Jill DZines (Old) Blog

New blog is finished and has new subscription available there

2009-02-17T10:37:00.002-06:00

Hello! Another quick update, which I think will be my last post on this blog. I did get everything finished on my new blog (http://jilldzines.blogspot.com - the difference is the new one does not have the hyphen in DZines), and I have added a subscribe-me feature there now, so if you would like to update your subscription, you can now do so. Thanks so much! Hope to see you in the new location! :)

New Blog URL!

2009-02-10T12:04:00.002-06:00

Hello! Just a quick note - I have been working on a new set-up for my blog, and have finally gotten it *almost* finished! (Just a couple of tiny things I still want to add).

SO, if you have my blog book-marked, please change your book-mark, and find my new blog right here:

http://jilldzines.blogspot.com/

Once I get it ALL finished, I will be re-directing my domain-name (jilldzines.com) so it will go straight to the new blog, so hopefully within the next few days, you can once again simply type jilldzines.com, and it will bring you to this new-and-hopefully-improved blog! :)

I have not got a "subscribe" feature added to the new blog yet, but will post here and let you know as soon as I do!

Thanks so much!

TWO new kits, a fabulous and LARGE paper-pack, AND a free alpha for you!

2009-02-08T12:31:00.017-06:00

Greetings and Salutations! :)

I have actually got TWO new kits out today, both completed in ONE week - along with a HUGE pack of slightly shabby solids - definitely a WORLD-RECORD for me!! LOL! (I'm such a slow designer!) I have also made 3 alphas that coordinate with the kits - one of them (my favorite, actually!) I will be giving away free, here on my blog, for just 2 days. After that it will be going up in my SBE store (along with the other 2 alphas), available next Sunday when the next new releases come out. So if you read this after Tuesday, Feb.10th, you can still grab it in my shop next week.

Both kits are in my new Scrapbook-Elements store, and my wonderful little CT has had a chance to work with them already, so I can even show you a few cool pages made with each kit! Each of the kits have 4 out of the 6-7 main colors in common, so the alpha matches both kits, and some of the kit-parts coordinate with each other perfectly! The papers (and some of the elements) in both kits are beautifully textured and lightly shabbi-fied - just the perfect amount for a softly "worn" look! (not grungy)

You can click on any of the images below to see the full-size image. All can be found in my Scrapbook-Elements store, HERE.

First is "Shabby Little Man" in nice fun and clean colors, perfect for boys of many ages, but especially younger ones.

Element close-ups:

Paper close-ups:

And next is "Shabby Little Miss" in beautiful and mostly-soft colors, just perfect for little girls and any other feminine pages!

Element close-ups:

Paper close-ups:

And I have to show you a few of the pages my CT came up with!

(You can click on these to see larger images as well)

The first 4 are all by Madae. I love how she used the round glitter-frame, cutting it up and using as an accent around the page - so creative and cute! And her 'blocking' on the bottom right-hand page looks so awesome - love it!

Now the next 4 - the 2 on the left-hand side are by Cindy-Lou, and the 2 on the right-hand side are by DJ. Both of these ladies have been with me almost since I started designing! I love how Cindy-Lou accented her photo with the glitter frame and the various papers and flowers drawing your eye right in to the center, to the picture! And I love DJ's page on the right, with the ADORABLE photo of her grandson! Doesn't he look like he is thinking up some mischief??!! LOL! Love how she used the stitching to kind of 'frame' the photo - looks super!

And lastly, Mel made a fabulous little note-book type hybrid project! (I want her to come to my house and make a few of these for ME!! LOL!) She printed out all of her pages and used a binding system she just got, called Zutter 'Bind It All' - doesn't that look awesome?

OK! Now, on to... the (LARGE!) paper-pack

Because everyone needs a great pack of solids in the digi-scrap wardrobe! Papers are beautifully textured and lightly distressed, for that perfect, comfy-and-slightly-worn look! (but not grungy) Pack includes 30 different papers - each one is unique, they are not simply re-colored! Something perfect for every layout! :)

All of the new releases are on sale, 25% off, Today (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday) ONLY, so grab 'em quick! You can find all of the above HERE.

And if you happen to grab either (or both) of the "Shabby Little" kits, you will love this alpha, which you can grab FREE here (today and tomorrow only!). It matches both kits! :)

After Tuesday it will be going into my store at Scrapbook-Elements, and will be available there next Sunday. For right now, though, you can grab it right (link removed - will be available in my store at ScrapBook-Elements.com on Sunday, Feb. 25th)

**Edit to add quick note - forgot to say that the free alpha download does not include the shabby background shown in preview - that will be in the for-sale set next week. Sorry for any confusion.

Thanks so much for looking! Hope you have a wonderful week!

WILD-THING $1 Week-end Sale - and my new store at SCRAPBOOK-ELEMENTS.COM!!

2009-01-22T23:12:00.011-06:00

Hi Ladies!

I have a ONE-DOLLAR week-end special in my stores at ScrapDish.com and NDISB.com! Starting right NOW, you can grab my "Wild Thing" Brag-Book for just $1!

Check it out: (click on image to see full-size)

(Image above is linked to my ScrapDish store - you can also find the same great deal RIGHT HERE at NDISB!)

For $1 you can have an ADORABLE little album - perfect for gifts and great for both boys and girls! Includes 10 pages AND 4 solid backgrounds in light colors which you can use for extra photo pages or journaling!

AND NOW...(drum-roll please! lol!)... I am SOOoo excited (thrilled would be more accurate!) to announce that I'm going to have my first products - Crystal Frames and Crystal Flakes - in my NEW STORE at ScrapBook-Elements.com this coming Sunday!! SBE has been right at the top of my list of "Fabulous shops I'd like to be in!" list for SOOooo long (prolly since WAAaaay back when I was on Misty Cato's CT and she was just starting at SBE!), and I finally got the courage to apply a few weeks ago... and was BEYOND THRILLED when I was accepted!! Sunni and John, and ALL of the uber-talented designers at SBE are just wonderful to work with - everyone has been so friendly and helpful - they've made me feel very welcome already, and I'm looking forward to a long and happy relationship with them all! Plus, now I will get to stay in-touch more with the sweet-and-fabulous RINA, who is a dear friend of mine, since back before I was on her CT, before she went to SBE!

SO, I thought I'd give you a sneak-peek of my new Crystal Frames and Flakes! These are perfect for any "Fairy-Tale" and fantasy-style pages, as well as (of course!) your frosty-cold and WINTERY photos, and they will match MANY kits/pages/layouts. These sparkley treasures will definitely set your pictures off and make your pages and photos look extra-special! Here are the frames (and honestly, these low-resolution previews do not do them justice!) (You can click on any of these images to see them full-size - AND, if you have not seen the freebie from these sets, scroll down my blog to the previous entry (or click HERE), and you'll find a link for my Crystal Frames and Flakes FREE SAMPLER!!)

And the Crystal Flakes:

SO, grab the brag- books NOW, while they're just a buck, and watch for the new-releases at ScrapBook-Elements on Sunday! (OH, and don't forget that New Releases are 30% off at SBE, just for a SHORT TIME, so grab them right away on Sunday and you won't miss it!

And just one more little note... I am working on re-decorating my blog (You may have noticed that the scenery has changed a bit here!) and working with a new 3-column template, trying to get it JUST right... It is all on a private test-blog right now, but hopefully I'll get things wrapped up very soon so I can un-veil the new format! I've been working on learning some HTML so that I can customize the template for my needs (well, WANTS is prolly the right word here! LOL!)... and I have found a couple of AWESOME resources on-line for learning to customize your blog! The first one is Blogger-Buster. It is an absolutely FABulous site for learning how to customize your blog - and you'll prolly learn a few other things along the way as well! And the other is Web-Tech University, a site that offers FREE courses in HTML and PSP. I'm taking the "HTML 101" course right now, and it is really excellent. They even assign you a personal tutor to help you - the tutors are all volunteers, and my guy, Andy, is the BEST! (Thanks, Andy, in case you happen to stop by here!) ;)

OK! Just thought I'd throw in that info, in case anyone else is also trying to learn some of this technical mumbo-jumbo...

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a fabulous week-end!

A Snowy Gift for you, and a Super Year-End Sale, and a SECRET!

2008-12-27T21:06:00.010-06:00

Hello!

I hope y'all had a fabulous Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with my mom, then spent Christmas Day at HOME relaxing with just hubby, me, and the munchkins and pets! (for the first time since we got married! It was WONDERFUL!)

I had started working on a set of acrylics for Christmas, but my project veered off into what became my "Christmas Ornamental" Collection instead (Element-Pack, Paper-Pack, and brush-pack, as well as a CU brush-pack). SOOOooo, now I've got a pack of fun, glittery and sparkly acrylic snow-flakes to give away instead! There are 10 different snowflakes, each included both with and without drop-shadows. (I know drop-shadows on acrylics can be so tricky!) I hope you'll enjoy them! (preview down below)

I also wanted to let you know about my BIG SALE at ScrapDish! EVERYTHING in my store at ScrapDish is on sale, 40% off! (Including commercial-use products!) I've also moved several items into the Dollar-Bin, so there are even MORE great deals! Here's a little look at
just a few of my sale items:

(You cam click on the image to see a larger preview, or just go to
my ScrapDish store, HERE to see them all FULL-size!) ;)

There are LOTS more great goodies in my store! ALL at 40% off through January 2nd!

Now, just ONE more little (Haha!) thing before I give you the freebie link... I am absolutely THRILLED and super-excited to be joining a new (to me!) store shortly after the New Year. (It is NOT a new store - just new for me!) I can hardly wait to get settled in there, but want to get at least a few brand-new products ready before I open shop there. As soon as I've got my store set up there, I'll post a big happy announcement (and a new freebie!) ;)

OK! NOW I've got the Snowy-Gift for you! :) Here's a preview:

They are fun acrylics with sparkle glitter inside! You can grab them right HERE! I hope you enjoy them - and hope you have a Wonderful New Year!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

FREEBIE for you, and Christmas Ornamental Brushes for Commercial-Use

2008-12-13T13:34:00.006-06:00

Greetings!!
Sorry, I know I mentioned a freebie the other day and I'm a day late with it. It is taking me a little bit longer to finish up my Crystal Flakes and Crystal Frames than I thought! BUT, I will go ahead and post the free sampler for them today, and then add another little coordinating freebie when I get the sets in my store - so you'll want to check back if you like the sampler! ;)

For today, I just finished putting my "Christmas Ornamental" set in my shops, for Commercial-Use! AND, they are 25% off for the first couple days! (Look down the page a bit for a look at the brushes - it is the same exact set, but with Commercial-Use license included for use in digital scrapbook kits - any use outside of digi-scrapping would require a special license, so contact me if you plan to use them for other things.)

SO, here is a sneak-peek of my new Crystal Frames and Crystal Flakes (2 seperate products - will also be available as a set, with a nice discount) ;)

The sneak-peek is the preview for the freebie! (You can click on the preview for a full-size view)

I'm hoping to have the 2 sets in my shop just a little bit later today - will post again when they're there! You can grab the free sampler right HERE.

Hope your week-end is off to a great start! :)
Jill

NEW Christmas-to-Go! Cards and Newsletters made EASY, QUICK, and inexpensive!

2008-12-11T12:50:00.010-06:00

Hello again! :)

I have another new Christmas Collection out today -
Christmas Letters To Go and
Christmas Cards to Go!

These will help anyone who is trying to hurry up and get their Christmas Cards and Newsletters out. If you're anything like me, and sometimes wait until the last minute, then you will appreciate how easy and quick these sets will make it for you! Some of the pre-made Christmas Cards to Go are in a traditional photo size (6x4, 4x6, and 5x7), so they will not require a special-order from your photo lab - the can be finished processing/printing in as little as 1 day at many photo labs, so you can STILL get them done in time for Christmas!! And if you use both, your cards and newsletter will coordinate! How fun is that? :)

Here they are (you can click on the images to see them full-size):

(You can grab both sets together at a discount)

You can find them *exclusively* in my AnnTheGran store, right HERE

Thanks for stopping! I'm planning on having a new freebie on here tomorrow (Friday) so please check back! :)

Christmas Ornamental FABULOUS $1 SALE - and NEW FREEBIE FOR YOU! Photoshop Brushes and more!

2008-12-09T01:43:00.010-06:00

Greetings!!

Yes, I'm still around! Just have had a LOT going on, and nearly a month of computer issues I was dealing with. Now, after finally getting my desktop computer all fully restored to factory settings (for the SECOND TIME in ONE MONTH!!), I am finally starting to catch up! And just in time, cuz I have
a sale right now that you DO NOT WANT TO MISS!! :) For just TWO DAYS, you can grab my brand-new "Christmas Ornamental Collection" for HALF-PRICE - just $3 - OR you can get any of the 3 individual parts for $1 each!! (same thing, but broken up for those who might not want the whole collection) ;)

AND, I have a FAB FREEBIE for you too - but you gotta get through this other stuff first, cuz if you miss it, you'll kick yourself later! LOL!

I have been working my TAIL off on these sets! Especially the brushes - they took many, many hours, and I made them first, as I used many of them in creating other parts of the Collection. SO, I may as well show you the brush-pack first!

(You can click on any of these images to see them full-size - I'll link you up down the page a bit!)

(Yeah, that tree in the middle looks wierd, doesn't it? I just cut off the bottom 2/3 in order to fit it on the preview while still showing close-up detail - it isn't really that deformed! LOL!)

Those ornament-shaped frames and solid brushes (perfect for journal mats) will work fabulous all year round! And the fancy ornaments will look super on your Christmas newsletter and/or Christmas cards - and of course your digital scrapbook pages! ;)

I'm using the brushes for decorating our Christmas newsletter this year - this will be the first time ever that I'm actually kind of excited about doing it - cuz I think it will be fun with all this cool stuff! Haha!

(Don't even bother trying to read it - it's some Latin mumbo-jumbo that I grabbed so I wouldn't be posting our family secrets all over the internet!) ;)

And here is the coordinating Element-pack:

And, last-but-not-least, the paper-pack (which has 8 papers, and 6 of them can easily be used all year-round as well)

And one last preview - for the entire collection. (In case anyone misses the GREAT SALE on this Collection for the next TWO DAYS, you may want to grab the Collection at a nice discount over the individual kit-parts, later on, when you realize you made a mistake by not grabbing it at HALF-PRICE! LOL!!)

(And did you notice that cute girl above?? She's MINE! And so is the DOG!! Hahaa! Man, I must have drank too much pop tonight, I'm feeling awfully silly!)

