mellow

As I convert my sketches to layered digital files, I am learning more about photoshop. With paper and pencil, I would just erase the part of the circle that ran off the edge. Then when I made a digital file, I couldn't just erase. At least I didn't know how. So I faked it by getting all the circles in place, cropping, then moving the file to a larger canvas. But that won't work with layered files. Luckily, I am a google princess and know what to ask to find the answer. And I I did find the answer and learned how to easily remove part of a layer. On the layer, use the marquee tool to choose what you want to keep, with the arts marching, click on create layer mask. Now you have the just want to show but the rest of the layer is not really gone. You can bring it back if you decide to move the shape later. For this card, I used Basic Grey's Mellow. The corner brush is from Katie Pertiet.

patterns petite

I love small patterns. Some of my favorite paper scrap companies with the best small patterns are/were Chatterbox, Sweetwater & American Crafts. And I love all things red, white & blue, Americana. I purchased two of Lynn Grieveson's Patterns Petite, No. 1 and No. 2. They are available at Designer Digitals.

missing you

I fell in love with Scotty Girl Designs at first sight. Her clean graphic style combined with beautiful small patterns won me over. I finally broke down and ordered a few paper collections that I had to have. Zoey is one of SGD's first kits. I should admit that I didn't even look at the elements. Her papers are so beautiful that they stand on their own. SGD sells on Etsy which means that there is no immediate download so I have to use patience to wait for the download link. It's hard, my patience is used up with my boys, my dad, the jerks in the world. But for these designs, I can wait.

walk in the park

Sometimes my ideas don't always translate well to sketches. I am not too fond of this one yet I can't toss it aside. Echo Park's A Walk in the Park seemed like a good match with all the circles to show off all their beautiful papers.

spring bloomers

I have found one problem with coloring my templates. I find myself gravitating towards these brighter colors instead of just looking for something to fit the card or the recipient. Oh well, they look better than all that dull gray. I used Gina Carbrera's Spring Bloomers on this card.

keep following your bliss

A few years ago, I made up a bunch of card templates to share. These were simple jpg files meant for copying for paper cards. In the end, I had 150 templates. Since I have switched to digital, I have been remaking these designs into layered psd files. Then they can be use for digital scrapping or card making. I kept passing over one of the designs because I never really liked it. I decided to try to make it work but in the end trashed it for a new design. And looking at the big scrolled shape, I knew I needed a paper design that was strong enough to fill the space without needing extras. I reused Follow Your Bliss from ScrapGirls.

a little bird told me

Basic Grey released Lily Kate in a digital kit. When I got it, only the starter kit was available at digital retailers like After 5 Designs. I had to get it and use. I will get the add-ons when they are available.

tints & tatters

Again, I was attracted to the color and pattern of this collection. It reminds me of Lilo paper collection from We Are Memory Keepers I had years ago. Tints & Tatters is from Brandy Hackman and available at ScrapGirls.

family ties

I love the colors in this Family Ties kit from Karen Funk. I also used Digital Elements in this card. Both kits are from Design House Digital.

mellow

I am doing something a little different. I noticed that some designers make their templates in colors rather than gray scale. And I have noticed that I am drawn to those especially those in my favorite color combinations. So today I remade one of my templates in color. I am going to use the colors I picked out so long ago for linne•cards logo. I actually got the colors from a typepad template and have stuck the colors in my photoshop swatch files. When I was done, I realized the template could be a design on its own. So when I went to grab some papers to make a card, I thought more of just a graphic design rather than a themed greeting card. I chose Ashalee Wall's kit, Mellow for my own design I think of as orange dream. Or maybe creamsicle.

happy birthday to who?

Jennifer Fox was designing for The DigiChick. She left recently had all of her kits on sale. Of course I took advantage of it. I used Won't You Tell Me Your Name? for this card.

christy

Sassy Designs has some good sales. You really need to subscribe to their newsletter. I love, love the colors from this kit, Christy.

follow your bliss

I have never been one to join a scrapbooking kit. I like to get the pieces I want. I never felt the need to have other match my papers and elements. So imagine my surprise when I subscribed to Scrap Girls Club. But this isn't a typical kit where someone takes pieces from different pieces and combines them for you. This is a kit made from one designer chosen each month. What makes this kit so cool is that it is such an incredibly good deal! You get over $25 worth of digi goodness for less than $10. You can save even more money if you sign up for 6 or 12 months. Anyway, it was probably the colors of the January kit, Follow Your Bliss, that made me sign up.



I did have one problem making this card. I couldn't figure out how to make the circles stop short of the frame. I will probably have it printed and trim it to cut off those edges before I mount it on cardstock. Still learning tricks of photoshop. (added: I did figure out how to include just parts without cropping after printing.)

luckier

There were loads of kits out there for Valentine's Day but not so many for St. Patrick's Day. At least few that were not full of cartoony leprechauns. So I used Jen Allyson's 365 March again for today's card. One of the things I love about digital is that you can change the scale of the papers. I used the same diagonal stripe for the background and for one of the squares. Because I make the scale smaller, it doesn't really look like the same paper.

lucky

I am not much of a purple or lilac fan but I loved the way it works with the green in the kit by Jen Allyson. March 365 was actually designed for 2010 but that won't stop me from using this year and any time I want some subtle shamrocks. Jen Allyson is one of my favorite designers from Design House Digitals.

blush

It took me a while to love Basic Grey. I just couldn't embrace the grunge look. But when I leap, I go all the way. And who can resist these gorgeous colors. I used Basic Grey's Blush collection for this card.

mika hello

I am sucker for graph paper and small, simple patterns. So I had to get Michelle Martin's kit, Mika, from Designer Digitals. This kit will work with both feminine and masculine cards. The leaf brush is from Katie Pertiet, Letter Box Blocks.

southern belle

I fell in love with the colors. And the damask. Perhaps Southern Belle isn't the right name for this especially when I think it makes for a great masculine card. You can get Southern Belle at Sassy Designs.

sun print ledger

I lifted this card design from Cathy Zielske. I keep forgetting that although she scraps mostly 8 1/2x11, it works pretty well for 5x7 cards. I just love her style so much! And for some reason, it is cold in Florida. So I picked these bright colors in hopes of thinking of warm climes. It worked while I was creating. Now I need to get a warmer shirt and some hot tea. You can pick up Katie Pertiet's Ledger Sun Print Paper Pack at Designer Digitals.

early bird gets the cherry

I am eager to see what Cosmo Cricket produces in digital next. Their kits are ones I love to over and again. They include a lot of products. You can find their kits at Jessica Sprague.