flairs:

4Shared:

FLAIRS

Box:

FLAIRS

Please come back and leave a comment if you download, it only takes a minute of your time and makes me feel good!

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

a new Freebie!!

Yes, I know, it has been ages since I offered a new freebie, but ..... finally here it is. Not sure why it has taken me so long to get one organised but time just seems to slip away really quickly of late and here we are at the beginning of October already.

Last post saw me ranting about the Loan that was taking forever to be approved. Well, we went ahead and purchased a car weeks before it finally came through (a 2001 Ford Falcon Wagon has joined the family), so then, when we were finally approved, we had to think of something else we needed... or, as it turned out, wanted!

We are now the happy owners of an iPad, which is really cool, and a 5000gal rainwater tank which is also really cool (lol) and very necessary.

I have just spent the weekend with my gorgeous grandson, Lachlan, who is as cheeky as ever and driving his parents nuts. Revenge is sweet lol

but.... this meant I could also spend some time catching up on my challenges for the month. I only tackled three and they took me a while to get through.

Firstly the Card Challenge at Paperthreads. I used Shelly's CardBase as provided and created this card digitally in PSCS6 using her SS00178 - Wedding Bliss kit as well. Appropriate as my eldest daughter and  SIL just celebrated their 7th Wedding Anniversary. Come check out the Challenge for October...

 Next I took part in the Card/Layout Challenge at Visual Designs By Chris. Ileana had supplied a template that could be used for a card or a layout, I chose a card. I also used Chris's CD00423- Trees. These are personal cutter files but I used them digitally in PSCS6 and applied styles and textures to add dimension to the various elements of my card. Another Challenge for October ...

The next layout was created using a mini kit I designed for the Colour Challenge at SkrapHappens. Tina has the most gorgeous baby girl, a photo of whom she used to create a colour palette. I used the colours given to create a kit and then scrapped this gorgeous pic of her baby.

Isn't she a cutie!

Here is the kit I created and you'll find the links below the preview. I have been out of this for so long, i just discovered, after the upload was done of course, that you have to be a member of 4Shared to download from them .... is this right ? Anyhow, just in case you have issues with 4Shared, I also uploaded to Box.

4Shared links. Password if required is "starbaby" without the formatting.

PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE

Box downloads here:


PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE

Please come back and leave a comment if you download, it only takes a second to say thanks! and I really appreciate your effort.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Scrapbook projects and stuff!

hello readers and those of you who just dropped in on the off chance I would have a new freebie for you. Sorry not this time, but soon I promise. I have been really out of it all lately. Gary suffered a really bad nose bleed a month or so ago which ended up in 8 ambulance call-outs, 2 stays in hospital and he is only just getting his strength back now after losing over 3 lts of blood. Scary hey! sure shook me, I really didn't cope well without him by my side for a week and a half, and even when he came home, it was a challenge to sleep through without worrying every time he stirred, that his nose was bleeding uncontrollably again. On top of all that trauma, the boys were on school holidays and Nicholas still worked a few days through the holidays... so I was running to and from the hospital as well as running him to and from work. I was, and am still, exhausted.

5 weeks ago we applied for a StepUp loan. Never heard of these... well this is a loan of an amount up to $3000 for a major purchase, such as a car, which we desperately need, offered at a low interest rate for 3 yrs, especially designed for people such as Gary and myself, on Centrelink payments, low income, discharged bankrupts and those that cannot get a loan through normal financial channels. We found the perfect vehicle and, as the loan approval was 2-3 wks, we told the car dealer we were interested and not to sell the car if he could avoid it. 5 weeks later, and because we cannot get a form from Community Services explaining Steve (our foster son) and the allowance we are paid, we are still waiting for approval, even though we have saved up the other $3000 for the car in the meantime. So desperate are we that we even tried money lenders, and still no success. I am so stressed right now, I completely lost it with Gary the other morning and spent the day in bed howling. Not that that did any good, just left me with sore eyes and a terrible headache. We are also waiting on reports back to reclassify Steve at a higher level of care than just a normal foster child. These are also taking weeks, instead of the days we were led to believe would be the case. I am so fed up! 

so.... are you still with me.... Thanks for letting me vent!

Chris and members of the More team at Visual Designs by Chris have a wonderful Grab Bag available this month for the great price of $7.00US .

Click on the preview to take you to the Store for this great deal. 

As a member of Chris's CT I have the privilege of working with her fantastic personal cutter files (KNK Zing   and Maxx, Cricut, Silhouette, etc) only I work with them digitally. This way I get to combine my digital scrap-booking work with personal cutter files which I can use digitally as well or mix up the two for hybrid projects. In this instance I took all of the files Chris sent me and used them digitally on my pages. I add textures and styles to the cutter files to give them added dimension, and they work perfectly.

