Getting back little by little

I have missed my online activities so much. I apologize for my absence. I have been very ill this summer, spending time in several hospitals including a week and a half at Johns Hopkins. I have had procedures done, been put on tons of meds and still have more procedures to go. I have begun designing again so look for freebies soon! I hope everyone else has had a much better summer than I. I don't even know if I have a store to go back to, so I am feeling very sad about that. I can only hope that after hitting an all time low this summer it can only get better.

Running Behind

Hi all, Sorry I missed last week. I have a big freebie planned for you all. I will try to get PS Fri together for you later if I don't end up in the hospital. I am in pain mgmt and today my meds are not working,and I am having horrid stomach cramping. I am waiting for a call from my doc to see what I have to do next. Hopefully my GI can get me in and no hospital, but who knows. I am too young for all of this.

PS Friday Tutorial Part One: Textured Papers

This is going to be a two parter- Part One tonight, and Part two with freebie tomorrow.
| am going to fall asleep writing this as I had bad insomnia last night and haven't slept in close to 40 hours. I am one of those people that require 8 hours a night to function. Ugh!
So, without further ado, textured papers! I have always loved the weave of Bazzill Basics papers, so here is how to make the digi-version :)
Start by making a new document 3600x3600, 300dpi & a transparent background. Fill this with your choice of color. Now, in the menu buttons up top pick "layer" and from the drop down menu select "new fill layer" then choose "pattern", Click on "ok " when the dialogue box pops up. Now select your pattern. For Bazzill style papers choose "Dark Coarse Weave". Now that you have your new layer, go to your layers palette in the bottom right of your screen. Make sure your pattern layer is selected, and in the drop down menu at the top of the palette select "overlay". Your paper will now have that woven texture. Play around with other textures to see what other looks you can create, and stop by tomorrow for more on this topic along with a freebie for more paper making fun.

Working on PS Friday now....

Hi all, wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten and am working on my PS Friday right now. It should be up within the next few hours. Today I will be going over making textured papers and will have an overlay pack as the freebie, so check back in a bit :)

Cleaning. Ugh.

I don't know about you, but I detest cleaning. Epecially laundry. Probably due to the extent to which our house gets dirty because we live in the woods with 3 dogs and 2 kids. My youngest never met a mud puddle she didn't like and a single laundry load can take over an hour to scrub. forward So the scene this morning... Me, in Safeway, in the cleaning aisle, sniffing cleaning products. I have a very sensitive sense of smell and I will generally spend the extra 50¢ for a product that's scent I prefer. Proctor and Gamble got it right when labeling their "Simple Pleasures" lines. I am a sucker for their lav/vanilla's especially. I don't have time to "Stop and smell the roses". So I settle for not stopping and smelling the detergent instead. So, I am back home with many new scents including a new Dawn apple-pear dish detergent that has a matching air freshener attached. My laundry shelf is packed with great scents, oxyclean, the newest Spray & Wash with Resolve (heavy duty version), a Tide brush, a Downy ball, an old fashioned laundry soap bar and more, and I still never seem to get all of the stains out. Any suggestions? In the meantime I am off to scrub some more. :(

Random Freebie

Out of boredom and me making styles I have a random freebie to share HERE.

Wow- I scrapped!

Font: FG Jayne Print
Template: Pam Bumbaca
Supplies: Mine From PB+J

Why Yes I am...

I was just in line in Wawa (like a 7-11) when I heard a little voice by me say " Mom, are you crazy?" and in my typical form I replied "Yes I am, and you made me this way." It wasn't until I got a dirty look from the woman in front of me that I realized my kids weren't with me. Her and her kid left before I could explain.

1st ever PS Friday w/ freebie!

Wow, it has been a busy week and I look forward to the weekend! Yesterday I had kidney/bladder surgery and today my 6yr old had 3 cavities filled. She had been dumping out water bottles, filling them with sugary drinks and hiding them under her bed. I'm sure the dentist's drill taught her a way better lesson than I could've. I nearly cried though,watching her sob throughout.
So, to start out, HERE are the brushes. I also included pngs for non-PS users.
Making brushes is so easy and can accent your layouts perfectly. By making a selection of anything-pictures,papers,etc. you can have custom "stamps". In PS, make a selection of ONLY what you want to be in your brush. Then, in the "edit" menu select "Define Brush Preset",then give it a name. Your new brush will now be in your brushes palette ready to use. A great idea for brushes is to select something from the pic you are scrapping like an image off of the subject's clothes or something to that effect, and then make it into a brush for background paper, embellishments, etc. that are custom to your layout. To save your brushes, Select the arrow next to three lines in the top corner of the brushes palette and select Save brushes from the drop down menu.
Next week I'll go for something more in depth, the surgery threw me off for today. Let me know if you have any questions, and also, you may use today's freebie commercially as well. Enjoy your weekend :)

Happy Easter CU OK "Grab Egg" freebie!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday. My kids are all hyped up on sugar right now. It took forever to get this pic out of them. I have a big treat for you today, over 75mb of CU OK supplies, including PS brushes and styles, and the matching pngs for those who don't use Photoshop. There is also some other stuff thrown in, all CU OK, with no credit necessary. Just click on the egg above to get your treats! It will take you to the folder where I have split up the download so it is manageable for slower internet speeds. And, while you are clicking it, check out the egg! It was made by TerrellS and is part of her Egg Bling set. So cute!
Also, I am starting something new here on my blog. I will now have Photoshop Fridays where there will be PS use freebies and the accompanying PNG's so everyone can enjoy. Stop by this Friday and check out what the first freebie will be!
I now have to go make our dinner, luckily it is most of the way ready. For once we don't have to go anywhere this year and that suits me just fine :)

March Madness Freebie Kit

I made this kit just for fun. The inspiration behind it is March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb. I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to see anything you make with it. If you leave me a link to your layout in the comments along with your email, or put it in my section of the SAS gallery I will send you a little treat for sharing. The kit is divided into 2 downloads, and the link goes to the folder where you can find both downloads. You can reach that folder HERE. Also, check out some of the other SAS designer blogs where you will find more goodies!

