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Survey says…

So, I’d like to get a little feedback from y’all about digital layered templates. I’ll ask a few questions, and if you leave a comment with a few answers, I’ll enter you in another drawing for $10 of pcpurse to purchase some awesome digital products from pcLayers.com (including 7gypsies, Tinkering Ink, and Karen Foster designs…all exclusive to pcLayers!) So…here goes:

1. Do you know what a digital layered template is?
2. Do you know how to use one?
3. Which would you mostly use: 12×12, 8×8, or 8.5×11 templates?
4. Which would you mostly use: multi-photo, or single photo templates?
5. Which would you mostly use: single page, or double page templates?
6. Have you ever had a digital album printed online by a service like shutterfly?

Thanks so much for your time and comments. I really appreciate it! Have a great week, and I’ll be back later with a family update for July.

Vote tally, WINNER, and CHA!!

So, I wrote down everyone who voted, put them all in a cup, and picked a random winner from the lovely voters and that winner would be….severts5!!! Congrats, you’ve won $10 of pcpurse to purchase any digital item(s) on pcLayers.com. Please email me at dosdallda@juno.com and I’ll get you your money!

Thanks so much to all who voted!! I really appreciate all of you leaving comments and taking the time to vote. Sorry if I’m not able to respond to everyone, but it means so much to me that you take the time to comment. Obviously, the winner was design #2, and I surely trust all of your collective design sense, so number 2 it shall be!! Thank you.

NOW…I finally have some photos and a report from the amazing trip I took to CHA in Chicago last weekend. I’ve been swamped with DT stuff and getting some things ready for submission, but I finally have a moment and will share a brief travelogue. I arrived mid-morning on Friday to the show and went straight to the Provo Craft booth (which, by the way, was the busiest booth I saw at the show anyway). Just a side note…I design for Provo Craft’s digital branch, pcLayers…in case ya didn’t know. 😉 Made a couple adorable tinkerbell and hello kitty make-n-takes for my girls, and then met the lovely ladies in this photo for lunch. These ladies are, from the left, Emily, Christine, and Paula. We hang at 2peas together (Paula, Emily, and I hang at Simple together, too. Paula and I hang at designer digitals, too.) They were sweet enough to let me walk the floor with them after lunch (and most of the weekend), beginning with a trip to the CK Media booth to meet some Simple editors and Simple gals, which was very fun and made me slightly giddy…kind of like high school or something. I just LOVE Simple Scrapbooks Magazine, and am thrilled to have a project in 4 out of their 6 issues this year. I’d LOVE to keep that ball rolling.

Anyway, we four spent a lot of time walking the floor together and I’m thinking next year I’ll do this and this. That’s Emily’s oh so smart rolling tote, and some very comfortable happy feet belonging to Celeste (a rockin’ Simple Gal who is so much fun) and Wendy (also from designer digitals…love her and her stuff!)

Saturday night I attended the 2peas social and met some more wonderful and talented ladies. I was so happy to finally meet Rachel, from the pcLayers design team at the Thermo web booth, and I loved seeing Becky again who used to be pcL, but has a great gig at Cornish Heritage Farms, and has got some fab things going on there. Miss ya Becky! Fellow peas, Celeste and Paula. And a phenomenally close up shot of Emily, myself, and Becky. I met so many sweet and talented people from various online communities. I’m sure I’ll forget some, but just had to say how friendly and fun the CO girls were (hi Mary Kay, Houston, and Christyn!), and Janet, Wendy, Dina, Alexandra, Pattie…so many more…sorry if I haven’t listed all of you, but I really enjoyed meeting everyone and had a blast!

As far as product goes, some lines that caught my eye were (don’t have pics for most of these):
Eco Chic line by Sonburn Designs
October Afternoon
American Crafts new thickers and flair
Crate Paper
Little Yellow Bicycle halloween line
KI Memories Sheer Delights…wow…I want them all!!
And…of course the new Basic Grey lines which Celeste Rockwood-Jones designed are amazing, as is everything she does.Making Memories Paperie line…Natalie Malan worked on these, and they are awesome.She’s an amazing artist that designs for pcLayers…so is Celeste R-J. Love my pcL girls!!
Well, that’s all…probably more than you wanted to know. But I had a great time and it was so fun to meet some neat people in the “biz” and see the new products.

Let’s take a vote!

Wow…I’ve blogged like every day this week! I must have really missed it while I was on vacation. Okay, this will be the last one for at least a week! =)

So…I’ve been trying to come up with a “logo” type thing that could serve as both a watermark for photos and layouts I post online, and as a design logo for my templates and such. (If there ever is any “such”.) I thought I’d get your opinions about which one you like better. I tried to keep them very graphic and simple, which is really at the heart of my design philosophy. So tell me which one you prefer.
Design 1 Or design 2
Everyone who posts a comment will be entered into a random drawing for $10 of pcpurse to use for purchasing any pcLayers.com product. Now go vote!! =)

June family update (and early July)

Wow! We’ve had a full and fun month! I’ll start with a run down of regular life, and then I’ll give a recap of our 2 weeks in Utah. We all enjoyed a trip to the dentist (more on that later). The kids and I have kept busy going to free summer movies at the local theater, library reading program/shows, the waterpark, and at home the kids love to jump on the trampoline with the sprinklers on. They also love to sleep together in the double beds on the bottom of their bunkbeds every night.

