1.16.08 Butterfly Garden Mini Kit

I want to first THANK all of you who took the time to wish my little one a happy birthday...I have to tell you that when Ethan got home from school we sat down and read all of the comments, emails and messages that people from literally all over the world sent him and he absolutely beamed!!

My first instinct was to try and take a picture of him sitting with my laptop reading the comments so that I could scrapbook the moment and to post the picture here, but I held back. Too many times in life I find myself absolutely stressing about "getting the shot" and taking the picture, only to find that somehow, while I managed to document the moment for eternity...I have also managed to not really be in the moment and experience it myself - right then, right there. And although it sounds corny, it really meant SO much to Ethan that everyone wished him a happy birthday, (so excited in fact that we had to read them all twice!) So in the end, I didn't take the picture with my camera, but I had such a WONDERFUL time sitting there, and soaking up all the love and well wishes for him today, and I so loved being IN the moment, and not worrying about capturing the moment anywhere other than in my heart. Thank you all SO very much!

p.s. on the lighter side, while putting Ethan to bed, we talked about his day and he told his dad about everyone wishing him happy birthday, Ethan's told me, and I quote "mom, everyone at school tomorrow is going to think that I'm a ROCK STAR"! He is my rock star...rock on little man...rock on!

So, today's freebie.... I'm usually not much of a "butterfly" kind of gal, but well, I was messing around with some swirls and these colors and the name "butterfly garden" kept popping up in my head...so here it is! I think that I like it so much that I might just do a full kit for it for Digital Candy... let me know what you think? I know that butterflies tend to be kind of "girly" but the colors and the quote reminded me of Ethan...I think I might try and do a layout with this freebie with some pictures of him and see how it goes...

Enjoy your freebie and thank you thank you thank you again!

Much aloha my friends,

Shauna

Download Butterfly Garden Mini Kit HERE

Visit me at Digital Candy HERE

12.24.07 My (Surprise) Christmas Gift to You!

Are you all crazy yet from shopping, wrapping, shipping, singing, eating, drinking and otherwise being merry?? Well, I hope you're not too tired to open one last freebie from me until after Christmas - I'm taking a couple of days off to spend with my family, but I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas with a little something from me. Its a few files, some that I meant to post for Christmas, but never did, some that I just put together today and one very special one.

You see, in my family, one of my most treasured Christmas traditions is to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to my children every Christmas Eve. I know it by heart by now, but I still love our raggedy old book that I've held in my hands as my children have gathered around me each year on the night of December 24th. I love how even at 15, Brittany still gets excited to hang her stocking afterwards, lay out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. I love reading by the light of the tree and wishing that they would never grow old. I made a special page this year to scrapbook this tradition with my family, and I want to share it with you as well. I hope you enjoy it, and your holidays...

See you soon -

Mele Kalikimaka my friends....

Shauna

Click HERE or on the title to dowload

12.19.08 Dear Santa Mini Kit + A bit of a RANT and a TUTORIAL!

Ok, first off - I know that I said that I should kill two birds with one stone and make my freebies some of the stuff that I'm working on for my new venture with Digital Candy, but I've been working on this Santa for some time now for a page of my mother on Santa's lap as a child and I was SOOO thrilled with how it came out that I had to share it with you. I also made a few items to go with it - a plaid page that matches the color of Santa's coat, a distressed parchment page, a little book with santa on one page and "Twas the night before Christmas..." on the other, and an ornate frame that seemed to me to go well with Santa - which brings me to my rant (in a weird sort of backwards way) I also made a photo template for the ornate frame which, IMHO (in my humble opinion) NOT enough designers out there do! And a quick page using most of the kit. Oh! And I also threw in the santa with NO coloring - in case you would prefer it that way! (here comes the rant part).

I've only been part of this community for a couple of months now, but I've found quite a few things that many designers don't do, and I'm a bit frustrated! When I started digital scrapbooking, I began to buy a few (OK OK, lots) of stuff from several stores. I quickly learned that quite a bit of the freebie kits out there were pretty hard to work with, and a few of the kits I purchased were too for that matter! There is only so much that a person can do with ribbons, bows, buttons and square frames! In addition, when I found a pretty frame that I liked, it was next to impossible to get my pictures to fit it (ergo, I assume the multitude of simple square frames). Why not put in the little blob that they used to "cut" the frame with? It wouldn't be that hard would it?
And in a kit, with some cute elements, quite a few of them were colored in such a way that I could only use them with certain papers, as they were too hard to re-color or "take apart" to use them with different kits etc. Can't they just "throw in" a blank frame or element, so that I can use it more often? (example - with my beaded ornaments, If I were a reader of this blog, I would have loved the little ornaments, but I think half the fun of downloading that little freebie would be to play with the beads and see what I, as a scrapbooker, could create with them) Whew! done with the rant LOL

Ok, so the good news is that I am going to try and NOT follow in the footsteps of those designers... I mean, anyone can re-color a ribbon or button right? (if you cannot, for goodness sake email me! You are spending WAY too much money on elements if so!! LOL)