Now, here is where you can grab the Christmas Ornamental Collection:

NDISB.com

GottaPixel.com

ScrapDish.com

And, here is a preview of the freebie I've got for you.... OH, DANG!!! I just realized I never made a preview for it!! LOL! Off to do that now...

Here you go:

I just made that paper too - cool, huh?? Going to have to use a variation on that pattern again - I like.

SO, FINALLY I'm going to tell you where to get the freebie: Right Here! :)
Enjoy!

....Okay, now it's WAaaaay past my bedtime, but I really wanted to get this posted before I went to bed... and I had to make a preview... SO, I guess my ads will have to wait until morning. LATE morning. Hahaaa!!

Thanks for stopping! Hope you are here in time to catch the FAB $1 SALE! (But the freebie will remain indefinitely, regardless) ;)

Have a great day!

Happy Digital Scrapbook Day!! 50% off SALES! (and a freebie tomorrow - Saturday!)

2008-10-31T14:56:00.003-05:00

It's almost here! (International!) Digital Scrapbook Day! Woo-hoooo! I've got my list all ready for the sales tomorrow (and some today, some Sunday, and some all week!) I've got my eye on a few things that I've Kaboodled, so I'm all set, just waiting for the clock to hit the right hour! :)

I will be having sales in all of my stores - as follows:

ScrapDish.com - 50% off everything (even CU!) ALL WEEK! (Nov. 1-7th)
GottaPixel.com - 50% off everything (including CU!) on Nov. 1-2, and 40% off from Nov.3 through the 7th!
NDISB.com = 50% off everything Oct. 31-Nov 2!
Digitals = 25% and more off everything, Nov. 1-? (I can't find it!!LOL!)

AND, I'm so happy to finally be able to let the cat out of the bag... A group of the designers from GottaPixel have been working hard, as we will have a new store opening soon... it was hoped it would open today, but the site has experienced some technical difficulties that have caused a delay, so hopefully it will be within the next week anyway! We are all excited to partner with this site, as it is a BIG site! You can check it out here (but remember, the digi-scrap section is not yet open or viewable):

AnnTheGran

ALSO: tomorrow (Saturday, Nov 1!), the GottaPixel designers are having a Blog-Hop! Come back tomorrow, and I will have a fun FREEBIE for you, and a list of other designer blogs who will also have some fun gifts!

Hope you have a wonderful DSD week-end!! :)

Going for a world-record 3 posts within 24 hours! LOL! (and a boy-freebie!)

2008-10-20T01:54:00.004-05:00

SO, I'm doing a little bit of cleaning on my EHD, getting ready to burn some back-up DVDs, and I found this little piece that I made months ago, intending to do a set of girl-ones and a set of boy-ones, but the inspiration has long left me. So all I've got is this one little lonely piece of word-art/cardstock-lace/template, very much like those new "Wordles" (except I *think* I made mine before they were cool! LOL! AND I used many fonts, too! hehee!)

Anyway, I thought instead of just deleting it, I'd post it here as a quick freebie, in case anyone might have use for it. It is 12" wide (300ppi) and about 4" high. It will come all by itself as a .png file, no TOU or anything. You can use it for any non-commercial use you want. Hope someone will enjoy it! :)

©2008 Jill DZines

Just click RIGHT HERE to download - it will start automatically. Easy-peasy.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Got my 4 scrappers already!

2008-10-19T22:30:00.001-05:00

Hello (again!)

I got my 4 scrappers for the hybrid-project already! They were quick! Thanks so much for your interest!
Jill

I need a couple of hybrid-lovers for a little project... (Free templates and kit!)

2008-10-19T19:03:00.006-05:00

Hey Ladies!

I've got a little project I need some help with, and my little CT is already hard at work on some other stuff, SOOoooo, I need a few gals who would like to work with a set of name-badge templates to make little albums! Here are the templates (not in my store yet - I want to include photos of finished projects with the previews!):

You'll need to purchase a set of name-badge holders to complete the project. They can be found in the office-supplies area at Wal-Mart for $1.64 per package - they look like this:

You can get them in either vertical or horizontal orientation, and you'll need to let me know which you prefer (or if you want to do both). (These can also be found at most office-supply stores). Please be sure that you can find these name-badge holders before applying. You'll also need assorted ribbons, ric-racs, and/or fibers to use to bind (tie) your pages together.

I will let you have a kit of mine - your choice - and a set of the templates. When you've finished and printed your pages, you put them into the name-badge holders, add ribbons, ric-rac, fibers, etc. through the slots in the name-badge-holders to bind the pages together. These little albums are just adorable when finished - and would make FABulous and VERY inexpensive Christmas gifts - they even work great for little kids, since the pages are protected by the name-badge holders!

I will need you to take 3 or 4 nice pictures of the completed project, with ribbons, etc., so that I can use the pictures in my store preview, and would need these completed within about 3 or 4 days. (Faster is better! If you are able to do it quicker, please let me know that, and I'll take that into consideration when choosing applicants)

SO, you get a set of free templates AND a free kit (no quick-pages) in exchange for taking a few photos and letting me use the photos in my store previews. Sound cool?

I will take up to 4 people who would like to do this. Please e-mail me at: jilld123 AT gmail DOT com, and let me know which template set you would prefer (I want to get 2 people for each set) and I will reply as soon as I have my 4 people set up! (Everyone will receive a reply, whether yes or no).

Thanks so much for looking - hope someone will enjoy this!

TWO great SALES! Retiring products and templates HALF-PRICE!

2008-09-20T12:06:00.006-05:00

Happy Saturday! :)

Just a quick note to let you know I've got 2 sales going on! First, I've got a bunch of stuff that I'm retiring, and it is all HALF-PRICE at both
GottaPixel and ScrapDish!

The previews are pretty small here - if you click on them you can see a larger version!

Here are the retiring products:

And here are the template sets that are HALF-PRICE in my stores at
Digitals and NDISB!

and here are some layouts I made with some of the templates:

Okay! I think that's it for now! Thanks for looking and hope you have a fabulous week-end! :)

WILD Quick-Pages and WILD Quick-Page FREEBIE for you!

2008-09-07T16:33:00.006-05:00

Hi Ladies! I just finished uploading a freebie for y'all, but first you have to see my new quick-page set, just uploaded last night! There are 4 fun and fabulous pages, perfect for fun kid pages - especially BOYS, but great for girls as well.

You know, when a digi-scrapper decides to start designing, there really should be a warning somewhere, that says "HEY! If you do this, you won't have NEARLY the time to SCRAP that you used to!!" (at least that certainly has been the case for me!) I have gotten so few actual pages SCRAPPED in the last year, I can probably count them on one hand! Well, maybe 2 hands... and a foot maybe 2... lol... ;) I finally figured out that if I make quick-pages, I get some of my own scrapbook pages done as well! (Or, alternately, if I scrap a page, I tell myself I'll either turn it into a quick-page or a template, so I don't feel so guilty about not getting something new in my store!)

SO, I made a set of 5 quick-pages - 4 to go in my store, and one to give away!

Here is the pack in my store at GottaPixel:

(also available at NDISB.com and ScrapDish.com)

They are ON SALE - on special introductory price, 25% off, so you can grab the set of 4 for just $2.84!! (for one week only!)

and here is a 2-page layout I made with 2 of the QPs:

And lastly, here is the freebie I made you:

You can click on the image (above) or click HERE! Hope you have fun with it!

Have a great week!

How about a couple of cool Photoshop tutorials? (Video-tuts!)

2008-09-03T14:01:00.005-05:00

Hi Ladies! I have some Photoshop video tutorials for you today! These are posted courtesy of - and with permission of - LearnWebDevelopment.com, and are created by WatchandLearnPhotoshop.com. They send me an updated list about every 2 or 3 weeks (or so), and I think I'm going to try to post some of the tuts here on a semi-regular basis - hopefully every couple weeks.

SO, while you're here, don't forget - my stores are all 30% off, through Sept. 5th! (You will see the sale price at Digitals and NDISB.com, but won't see the sale price until items are in your shopping cart at GottaPixel.com)

Now, on to the tuts! I love these video tuts, because they're so much easier to follow than many of the written ones - at least for me! (AND, because I don't have to write them! LOL!) Today I'm posting a couple of tuts that will help you improve the quality of your photos. The first one explains which of the "resampling" options you want to use for either increasing or decreasing the size of an image, and selecting the best one for your purpose:

Bicubic Sharper

When resizing an image in Photoshop, if you use all the default settings, the image will end up with a little bit of a blur to it--hardly distinguishable, but it is there. In this tutorial, you will learn how to customize the way your image is resampled when you resize it in order to maintain the sharpness of the image.

And the next one is going to show you how to use levels and an unsharp mask to get a nice clear image.

Using Levels and Unsharp Mask

Don't delete an over- or underexposed or blurry image until you try
this tip. If you don't have the benefit of professional lighting or
fancy camera settings, sometimes your digital photos will come out too
dark, too light or a little fuzzy. Photoshop to the rescue! Learn how
to use Levels and Unsharp Mask to adjust the lighting and sharpness of
a photograph.

If you have favorite photoshop tips, or favorite photoshop tutorial sites, please post a comment so we can all check them out! :) Hope you're having a great week!

Yoo-Hooo?? Notice anything different ?? AND 30% off SALE and FREEBIE!

2008-09-01T10:14:00.007-05:00

Hi Ladies!

Did you see my new blinkies over there? ---->>

I've got TWO new stores, and am very excited about both! All of the designers and owners at both sites are so friendly and fun! (NOT that they're *not* at my GottaPixel store or my ScrapDish store - they are fabulous too!!) ;)

I'm thrilled to be a "Natural Babe" at NDISB.com (or "Natural BLONDE" might be more accurate of me! LOL!) and also couldn't be happier with DigitalScrapbookPages.com either! Both terrific stores! Of course I will still be at GottaPixel, which has been my "home" for some time now. But I did have to step down at ScrapDish.com - and will miss working with those ladies. They have been absolutely fabulous to work with, and I have loved my time there, but I've decided that I needed to "expand my borders" a bit, so that (hopefully!) I can reach some new customers!

To my friends at ScrapDish, THANK YOU for a terrific year-and-a-half! It has been my honor and privilege to be part of the ScrapDish team, and I wish you all the VERY BEST! (and I know I'll still "see you around") ;)

To celebrate my new stores (AND Labor-Day!), I have put all 3 of my stores on SALE at 30% off, until Sept. 5th! At NDISB.com and Digitals, you will be able to see the discount price, but at GottaPixel, the discount price will only show up in your cart.

Both of my newest collections are on sale, so if you missed them before, now is a GREAT time to grab them! 30% off is the lowest price I've had on them yet, and will probably be the lowest price for some time! ;)

I'm currently working on a brag-book made with "Wild Thing" (and it is CUTE!), and am hoping to make a chipboard/hybrid album as well, with my Airy Collection, and possibly with Wild Thing as well!

Now, I have to show you a page created with my Airy Collection,
by Madae, (<<--click to see her gallery - you will love her beautiful pages!) who used to be on my CT (Sure do miss you, Madae!! You know you're welcome back anytime!) ;) Madae has the 2 cutest kids EVER (well, except for MINE! LOL!) and when I saw this page of hers I just fell in love with it! Have a peek: (clickable to the LO in Madae's gallery at GottaPixel.com)

Isn't that absolutely adorable? Her Molly is just the cutest, and her page design is just about as perfect as it could be! Madae graciously gave me permission to lift her page, and make a quick-page to give away on my blog -

SO, you can grab the quick-page RIGHT HERE! (Thanks, Madae!)

OK! I think that's it for now! Hope you're having a great holiday week-end! Thanks for visiting. :)

Yay! WILD THING is done - and ON SALE - and I hav a FREE SAMPLER for you!

2008-08-24T09:34:00.012-05:00

Hi Ladies!

I've gotten WILD THING all finished - thanks to some great ideas from several ladies, from here, and DST, and GottaPixel! I loved hearing everyone's ideas, and got some really great suggestions, which I did add to the kit!

Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas with me! :)

Quick note before I get to the kit - If this is your first stop here, be sure to look through my old posts, because I keep ALL of my previous freebies available - they don't expire - so if you do some digging, you'll find a whole bunch of free samplers!

Here are previews from Wild Thing (you can click on any of these to see them full-size):

Now, for ONE WEEK ONLY, I have all of these (you can purchase individual kit-parts OR the whole thing in one MONEY-SAVING combo-pack with the alpha FREE and 2 bonus papers!) ON SALE, special introductory-price savings, 25% off.

SO, right now, you can pick up the whole big Combo-pack WITH FREE ALPHA and BONUS PAPERS and BONUS Border, for just $4.34!! (but keep reading, it gets even better! LOL!) Combo-pack includes 16 papers, over 60 elements, and full upper- and lower-case hand-drawn alpha with numbers and punctuation!

Cool deal, huh?? Now, for my blog-readers, I'm making a coupon for you as well - this will be good for 15% off ANYthing in my store, INCLUDING this brand-new kit that is already on sale!

Coupon-code: WildDeal15off

Coupon expires Aug. 31st at midnight!

It is good in my stores at ScrapDish.com AND GottaPixel.com!

If you use the coupon on the combo-kit, the final price ends up being $3.69!!

Now, I have a FREE SAMPLER for you too - a nice one! Includes 3 papers (2 of which are NOT in the kit, so even if you buy the combo-kit, you'll want to grab this sampler) and 5 fun elements (a couple of these are also NOT included in the kit!)

(Click on preview to see it full-size)

Okay! Thanks for visiting, and now you can grab the freebie HERE!

Thanks for visiting my blog! I know I'm not very good about updating as often as I could, but hey, I lead a fairly boring life anyway, so you're not missing much! LOL!

Hope you enjoy the freebie, and have a great week! :)

Jill

Sneak-Peek: Wild Thing! (and how you can win the kit FREE!)

2008-08-13T17:11:00.004-05:00

Hello! I've been working on a few new things, one of which I'm getting close to finishing, but I thought it would be fun to ask for some ideas of what y'all might like to see in this new kit:

Wild Thing!

SO, here's a sneak-peek! I'm finished with all of the papers (not all are shown here) and probably 70% of the elements, and I think I might do a complete alpha similar to the letters in the "Wild Thing" title (which is one of the kit pieces), but I'd love to get some suggestions as to what kinds of additional elements you'd like to see in the kit. I've got some fun frames, word-art, rik-rak wraps, colorful snaps, buttons and a couple of swirls, bows and ribbon-ties (not all "girly" ones!), and a couple tags/journaling pieces, along with the obligatory staple (I always want staples when I do a page! LOL!). What else would you like to see in this kit?