Derek
1. He attended a bit of scout camp and was subject to stinky silly boys’ pranks, but had a great time.
2. He got a new laptop from work which has come in handy (especially since it has photoshop cs 3..wink, wink).
3. He got a manuscript accepted for publication…woo hoo!!
4. He celebrated Father’s Day by deciphering the boys’ secret codes to figure out we were first going to see “Nim’s Island”, and then to dinner at O’Charley’s.
5. He celebrated his birthday with a bishopric pool party at the bishop’s house. His combined birthday/Father’s Day present was a GPS, which he loves.

Aly
1. I went to substitute teacher training and got my certificate.
2. I spent a night at Girls’ Camp and sang at sunrise service.
3. I was invited to be on the creative team for a new digi scrapping website (angelhartline.com) Cute stuff…check it out!!
4. I had a Halloween layout accepted for publication by a magazine I’ve never been published in (Better Homes and Garden’s Scrapbooks, Etc.)
5. I was released as primary president and asked to serve as primary chorister and stake music chairperson.

James
1. He lost another tooth.
2. He has been making waffles or pancakes for breakfast almost all by himself lately.
3. He and Jeffrey are sharing a new bike we got until we can find a good deal on another their size.
4. He spearheaded a “making father’s day gifts” project for the kids.
5. He bought and read “Queste” since he couldn’t find it at any library in the area.

Jeffrey
1. He and James got to attend cub scout day camp, which they enjoyed. (I got to spend two days with them.)
2. He finished reading Harry Potter #6.
3. He lost 2 teeth in one evening.
4. He has been taking Melatonin to help him calm down and get to sleep, which has helped a lot.
5. We attended a free ice skating party for the library program, and I was very proud of Jeffrey for sticking with James and some other boys from school, especially with how shy he is in social situations.

Ashley
1. She had a playdate with her friend from school, Savannah.
2. She read some Josephina books from the American Girl series.
3. Sadly, she has a cavity and will get it filled tomorrow.
4. She was also stung twice by a wasp while pruning a honeysuckle vine on the mailbox.

Lexie
1. She attended a Build-A-Bear birthday party for her friend, Meagan, from church. Meagan’s mom made clothes for all the girls’ bears–very impressive way to save money.
2. She’s SO excited about starting school next month…I’m not.
3. Unfortunately, she and Ashley have had a hard time getting along sometimes this summer. Hopefully it’s a phase they’ll grow out of soon.

Quick vacation recap:
1. We spent a few days staying with Derek’s parents in Springville before heading up to his family reunion weekend at Bear Lake, UT. Although a bit cramped and crazy with 60 people in 3 condos, we had a wonderful time and are so blessed with such wonderful families. Highlights include: delicious meals, Dosdall Olympics, Dosdall Idol, jet skis, beach time, swimming, mini-golf, family photos, family clues, and late night games/talking. WAY TOO MUCH FUN!
2. Monday we drove over to Park City for my family reunion.
Highlights include: swimming, “cruising” Main Street on foot and by trolley, crafts, tye dye t-shirts, lunch with Grandpa, star gazing, alpine slide and coaster, fourth of July parade and fireworks, and riding the cabriolet at the Westgate resort.
3. On Saturday after my reunion, we drove to Heber City for my Mom’s extended Derrick family reunion. We lunched at McD’s and saw “Wall-E” with my brother and sister and their families. I had to introduce my family to Granny’s famous thick shakes as well. My aunt Debbie hosted the reunion at her home and at the pavillion/playground in her subdivision. We enjoyed catching up with some of my cousins I haven’t seen for years while the kids played and launched bottle rockets.
4. We stayed a few more days with Derek’s sister, Ann, and his parents. The kids loved playing with their cousins and we enjoyed visiting with Derek’s family. Grandma, Grandpa, and Jeannie accopanied Derek and the kids on a little hike/picnic and then met cousins at Jumpin’ Jacks while I enjoyed lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Murray with my pcLayers girls whom I finally met IRL for the first time! SO FUN!! Between Derek’s and my families, there are probably about 80 people. Out of that 80, we got to see 77…not bad at all. We sure love our families and are so grateful for all they did to make this trip possible and so much fun! That’s more than enough for now…ciao!!