These files are all in this months Grab Bag, so don't miss it! These are just a small sampling of the files the Bag contains. Plus, there is an Early Bird file available for quick purchases, but only for a short time.

Firstly I used CD00934 - Autumn. My favourite time of the year. The Word Art is actually a personal cutter file that I have added textures and styles to. I created this layout in Photoshop CS5.

Credits:  CD00934 - Autumn; cshneider-seq5to8S2-pg2;   wlop - Vivaldi; APD_Mystic Springs; aprilisa_Built Boy Tough; armina - April; BellaGypsy - GoOutside.

Second layout uses CD00935-Happy Halloween. In this layout the title "Happy Halloween", the Witch and the Moon are the personal cutter files. Once again I have played with them in PSCS5 and this is the result.

Credits: Shappy Princess-Holiday Sampler-Halloween; image from Internet; CD00935-Happy Halloween. 

My third layout uses CD00936 - Got Mud. The title and the ATV Quad bike are the personal cutter files in this layout. As we don't have a quad bike, the pictures for this layout came from the internet.

Credits: cap_goteam_template2; CD00936 - Got Mud; GDS_Collab_Jun12_Mr Adventurous.

My last layout uses CD00938 - Fish Fish. My hubby and my eldest love fishing, actually the youngest likes fishing too, it just isn't always practical to take him along for a day long trip. The "chipboard" boy holding his catch and the title are the personal cutter files on this layout. They look great don't they!

Credits: CD00938 - Fish Fish; GDS - Collab-0609_Catch Of The Day; cap_KeepItEven_Template 3

As you can see, personal cutter file description doesn't preclude you from using your files digitally if you wish. Sometimes, you just want to put a layout together quickly and not have to get out the card, paper and so on. Digi is sometimes the better way to go.... but unlike digital scrapbooking files, you always have the option of cutting them out on your personal cutter as well!!

For sticking with me for this long, I will promise to make a huge effort and get back here with a freebie soon. In the meantime, scroll down... some of my files are still available as I havent had the chance to remove the links yet. Check 'em out!

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

More Scrapbooking Challenges

I tackled a couple more Challenges at GDS today and here are the results.

Jun12 Collab Challenge "Mr Adventurous"

This challenge was to use the June 12 Collab kit in a layout. The kit was perfect for these photos of Lachlan playing in the leaves outside in his garden. I love the pic of him sleeping (pretending) against the tree!

Jun12 Lottery Challenge

This challenge came up with some numbers and we had to make a layout using these numbers of things. So I used 16 papers; 4 photos; 8 words; 1 ribbon, 3 felt flowers and 5 stars. This layout was also created using several different Collab kits from GDS.

Another layout using photos of Lachlan playing outside!

Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Scrapbook Challenges

I have spent the last few days head down on the computer playing with Photoshop and some digital scrapbook challenges. I haven't done this for ages and I have enjoyed it.

I am trying to do the "Scrappin' 7 Challenge" at Go Digital Scrapbooking and so far I have started the Progressive Challenge and completed three others.

Firstly, the "Less Is More Challenge" . A free mini is supplied for this challenge and my layout is of my two girlfriends and myself taken a few yrs ago. As the theme is BFFs, it seemed right!

The next Challenge was a Scraplift Challenge. I worked with some photos of my Mum and Dad's Wedding and used the GDS Nov11 Collab "As Time Goes By" . I was really pleased with the way this turned out.

original layout first, mine second.

The third challenge was a Shape Challenge, and guess what... the shape was Circles! I used my "Circle Template" and GDS Sep11 Collab "Peace At Last" . Isn't Lachlan so cute in this pic?.

The next Challenge I took part in was the Sketch Challenge at Visual Designs By Chris. This layout is also created as a  member of Chris's CT. Ileana has supplied cutter files and PSD files in two sizes for this challenge ..... for FREE! so head over there and grab your templates and personal cutter files and get creating. I have used CD00925-Corner Flourish; CD00698-May Flower; BK00428-Plant Grow Bloom; and Ileana's Sketch as provided. The digital kit is mine.

Thanks for looking,

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

New Card Template (cutter file) in time for Father's Day

This template is quite versatile I believe as it made a perfect Father's Day card for my Dad, but would be just as perfect for a gardening friend of mine. I did try to make a PSD file for this Template but it needs more work to smooth out the pixelation I seem to have got on it. If I get it sorted, I will post the download link for the PSD later on.