If y'all can come up with some ideas for something that I don't have included already - especially specific, detailed ideas of what you'd like to see, I will give you the kit when it's done! I'll give the kit to up to 5 people (maybe 6), depending on how many ideas I choose to use in the final kit, and when it's finished, those people will each get the kit free!

You can post your ideas here, or reply to my post at DigiShopTalk.com (HERE) or GottaPixel.com (HERE). I'll take all replies into account, and will make decisions and post winners by Sunday afternoon (Aug. 17th).

Finally Finished!! The Airy Collection is here - and FREE SAMPLER/Freebie!

2008-07-19T11:52:00.011-05:00

Hi Ladies!

It seems like it has been FOREVER since I came out with a new full kit, and I have been working on this one for what feels like MONTHS! ("weeks" is more accurate, though!) ;) I am so happy to finally have this one done (for the most part - I'm planning on adding a couple of the fun shaped chip-board mini-albums as soon as I can get to it!)

Anyway, this kit turned into quite a large collection, so I am offering it in one bundled BARGAIN and in individual kit parts. Here are some previews for you to see:

The entire collection: (you can click on any of these images to see the full-size preview, and I'll give stores links - and freebie link - down the page below the previews)

The MEGA Element-pack (over 140 MB!)

Preview page 2 (there was no way to fit it all in on one preview! Even with 2 previews, not everything is shown - this really is a JUMBO Element-Pack!)

D-Zine D-Tails:

Patterned papers:

D-Zine D-Tails:

Semi-Solids:

D-Zine D-Tails:

Solids:

Alpha:

Quick-Page set:

Whew! I am really pretty happy with this kit, and think that those of you who liked "My Favorite Boy" will probably like this one as well. It is similar in color-palette (with the addition of green and pink) and style - fun, bright and clean colors, "Slightly Shabby" (but not grungey!) and LOTS and LOTS to choose from! There are definitely enough goodies here to make MANY pages (or full albums!) with no 2 alike!

I have made the entire collection available in a bundled BARGAIN too - AND the bundle is 20% off for THREE DAYS ONLY, so if you like it, grab it now before the intro-pricing ends! The cost of the individual kit parts would be over $14.00, and the bundle-price is $9.99 (which means you get the alpha free AND another $3 off!) BUT, while on sale it will be just!! $7.99 You get 28 papers, over 80 elements (some are pieces in several colors, but the majority are unique pieces), a fun alpha with numbers and punctuation, and 4 fun quick-pages - over 350 MB in all!!

And now, here is the FREEBIE/SAMPLE I promised for you! You can download it right HERE! I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful week-end! Thanks for looking! :)

EDIT: OOPS! I forgot to give you the store links! LOL! You can pick this up in my stores at GottaPixel.com, HERE. or ScrapDish.com, HERE.

EDIT AGAIN (Sunday June 20th) to add:
Have you ever had one of those days where your brain just will NOT wake up??? Apparently that's what happened to mine yesterday, because silly me forgot to post the PREVIEW of the freebie I posted yesterday! Sorry about that! I know for myself, I'd never download something if I couldn't actually SEE it first! It's like a grab-bag-freebie!! LOL! (Yep, I almost ALWAYS check out the reveal blogs before I purchase a bag!) ;)

SO, here is the overdue preview for you, so you can actually SEE what is in the free sampler from my Airy Collection! :)

Okee-Dokee? :) And again, here is the link:

http://www.4shared.com/file/55318907/a4d77e6b/JillDZines_AirySmplr.html

Thanks so much for visiting my blog - hope you enjoy the sampler!

Don't forget, the special intro price on the Airy Collection will only be here for 2 more days - after that it goes up to $9.99 (which sounds like a lot, but keep in mind how VERY LARGE the collection is) ;)

Have a great day! :)

ANOTHER freebie! And GOTTA-Grab-It!! Don't miss this!

2008-06-16T14:00:00.010-05:00

Hi Ladies! Hey, 2 freebies within a week of each other - I must be coming down with something! LOL! Actually, I just GOTTA post about this cool new event we just started at GottaPixel - Gotta Grab It! All of the designers at GP have teamed up, each making our own mini-kits, paper-packs, element-packs, or whatever else we wanted to, all using the same color-swatch and theme. The color-swatch is from I-pods - fun, bright colors - and this month's theme is 'Splats, Blobs and Swooshes', and I had a lot of those in my FOUR bags! Each bag is JUST ONE DOLLAR, through this week only!! There are over 40 bags to choose from (including the other designers, not just me! LOL!) After Friday, they go up to full-price, and some of us will be comining some of our own bags into full kits which will sell at full price. Here are my 4 bags:

(You can click on any of these images to see them full-size)

Bag 1:

Bag 2:

Bag 2 D-Zine D-Tails:

Bag 3:

Bag 4:

Bag 4 D-Zine D-Tails:

You can find them all in my GottaPixel store, HERE.

NOW, here is the coordinating freebie for you!

You can download the freebie RIGHT HERE!
Don't forget, the $1 price ends Friday at midnight!

You can find ALL of the Gotta-Grab-It bags RIGHT HERE!

And now I gotta post a quick pic of my 12yo son, David. My sister invited David to go with her to the fishing tournament that they hold at her campground each year, and he was absolutely THRILLED to catch his "biggest fish ever!" Here is a photo of him, proudly showing off his catch (taken on his cell-phone, so not the best quality, but looks great to him - and us!) :)

(cute kid, ugly fish! LOL!)

Thanks for stopping by! :) Hope you enjoy the freebie, and have a great week!

Well, it has been TOO LONG since I had a freebie!!

2008-06-08T23:23:00.008-05:00

Howdy! Hope y'all's summer is off to a good start! We are glad to be done with the "Official" school year, although we'll still be doing some things that might be considered educational... lol! Like "Observing the weather at Grandma's Lake 101" and maybe "Garage-Sale Math 204" (though we really should be at post-graduate-level in that by now!) and I'm sure we'll come up with some others.

ANYway, I just finished a whole BUNCH of very fun alphas - made of - PLAY-DOUGH!! (Who doesn't love that stuff??) I made two sets, using a font that I have been working on. The letters are 'negative' - cut out from a circle surrounding them... so I made one set like that, and another set using the middle part that was cut out of the circles... I bet that doesn't make any sense to you at all, does it?? LOL! Well, here's a couple pictures to clear it right up for you!

(YOu can click on any of these images to see them full-size)

D-Zine D-Tails:

And here is the second set:

D-Zine D-Tails:

AND, they are available as a combo-set, at reduced price, AND they are right now 25% off, for ONE WEEK only, introductory special! Right now it's just $3.51 for both sets, which is a total of NINE ALPHAS!! You can grab them HERE at ScrapDish, or HERE at GottaPixel!
Great deal, right?? (Well, *I* think so anyway! LOL!)

SOoooo, I've got a sampler for you; here's what you get:

Some fun words for your summer pages (background and acrylic title not included). But first I have to show you the other stuff I made since I posted last! (It's only one thing, it won't take long. How I WISH I could design faster! I've got a list a MILE long of stuff I want to make, but I'm really pokey about it, cuz usually I end up re-doing a million times before I think it's "ready". Good thing I'm not like that with cooking meals! David (my growing and always-hungry son) would probably DIE, to hear him tell it! ;)

Anyway, here's my other recent project:

It is a set of over 50 hand-drawn brushes (in .abr/Photoshop brush and .png formats). Great for making your own backgrounds and other elements - and they won't be like 100 others you see "out there" cuz they're not Dover! LOL! Available in both personal and commercial-use, at GottaPixel.com and ScrapDish.com.

OKAY! NOW I'll give you the freebie! Thanks so much for stopping by (even if you only came for the loot) ;)

Hope you have a great week! :)

DOWNLOAD HERE!

I have finally ventured into the mysterious world of font-making!

2008-05-27T21:47:00.005-05:00

Hello! I haven't stopped by here for a while, and figured I'd do a quick update, since I just finished something new. ;)

Well over a year ago, I purchased commercial font-making software, and have been planning on venturing into font-making for some time now, but just haven't had (or MADE) the time to really sit down and learn how to use the program - until this past week-end! We had a nice long week-end at my mom's summer lake-home, and I had some time to learn the program. SO, I have now finished my very first font! It's a true-type font (compatible with most everything, Windows and Mac). I used the alpha outlines I made for my "Dotty Doodley Alpha".

The letters have transparent middles, so you can easily customize them with any color, paper, gradient, pattern, etc. that you want! Each character has been carefully designed so there are no gaps, making for easy selections when you customize.

Here is the actual font: (clickable to full-size image in my shop at GottaPixel.com)

Also available for commercial-use. See my Commercial-use TOU for the font here.

As I continue to learn the program, I'll eventually be doing lots more fun fonts, including custom personal handwriting fonts - when I am ready to do that, I'll post a contest here so y'all can have a chance to win your own custom hand-written font!

We are winding down our last few days of the regular school-year around here, but David says he wants to keep going this summer so he can get ahead a grade... we'll see! He loves the idea of moving ahead a grade, but he won't love the work that goes along with it! LOL!

Eliza is just about finished with her 9th grade curriculum, and has been busy earning money for her 2 big trips this summer - one a missions trip to inner-city Chicago in June, and the other a trip to North Carolina for Fine Arts Nationals competition, in August. (See my post, further down the page, about the piano piece she wrote and won with at the State Fine Arts competition)

SO, we're finally moving into official SUMMER - YAY!! Usually we try to spend as much time at the lake as we can, so I may be even more absent than "normal" for me, but will try to keep updating as I have time (and inclination! LOL!)

Hope y'all have a great summer - take lots of pictures for those great scrapbook pages! :)

Important info about "Orphan Works" legislation

2008-05-12T16:25:00.004-05:00

Hello!
I'm not normally a very "political" person, other than voting and perhaps volunteering for a political party during election-time (much to my mother's chagrin, I suspect, since she is "on the other side" LOL!), but I am going to post this little blurb - a very one-time thing. I won't normally be asking you to do anything like this, or spouting my political views here, so don't worry about that. ;)

I'd like to take just a couple minutes to ask for your help. There is a new piece of legislation, dubbed the "Orphan Works bill" that could have a terribly negative impact on visual artists, and I would SO appreciate if you could take just a few minutes to check out this link, learn about why this legislation is so dangerous for those who work in visual arts, and, if you could, please send a letter to your gov't officials. All you have to do is include your name and address, and it will get to the right people, based on your address. You can learn about this bill here:

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

And they have several letters that you can choose from - some are just sign-and-send, and others will allow you to modify if you wish. I would really appreciate it if you could take a couple minutes to do this.

If you leave me a comment, letting me know that you checked out the info, I will send you a special small digi-scrap gift... maybe a mini-kit, element-pack, or a template or 2... (I haven't decided yet! Guess I'd better get that done! LOL!). If you leave a comment, please be sure to include your e-mail address so I can send you a download link! Thank you so much! (Is this bribery? LOL! How about if we just call it a gift instead?) ;)

Jill

ALL of my DZines ON SALE! AND WIN a $10 coupon to my store!

2008-05-01T12:46:00.002-05:00

WooHoo!! !
National Scrapbook Day! !

It's almost here - but my SALE is here NOW!!

I have everything in both of my stores marked down 30% off! AND, I have a COUPON in the new DST Newsletter (go here to find that: http://www.digishoptalk.com/index.php)
for ANOTHER 30% off!! And yes, you CAN use them TOGETHER!!!

My stores:

GottaPixel

ScrapDish.com

AND, I've got a little RAK/Contest over at GottaPixel! CLICK HERE to see how you can win a $10 coupon to my store there!!

Can I just brag for a second or two??

2008-04-19T14:27:00.002-05:00

I just have to take a couple minutes to share something exciting!! (Well, it's very exciting for us - my family!) ;)

My daughter, Eliza (15), just called us from the State Fine Arts competition she is in (it is sponsored by our church denom.), and she advanced to Nationals this year for her harmonica solo (Amazing Grace) AND for song composition!! (She wrote an absolutely BEAUTIFUL piano piece, which you can see on her Youtube video, HERE.) We are SOOOooo proud of her!!

Lots of fun new stuff, and a FREEBIE!

2008-04-17T23:37:00.019-05:00

Happy Wednesday!! Oops - Happy THURSDAY now that it's past midnight!! LOL!

Wow - I see that I haven't kept my blog up-do-date with all of the items I've had come out in the last couple weeks! I have been very, very busy - creating some things that I HOPE you're going to LOVE using! I've been making alphas, frames, swirls, flowers... all in FUN clear acrylics! (So of course they will match any page or kit you are working with!)

First I have to show you my new Bracket-Album templates for commercial-use! I've had several other designers asking me for a commercial-use version of my bracket-album templates (look down the page a big - they're there somewhere!) so I decided to do that! (Hey, I'm not as dumb as I look... sometimes... heheee!)

You can use these templates to create quick-page albums from your own kits, to sell! (Of course they are S4O-friendly as well - as are ALL of my designs) Get them HERE at ScrapDish, or HERE at GottaPixel.

SOOoo, you saw my "Funky Acrylics" Alpha (if not, scroll down a bit!) and now I'll show you the other 9,000 acrylic projects I've been working on!! LOL! (Or maybe it just FEELS like 9,000??) I also made a very fun and unique bonus background for each of these sets - and each also includes the scalloped vellum mat shown in preview. These papers won't be available in any other sets, and they are FUN!

First, I'll show you the NEWEST set - some FUN swirls, flowers, brackets - and a button! All in acrylic that is embossed with fun swirls, circles, or flowers! These are the extra-fun variety!

Details:

I made another fun acrylic alpha, Casual Acrylics Alpha
(You can click on these images to see them larger)

And next I made some fun Acrylic Frames - Puffy:

And some that are more thin and 'crisp':

AND, I think that might be it for acrylics for me! I have enjoyed making them, but I'm definitely ready to be DONE putzing with these tricky drop-shadows on transparent elements! LOL!

SO, here is (probably!) the last sampler I'll have for my Clearly Essential Acrylics - some fun swirls and a couple other things:

Okay - one last thing before I give you the link! I am still one of the featured designers this month at RAKScraps, and in celebration of that, I have a coupon still active, that is good for the rest of April, and it's good for 25% off ANYthing (including commercial-use items!) in my stores at either ScrapDish or GottaPixel! (Same coupon will work at both stores)

Use coupon-code: JillDZ-RAK25 to receive 25% off your order! (Be sure to put this in the coupon field, not the gift-certificate one, as it won't work there) ;) Coupon turns into a pumpkin on April 30th at midnight!

