July?

Is it really almost July? I think it's true, the older you get, the faster time goes by. I wonder if it because we need more sleep? Maybe the dementia has kicked in?

Baseball is a summertime favorite.
With 3 boys, It seems like we live at the ball park. The "snack shack" has made a considerable amount of money from my families consumption of snow cones, diet coke, and bubble gum. If you live near a ball park, and there isn't any sort of "snack shack", hurry and start one up!
These guys make a killing.

Ok- back to my point. Almost July. Baseball.
Ethan, my 10 year old was born with a ball in his hand. Besides ball parks, I live in my car, driving him from practice to games to practices. Every sport. Ethan wants to be Lionel Messi when he grows up. (Barcelona Soccer player)-  that is another layout- another story.

I needed to quickly create a layout from photo's of Ethan's last baseball game (before the dementia hits). The Royals vs. The Rays.  We were down 5-1. Closed the game at 5-5. Played overtime, and came back for the win! It was intense!

I feel like it is important to document life with the excitement still in my veins. For this reason, I don't scrapbook in chronological order. If I were to complete this layout in 6 or 7 months, the feelings would be gone, and maybe I would forget the details all together!

When I create from scratch, I figure, I may as well share it with my favorite people, right?

This layout was made from my TLC- all except the "Awesome" word art. (which sort of brings the whole page together, I think)
One Little Bird Designs gave me permission to give you this layout/template with her piece of digi goodness included! woo hoo! If you want more of this- check out her shop!

I call this post "July" because I feel like you could use this layout as a July "Themed" template. Independence Day Maybe?

Regardless, I have both the flatted, quick .png available for you, or a layered (79.5 MB) .psd template where you can change it up as needed. (Creative Memories/ My Memories Suite peeps - you can use the .png format!)

Keep Scrappin- before you forget! :)

DOWNLOAD HERE for .png format
DOWNLOAD HERE for .psd format
{all downloads are from our box account. safe. no pop ups.}

(p.s. I am typing this post while sitting at the pool - the boys are in swim lessons. We do what we can!)

-Chari

Scrapbooks etc.

One of our wonderful Persnickety "friends" emailed to congratulate us for being published in the August Issue of Scrapbooks etc.

We immediately ran out and bought copies of this magazine. Yep, there it is- page 108. Thanks awesome editors of this Better Homes and Gardens publication!

Now, being in the digital world, you might think-"everything is online"- not so. After devouring each page of this magazine, Scrapbooks etc. (August issue) I have found that my creative mojo is back in full force. There are countless pages of ideas for both the paper and digital scrapper!
Cover price for one issue is $5.99, but a yearly subscription (6 issues) is only $14.97! I have already signed up for mine.
You could also get a yearly subscription for a friend- perfect for that someone who seems to have it all!

After browsing the Scrapbooks etc. website way past my bedtime - I found a whole new world of digital scrapbooking fun!
www.scrapbooksetc.com  has an entire digital section full of new digi techniques, inspiration and freebies!
Check it out HERE.

Thanks Persnickety friends for keeping an eye out for us!

Love,
   Chari

Dad Day

Hope your day was a good one. My boys are lucky to have such a great Dad.
For a Fathers Day gift, we found some of our favorite photo's of him from 2010, and put together a little 8x10 framed collage.
He loves these kind of gifts- and it will be a great addition to the family photo's in his office.

DAD Stamp

Lately, I am loving .abr brushes & stamps. It's almost like the paper days when I would get crazy with my stamps and ink pads. Almost.
Thankfully with "digital stamps" we have the "command Z" option. (which is the hot key for step backward on a Mac). I can place my stamp, change the opacity, color, etc. and then change my mind!

Here is a simple DAD stamp in .abr and .png format. It is high resolution, and perfect for that last minute "Dad" card, or stamped monogrammed photo of Dad.

The great thing about Stamps and .png files, is that they are transparent. Below I have used this stamp on different papers from our free Fathers Day Paper pack. It blends with any layout. You can easily change the color of your stamp by selecting a new foreground color in photoshop.

Installing your .abr stamp/brush into your photoshop program:
1. Download the file HERE
2. a) Drag the .abr file directly into your Photoshop program (or)
    b) Open Photoshop> Brush Presets> Load Brushes > (load the .abr file)
3. Open layout or photo. Select a NEW Layer. Choose the Brush Tool on the left. Find this awesome Dad Brush (#1637) and Stamp away! Play around with colors, blend modes and opacity to make it all your own!

Enjoy.

Happy June!

June 2011- Where has the time gone? Father's Day is right around the corner- again?

I vote everyday is Mother's Day, with the exception of one day- Father's Day.
Who do I call?

To celebrate those "Dad's" out there- we have a little Paper Pack + Quick Page.
This Quick Page is for the Dad's - go ahead, give it a shot, lets see you preserve some history and put together one of these digital scrapbook layouts.

Happy Father's Day- {June 19th}

Click HERE to Download Papers

 Click HERE to Download the Dad QP

{this is a .png file}