I have used DCWV cardstock, both glittered (spade and trowel) and textured for this card. My flower centres are brads but the cutter files are provided if you wish to use them instead. My door knob is a paper fastener and I have drawn stitching to create wood panels on the door. The grass in front of the flowers is fringed and I have curled over the edges once cut out to give some dimension. I have used CM letters on my tag, which is then attached with some string. The garden shed door is hinged and only fixed to the card via that hinge, this allows you to write a message to the recipient inside the door.

I hope you like this file, I would love to see your creations so please email me a pic (link on side of Blog).

Link to download cutter files HERE . File is provided in KNK, MTC, SVG and AI format. I have also provided a BMP (although this is only 72dpi) file of all the pieces separated for those of you who cut out by hand.

Please come back and leave a comment if you download, I appreciate them all and it does keep me encouraged to provide more freebies.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

CT Layout for VDBC and more......

It seems as though it has been forever since I posted a layout created for Chris from Visual Designs By Chris (VDBC) . Chris, and Lori of Beloved Keepsakes fame, have a QMC that has just finished and this is one of Chris's files from that collection.

I have used CD00921 - Soccer for this layout. Steve has just started playing Soccer and this week came home with the "Player of the Week" trophy and certificate. Chris's file was perfect. I have added textures and styles to the cutter files to add dimension, but this layout has also been designed to show that personal cutter files can also be used successfully to create digital scrap layouts as well as traditional paper and card.

The second layout is one I have completed for the May 2012 Sketch Challenge at VDBC Forum. For this challenge, Ileana supplied a template in layout and card sizes. I also used Lori's BK00256 - Family Reunion for this layout. This layout has also been created digitally in PSCS5 and the cutter files manipulated in the program.

Seems like I got quite a bit done today as I also completed the May 2012 Card Challenge for Paperthreads as well. Shelly provided a template and cutter files for this challenge and it is not too late to join in. This card was a lot of fun with all the hexagon shapes to play with and, although I completed it digitally, I hope to get it cut out with my KNK Maxx soon.

For this card I used Shelly's SS00240 - Card Base 11 as supplied and SS00207 - Strawberry Digi Stamp . Styles and textures were added to the cutter files to add dimension and to show that personal cutter files can also be used digitally successfully.

Thanks for looking,

have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Template Freebie

I created a template for a contest over at GoDigitalScrapBooking and this is the result. I have used GDS "Catch of The Day" Collab on my Layout.

Link to download Template HERE . Please come back and leave a comment if you download, I do appreciate them all.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

well, I am finally getting back to a more normal routine with some time on my computer! We are living in complete chaos here, the new room is wall to wall ceiling height with boxes and stuff and the veranda and shed are full as well. At least we have moved out of the old place entirely and can start getting settled in this place. One of the advantages of being here is the Internet!! We are now back on ADSL instead of Satellite YAY! and as a result, I have been able to upload a kit I created back in February and have it here for you to download today! A little late, but it does lend itself to Mother's Day coming up (here in Australia anyway) so I hope you can make use of it.

This kit was originally created for a colour challenge at Paperthreads and above is the layout I created using my kit and a cutter file by Michelle of Paperthreads WB00234 .

Links to download from 4Shared: (Password is "sweetness" without the quotes if required)

Part One
Part Two

Links to download from Box

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Box wouldn't let me upload the 2 files so I had to make them a little smaller.

Please come back and leave me a comment if you download, I have missed my Followers !

have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Absent....

So sorry to all who follow my Blog... I have been, and will be, absent for a while. A week or so ago our landlord dropped a bomb on us, giving us less than 30 days to vacate his house we are renting as he needs to offer it in a package deal to entice a new Farmhand to come and work for him and his son. This, as you can imagine, was a huge shock! Where were we to go, and how were we going to fit in all our stuff into a normal sized house !

Fortunately, he did give us a couple of names to contact and one led to us finding a small 3 bedroom farmhouse that the owners were not only willing to rent to us, but also for Gary to add on a room to the side of the house giving us a 6mt X 11mt family room, giving us some room to fit in our stuff. We also found out we have til the end of April to move out of here and so this gives us enough time to repaint the house (it had been painted burgundy suede, pink, sponged purple and splotchy yellows) and for Gary to build the extension. So..... every day we are out at the new house, cleaning and painting and measuring and building .... and after that... I am waaaaaay too exhausted to even think Card Templates.

hang in with me for a couple of months and I will be back!!

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

New freebie

I have a new Card Template freebie for you. Ileana (I Scrap Designs) has started a new Challenge at Visual Designs By Chris (VDBC) using my Card Template 33. So... don't just download the template, come over to VDBC and join us for a fun Challenge and maybe earn a prize :) I have used CD00873 - "Key To" on my card by Chris Durnan.