Okay, NOW, here is your download link: 4Shared

Hope you like the swirls and stuff! Have a great week-end!

Two new products and a FREEBIE and CONTEST for you!!

2008-04-07T11:09:00.009-05:00

Happy Monday!! :)

I've got a couple of new things to show you today, and another FREEBIE!

First off, I've started working on a new product line, "Slightly Shabby Basic Essentials". When finished (if I ever actually finish?? LOL!) it will include many coordinating papers, elements, alphas - lots of fun stuff! The first thing I finished is one of the most basic essentials - a set of beautifully textured cardstock in soft colors.

Available at both GottaPixel.com and ScrapDish.com!

I'll be making additional color-sets, including primaries, neutrals, and brights... possibly more - we'll see!

The next new thing is (IMO!) SO fun! With the many new fun clear acrylic elements I've been seeing, I decided I wanted to make a fun and funky acrylic alpha - here it is:

Isn't that FUN?? I have included the alpha templates so you can use them as clipping-masks to make your own shiny alpha to match any kit you like! This is a very versatile alpha!

I made you a little sampler from the alpha - some fun words that I thought someone might like. Here it is:

and you can download it RIGHT HERE!

Oh - and one more thing - if you check out THIS POST at DST, you'll see how you can win the Funky Acrylics Alpha! Hurry - all entries must be received by Wednesday night, April 9th! Post your replies in that thread, please, so I can track you down if you win!

Okay! That's it for now - hope you have a great week! We are just trying to get rid of the SIX NEW INCHES OF SNOW (Ugghh!!!) we got yesterday - disgusting!! LOL!

How about a new FREE SAMPLER?? AND a COUPON, AND exciting news...

2008-03-31T22:05:00.005-05:00

Hi Ladies! Once again it has been TOO long since I updated here! I just finished putting a newly re-mixed kit in my stores at GottaPixel.com and ScrapDish.com, and I put together a sampler for y'all. AND, I wanted to let you know that I, along with Tangie Baxter, am one of the featured designers at RAKScraps for the month of April! So stop by RAKScraps and see what fun challenges I've got coming up for you - and I hope you're on the RAKScraps newsletter subscriber list, because I've got a BIG free gift for you coming out in the newsletter! I won't post the preview of that one yet, don't want to spoil the surprise. But I can tell you that for my first challenge at RAKScraps, I'll be wanting to see layouts made with either my newsletter gift, or with this new free sampler (it's coming, down the page just a bit, hang on!)

SO, some of you who have known me/my designs for a while will recognize this set, but for those of you who just "met" me recently, I hope you will find this to be perfect for some of your pages! Newly uploaded at GP and SD, I have done a "remix" of my "Soft Spring Blends" kit. I've changed 5 of the papers (I like the new ones much better!) in the paper-pack, changed a few things in the element-pack, and made a whole new alpha. If you previously purchased my "Soft Spring Blends" collection, you will probably NOT want to pick up this one. The alpha is available separately, though, in case you just want to snag that. :)

All of the images below are linked to my shop at GottaPixel.com, but you can also find all of these at ScrapDish.com.

Here is the paper-pack:

Detail view:

Element-Pack: (check out that COOL wicker frame!! Straight from my mother's summer lake-home!)

Detail view:

The element-pack is absolutely BURSTING with fun stuff for your pages!

All-new papered-chipboard alpha:

It doesn't show up as well on the web preview, but these are made with one of the beautiful soft blue papers on chipboard, with distressing/sanding of the paper so you can see the chipboard in some spots. This alpha will easily match a wide variety of kits/pages! I have included some extra goodies with the alpha set. Letters are approximately 2" high x 1.5" to 2" wide (most are closer to 1.5"W)

OR, if you've not purchased "Soft Spring Blends" before, you may want to get the combo-set, at a great reduced price! It includes the paper-pack, element-pack AND alpha (alpha not pictured in preview below - look up the page a bit!)

NOW, I am working on another new kit using this same color-palette (I absolutely LOVE these colors and am almost finished!) so watch for that, coming soon! The 2 kits will coordinate perfectly with each other, with similar blended style with light distressing for that nice comfy "gently-worn" look and I'm planning another new alpha to go with that set as well.

Now, here is the sampler I put together for you. It includes 3 backgrounds (2 of which are NOT included in the for-sale set!) and 8 fun coordinating elements. If you download this, you'll have what you need for my 1st challenge at RAKScraps (I'll be posting that on Apr. 1) AND, I'll be giving out ANOTHER coordinating mini-kit to those who participate! I'll also be giving out $6 coupons to four random participants, to be chosen by names picked from a bowl - so new digi-scrappers will have the same chance to win as more experienced ones. (And of course I would always love to see your pages made with my items, whether you post at RAKScraps or somwhere else!)

You can download the sampler right HERE at 4Shared.
In the download you will find a COUPON for 25% off ANYthing in either of my stores, at GottaPixel.com or ScrapDish.com! (same coupon-code will work at both places)

SO, don't forget, I would LOVE to see you post a layout using this sampler, in my sponsor-designer gallery at RAKScraps, right HERE - you can get more goodies!

And now that our snow is FINALLY melting for what looks like the last time, HAPPY SPRING!!!

And lastly, just a little note for my blog subscribers - I'm sorry you are probably receiving this post twice. I originally used images that were too large for blogger and they were being cropped, so I had to edit/re-do all of the previews, and it seems that blogger often sends out an edit as an additional blog-post - so, sorry about that. Hope you'll stick with me anyway.

A couple new items, and EXCITING NEWS! (for me, anyway!)

2008-02-27T22:37:00.012-06:00

Hello! I have got some news I'm excited about - I am excited to announce that I have been able to re-open my store at Gotta-Pixel.com!! Yay!! I love GP - always have - and now that I'm able to spend a bit of time there again, I'm remembering why. They have such a fabulous community, fun challenges and events, wonderful gallery (which is my "home gallery" where I keep my most complete layout collection, right HERE! It goes all the way back to my very first digi-scrap page!) The team at GP are all just fabulous to work with, and I'm really happy (and lucky!) to be there! The one down-side is that I had to step down at RAKScraps in order to make time for GP, so I will no longer be doing my multi-photo template challenge at RAKScraps, but I'm hoping to start the same challenge up at GP in the not-too-distant future.

And we are having a Leap-Year Sale at Gotta-Pixel! (I know - we just had an all-store sale at ScrapDish not too long ago - now I've got another sale!) EVERYTHING in the store at GP is on sale, 29% off, for Leap-Year!

Now, on to my NEW STUFF!!

First, I made a set of templates for those cool Basic Grey chipboard bracket-albums! Here they are:

They are available at both ScrapDish and GottaPixel (but they're ON SALE at GP - for just 2 more days!) ;)

With the templates you'll be able to make a darling bracket-album (approx. 6" x 6") with ANY kit you want! AND, I found a great on-line store for purchasing the bracket-albums (as well as the Basic Grey chipboard scalloped albums and luggage-tag albums!) AND the owners gave me a special coupon-code to pass on to my customers! Here is the site you can find the Basic Grey mini-albums:

http://www.generationscrafting.com/chipboard-albums-c-176.html

And here is a coupon-code for you, to use at GenerationsCrafting: jilldzines
With that code you can get $5 off a $25 order. The albums are just $4.95 there (retail = $5.45) and they have very reasonable (and FAST!) shipping, so it's a good chance to stock up for gifts!

AND, my other new item is also a bracket-album! It's made with my "My Favorite Boy" kit, which is still one of my favorites (and best sellers!). Here it is:

There are 11 completed pages, as well as SIX extra coordinating papers (even though the preview only says 4 - I added a couple after I finished the previews), which you can use for journaling or photo-pages, and there is a fun coordinating front and back cover. Also 2 stitched bracket-shaped outlines so you can add stitching to whatever pages you like. Here are a couple of closer-views, since I had to crowd in so much on the main preview:

(You can click on any of those previews to see larger/full-size images) Find this in my GottaPixel store HERE, or in my ScrapDish store, HERE!

SO, that is what's been keeping me busy! (well, as far as scrap-related stuff goes, anyway!) ;) As for everything else... well, Spring is coming SOON!!! YAY!! (Hopefully!) I can't WAIT until I no longer have to put on a big Eskimo-parka and all the trimmings just to take the dog around the block! I'm TIRED of 30 degrees BELOW ZERO!!

David is bummed that he won't be able to play hockey soon, but he'll live... and go on to baseball, golf, taekwondo, and who-knows-what-else! Eliza is now in ballet and jazz dance, instead of ice-skating, and she is loving that - along with all of her fine-arts activites, preparing for the state competition. Between the 2 of them it seems I am spending half my days carting them around - some days I feel more like a bus-driver than a mom!

Thanks for stopping/looking! Hopefully with my next little project I can have a little sampler for you! ;)

Super Valentine's Day Sale at ScrapDish.com!

2008-02-11T09:40:00.000-06:00

Good morning!! (at least it's still morning HERE in Minnesota, USA!)
(though the "good" might be debatable when we have wind-chill temperatures of 40 degrees BELOW ZERO!! (Yes, that really said BELOW zero! LOL!)

BUT.. good news! We're having a SUPER-SALE at ScrapDish!

ALL of my stuff is on sale - most is around 30-40% off!

Here are a few of the great deals you can snag - all images are clickable:

Normally 6.50, right now just $4.50!

Regularly $6.00, now just $4.50

Regular price = $6.00, now just $4!

On sale for $1.50! (for 3 templates!!)

Regular price = $8.00, on sale for $5.00!

Full-size kit AND quick-page set! Normally $8.00, now just $5.50!

Now on sale for $1.50!

Sale price = $2.00!

Sale price = $1.50!

Sale price = $1.00!

MANY more great deals too! My Store

Right now I am working on a set of Bracket-Album layered templates, and a set of full-size quick-pages for my Whisper-Soft kit - be on the look-out for those! ;)
Thanks for looking! Hope you have a GREAT Valentine's Day!

New Whisper-Soft Bracket Album!

2008-02-10T01:24:00.001-06:00

Hi Ladies!

First of all I have to THANK YOU for all the really, really nice comments and notes you left about my new Whisper-Soft set! I once again really enjoyed reading all those nice messages! (And of course having the set sell really well was pretty nice too, by-the-way! LOL!)

SO, I had planned on doing a quick-page album with the kit (and do still plan to do that) but I got side-tracked ("Side-tracked" should really be my middle name these days...) because I saw one of those Basic Grey chipboard bracket-albums - SOOoo cool!! SO, of course, I ended up making a Bracket-Album with Whisper-Soft! I just got it uploaded and into my store at ScrapDish, and it is on special introductory-price sale for a week - 25% off. Regular price is $7, and I have it on sale for $5.25. If you need a quick gift that looks like it took hours, this would fit the bill perfectly! All the work is done for you, you just slide your photos underneath the .png-format pages, add your journaling, etc., and adhere your printed pages to the Basic Grey chipboard bracket-album. Tie some matching ribbons around the jump-ring that holds the album together for a super-cute finished project!

Here it is: (you can click on the preview to see the full-size image)

and my D-Zine D-Tails:

You can find it RIGHT HERE, in my store at ScrapDish.com. (Did I mention that it is on sale?? LOL!)

And, we are going to be having a great sale at ScrapDish, for Valentine's Day! Feb. 11th through the 15th, we'll ALL be having some great deals for you!

Oh, and I AM still going to do a full-size quick-page set with Whisper-Soft - and when I do, I'll have another sampler (FREEBIE!) for you! ;)

Hope your week-end has been good, and that your Sunday is GREAT!

It's in the store - and AMAZING sale! 4 days, 4 dollars! FREE SAMPLER for you!

2008-02-04T21:13:00.000-06:00

It's in the store! (<<--click there!) Whisper-Soft! I've made the new previews, gotten everything zipped up and uploaded, and gotten the FREE SAMPLER uploaded and ready for you! :) AND, I decided to do a 4-days-only SUPER SALE on it - for just the next 4 days, you'll be able to pick up the full combo-kit (includes paper-pack, element-pack, alpha, and bonus mulberry-paper bracket-shaped mat) for JUST $4!! (regular price of the combo-pack will be $6.50 - this is a LARGE kit! 199 megabytes in all!) SO, now that I've gotten the new previews finished, you can see the whole kit, with close-ups and all! (You can click on any of the images to see them at full-size)

SO, now on to the fun stuff! Congratulations to the following ladies, who won the full kit by submitting names that I selected to use for the kit:

Shelly
Psy
Mary

and a couple more who were SOoo close - and I may end up using some of the ideas for future kits! I do still have 2 ladies who I haven't been able to track down, so if you submitted a name idea to me, and did not receive the download link for the gift, please contact me with your e-mail so I can send you the link! :)

Again I want to thank you for all of the MANY great ideas you sent me - it was really fun to get so many entries and read all of them!

NOW, as promised, I have a nice sampler for you! :)

Only thing is, I forgot to update the preview in the sampler I uploaded. SO, if you do want the updated preview (above) just right-click and save that preview and save it to the file once you've gotten it downloaded. If you re-name it "folder" (you'll have to delete the preview that comes in the file, as it is named "folder" already) it will show up as the thumbnail image if you have your systems file-views set to thumbnails.

Okay - now you can download the sampler RIGHT HERE. I hope you like it!

And don't forget - only FOUR DOLLARS for JUST FOUR DAYS! :) Enjoy!

Wow - you guys! Winning name chosen!

2008-02-04T03:11:00.000-06:00

Hi Ladies! Just a quick note - I'm up way too late doing this! LOL! I want to thank you all for playing along with my little name-this-kit contest! I got WAY more ideas and entries than I ever expected - I had entries here, and in my posts at DST, and in PMs at DST, and in many e-mails as well! Y'all kept me very busy answering and sending download links! :) Thank you!! You all had some fabulous names - and it really was difficult to choose, as there were so many REALLY good ideas! Y'all made my week-end! :)

There were a couple of ladies that posted here that didn't leave an e-mail address (or maybe they did fill it in in the blogger form, but I was not able to see it?) so if you did not receive a download link from me, for the entry-gift, please let me know so I can send you the link. You can send me a PM at DST or RAKScraps (Jill D-Zines) or e-mail me: jilld123 AT gmail DOT com. I don't want to miss anyone! :)

The kit now has a name! "Whisper-Soft" (which I really love and would not have come up with on my own!) I have sent out links to the winners, and will post more details tomorrow (Monday) when I get all my loose ends wrapped up.

Again, thank you so much for participating - this was really fun!