Unsharp mask and high pass filter

So I promised my sisters-in-law that I would show them how to sharpen photos using an unsharp mask and a high pass filter, so here goes! (Ann, Sharon, Teresa, Kristen, and whoever else wants to know…this is for you!)Before starting, I thought I would let you know that I do all of these edits before I crop so that I can work with as many pixels as possible:

1. First adjust levels and color as desired.
2. Next, click on FILTERS>SHARPEN>UNSHARP MASK. Plug in the following numbers: “Amount” between 50-60%, “Radius” between 10-20 pixels, “Threshold” 1 level. Play around with the numbers until you like the look, click “OK”.
3. Go to your layers palette and right click on the blue rectangle next to your photo. Select “Duplicate” then click “OK”.
4. Click on FILTER>OTHER>HIGH PASS. Move the slider to about 3.0 pixels, give or take a few tenths depending on the contrast in the photo. Click “OK”.
5. Now go back to your layers palette and click on the layer blending drop down menu (it says “normal”). Select “overlay”.
6. Now click on LAYER>MERGE DOWN. Crop as desired.

Enjoy your nice sharp crisp photo!

We’re back!!

Well, we’re back from our 2-week vacation! We had a great time and we’ll post a report and family update as soon as we get unpacked and do some laundry. (Yep…back to life.) Here’s a page I cranked out this morning…couldn’t help it…2 weeks without scrapping, yikes! I love Ali Edwards’ new digital products at designerdigitals.com. That photo is from the fireworks show we watched in Park City. I used the fireworks setting on my camera and a tripod…really helped to get some good shots. Can’t wait to scrap more!

I created the word art on the photo in photoshop by creating several text boxes with different words using the same font (Arial). But…I changed several things about the font: size, opacity, italics, bold, kerning (space between the letters), caps, lowercase, etc. Then I merged them all together by simplifying, or rasterizing, the type layers so I could edit the word art as a single layer. Give it a try!

Island Adventure, and…buh-bye!

So, this is where we hang out once a week this summer–Splash Beach at the Alabama Adventure theme park. Had to do a layout about it of course, b/c it’s become such a part of our summer lives. Used this adorable summery “Island Adventure Elements” kit by Angel Hartline. She just launched her own digital designs website and you must check out her stuff…love it! I also did this layout based on a sketch from a Debbie Hodge class that I won for free. She teaches online scrapbooking classes and is a great teacher…I highly recommend her!

So…with that I leave you to ponder for a few weeks. We’ll be out of town so I won’t be blogging ’til we get back. Enjoy your summer and happy scrapping!!

GLITTER & BUTTERFLIES…

…what more could a scrapbooker ask for?? I’m lovin’ all the butterfly scrapbooking products out there right now. And how could a girl NOT love a little glitter? So, I combined the two in this page! (Click on the layout for a closer look at the glitter.) That photo was taken while we were in the backyard jumping on the tramp with the sprinklers on. The little guy kept landing on Ashley’s thumb, flying away, and coming back to the same place over and over again. Needless to say, she was amazed. The background paper on this layout is by Lynn Grieveson, the stitching holes and staple are by Katie Pertiet (both from designerdigitals.com); the patterned paper and butterfly brush are by Celeste Rockwood-Jones, the glitter layer style (releasing tomorrow) is by Natalie Malan , and the tag is from the 7gypsies Reef kit (all from pcLayers.com).

FREEBIE FRIDAY!!

Happy Summer, y’all!! I’ve got another free template/sketch for your enjoyment. It’s based on the paper page above. This page was a runner up in Cathy Zielske’s National Scrapbooking Day contest over at the Simple Scrapbooks blog. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
For you paper scrappers, to achieve the semi-decorative edges on this page, use your wave shapped scissors or cutting tool and only cut into parts of the edges. With scissors you can angle your tip away from the page where you want to stop cutting. For you digi scrappers, once you print your finished page, use your scissors to cut the waves of the background paper to get the same effect. Enjoy, and link me up if you give it a try!

Tuesday Tutorial!!

I made this page using the delicious new Flutter kit (available tomorrow in the store) by the amazingly talented Celeste Rockwood-Jones over at pcLayers.com. I just LOVE the butterflies, and the stunning colors in this kit! So cute!! Anyway…I thought I’d share a tutorial with you on how to create the patterned paper waves in the layout. (Click on the screenshot to see an enlarged version of it.)
First you’re going to open a 12×12 white canvas. Create a new layer (in PS Layer>New>Layer). Use your rectangular marquee tool in the toolbar to drag out a thin verticle strip. Then right click on it and select “fill”–any color’s fine.
Now we’re going to make the strip wavey by using a shear filter. Click on Filter>Distort>Shear. A box with a grid should appear like so: To create the wave, you’re going to click and drag on the verticle line in alternating directions at even intervals. I moved it over at each line on the grid and once in between each line. Remember, a little goes a long way…don’t pull the line over too far. Play with it until you get a nice even wave. It may take a few tries. Once you’re done, click OK. Now that you have a wave shape, if it is too thick, you can thin it out by clicking Edit>Free Transform and draging the side of the box in until the wave is just right. Now you all you need to do is duplicate this layer for each wave you’d like, then place your patterned paper over it in your layers pallet, then click on Layer>Group with previous, and your paper will take the shape of the wave. Remember to do any editing or adding drop shadows to the wave layer, not the paper layer. Now go give it a try, and link me up if you do!!