It was suggested that the Template could also be used to create a Layout and so that is what I did .....

Using Jan's Banner file JB00447 , I created a Happy Birthday banner to finish off my layout of our gorgeous grandson Lachlan on his first birthday! (digi kit is "Boy's Stuff and is mine) . I added styles and textures to Jan's banner files to add dimension.

Card Template is available HERE in MTC, KNK, PSD, PNG, SVG, AI and DXF format. Please leave a comment if you download, it only takes a minute of your time and encourages me to create more freebies!


Paperthreads also has a couple of new Challenges going on this month.. A new Challenge is the Colour Challenge hosted by Michelle. This Challenge gives you a colour palette and then you have to create a project using a cutter file from a Paperthreads Designer and the colours supplied. I created a digital scrapbook kit for the challenge and then used Michelle's Swirly Flower tag on my layout. I would love to share my digi kit, but unfortunately I cannot get it to upload. I have tried 4Shared, Mediafire and Box. I even signed up for FileDropper and still no luck. So ...... you may have to wait a little longer for that file. In the meantime, here is my layout created using the kit.

Even though the subjects are boys, the kit colours went really well with what the boys were wearing so I went with it. The title is written on Michelle's file which is not included in my kit. I had added styles and textures to the cutter files to add dimension.

Here is a preview of "Candied", my newest kit.

The other challenge is a Card Challenge hosted by Shelly. This is using my Card Template 32, available below (scroll down for link) and as I had already created a card, I decided to create a Layout with this template as well. Here is the result. I have used Shelly's Spring Splendor - SS00085 and Carrie's CS00048 - Ballons for this layout. I have added styles and textures to the cutter files to add dimension. Once again layout created in PSCS5.

This is a photo of Lachlan enjoying a "Cake Smash" with what was left of his birthday cake. After he had finished playing and stuffing his face, he just upt and crawled off to the bath.... so cute!

Thanks for looking, don't forget to download Card Template 33.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

New layout for VDBC

I have finally found some time to make a couple of digital scrapbook layouts. The first layout is for the Sketch Challenge currently being run at Visual Designs by Chris and The More Team. Ileana has provided a Sketch Template and this is what I created with it.

These are photos of Gary's Father's Day Dinner 2011, which was probably the most indulgent meal I have ever created and was YUMMY! The frame is Ileana's IR00178, her files can be found HERE . The scrap kit is mine.... "Cookin' Up A Storm" .

The second layout is for Chris in my capacity as a member of her CT . Chris creates the most amazing files and I am so lucky to be on her Team. This particular file came from her last QMC which is a membership run every few months providing you with more than 20 files for the tiny sum of $10. This layout uses CD00910 - 2012 year of The Dragon, which is so new it isn't in the Store yet!

The photos are of a Bearded Dragon that frequents our yard at times. This one was quite happy to pose on the branch for some photos and seemed perfect to compliment Chris's file.

The cutter files have had styles and textures added to them to add dimension, the kit is mine, "Autumn Breezes" . Designed to show that personal cutter files can be used digitally very successfully!

Thanks for looking

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Finally.... a new Freebie

well, what a month! we have been to Adelaide visiting family, had three lots of visitors here, celebrated Christmas til it's almost Easter (and Easter Eggs are on the shelves here) and I finally have a moment to post on my Blog. I haven't lost any Followers over my absence, thank to those of you willing to stick with me!

Can you believe we have had about 5 Christmas celebrations with various members of the family and not a single photo! Our first Christmas with Steve and still not a single pic. I think I just got tired of the ongoing presents, food and so on, and Nicholas stayed behind in Adelaide for a week, then went camping for a week, so we were never all together to celebrate properly either. I will do better next year !. I swear I have put on the weight I lost and I feel so blah!

ewwww! temporary distraction as I kill a spider that just dropped on my computer .....

 I have a new Card template freebie for you at long last. i feel as though I haven't cut anything on my KNK for ages.... wait... it has been ages LOL

I have used CardStock by DCWV and paper from Crafters Choice. I have highlighted the scalloped mat and the buttons with Dimensional Magic and I used Kindy Glitz on the wings and accents of the Butterfly. Buttons are from Birch.

This card uses Shelly's 3D Butterfly from Paperthreads in the centre, but lends itself to other cutter files or a digital/rubber stamp. maybe a great big flower or a heart for Valentines.

Link to download Card Template 32 HERE . This Template is available in PNG, AI, KNK, MTC, PSD, SCUT2 and SVG . Please come back and leave a comment if you download, it only takes a minute and I appreciate them all.