FINALLY, a new kit from me!

2008-02-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

Yay!! FINALLY! I have finished a new kit - but, I haven't been able to come up with a name, so I need your help!

Everyone who sends me a name idea will get a link to download this gift:

The winner - and 2 other people who submit names - will get the entire kit - free! (and it is a huge kit!)

Here is the kit - first the papers:

and the elements:

and the alpha:

Send me your name ideas by posting them here in the comments, or send me a PM at DigiShopTalk.com (user-name: Jill D-Zines). If you enter it here, be sure to include your e-mail address so I can send you the link. And if you send me a PM at DST, be sure that you have your options set up so that you'll receive a notification when you get a PM.

Once I receive your name entry, I will send you the download link for the name-me gift (above)! I will select a name by Sunday evening at 6:00 (Central time), and then will put it in my store, AND have another free sampler for you! Send me your idea today, or by 5:00 (Central time) tomorrow (Sunday, Feb 2, '08). The winner (whoever's name idea is chosen by me - along with 2 others that I like best) will receive the full kit - FREE! (And the kit is JAM-PACKED, believe me! Not all items are shown in previews!)

Here is a layout I did with the kit:

(Isn't he handsome?!) He is the cat of some friends of ours, and they usually have Eliza and David take care of their pets when they go out of town. What you can't see in the picture is that this cat probably weighs close to 18 pounds! (might be a little less - he has been put on a diet! LOL!)

As soon as I have the kit named and uploaded, I'll have a nice sampler for you as well, so keep your eyes out for another post from me! :)

Hope you have a wonderful week-end - send those name ideas in!

Another proud Mama moment! Eliza plays Clementi

2007-12-21T23:49:00.001-06:00

Here is my daughter's latest Youtube video - playing the first movement from Clementi Sonatina, Opus 36, no. 3. This was the first "real" sonatina that *I* learned when I was taking piano, and it's so fun to see her play it - and she now does a better job at it than I ever did! LOL!

Isn't she great??? (no personal bias at all!) She has several other piano videos up at Youtube as well, in case you are a music-lover - including some that she composed herself! You can find them RIGHT HERE! Thanks for stopping by!

New Multi-Photo Template, and challenge at RAKScraps!

2007-12-05T11:25:00.000-06:00

Hi Ladies! :)

It's been TOO long since I posted here again! But now I have something fun for you! For my December challenge at RAKScraps, I have made a 2-page template - kind of a year-in-review type thing. I made it into a 2-page spread so you wouldn't have to use MICROSCOPIC pictures! LOL!

Here's a preview:

(click on image to see full-size)

Please post your layout in the MMTC Gallery at RAKScraps so we can all see your creation! :)

You can download the template HERE. Have fun!

And the winners are...

2007-11-19T10:20:00.002-06:00

Yes, you read that right. Winners are being announced with no voting, because there were exactly 3 entries! I received several messages from people saying they loved the flower templates/brushes, but just didn't have time to do a contest right now, so maybe this was a bad time of the year to do it... (?) I'm kind of disappointed that there weren't more, but do understand that people only have so much time in a day - and am really happy for the 3 who entered! :)

Here they are, in the order they sent me their entries:

Peggy, who sent me a layout she made using the Funky Flower templates:

Peggy used pink paper by Dianne Rigdon, from "Hippie Chick" along with a few things of mine. Isn't that the cutest photo of her little girl - all decked out in fancy silver shoes!!

Next is Suzanne V, with her fun flower:

Suzanne used papers from Bren Boone's "Breauna Ball" along with the glitter outline that came with this template.

And last, Anne:

Anne used papers from Manu's "Sunflower" kit.

Aren't they fun? Congratulations to these ladies, who will each receive a $10 coupon from my store at ScrapDish!

For the rest of you, here is a 30% off coupon for you, to thank you for stopping by my blog - use this coupon code:
FunkySale30
to receive 30% off ANYthing in my store! (Commercial-Use INCLUDED!) This is a great chance to pick up one of my gorgeous "Ultimate Flower Collections" or the "Funky Flowers" templates and brushes set!

Hope you all have a wonderful week, and Happy Thanksgiving to you all! (In case I don't post again before then!)

New (cool!) Flower Templates, a Funky Flower CONTEST and a FREEBIE!

2007-11-10T21:18:00.000-06:00

Yay! I am finally ready to post my latest goodies, along with a free sampler, and a CONTEST! I've never done anything like this before, so I hope I get some people to play! I would love to see a ton of entrants, but even if it's just a handful, I think it will be fun. :) (But by all means, please tell your friends about it! LOL!)

SO, first of all, the new goodies - they are fun layered (doodled) flower templates, that you can use to make flowers to match whatever layout or kit you are working with (personal use only) and there some examples included in this preview as well:

And here is another look, without the extra pre-made flowers included, so you can see the actual templates better (and you can click on these to see them full-size as well):

Included are layered templates for 12 hand-drawn flowers, 1 butterfly, and assorted stems and leaves - all ready for you to customize to match your pages! Use them just like you would use layout templates - but you can also apply actions, styles, etc. to any of the individual layers, for even more fun options! I've also included some cool aged-iron (dings, rust, and all!) outlines - one for each flower, stem, leaf and butterfly - AND I've included glitter outlines for all pieces as well AND included them in photoshop .abr (brush) format for extra-easy use on all kinds of stuff!

You can find the full set RIGHT HERE in my store at JillDZines.com, or RIGHT HERE in my store at ScrapDish.com.

Now you'll be able to make some really fun flowers in a snap - the glitter is easily re-colored using your hue/saturation adjustment, or by using a solid color overlay with blend mode set to color - or whatever re-coloring method you prefer. (If you need help with recoloring, let me know and I can post a mini-tutorial here - I'm only familiar with Photoshop CS2 and PS Elements, though, so people who use other programs might have to ask someone who uses the same program as you - if you go to DigiShopTalk.com and visit the Digital and Hybrid Help Forum <<--(that's clickable) Now, here's the fun part: I'm going to have a Funky Flower Contest! I have a free sampler for you, and you can use the flower templates from that, OR you can use any of the flowers from the full set (which you can find HERE in my store at JillDines.com, and HERE in my store at ScrapDish.com). Use any of your favorite papers or other digi supplies, along with any actions, layer-styles, patterns, brushes, etc. to make your flowers uber-cool, and send me a .jpg (no larger than 400 x 400 px, 72 ppi) by midnight next Sunday (Nov. 18th). I'll post each of the entries here on my blog, assigning them each a number (for anonymity), and will be letting y'all know later this next week how and where you can vote. The top 3 winners will each win a $10 gift-certificate for my store at ScrapDish.com. :) And ALL participants will receive a download link for a nice little grab-bag of fun flowers created using the templates! :) (The flowers may be available in my store after the contest ends - so entering the contest may be your only chance to get them free!

(Click on this image to see it full-size)

SO, now for the FREEBIE! :) Here's what you get - 3 layered templates - 2 flowers and a paisley with a little flower, aged-iron outlines, and glitter outlines:

You can find the free sampler RIGHT HERE! :) (And of course, I always love reading your comments, if you can) ;)

SO, Now I'll be watching for those flowers to come flying into my inbox! Please send them (see size restriction above) to jilld123 (AT) gmail (DOT) com. (Please include credit info if you use other designers' papers, etc.) I will be posting all entries on my blog ASAP, and assign a number to each entry, so that we can keep it anonymous and fair. (Of course there's nothing to stop you from telling your own friends to vote for you - but maybe it would be nicer to tell them about the contest so they can join the fun too!) ;)

Have a wonderful week! I'll post the voting info you'll need next Monday (Nov. 19th), and will be posting all entries this week as I receive them. :)

Proud Mama moment

2007-11-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

I'm so proud of my daughter! I have to share this video she recorded, of herself playing piano. She recorded it using my camera (which is *not* a video camera) so the video quality is not the best, but SHE IS the best! She composed the song herself - TODAY! In ONE day! I have been her piano teacher since she was in first grade, but a couple months ago I had to send her to a new piano teacher because she's getting too good for me to teach!

She has several other videos on Youtube as well - all really good, IMO! ;) Okay, end of Proud-Mama-Brag! :)

I've been working on a cool new set of something... can't say anymore just yet, but as soon as I've got all the little details finished, I'll be posting the new goodies, in conjunction with a free sampler AND a CONTEST! My hubby left this afternoon for a long week-end of deer-hunting, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get all my loose ends wrapped up on this project, cuz I'm very excited to get it done and posted!
Hope you have a fabulous Friday and week-end! :)

Another post from me in ONE DAY???? (Free template!!)

2007-11-01T22:57:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe, I know! But yes, I really am posting TWICE in ONE DAY!! LOL! I just finished posting my latest challenge at RAKScraps, HERE. It is the Mega-Memories Template Challenge - and involves a free multi-photo template!

Here is the template:

And you can download it right HERE
I hope you'll come and join the challenge at RAKScraps! Ya just never know when you might get RAK'd over there! ;)

Storewide SALE and CLEARANCE at ScrapDish! Up to 60% off!

2007-11-01T16:27:00.001-05:00

Hi there! Just a quick post to let you know about our HUGE store-wide SALE and clearance at ScrapDish! Everyone has marked down prices from 25% off to 40% off, and I've got ALL of my shop marked down 25% to 60% AND MORE! Here are some of my items - not everything is pictured and EVERYTHING in my store is on sale! (I don't do that very often!) (even including commercial-use stuff, which is rarely marked down!)

Thanks for looking! I'm hoping on getting a couple new tutorials (photoshop video tuts) in the next day or two!

Hope you have a great week-end and National Digi-Scrap Day!

New B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L real flower collections - Commercial-Use OK and FREE SAMPLER!!

2007-10-24T15:14:00.000-05:00

Hey! Look at me - posting twice in one week!! LOL! (Unusual for me, as anyone that reads my blog will agree) ;) Well, I finished a couple of the commercial-use items I referred to in my post the other day, and I decided to make a little sampler for those, so you can get yourself a few (LOL!) really nice flowers for your pages! Not just your standard re-colored gerbera (sp??) daisies - there are MANY unique varieties of flowers included. Here are the flower sets:

And a closer look...

And here is the 2nd set:

and closer look...

And I have a combo-pack, with both sets, at a savings (and with 4 bonus flowers! The bonus flowers are the same as the ones in the freebie I'm sharing down the page a bit, but the freebie version cannot be used commercially, while the same flowers, in the combo-kit, CAN be used commercially). The sets above can both be found in my stores at ScrapDish.com, Commercial-Use.com, and JillDZines.com, but the combo-pack can ONLY be found in my blog-store at JillDZines.com. Here's the preview for the combo-pack:

Aren't they gorgeous? I wish I could take credit for taking the original pictures, but I can't. They were actually scanned (!!) by Mark Charneski in Florida, and I have done some "tweaking" in Photoshop. (Hahaha - "some" tweaking - I have spent MANY hours on these flowers - they were absolutely gorgeous to begin with, but I wanted to make them as sharp and clear as possible, give them a little zip (slight color-boosts and other photoshop fun!) and make grey-scale copies that would look gorgeous too!) Mark graciously gave me permission to use them commercially a few months back, and I have just now (finally!) gotten them all ready! He will be surprised (I think!) when he suddenly hears from me again, let him know that some of his flowers are finally in my stores, and to pay him a percentage of any earnings from them!

SO, I decided to put together a little sampler (you're not surprised, are you??) for y'all! :) Included are 4 images - a gorgeous rose, in color and BW format, and a pretty petunia, also in color and BW. I have slightly reduced the size of these flowers. The ones in the regular kits are mostly close to 2.5 to 3 inches, with some being slightly larger. They are perfect for adorning your pages without over-powering your photos! Here is the free sampler set:

And you can download them right HERE!

So there ya go! Two posts in one week - someone better write this down! LOL!
Hope y'all like the flowers, and have a great week! :) I'll be posting new photoshop video tutorials sometime next week, so check back when ya can! :)

Some free video tutorials for you! (Photoshop)

2007-10-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

Hello! No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth! LOL! Just been extra busy, and haven't had any new releases the last couple WEEKS! Since it's been so long since I posted a freebie, I thought I'd post some cool FREE video tuts for photoshop! I love these video tuts and have gotten permission to share them on my blog - so I'm hoping to give you a new tut (or 2... or 3... LOL!) every week or 2. For this time, I'm including several extras, just for fun! I hope you enjoy them! :) (And hopefully I'll have something new for you, including the traditional free sample, SOON! I'm working on a couple commercial-use items right now, then have plans for some fun (personal-use) elements, and HOPEFULLY I'll be starting a new kit pretty soon as well!) ;)

These video tuts appear courtesy of WatchandLearnPhotoshop.com.

Making a Photo Old

There are lots of methods of aging a photo. Instead of just weathering and roughing it up, Brian Harber shows us the basic properties of old photo exposure, and how to achieve the same look in Photoshop (high contrast, fuzziness, random shadow from flash; no true black; THEN add dust & scratches.)

Masking Basics

Understanding what masks are and how they work in Photoshop can open up many doors for creative design. In this video excerpt from the upcoming video series, "Getting Started in Photoshop CS 2", Geoff Riggs explains the basics of what masks are and how to use them.

Levels Adjustment

You may already know the basics of the levels adjustment tool, but in this video, Geoff Riggs will show you a neat little trick you may not have known. Using this method you'll be able to very quickly and effectively adjust the brightness and contrast of your image in a very intuitive manner.

Non-Destructive Dodging And Burning

The Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop are great tools for lightening and darkening areas of your images. However, these tools are destructive to your original photograph and can only be reversed using your History panel. In this tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you a more creative and effective way of achieving the same effects without affecting the image layer itself.

Smoothing Skin

Sometimes the camera does TOO good a job of capturing all the details, especially when it comes to skin. A close-up portrait can sometimes reveal tiny bumps and roughness that we might not want to see. In this video, you'll learn a very effective technique for smoothing out your skin in Photoshop.

Text That Follows A Path

Creating text that follows a path in Photoshop is an extremely simple process. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a circle of text using selections, paths, and, of course, the text tool.

Using Layer Masks

A layer mask in Photoshop is basically a way of hiding and revealing certain parts of a layer. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to create, edit, delete, and modify layer masks in Photoshop.

Flawless Black and White Photos

How many of you just convert your images from RGB to grayscale when you want to create a black and white image? How many of you turn to your Hue/Saturation adjustments and completely desaturate the image? Well, in this video, you'll learn how to take control of your black and white images in a much more effective way.

