New Products Coming Soon,and a Really Cool Tutorial.

I am finishing up on several new kits as well as some new commercial use items. Hopefully I'll have them up in the store within the week. I have had a relatively busy weekend and K has been super high energy this weekend. Luckily my husband didn't work both days this weekend so K is busy outside "helping" him paint and also prepare the house for the gas lines we are having installed soon. Our water heater died a month or so ago and we only have 120v running into our house so we can only use a small water heater - at least we are often on time going places since that also means short showers...Anyway, we decided to have gas put in so we can get a normal sized water heater, be able to use the gas dryer we were given instead of hanging everything, and also buy a stove/oven which we do not have at this point. Everything is either nuked, grilled,or put in the convection toaster oven. I think the first thing I'll do when we get an oven is to make a lasagna and a cake or something :)
My third child Toshiba the laptop has to go to the doctors tomorrow morning for a big fix. It was going to go in on Friday but since they said they wouldn't even look at it until Monday I asked if I could just drop it off then. That works out well because I have spent whatever time we have been home double backing up everything. All files copied to both my external hard drive and DVD. I want to figure out the most efficient but least time consuming way to print out thumbnails of all of the scrap supplies and viewable files and label them by which DVD they are in and then put them in a binder with CD sleeves placed with the printouts so that I can locate files easily, like looking through a catalog. I need to do this with all of my fonts also. I think I have heard there are easier ways then to actually go through and type a line in each font. I have hundreds of them, but that could take forever. It would be easier in the long run though, being able to view them all to pick my favorite one for a layout. If anyone has a great method to make this whole process easier and faster, or a suggestion about a downloadable software that will automate this, leave it in my comments along with your email and I will send you a little goodie bag of samples of my new products for your efforts. I have my DVR all filled with good movies and shows that I have been wanting to watch but find impossible to do so if there is anyone else home because of the constant distractions. And now my husband has come to the conclusion that he doesn't really like all the shows we've always watched together so I record them too. So, while Toshiba is away (have I mentioned she is a tablet screen, which raised her status from pet to 3rd kid, lol) I have lots of stuff to view while the kids are at school and I will finally be able to clear some space on the DVR for all of the new seasons of my favorite shows. In the meantime I finally got my 6 year old Sony desktop working and I am going to burn all of my files off of it so it is faster for K to use on Webkins and her other kid games. C has a Toshiba laptop of his own and it is so much faster than the Sony so when they play online games against each other it makes her computer slower even though it should be faster wired to the Fiber Optic router instead of wireless like the rest of the family. If I clear off all of my old files and get rid of some of the larger programs, like the majority of the Adobe and Corel families that now reside on my laptop it should be faster for her after I defragment it.
I came across a really cool tutorial today. It shows you how to use Photoshop to make a pumpkin carving template from your pics. You can find it here: http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=160999
So, don't forget to leave me the ideas or tips I mentioned above to get a goodie bag, and check Stone Accents Studio this week and see all of the new products and cool challenges. Also to debut on my blog later this week will be the formal introduction to my very talented CT. some of whom have made awesome quick pages to give out on their blogs and in the gallery at SAS. And, to celebrate my SAS-y new CT will be a new freebie or two. Also, if you would be interested in either a CT position or being a guest CT member you still have a chance to let me know. Check out my CT post below for more info :)

New Freebie and a Little Challenge...

So, I have a new freebie for you guys today, a blue fiber alpha with white stitched trim. The fiber part is like homemade paper, kind of like mulberry but with more fibers. It almost looks denim, but you can tell it's not. I have been in the mood to play with fibery papers, remembering how much I loved to tear them and have the frayed look in whatever paper piecing I was doing when I paper scrapped. So don't be surprised if you see some of that in my upcoming kits at SAS. You can download the alpha here. But after you do, keep reading...I have a little challenge for you :)
http://www.4shared.com/file/24816254/6a56b128/stitchedgefiberalpha.html

So, now for the challenge. I have been having odd dreams recently, a lot of them are also memories of things I had forgotten. Times at the ocean with friends, things that happened in school, etc. And then there have been some odd dreams that I don't even want to go into or you all are likely to think I am more nuts than I actually am, lol.
So, for the challenge I want to see some layouts made about either a recent dream or a dream that stands out in your head. One so odd you'll never forget it. This is your chance to scrap with no boundaries. Make your pages as fanciful as your dream or however you want. This is all about your creativity and a little view of yourself, not about recording events etc. for future generations. I will be making my page this weekend and posting it in the gallery at Stone Accents Studio. If you care to join me in my challenge either PM me your layout link there or leave it here on my blog and you will get a fanciful mini-kit as your reward. You don't get to see it first...where's the surprise in that lol, but trust me, this kit is all about being eclectic, fun and different just as each and every one of your dreams are.
By the way, this whole idea came out of an odd dream I had last night about being in Ocean City with my friends as a teenager, but trust me none of the events in the dream ever happened when we were really there, although if they had we would have had one wild weekend lol.