New kits, A Layout and a freebie below

New Kits In Store, Quick Page Freebie

So, I have 2 new kits going into the store this week, PB&J and Perfect Pets. My inspiration for the pets kit is Tennessee Jed, my 12 year old dog who passed away last December. He really was like our first child and losing him hit us hard. I made a layout to share of him, and decided to make the layout into a png quickpage, which you can get HERE. I also have a bunch of other kits that need to be organized, previews made and submitted to the store. With all of the kit activity I will be giving away some add-ons this week and some more QP's to go with the other kits. I also have another CU freebie planned for this week, but you'll have to wait to see what it is. I may make it into a grab bag since there are several CU things I have to share. It'll still be a freebie, you just won't know what you are getting.
I am trying to get as much done this week as possible. Next week is crazy busy with doctors again, and I am getting a procedure done on my bladder/kidney that Thursday, and then Friday I get to go practically sit on my 6yr old in the dentist's chair while she gets 3 cavities filled. Poor K has not had cavities before, and now she gets 3 at once. I have only ad 1 in my life, and it didn't even need drilling. I had them put sealants on the teeth they could when I took her last month, and will have the rest done too. I think having sealants may be what kept me from getting cavities. That, good hygiene, and luck. My mom is going to go with me because I am envisioning a catastrophy - me having had surgery the day before and K being freaked out by dentists She kept getting up and leaving the chair DURING her cleaning With the instruments in her mouth and everything, lol. One of those kid things that is funny now but definitely not when it was happening.
So, have a good Monday, enjoy the QP and check back this week for more goodies!

New Comm Use OK Freebie - PS Brush set

Here is a set of 6 brushes made in PSCS3. It is 3 different flowers done in inverted saturation so you can pick the saturation that works best for your color. These brushes are Comm Use OK with no credit necessary. I haven't gotten around to making .png's yet, but will try to do that for you non PS users. Hope you find a good use for them now that Spring is around the corner :)

PNG's of glitter styles,as promised :)

HERE are the png versions of the glitters. They are 6x6 and 300 dpi. Enjoy :)

Another CU freebie

For your decorating and commercial use pleasure, here is another commercial use OK freebie. Today I have a treat for you Photoshop users. I made these in PSCS3 but they should work in other versions. I don't have a copy of Elements on my PC so I don't know if they will work there too. You can download these styles HERE. This set contains 12 beveled edge glittery styles in 12 colors(the black border in the pic is not in the styles). For anyone dying to use them in other programs, drop me a line in my comments and I will try to save them in a larger format as png's so you could use them overlay style. Once again, these CU items need no acknowledgment!
Also, please read the post below about my blinkie and logo contests. I am also curious as to what kind of kits my readers are dying to have. Give me a cool suggestion, and if I make it and you are the first suggester, the kit will be yours for free.
On another note, how many papers and elements do you think should be in a standard kit? I never know if I've made too much or too little, and would also love to know what your favorite parts are in a kit. Love frames? Paper? wordart? Flowers? It's your turn to say what you want to see more of, and then you can check out my new kits as I put them up at Stone Accents Studio and see what you love and what you miss! Also check out all of the other SAS-y ladies amazing work and check out all of the great freebies on the SAS blog. And don't forget to enter those awesome layouts in the monthly SAS-y princess gallery to get a chance to become a SAS-y princess of the month and get some great stuff, along with a lot of SAS-y love, lol.

***EDIT for PSP users :) I'll have png versions of these up later. Also, I found a great tutorial about converting PS brushes for use in PSP. Check it out here.

CU OK Overlay Freebie

It's nice to have a full freebie arsenal again, and as long as I keep out of the hospital you should check in frequently because I will be posting a lot :) Also, I plan on getting some new kits up and giving my poor neglected CT some new toys. Todays freebie overlay (which is shown on pink for demonstration purposes only) is CU OK with no acknowledgment necessary. Just have fun with it and leave me some love.
In other news, I am sorely lacking a cool blinkie and a cool logo, so I thought a contest was in order. So, I will pick my fav or each from your entries and the winner for each will receive 3 kits of their choice, past, present or even future for free. I will give the winners each 3 vouchers to be used whenever they wish. So, to enter your creation, either leave me a link to it in the comments for this post, or email me at phreephorm at yahoo.com with "contest - blinkie (or logo, whichever the case may be.)
You can snag today's freebie HERE :)

Template/QP/Sampler hybrid freebie

So here is the 1st "hybrid". use it as a qp, or as a template. or just take the pieces apart and you have a sampler from my upcoming kit Mystic Morning. Download HERE and enjoy :)

Kidneys are no fun.

So kidneys are no fun and seem to want to put a dent not just in my designing life, but in my regular life as well. Many hospital visits recently, and lots of meds and mess. I am starting to feel up to designing more and have 2 new full kits done as well as some CU stuff and some alphas and embellie packs :) I am making a few new template/sampler/QP hybrids to give out as freebies so I can let people know I am still alive (kinda) and that I am not intentionally neglecting everyone :) I actually really miss all of the great people I've met so far through this. OK, about the "hybrid".I started out making some cool templates. They looked kinda boring so i used a sampler from my new kit to decorate it a bit. and then realized that all done up it makes a nice QP too, so voila - my hybrid. I will try to get them up over the weekend and hopefully start getting stuff into the store soon too, if I can keep out of the hospital that is...