Okay! Those should keep you busy for a while! LOL! Seriously, I really hope you enjoy them! Personally, I LOVE video tuts, for their ease of use, and these are some of the best I've found (of free online tuts).

Hope you have a great week! :)

New Multi-Photo Templates, a Challenge, and a FREEBIE!

2007-09-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

(First: I apologize to anyone who subscribes to my blog - for the repeat entries - I had to edit this post a couple times, cuz of course I didn't see my errors until AFTER I posted! Sorry for the repeat posts! (blogger sends it out AGAIN even if you only EDIT an existing post!)

Hello! Happy Saturday! (and wow - 2 posts from me in ONE week! For me that's amazing! LOL! but I'm going to try to post more often!) ;)

Lots of news today! I have 2 brand-new sets of multi-photo templates in my store at GottaPixel.com, as well as my own store, JillDZines.com! (check both places for the best price - they are on sale at one of my stores!) :)

Here's a peek for you:

and the next set:

And, I am sponsoring a new multi-photo template challenge at GottaPixel.com! Here is the FREE TEMPLATE:

So here's what ya gotta do: Go HERE to learn the details and log in. (If you're not a member at GottaPixel.com, you really NEED to be!! Fabulous community!) Then go to the member freebies area (link in my post at GP), and download the free template - easy!

Hope to see you there! :)

Something new - and a Freebie for you! QPs and templates

2007-09-18T12:06:00.003-05:00

Hello!! It has been TOO long since I last posted! We've had all sorts of busyness going on around here, with getting my mother's summer lake-home closed up for the season, getting ready for the new school year (we homeschool), going on vacation in South Dakota, me getting my new Blog-Store up and running, and getting a few items uploaded in my new store at GottaPixel.com, and assorted various other stuff! Whew!

First off - I now have a NEW BLOG-STORE! (<<<---You can click on that!) I am SO excited about that! Christine Smith has been helping several designers get their own stores set up, in a blog-type format, and I am absolutely thrilled with the whole concept! (I will still keep this blog up, so don't erase me from your bookmarks!) I'm hoping to eventually have ALL of my designs available in my blog-store - but right now I've just got my 2 newest items set up. (more on those in a bit!) Because I won't have any store-commission taken out of my sales through my own store, I can offer slightly lower prices than those in my "regular" stores. Works out great for customers AND me! Of course I will still offer special sales and coupons in my stores at ScrapDish and GottaPixel - so you might want to check around to find the best price! ;)

Next - I now have my newest few products uploaded to
my store at GottaPixel.com! (<<<--You can click on that!) I will be having another multi-photo template challenge there soon - in addition to the one I do at RAKScraps. (2 different templates each month!) My current challenge, at RAKScraps, is still going on, so if you haven't been there lately, head over there to download the free template - and you'll get a cute posting gift that coordinates with my "Sweet and Sassy" kit! I will post an update when I get the GottaPixel challenge up and running. :) We had a great time in South Dakota! We had gone there for a vacation 3 years ago, and Eliza and David loved it SO much, they wanted to go back there again this year. We went to Mt. Rushmore (again), took the Rapid City Trolley Tour around the city, visited Thunderhead Falls underground waterfall self-guided tour - very cool! We also went to Crystal Cave for a 45-minute guided tour - it was spectacular! Our guide was just excellent, and pointed out every kind of crystal, stalagmite, and stalactite in the cave, as well as pointing out the skull of a 1000-yo man who died in the tunnel. (Actually it was an exact reproduction, as the original skull is now in the Smithsonian Institute). South Dakota, and especially the Rapid City area, has a large number of caves, 2 of which are the largest caves in America (if I remember the tour-guide's remarks correctly) We also went to Reptile Gardens again - if you ever plan a trip to SD, you MUST go here! It has the most extensive collection of reptiles anywhere - and contains MANY exhibits with live, venomous snakes - they have snakes that are not allowed to be kept anywhere else in the entire US because of their very dangerous venoms! They also have a komodo-dragon (I think it is the only one in the US) that killed it's former owner! Fun stuff, huh?? LOL! I will try to post some pictures and more info from our trip, either later today, or tomorrow - not enough time right now! Okay! Now, on to my latest 2 new digi-goodies! First, I finished a new set of 3 layered templates, which you can find in my new blog-store, AND at GottaPixel.com and ScrapDish.com (click on my store links over in the right-hand column) They come in layered .psd-format, as well as separate .png files for non-Photoshop users. Here they are: (click photo to see full-size version)

I see so many 1-photo layouts and templates - and many 2-photo pages, but not as many multiple-photo ones - and I tend to like multiple photos on most of my pages, so that's what I made! ;) These have a more 'classic' look (and versatile - and easily used many times!) than the many 'trendy and artistic' pages I see everywhere. The focus is on the photos, not the digi-stuff! I really believe that when our children, grand-children, and others who see our pages in the future, are going to be much more interested in the photos and the story - not so much the "latest-and-greatest" new trendy embellishments and page-curls, KWIM? (Not that those things aren't fun too, cuz they are - but I like to make *most* of my pages for my family, without as much focus on the 'trendier' stuff). Quality digital products are still a must, no matter which types of layouts you choose to do, I'm just thinking it seems like sometimes there is more focus on the products than the pictures. OKAY - enough on that subject! LOL! (And, by-the-way, if you like multi-photo templates, be sure to check out my challenge at RAKScraps - you'll get a free multi-photo template every month! Soon at GottaPixel as well!)

Now, here is my new My Favorite Boy Quick-Page Set! I have been just thrilled with the great response I got with my MFB page-kit, and had been planning on doing a quick-page set, but wasn't able to get it finished up and in my stores until just a couple days ago - FINALLY!

Here's the new set:
(click on photo too see full-size)

There are spots for 27 pictures in all - if you use all of the windows for photos. Included in the Quick-Page set is the full My Favorite Boy alpha (cute little tiny-tag letters and numbers!) AND two 9-inch coordinating backgrounds (in light blue and yellow) that can be used to fill in any of the 'windows' to add journaling to your pages!

And here is the freebie Quick-Page for you - with spots for one large and 4 small photos, and a spot for journaling as well You can download it RIGHT HERE! It is different from all of the pages in the Quick-Page set, so you can have 9 pre-made pages in all, if you pick that up!

Enjoy!

OKAY! I *think* that is all for now! Hope you like the quick-page (and of course I LOVE reading your comments if you leave me any!) ;)

Have a great day! :)
Jill

Sweet and Sassy Sampler! (FREEBIE - and COUPON)

2007-08-22T22:56:00.001-05:00

Hello! Well, I've finally gotten everything done with my "Sweet & Sassy" kit, and it's in my store at ScrapDish.com!

SO, I've got a sampler for you too! But first you gotta see the rest of the kit... :) I already posted the page-kit preview (see previous post) so I won't re-post that one, but I've made a Quick-Page set and some detailed previews...

Here is the D-Zines D-Tails preview:

And here is the Quick-Page Set:

And the coordinating wooden papered and distressed alpha...

And (last-but-not-least!) the Combo-Kit - get all 3 parts at one low price!

The Combo-Pack includes a few bonus items not found anywhere else! One pink and one blue lace border (17") and some fun threaded buttons! All at one lower price! You can find all of these HERE.

And now, here the sampler you get:

You can download the sampler HERE. Enjoy!

IF you like it, you can use this COUPON-CODE to receive 25% off! (And the coupon is good for ANYthing in my store, not just this kit!)

Coupon-code: JDZ-Blog25 Expires 8-31-07

Exciting news! I am going to be opening a new shop at GottaPixel.com! GottaPixel was one of the first sites I found when I first started learning digi-scrapping, and is still my most complete gallery, so I'm thrilled to be joining the fabulous team there! Once I start getting my new store stocked, I'll be having a "Grand Opening Sale" (and maybe an extra freebie or somethin'! ;) I'll post here when it happens! I don't have a set deadline right now -it's whenever I get my ducks in a row! LOL!)

And in case you're wondering where I went at DigitalFreebies.com, I have closed my shop there, due to personal reasons, so now you can find me at ScrapDish.com, and very soon at GottaPixel.com! :)

Ok! That's it for now! Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Sneak-Peek!

2007-08-16T17:26:00.000-05:00

Hello! Y'all have been SO wonderful, saying such nice things about "The David Kit" (as we are calling it at my house! LOL! David is getting a big kick out of all the comments and the good sales! He smiles every time I read a comment or get a sales notice!) And I'm practically floating on air, so glad you like it! :)

Now, I figured I'd give you a sneak-peek of something I was working on at the same time, but haven't gotten it into my store yet... I know most of y'all have liked The David Kit cuz it's a "boy-kit" but I couldn't keep myself from making a girl-kit as well! ;) I will be making a kit based on my daughter's favorite colors... and probably calling it "My Favorite Girl" (and this isn't it!) but for now, here's the one I'll be releasing next week (or sooner if I can) at ScrapDish:

Now, I'm not going to make any promises as to when it'll be in my store, but WHEN IT IS, I will post a sampler here! (I can't say a date for sure, as I don't want to disappoint y'all) I'd love to hear what you think, though!)

We are headed for my mom's summer lake-home tomorrow, for the week-end, and I'm not sure if I'll get it in my store before then or not, but IF I do, I'll post that freebie!

Hope y'all have a great week-end!
Jill

It's FINISHED and in my store!! YAY!! My Favorite Boy - JUMBO kit! & FREE SAMPLER FOR YOU!

2007-08-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

I bet you thought I was never coming back!! LOL!!

Well, here I am again, LATE with promised freebie! I am sorry. It seems every time I say I'm going to post another freebie soon, I have multiple semi-emergency-type things that get me off track. I think from now on, I won't make promises ahead of time - I'll just post them when I post them!

SO, at long last, I DO have a sampler for you today, which coordinates with the other one I gave out last week (AND, you can earn a coordinating mini-kit by participating in my Mega-Memories Template Challenge at RAKScraps! <<<---(click there!) Be sure to check that out - I guarantee it will be worth your time!) ;) but first you gotta see the full kit! Here is the Element MEGA-Pack (I had to make TWO previews to fit it all in!)
(You can click on any of the images to see them full-size)
and..

and... details...

Good boy colors, yes??

Here is the paper-pack:

and close-ups...

Each of these 2 parts are available seperately, OR you can get the Jumbo-Combo Pack, which includes Paper-pack, Elements, AND 3 cool bonus papers, 2 of which are not available elsewhere! (The orange/red/yellow stripey one is included in today's sampler) The other 2 papers are made by stitching several other papers together, for a fun page that looks like it took a lot of time to make - but it's all done for you. :)

Don't ya think there's enough there to make a TON of cute "boy" pages?? (Actually, you can make a whole love of cute "girl" pages too!) You can make MANY pages with no 2 a like! I know that *I* will sure be using this kit a lot! (Of course it matches my son perfectly! LOL! In case you didn't see my first layout with this kit, it's in my previous post, below - along with another free sampler!) I'm thinking that maybe next week I might make a quick-page album with this kit - I will post here if/when I get to that.

OK! Now, instead of offering them at "Introductory Pricing" I'm going to give you a coupon code, which will be good for 25% off of ANYthing in my store at ScrapDish - not just this set!

Coupon code = JDZ-Blog25 and it will be good through Aug. 31st! (cannot be combined with any other coupon)

SO, where you can you get this cool boy-stuff? Right HERE!

Now, as promised, (though a bit late - sorry!) here is the 2nd sampler for you:

Isn't this fun? (I just love the way this kit came out! LOL!)
You can download the sampler HERE. Pretty-please do leave a comment if you download. I love reading them - and actually I sometimes go back and RE-read them (sometimes more than once! LOL!) just for the smiles they give me! ;)

FINALLY a FREEBIE for you! (Got BOYS?)

2007-08-08T14:18:00.000-05:00

Hey there!

I didn't fall off the edge of the earth! I promised that I would have a freebie for you soon, and I'm sorry it took me a bit longer than anticipated to get it ready for you, SO I am going to be posting one freebie today, and ANOTHER one in the next couple days! (really! LOL!) Hopefully they'll be worth the wait! :)

SO, I'm working on a new kit - STILL - (actually just about done now - working on previews right now!) and have a few pieces that I've got in a little sampler for you! (the first of 2).

First, you have to see my layout!! (while I've got a captive audience! LOL!) I made this kit to match my son's favorite shirts - he has ("HAD" now - we just bought more!) 2 or 3 favorite polo-shirts that all have the same colors in them, and he wears them CONSTANTLY!! So I needed a kit that I could use to scrap pictures of David - and now I've got one!! (Of course I've got other great kits that I could have used, but I wanted something that I made myself!) SO, here's the layout I made: (click on picture to see full-size LO)

(Notice afore-mentioned polo-shirt!)

If you saw my previous post, you can see how to get another coordinating mini-kit, by participating in the Mega-Memories Template Challenge at RAKScraps - so if you like these colors, etc., be sure to go to RAKScraps and download the (free!) template and post your layout in the Mega-Memories Template Challenge Gallery there, then post in the thread in the forum there, and you'll receive the download link for the kit shown in last post!

Now, here is today's blog-gift: (You can click on the picture to see full-size preview)

You can download the sampler HERE. Please leave a comment if you download - I love reading your comments (especially if they're nice!! LOL!)

The name of the full (LARGE!!) kit (16 papers and over 40 fun elements!) is My Favorite Boy and it should be finished and in my store at ScrapDish sometime in the next couple days, then in my store at DigitalFreebies.com next week on Wednesday. Once I get it uploaded to my store, I will be posting ANOTHER coordinating blog-gift, so check back! :) I am also planning an add-on and a quick-page album, and MIGHT just do ANOTHER little gift when I get those completed! The add-on will have the same colors and theme, but will be a bit grungier (heck, it'll be a LOT grungier! LOL!) and will be called My Favorite Grungy Boy!

Hope you enjoy the sampler! Have a great day!
Jill

Sneak-Peek!! AND Coupon for you!

2007-07-31T13:25:00.001-05:00

Hi Ladies! I've just got a little sneak-peek for my blog-readers.. today is that last day for the July Mega-Memories Template Challenge (at RAKScraps), and tomorrow we'll be starting a new one. Be sure to go HERE tomorrow, to receive the download link for the template. (Look for the new thread, dated August 07) It may not be up first thing in the morning, but should be up sometime before noon. (Unless I manage to stay awake tonight, in which case I'll do it shortly after midnight)

SO, I thought I'd give you a little sneak-peek! Here is the template I'll be giving away:

Of course you can replace those swirly-thing-a-ma-bobs with any embellishment/element you want - but these would work great for any summer / water / beach pages!