PS: Still need more CT people. I'll make you a nifty little animated blinkie ;)

Need a CT that is as nutty as me...

Yup, now that I am feeling quite a bit better and am on a designing roll I need to put together a CT. I have been on a designing roll in the last few days, looking like quite the freak as I sit waiting for my brakes to be fixed or stand waiting for my kids at the bus stop talking to the other moms all while drawing, writing, and scribbling frantically notes in my little notebook of big ideas. I keep finding inspiration, and since I am rather eclectic my kits can be of many different styles so I am seeing ideas everywhere! I now have some items up in the store at Stone Accents Studio, and am running a monthly photography challenge there and will be doing Photoshop tutorials also. So, if anyone has any odd photo questions drop on in the forum and ask away. I have been professionally shooting for about 12 years now, but had my first darkroom when I was 13. I still get nostalgic for the scent of Dektol and Fixer, lol. And it was a great place for a teen to hide away from the parents ("Don't open the door mom, I have paper exposed!") Haha, at least my kids won't pull that on me...what are they going to say - "Careful mom, my USB cable is exposed"? I think not. I actually still have 2 enlargers, and the rest of a full darkroom setup and I keep thinking that one of these days I'll set it all up, break out on of my 2 film Nikons and shoot some B&W, but then I grab my Nikon D100 instead. So, now that I've gotten way off topic, back to the CT thing. I am pretty easy to work with, understand that we all have real lives outside of our digital ones, and that there are times when you can't take something else on. That's why I want a easygoing CT so we can help each other out with stuff when necessary and that a fun hobby (or lifestyle as it seems to have become) stays fun with no crazy pressure. I really want a diverse group. I don't care if you've been doing this for years or are just starting out. I actually think that would help me better see the needs of my customers in the ease of use and fun department. I also gladly take constructive criticism and suggestions for what you (my CT) might want to see in the future. So, don't feel you won't be good enough, or worried that being on the CT will eat up too much time, just let me know if you are interested and I can guarantee it will be a fun experience!

New Freebie and Letting my bad out...

So, this preview doesn't really do these numbers justice, but wait 'til you see them full size. They are fairly large, around 3 or 4 inches each and I think they'd be cool on a bday page, but they still look pretty cool scaled down. Each number is filled with tons of little tiny beads in different colors giving them a bright shimmery effect. And for those of you who may be interested I will be putting the whole alpha upper, lower and punctuation up for sale at Stone Accents Studio. My first couple kits should be up there today sometime. I was sick and missed sending my work in for opening day. This number set and the coordinating alpha actually remind me of SAS since they are unique, shiny and fun. If you stop by our forums you'll see what I mean. The place really feels like home and everyone from staff to members are just amazing people. Each person seems to bring something new to the board, and even if I didn't design for them I would have made it my home anyway. You can grab the number set http://www.4shared.com/file/24603127/8eec70fe/Beaded_Numbers_Freebie.html?dirPwdVerified=5b534dda
Now on to a Kiddie view of behavior. My 6 year old daughter is as wild as they come. She is sweet but she wakes up at 6am and it is hard to get her to fall asleep before 10pm. I truly don't know how she functions considering she never stops moving or talking during that time. So anyway, last night was Back To School night at her school, and her teacher says she is the most quiet, respectful and compassionate child in the class and that she is always on task and never breaks rules. Last year her Kindergarten teacher said pretty much the same thing. So, we asked her how she can be so good at school and always causing some sort of mischief here at home. Her response? "All day long I hold my bad in, and when I get on the bus I let a little out, but when I get home I let it ALL out" lol. That statement was from last spring, but she apparently still follows that rule.

Template Pack Freebie

So, as I said before,I have created a 4 pack of PSD layered templates as a freebie to celebrate the opening of Stone Accents Studio. You can grab the template pack HERE.
If you have not gotten a chance to go over to SAS, check it out! There are a lot of great products, challenges, tutorials, galleries, forums and the works! If you use any of the templates, post them in the SAS gallery and PM me to let me know where to find it and a special treat may appear in your SAS mailbox! Enjoy! -Heather

For some reason the link stopped working. Try copying and pasting this address:
http://www.4shared.com/file/24344547/e725706e/FreebieTemplates.html

Wow, I am finally back online!

After more than a month of nasty illness and mass quantities of meds I am able to join the land of the living again! It is the opening week of Stone Accents Studio and I am finally able to upload stuff to my shop. To celebrate this milestone I will be posting a freebie pack of 4 templates on Sunday for your scrapping pleasure. They are a lot of fun with stitching and glass accents already on them. I hope everyone has been checking out the new store, the whole team has put in immense amounts of work, especially JulieO. They are champs for putting up with my absence and I appreciate each and every one of them! So, aside from checking out the store, stop by their blogs and give them a bit of encouragement for all of their hard work. You can find the links in a post below, and I hope to see you Sunday to snag your template goodies :)