Ok...back to the freebie (sorry for that...LOL...had to get it off my chest!!) Anyway, I put in my little "blob" so that you can use it as a template for your photo, that way it will fit in there perfectly with no overhang. If you don't know how to use the template feel free to email me with questions. I am really only familiar with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, but it is really easy in those two programs. Simply use a clipping mask or, put the "blob" (hereinafter to be known as the template LOL)in its own layer and load the selection by clicking on the thumbnail of the template (Command+Click on a Mac, or Ctrl+Click on a PC) that creates a selection the shape of the template, then click SELECT>INVERSE. Then place your photo, or paper or whatever on another separate layer and activate THAT layer, then click Delete or Clear. By inverting the selection of your template you are telling PS or PSE to erase everything outside of that template. So whatever layer you activate, and then click delete (with the selection, or "marching ants") still active on, with end up in the shape of the template. A clipping mask is MUCH easier but as I have have only done this in PS CS3, I'm not sure that the directions for that are the same otherwise.

If you still need help, PLEASE feel free to email me at PineapplePlantation@gmail.com!

Ok... enjoy my little hand painted Santa, I REALLY do love him, (he's perhaps one my favorite elements I've ever created) and as always...if you would like to share a layout made with my stuff, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email them to me!! (Please??)

Much aloha my friends,

Shauna

*Sorry! This Link has been edited to be removed*

12.13.07 Preppy Kit Elements

Yes...to all of you who asked, apparently stirrup pants are on their way back. Although right now they are really just "leggings" where you have to purchase the double clipping "stirrup" seperately ( "Duh Mom" and I quote "did you think they came attached to the pants"? SIGH) But can the traditional "attached" stirrups be far behind? Perhaps I should give up my dream of becoming a digital designer and make my fortune designing the stirrup pants of "today"?

Let's see..they would definately still have an elastic waist and they would still be made of material that was comfy (hello...the only good thing that they had going for them) but the material would somehow (magically perhaps?) suck the wearer in by at least...let's say... 3 sizes, while still remaining comfortable. (That's not asking too much!) and they would hide any and all "dimples" (ok, now perhaps I've gone too far) The stirrup would, while remaining attached (yes, Brittany, they were at one time actually attached, SIGH) so that young wearers would not lose them (no, Brittany, I do not know where the other one of your "clippy things" are that we just purchased yesterday). Yet never become "crunchy" after being worn in shoes all day then thrown in the hamper and left to dry/harden, or become stained after being worn with dirty feet and no socks. They would also NEVER shrink so that they rode up your legs, showing WAY too much of your socks and looking like highwaters or, worse yet, riding up your backside. They would be durable, never pill and they would cost next to nothing to produce so I could make a million and yet sell them inexpensively to the throngs of people lining up to buy them... SIGH...

Ok enough dreaming...back to reality where stirrup pants are actually a bad idea, but nevertheless making a comeback, and where I give you all another new freebie!

Here they are...after rambling on and on about pants I won't drag this out - I've got some tags, some frames, an alphabet, some journaling squares, ribbons, eyelets, gems and word art for you! There are two sets of the word art (one has "bling" already attached to it - have to have a bit of bling) - and some little embroidered buttons. (where if you layer them and add them to the ribbon they make a cute little frame wrap! (example on my layout shown here: (Ethan's One and Only Winter Outfit EVER!)

Enjoy!

Shauna

Click here or on the title to DOWNLOAD

12.12.07 Preppy Kit Papers

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago my 15 year old daughter asks me if she can get a pair of "stirrup pants", she doesn't quite know what they are, but her friends are getting them so obviously... LOL. "stirrup pants" was my reply, "Stirrup pants are coming back in?" At first I was thrilled, ooohhh...comfy pants that I can dress up or down, with an elastic waist"?? My heart beat a bit faster, then it sunk just as quickly as images of women MUCH older than me at the time (probably younger than me now) wearing them back in the 80's, I remember looking at the "dimples" on their rear cheeks and wondering why on earth they would wear something so unflattering....SIGH... so much for comfy pants that I can dress up and down...with an elastic waist to boot... I'm afraid that after 3 children and quite a number of years,I have too many "dimples" for that now.

WHY am I telling you this story? Did you really want an image of me and my "dimples" floating in your head when all you really wanted when you came here were freebies? Probably not, but the event did make me reminisce a bit about high school and the 80's. You remember...you know you do. Collared shirts that you would be forever pulling up around your neck, leg warmers, bangled bracelets...lots of them, Izod shirts and parachute pants?

Ok, so there are none of those things in this kit, it actually has NOTHING to do with the 80's except the colors. The colors remind me of "Preppy" 80's colors and so the name...and the story...and now your mental image of me in stirrup pants... sorry about that. Maybe the Freebie can cheer you up?

Elements and Alphabet tomorrow - hope to see you back!

Shauna

As always, click here or on the title to DOWNLOAD