And here is the posting-gift for participating - there are 5 coordinating backgrounds, a glittered journaling block, 2 ric-rac ribbons, a fun multi-color swirly-thing-a-ma-jig, and a fun zap of lightning! (which perfectly describes my son! LOL!)

I LOVE these colors together - and have been meaning to make a kit with them for at least the last 3-4 months!

My son, David, has 3 favorite shirts that he wears almost constantly - they are all polo-shirts, and all have these same colors in them! So I figured if I made a kit with these colors, I could easily complete a whole bunch of pages for him! :D I am working on a full kit in these same colors (and some similar patterns/designs), AND an add-on kit that has these colors and similar look, but is very much more grungy - for all those really grungy boys!! I'll post those here when they're finished, and will have a little sampler for you then. But in the meantime, head on over to RAKScraps and do a few challenges if you can! July challenges end today, so if there was one you wanted to do, you better hurry! :D

Lastly, I have a coupon for you - it is good for 30% off anything in my store at ScrapDish.com! (If you haven't seen my most recent project, "Splish" be sure to take a look - it is perfect for summer pages with any kind of water theme - beach, ocean, lake, water-park, sprinkler, etc. etc. etc.! You can scroll down a bit to see previews of it. Coupon code = JDZ_Aug-30

Hope y'all are having a good week so far!

And a quick little reminder - my freebies don't expire!! Look around!

2007-07-25T00:23:00.000-05:00

Just a quick reminder - I posted this a while back, but it's off the front page by now, I think... I like to leave my freebies up for quite a while, so you have the chance to get them even if you can't stop by every day (heck, *I* don't even stop by every day! LOL!) So if you scroll down, and look at the archived posts from previous months, you're very likely to find some more free samplers. Enjoy!

YAY!! It's done! It's in the shop! SPLISH!! And FREEBIE and COUPON for you!

2007-07-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

YAY!! I am SOOoo glad it's finally ready! I feel like I fell off the edge of the digi-world recently, with computer-problems keeping me from finishing ANYthing! I finally had to break down and do a complete re-format of my hard-drive a few days ago - fortunately I did have time to back up most everything I needed - whew! I was finished with this kit almost 2 weeks ago, but I wasn't able to get the previews finished, nor could I upload ANYthing without my 'puter going BEZERK!! So I am now a HAPPY GIRL!! :)

My newest little collection, "Splish!" is now in my store at ScrapDish, and will be in my store at DigitalFreebies.com this coming Tuesday - Yay!! So, (of course!) I have a little sampler put together for you! If you have any fun summer, water, beach, ocean, lake, water-slide, etc. etc. etc. pictures, you will love my new sets!

Here is the Splish! Element-Pack:
(You can click on any of these to see full-size image)

And the Splish! Solids Paper-Pack:

AND the Splish! Wet & Wild Paper-Pack:

Are they good for summer pictures?? (I know at least I'M going to use them a lot!! LOL!) We spend a lot of time at my mom's summer lake-home each summer, and I have a TON of fun lake pictures! (Along with some ocean, beach, water-fight, pool, water-balloon and other assorted WET pictures!)

SO, here is the little sampler I put together for you:

Now first I'll give you the COUPON CODE in case you NEED the whole kit! (LOL!)
You can use this code at ScrapDish.com to receive 30% off the kit parts - go check it out!

Coupon Code is JDZ_Aug-30 and it is good for ANYthing in my store! :)

Now you can download the sampler RIGHT HERE! Please do leave me a comment if you download - I really love hearing back from people when I've posted a gift/sampler for you. :)

We are getting ready to go to the lake right now (leaving tomorrow morning), so I'll be gone for a few days, but sometimes I get a chance to log on with my mom's (SLOW!!!) dial-up, and the first place I'll be looking is here and 4shared for your comments! :) I'll probably have some new water pictures to scrap when we get home. :)

Hope y'all enjoy the sampler, and have a great week-end!

I passed 8th-grade math!

2007-07-19T12:01:00.001-05:00

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I'm a bad blogger - again!

2007-07-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let anyone know (if anyone still checks here after so long with no new posts!) I've been having computer woes with my main (desktop) computer, so have spent most of the last couple weeks backing up all my files (finally finished -whew! I won't wait that long between back-ups again!). As a result, I've not had any new items to put in my stores the last couple weeks, but I do have a fun glittery water/beach/pool kit that will come soon (hopefully soon!). My computer issue still does not seem to be resolved after a soft-restore, so I think I'm going to have to break down and do a complete restore/reformat of my hard-drive. :(

As soon as I do get my latest stuff done and in the shops, I will be posting a new freebie, so please don't completely abandon me - I'll post ASAP! :) Thanks for checking in! :)

I scrapped AGAIN!! hehehee! AND...new freebie coming soon!

2007-06-25T13:43:00.000-05:00

I scrapped again! I DO need to scrap more - I love it so much, and when I'm busy designing it's a bit more like work, while scrapping is such a fun and relaxing change!

I just saw Bren's new color-challenge prize, and decided I HAD to post a LO for it. Here's the prize she's giving away:

Cool, huh?? Hurry on over to The Digi Shoppe and join the fun! (I have no ties to TDS, just love Bren's color-challenge!)

So, here is the layout I made:

Isn't this too funny?? LOL! We all played Uno, and took turns being the "Uno Master" and proudly displaying the "trophy" (LOL!)

I think they're going to kill me when they see I posted this funny family pic! (actually, I'm sure they'll be pretty good sports about it - hopefully!! LOL!)

I made this page using all pieces from the kit "Ray of Light", made for Deb F. at PickleberryPop, in honor/memory of her husband, who recently passed away unexpectedly. I can't imagine how difficult life is for her right now, with their 7 children. If you are looking for a FABulous new MEGA-MEGA-MEGA kit at a great price, and where every penny of your money will go to directly support someone in need, you need to buy this kit! You can find it HERE at PickleberryPop.com.

Here's a preview of the whole mega:

(You really need to go to the site to get a better look though - this just doesn't do it justice.)
For $12.26 (USD) you get over 750 MB (!!!) of FABulous digi-goodies! (If you'd rather, you can buy just one-half of the kit, either Part 1 or Part 2 for just $6.55 (USD) - still a GREAT deal and still a HUGE mega-kit!) It is so versatile, I know I could scrap TONS of pages with this kit alone.

Okay, that's it for now - but I'm working on a little freebie to post here soon - hopefully by sometime tomorrow, if not tonight.

Hope y'all's week is off to a great start! :)

I Scrapped!!

2007-06-18T18:33:00.000-05:00

Really, how pathetic is it that it is really NEWS that I actually scrapped a page??!! I really need to do some more scrapping! I think this is the first layout I've done since I posted the one of my son learning to ride his unicycle, a few WEEKS ago!! Designing just takes SOOoo much more time than scrapping... and I really, really LOVE designing, but I think I need to step back and just do some SCRAPPING for a while! (But then I think... "Hmmm.. what do I need to use for these pictures.. I better make a kit...") LOL! And I DO have so many things on my "make this!" list, but it's settled. I'm going to MAKE more time for "just" scrapping! ("Just" isn't quite right, as it's the more important thing, but for lack of a better word.... geeeez... look at me blabbing on about nothing! LOL! Enough! Here is the layout:
This was just a couple weeks ago, at my mom's summer lake-home. Eliza and David always get excited to be the first to go swimming (and to run and jump off the end of the dock, as Eliza is doing in middle picture) even though the lake is still pretty cold! We have been hoping that our puppy, Ellie, will be a water-loving, swimming dog - and we really thought that perhaps she was, because when we take her for walks, she ALWAYS walks RIGHT through the middle of any puddle we even come CLOSE to (dumb dog!! LOL!), but so far, it is not looking good! She was actually afraid, I think! Of course she's a good swimmer - as is our cat (ask me how I know!! ROFL!!) - but that doesn't mean she LIKED it!! We'll keep trying though... ;)

All papers used in layout - and the template - are all by me - papers from "Summer Breeze" kit, and templates is from "Template Trios 2 - Sun Fun" - both available at DigitalFreebies.com and ScrapDish.com.

Ok! I finally got something posted besides a new release! Hope y'all are having a good day!
Thanks for looking! :)
Jill

FIVE new GLITTERY and COLORFUL items... and a FREE SAMPLE, of course!

2007-06-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies! Wow - can't believe it's been TEN DAYS since I posted...?? Where does the time go?? (I know where it goes... it goes to designing - with being such a SLOW designer as I am... oh, and going to the lake too! LOL!)

First of all, in case you don't know about the Friday Freebie at DigitalFreebies.com, you need to go HERE and check it out! This week's freebie is by me - and is a nice-size mini-kit that is an "Add-On" for my Summer Breeze kit! Snap it up while you have the chance, cuz once the week is gone (ends 6-21), it'll be going into my store, and will not be a freebie again. I hope you love it! :)

2nd of all... hmmm... I'm trying to think of something interesting going on in my life that that you might like to read about...

Nope. Couldn't think of a thing. I really lead a pretty dull life, I guess! LOL!

Well then, I guess I'll get right to my new goodies! Remember my Butterfly Garden set? (If not, scroll down, you'll find it - along with a free sampler from it - and it coordinates with my new stuff that I'm just about to write about!) Well, I really had fun making that set - and especially love how the glittery butterflies came out, so I decided I needed to do some more glitter stuff! It started as just one more little kit - a set of flowers that I doodled several months ago, and haven't done much with them - until now. SO, I made this flower set - but it got a bit bigger than planned...

(You can click on the preview to see it full-size, and click HERE to see it in my store, along with an additional, more detailed preview)

Then I decided I wanted to do some swirls...

You can find the Swirls HERE, along with another close-up preview.

THEN, I decided I wasn't finished yet, and had to do some frames AND journal mats!!

(See close-up preview and get them HERE)
and..

When I started this little (LOL!) project, I was going to include just one bonus background with each of these element-packs, but I ended up making TWO papers for each set (except for the swirls, which ended up with THREE papers! LOL!) AND, I was having so much fun making these bright and colorful pages, that I just kept going, and ended up with a full paper-pack as well! The paper-pack includes 9 unique art papers that really can all be used even if you don't care for glittery stuff. I think they're pretty unique! (But I could be biased! LOL!)

(Again, you can see the full-size image here by clicking on it, and you can see additional close-up previews by clicking on my store links - HERE is the link for the paper-pack)

WHEW!! That was a lot of stuff... now maybe you know why I haven't had much time to update my blog before now! LOL!

If you haven't looked at my "Butterfly Garden", please do scroll down a bit, because this stuff will all coordinate with that stuff too!

And now, here is what you're probably looking for - a sampler! Here's what you get:

Cool, huh?? :) You can download the sampler HERE. Please do leave a comment if you download - I really do love reading them! (Pathetic, huh??) LOL!

So, I guess that's it for now! Enjoy your freebies, and of course I would love it if you picked up one (or more) ;) of my kits in the store. After all, I do need to buy some more ice cream.

Have a wonderful week!
jill

Emboss 'Em!! (And another sampler/freebie for you!)

2007-06-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies!

Do any of you former paper-scrappers ever think of something you miss from your paper-scapping supplies? I did! When I went down to my scrap-room the other day, I came across some of my old embossed papers - and instantly knew that I had to recreate that embossed look, digitally! SO, I came up with a set of 12 Embossing overlays - you can add them to any (digital!) paper for instant embossing! I got them finished last night, and uploaded to my store at ScrapDish.com! There are 2 sets of 2 sets of Emboss 'Em overlays, and 2 sets of already-embossed cardstock (easily re-colored to match any kit - tips included!) . They are special introductory pricing right now too! Really a pretty good deal, IMO!

I will be making a commercial-use version of the overlays too - both sets together in one download, for designers who want to include up to 4 embossed papers in any one kit/project, or up to 6 embossed papers in any larger collection (consisting of at least 2 seperate kits)

Here are previews of all 4 sets:

Click HERE to go to this in my store at ScrapDish.com

Click HERE to go to set 2 in my ScrapDish store

And here are the overlays I made (and used to make the embossed papers above). You can simply drag one of these onto your own paper, and have instant embossing! You can adjust the opacity of the embossed texture by duplicating the layer and adjusting the opacity to taste (for stronger embossed look), and for less embossed texture, just adjust the opacity of the one layer - simple!

OH - and you'll want to know this tip: When dragging one of the transparent overlays onto your paper, make sure you have "Auto select layer" UN-checked! (You can change your selected layers right in your layers palette instead). If you leave 'auto select layer' checked, you will have a very hard time grabbing the overlay to move, since most of the page is transparent.

Click HERE to go to this first set of overlays in my store at ScrapDish

And click HERE to get the 2nd set!

And, I put together a little sampler for you - it includes 2 pieces of embossed cardstock (one from Embossed 1 - Classic Shapes, and one from Embossed 2 - Fun 'N Funky, AND one of the embossing overlays, with little stars scattered around the page!

Here's a preview of the sampler:

Sampler includes 2 embossed cardstock pieces (12") and one emboss overlay with little stars!
You can DOWNLOAD THE SAMPLER HERE!

It looks like the stars texture is not showing up on the preview above, but believe me, it IS there!! LOL! (You'll see when you download the freebie!) ;)

I hope you love them! Please do leave a comment if you download - I really appreciate it! :)

I plan to have some more fun embossed elements and/or papers available soon, too, so please check back when you can! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I hope y'all have a fabulous day! :)
Hugs,
jill

Just wanted to add a note for y'all: I like to leave my samplers/freebies up so they are available for as long as the file stays active on 4shared. SO, if you scroll down through my last posts, you will probably find some more download links! :) Once a file on 4shared goes for a certain amount of time with no downloads, though, 4shared automatically deletes the file from their server. If/when that happens, and there is a sampler you wanted, but the file is no longer active, please feel free to let me know, and if I still have the sampler, AND IF I'm able to, I will re-upload it... within reason. (I probably won't re-upload a sampler that hasn't been downloaded in over 3 months or so)

Butterflies are in the store!

2007-06-05T02:43:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies! I completely forgot to update my post when I got the butterflies in the store - and have had a few people ask me to let them know when they're available - well - they are available!! :)

You can get them HERE at ScrapDish OR HERE at DigitalFreebies!

Have a great day!
Jill

My Butterfly Garden!

2007-06-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hello! Thought I'd try out a new font on here - just cuz I have nothing better to do! LOL!

Hey, I have a new little something coming out VERY soon... (however long it takes me to get it uploaded to my stores, and entered into their carts! But I have to do one last quality-check before I upload - that's the not-so-fun part of designing, but a very important step that one cannot skip!) I have never been good at keeping secrets - especially when it's something I want to BRAG about! LOL! SOOOooo, I'm just working on finishing up a fun little "kit" - I guess it's not really a "kit" - it's more like a super-cool-extra-large element-pack with bonus papers! :)

Remember my butterfly brushes last week? (You can still download that freebie, if you scroll down to my last post you'll find the link) Well I've been playing with those brushes, to make a little (LOL!) pack of butterflies... but I got a bit carried away! ("A bit" might be "A bit" of an under-statement! There's over 100MB of butterflies! LOL! Something match just about anything!) Here is the preview of the new kit, coming soon to ScrapDish.com and DigitalFreebies.com:

(You can view this full-size by clicking on the picture)

There are actually 68(!!!) butterflies in the collection, along with 3 fun, swirly, gardeny-colored papers that I thought were fun! The butterflies come in paint-look, embroidered, glittery, enamel, gel, stained-glass, stickers, and heat-embossed (if any of you are former paper-scrappers, or card-makers, remember heat-embossing?? I always loved doing that, and some of these butterflies look JUST like that's what I did!) There are also 8 curvy butterfly "paths" - you know those cute little dotted lines you see in illustrations, etc. Some are made of stitches, some of glass/gel-looking dots, and all very fun! As soon as I get these into my store, I'll post again with an update.

In the meantime, I thought maybe y'all would like a little sample from this set - SO, here is the little sampler I put together for you:

(Again, you can click on photo to see it full-size, but probably won't need to with this one!)

You can DOWNLOAD THE SAMPLER HERE Please do leave a comment if you download - I really do LOVE to read them - I gotta get my ego stroked SOMEwhere!! LOL!

That's it for now! I really am hoping to find enough time (SOON!) to add some other fun stuff on here soon - like layouts and fun pictures - my son just learned to ride his unicycle in ONE afternoon... aw heck... I can upload that one right now... here he is...

This layout created using the kit "No Girls Alllowed" by Cute Kits Designs at SOTB. It is a FAB kit! (Huge too! Just my style! LOL!)

And now I need to go scrap a layout with my daughter! :) Hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for stopping!

Saying goodbye to SOTB AND new Butterfly Brushes!

2007-05-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

Hello! Thanks for stopping by! I have a blog-gift for you today, so keep reading! :)

Hey, in case anybody miss this, before, I was accepted at DigitalFreebies a few weeks ago, and couldn't be more thrilled! So my store at SOTB is now closed, and I am now at ScrapDish and DigitalFreebies, which I'm very excited about both of them! I am still in the process of uploading my existing kits to these stores, and also working on some fun new stuff! Once I get everything set up, I will be offering a new coupon here, just for my blog-readers! :)

NOW... I have a brand-new kit out - well, it's not really a "kit" I guess - it is a set of Photoshop brushes, with 9 delightful butterfly brushes! (I have also included a bonus background, created with the brushes, in the zip-file! You can see the bonus background in the preview)

(You can click on the preview to see a larger picture)

The set is available in a personal-use version (HERE) and a commercial-use version (HERE) in my store at ScrapDish. (It will also be available at DigitalFreebies.com, on Tuesday, 5-29-07) It is currently on Introductory Special Pricing at ScrapDish, and will be on sale for it's debut week at Digital Freebies as well.

BUT, you can ge a mini-sampler of the full set of brushes right now! I have put together the background picture shown in the preview, as well as a background that has no butterflies added, and one of the butterfly brushes:

And you can download this sampler HERE . Please leave a comment if you download the set - I really enjoy reading your comments! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week-end!

Coupon and free gift for you!

2007-05-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies! Thanks for stopping by my blog! (Even if it IS only for the freebie! LOL!) Please excuse the not-quite-perfect look of my blog - I'm just learning to customize it, and haven't gotten everything figured out yet - obviously! LOL! Hopefully I'll get it fixed sometime in the next...... YEAR!! LOL!!)

I have a little sampler for you, from my Customizable Charm Templates. Here is the full set:

(You can click on the preview to see it full-size)

HERE is where you can download the free sampler!
AND the coupon-code:
JDZ_ScrapDish-30
is good for everything in my store at ScrapDish!

That's it! I hope y'all have a wonderful Sunday and week! :)

Queen of the Crop Week 3 - Please vote for me!

2007-05-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

They're UP! This week's Queen of the Crop entries - and once again, I am BLOWN AWAY by some of the totally amazing layouts!

I had SO much fun with this week's entry - my kiddos, being their normal, goofy selves one rainy afternoon. We had finished school for the day before lunch, and the kidlets were trying to figure out what to do with themselves, when they went to Eliza's room and pulled out her (CLOSET-FULL!) of fun dress-up stuff. They dragged it ALL upstairs and the fun began! We put on some crazy music, and they danced around and were more goofy than normal, while I had a blast taking pictures! (Some of these pictures are my FAVORITE EVER!)

(You can click on the picture to see it full-size)
Aren't they a riot! They are the best of friends (most of the time! LOL!) and have so much fun together - I am so blessed!

You can go HERE to VOTE for me! (Pretty-please??) For your $2 vote, you will receive a FABulous Loot-bag with goodies from the awesome Studio Girls!

Click HERE to see my chosen charity. I am scrapping for World Vision, a FABulous Christian humanitarian aid organization, whom we have sponsored several children with, over the years. We would LOVE to sponsor more, but what I might do instead is wait for one of their fund drives where they have matching grant opportunities. Frequently, someone will tell W.V. that they will match any funds raised during a set time period, up to some amount (often up to $1,000,000.00!), so any donations received during that time period will be DOUBLED!

That's it for now! I might come back in a bit to add something, but right now I HAVE to GET STARTED on my week 4 layout! It is due in less than 12 hours and I have not even BEGUN!!
LOL!

I hope y'all have a FABulous week-end! :)

Queen of the Crop week 2 layout, and Every Puppy Needs a Boy!

2007-05-14T13:04:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies! (If anyone reads here! LOL!)

You ladies who have posted comments on my blog, THANK YOU!! I really appreciate it so much! I am HOPING to get some blog-visiting done sometime this week so I can check out y'all's blogs and leave you some love too! Getting my kits ready and uploaded to a new site has been taking much of my computer-time that last several days, along with working on my QOTC contest entry... and now I've got to start ANOTHER one!!!???!!! I don't know if I'll enter another multi-week contest again anytime soon - the pressure to complete a layout kind of takes away some of the fun!

Here is my 2nd layout for the "Queen of the Crop" contest at ScrapBookGraphics.com. Participants have to wait until they are published at SBG before we can post them anywhere. Well, the 2nd week LOs are now all published! (And ready for you to vote on!! hint.. hint.... heheee!

Here is my week 2 layout:

(Click on the layout to see it full-size)

You can click HERE to vote for me! (Voting costs $2, but you do get a fabulous goody-bag/loot-bag from the SBG designers - and this 2nd one is even better than the first, IMO!) Click HERE to see the full page of contest-entry layouts. (Just don't vote for them! LOL!) ;)

Hey, I scrapped the other day!! It was LATE LATE LATE at night (maybe closer to morning! LOL!) and I was busy working on prepping some files for upload to Digital Freebies, and I got an IRRESISTABLE urge to SCRAP! I used a FABUlous kit - "No Girls Allowed" by Laura P. (Cute Kits Designs) and a wonderful template - Scrap-A-Sketch 7 - by Jen Maceyunas. The combination of the wonderful (and HUGE!!) kit and super-fun and quick template made this layout fast, easy, and good-looking! (If I DO say so myself! LOL!)

Here's the layout:

We got our puppy, Ellie, a Cock-a-Poo, on December 23rd - she was a "family" Christmas present, and of course the kids were absolutely ecstatic. I must admit I was pretty excited too, as I have never had a dog! (My mom says we had one when I was a kid, but I don't have even the faintest of memories about that!) Now, 4 months later, they still love her, but sometimes she pushes her luck and tries our patience! I didn't know puppies would eat/chew on EVERY-EVERY-EVERYthing!! Even when we provide her with several great chew-toys and rahides, etc. SHe'd rather chew on OUR stuff than hers, I guess! Dumb-dog has become a common phrase around here, while we are chasing her down to retrieve our shoes, books, mail, clean laundry, toilet paper, kleenex and paper-towels. She also chewed an irreparable whole in the front of our COUCH!! (Husband is NOT happy!!) There is NOTHING that is safe from the jaws of our One-Dog-Destruction-Team! I sure hope she outgrows some of this - and SOON! I've been told by a few people that it does get better as they mature more - I just hope that happens SOON! She is lucky that she's so darned cute, duz if she wasn't, she'd be G-O-N-E!! (well, maybe not GONE, but pretty darned close!)

Okay, I gotta get some stuff done - thank you so much for reading my ramblings! Hope your week is off to a good start!

Queen of the Crop! (And assorted other stuff) Please vote for me?

2007-05-08T10:19:00.000-05:00

Hi Ladies! WOW - I put a counter on the bottom of my blog last week, and I can't BELIEVE how many hits I've gotten - I really thought that MAYBE 3 or 4 people might pop in! LOL! I thank you for stopping by my blog - I'm really tickled! (Even though I know that most everyone stopped by for the freebie! LOL!) I am going to put together another freebie for y'all soon - HOPEfully today, but that's not for sure - I'll do is as soon as I can, though! I've got a lot going on right now - one of which is another NEW STORE!! Yay! I am absolutely THRILLED to be joining the very talented designers at Digital Freebies! I need to start getting kits uploaded today, and hopefully by the end of the week my new store there will be well-stocked! :)

I also have been participating in the Queen of the Crop contest at ScrapbookGraphics.com! What a FUN FUN FUN contest! They are offering a HUGE CASH PRIZE of $1,000 to the winner, AND $500 given to the winner's choice of charity - how cool is that?? My charity of choice is World Vision, a FABulous Christian organization that does SO many wonderful things to help children, families, and whole communities in impoverished areas around the world. You can find out more about World Vision HERE.

I am now able to share my first week's layout. The theme for week 1 is our "Many faces" (or something like that! Not the exact title, I don't think, but close, I hope! LOL!)

Here's my week 1 layout:

(If you click on the layout, you can see a bigger version, with the journaling being more readable)

As soon as I'm allowed, I'll post the 2nd week's layout. I would really, really appreciate your vote! How the voting works is this: You choose your favorite layout from the ones entered contest, then click on "buy". It costs $2 to vote, but for your vote you get a HUGE and WONDERFUL Loot-bag! I got mine, and it is worth SOOOooo much more than $2! I can't tell what is in it, but I can say I know you won't be disappointed! All fabulous stuff! You can see (and vote for?) my layout HERE.

OK - that's all I have time for right now, as we have been out of town for the last 3.5 days, so I've got some catching up to do. I'll try to post again very soon! (I'm really trying to do this more regularly - it's just hard to fit it all in sometimes, KWIM??) I hope y'all had a fabulous week-end and National Scrapbook Day!

FABULOUS posting-gift for the new challenges at ScrapOutsidetheBox.com!

2007-05-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

Looking for the freebie?? Scroll down below this post - you'll get there! :)

Oh - and if anyone can help me with figuring out how to make my own header for this blog (point me towards a good tutorial, perhaps?), I would be eternally grateful!
****************************
Hi Ladies! I have just finished posting all of the details (including the download link!) for this month's Template Challenge at ScrapOutsidetheBox.com!

If you haven't seen it yet, we have started a BRAND-NEW challenge "system", in which every challenge this month has COORDINATING posting-gifts, so if you participate in different challenges, you can earn parts of a GORGEOUS MEGA-kit:

And here is what the May template looks like:

You can find all of the details (including the download link!) for the template challenge HERE.

And look HERE to find the details about all of the other great challenges going on this month at SOTB!

Thanks for looking! Hope you will join us!
Have a great day!
Jill

OH-My-Goodness-Where-Has-The-Time-GONE???

2007-04-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

Okay, I am SO SERIOUSLY delinquent here... {hangs head in shame} I am going to TRY to be better, post more often, and actually DO something with this blog! It's just so hard trying to squeeze everything in sometimes! (Hang in here and read, there's a freebie at the end!)

I have very exciting news to share - and lots of new kits and goodies since I last posted here. (See - that's my excuse - I was too busy designing to stop and post here! LOL!)

First my news - I am now selling at SCRAP-DISH!! Woo-Hoooo!! I've always liked SD, with ALL fabulous designers (seriously, I'm amazed and somewhat surprised that they let me in!! LOL!), and I am SO happy and honored to be in the same shop with the fabulous gals there!

THEN, my new stuff... um... well... I'm going to need to do that later, as I need to get going on Monday morning chores. It doesn't look good when the mom tells the kids to get going on their chores while mom is sitting at the computer!! ;) My house has suffered while I finished my latest kit - Summer Breeze - and I now need to do some catching up! But I will at least post pictures of the kit that caused my house to fall apart - here is the Element-Pack:

And the Paper-Pack:

And the Alpha: (alpha IS included in the Element-Pack, but I decided to make it available separately as well)

(You can click on any of the previews to go that kit in my ScrapDish store. AND - they are ALL ON SALE for 30% off, for my Grand Opening Sale!

Okay - now here is the freebie promised above:

(Click on preview above, or click HERE to download!)
Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll do some more updating soon - and not wait another 3 MONTHS!! LOL! Have a great day!
Jill

I'll give it a go, I guess...

2007-01-18T22:30:00.000-06:00

I am not a blogger. Yet. But I hope to be. (Of course, no one will see this blog until I actually have something worth looking at, so I'm just writing to myself right now.) LOL! My plans are to show my latest digi-pages and my latest digi-designs, available at ScrapOutsideTheBox.com.
Okay, well now that I've started typing, I feel like I want to keep going, so I'll post a couple pictures of my latest designs...

This is my very newest creation, Customizable Alpha-Doodles! They are create with a transparent center, so you can customize them with any paper, pattern, color, gradient, WHATEVER you want - easy instructions included!

(You can click on the picture to go directly to my store at SOTB)

And, the kit I finished just before Alpha-Doodles is another customizable doodley kit - Customizable Doodle-Stickers! These have a beveled white edge so they look just like stickers, and also have a transparent middle, so they can be customized to match any kit or layout you want! You can fill them with whatever color, gradient, pattern, or paper you want, so they are very versatile!

(Again, you can click on the picture to go directly to my store at SOTB)

(Too bad I don't know how to format this better... maybe one day I can grow up to be like Misty....)

Okay - that's it for now! (That much was a big step for me! Is this blogging thing kind of like a 12-step program??)