Designer Spotlight Bonus Goodies!
Dani and Neia asked if I’d pass this on. For tomorrow (September 9, 2022) ONLY, subscribers to their newsletters will have the opportunity to grab some bonus freebies. Here’s a sneak peek to whet your interest.
Need links? Dani’s newsletter sign-up is HERE.
Neia’s newsletter sigh-up is HERE.
Run, don’t walk!!
Neia Scraps and JB Studio
How can it be September already? This month we have a dazzling duo in the Designer Spotlight. Edneia, aka Neia Scraps and Dani, aka JB Studio have joined hands and talents for us and we’re not going to be disappointed! I had a chat with these amazing women and want to share what I’ve learned about them with all of you. Let’s go!
N: When I first discovered digital scrapbooking, I was pregnant with my youngest daughter. Today she is 11 years old. I love drawings and cute little things and I got completely involved with this world. I had time, a computer and a lot of willingness to learn at my disposal. I started making pages and courses and soon I was designing my own products.
N: I use a desktop computer, my most used programs are Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC. I still use a scanner, a graphics tablet and I have a Canon camera.
Can you believe it’s September already? It’s my favorite month of the year. Fall is starting to show up everywhere (pumpkin spice anyone?) and my wedding anniversary is this month.
Let’s start off with our Buffet Bundles. One easy click to add bundles of Buffet goodies to your cart.
I’m loving the fall vibe here, with just a little teal for summer that is hanging on still.
Remember any $10 spent in the store gets you this great collab. Did you know {you are lovely}? You are!
This Free With Purchase was created by: Craft-tastrophic, Cutie Pie Scraps, Lindsay Jane, Memory Mosaic, and Polka Dot Chicks. It includes Alpha {Uppercase Only}, 83 Papers, and 127 Elements.
{pizza is life}. It sure feels like it some days. This Monthly Mix collab was created by: Connie Prince, Magical Scraps Galore, PrelestnayaP Design, Trixie Scraps, and Tinci Designs.
It includes: 3 Alphas {Uppercase, Lowercase, Numbers & Punctuation}, 54 Papers, 75 Elements, and 4 12×12 Template {page, png, psd, tif file formats}.
Now to the September Sneak Peek. This month’s Daily Download is from JB Studio and Neia Scraps ! Make sure you are checking the blog every day to get all the pieces of this kit!
We have a new designer at the store starting in September. Although the name is new, the designers are a couple of your favorites.
Bio: We are Dagi and Lisa. Dagi is a 41 year old designer living in Czech Republic with her husband, two boys and lots of pets, and you already know her for her amazing work as Dagilicious. Lisa is a 44 year old designer living in Brazil with her cat, and has already been around designing adorable stuff as Lisa Rosa Designs. We live so far from each other, yet we became really close and after several collabs we thought we really click and that our designs go very well together. We decided to go on a new journey together and we are both very excited about it. Fun Factory is our whole new adventure and we can’t wait to see where it takes us…
Take a look at the new challenge reward kit. If you complete any 10 challenges this month, you get this gorgeous collab as a reward!
This collab was created by: ADB Designs, Alexis Design Studio, Karen Schulz, and Tami Miller Designs. It includes: 1 Alpha {Uppercase & Lowercase}, 51 Papers, and 81 Elements.
Magical Scraps Galore
The year is just winging by, isn’t it? It was my great pleasure to chat with Marina, aka Magical Scraps Galore, over a cold drink recently. It’s her turn in the GingerScraps Designer Spotlight so let’s get to know her better.
J: Let’s start with the bread-and-butter stuff. How long have you been designing?
M: I’ve been designing for 11 years now!
J: That’s a long time in the digi-world. What made you decide to design?
M: I started creating my own digital papers and embellishments for scrapping our second trip to Disney World, since the digital offerings were very limited back then. It didn’t take long to realize that scrapbook design was my passion, and I started participating in the design challenges hosted by MouseScrappers. I opened my first shop in 2013 and I’ve been part of the wonderful GingerScraps family since 2014.
J: There’s nothing better than creating exactly what you want but can’t find. What tools do you use to create your designs?
M: I use Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate and ArtRage.
J: Kudos to you for blending all those platforms! I have enough trouble with just one. Can you describe your design workplace?
M: I design in my studio at home, with my two cats sleeping by my computer or on my lap. Sometimes they like to sleep ON my computer and they mess with my designs, LOL! I have to be very careful!
J: Too funny! My dogs see me pick up my laptop and go somewhere else. What kinds of things motivate and inspire you as a designer? I mean, other than Disney… 😉
M: My main motivation and inspiration are my kids and my trips around the world.
J: Those two things seem to be the launch pads for many of the designers I’ve chatted with. What is your favorite kit currently in your GS store and why?
M: It’s hard to pick just one, that’s mean, it’s like choosing your favorite child, LOL … I have several kits that I love, especially my travel collection, but one of my favorite kits is Magical Memories, it’s all about my happy place and it’s a reminder of all the magical moments I spent there with my family.
J: That’s how I feel about Ireland. I’d move there if I could! If you were given a super power, what would you like it to be?
M: Teleportation, so I can travel anywhere in no time and with no jet lag!
J: Wouldn’t that be amazing?! I used to wish I could teleport home from work after my 12 hour night shifts. Have you ever met anyone who’s famous?
M: Yes, I met Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films)
J: I’m not much of a HP fan, but I know who he is. That must have been a special moment. You clearly enjoy things that relate or appeal to children. What did you want to be when you were small?
M: I wanted to be a flight attendant or a rock star.
J: I can’t sing or play an instrument so I never dreamed of being a rock star, but I did want to be a flight attendant for awhile. They work pretty hard and put up with a lot. I think my sarcastic evil twin would take over and I’d be fired. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?
M: Warning: Crazy cat lady!! LOL! I’m a huge cat lover, and if my family would let me, I’d have 10 cats or more!
J: Ooh. That would be overwhelming to me. I have enough trouble keeping track of two dogs. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with me; I’m just going to fill our readers in on all the awesome August goodies you’re a part of before I finish up.
Of course, Marina is hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge this month. She’s also the Daily Download Diva for August, so make sure you look for the links here every day or two. (Links are active for 5 days, so you can condense your time:effort if you want to.) If you don’t have time or miss some pieces, the kit will be for sale next month in the Shop. AND… Marina is permanent host of the monthly Surprise Challenge! If all of that isn’t enough, she’s offering a lovely coupon that’s good for the whole month. Be sure to check all of this out. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.
Challenge Spotlight: Daily Download
PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3zE9jwD
GingerScraps is, without a doubt, the most generous digital scrapping store on the web. There are SO MANY freebies!!! The monthly Daily Download is just one of them. Each day for the entire month, pieces of a FREE kit are provided to readers on the GingerScraps Blog (right here!) so by the end of the month, you have a whole kit. (Don’t worry, If you missed a few days’ DLs, the kit will be available for purchase in the GS Store later.) But it gets even better… the following month, that same free kit is the basis for a GingerScraps Daily Download Challenge. For the month of July 2022, the kit in question is CarolW Designs‘s Way to Grow (linked to the bundle).
It looks to me like Carol‘s kit was a huge hit with our scrappers. There are 20 layouts in the Daily Download Gallery already and there are still 12 days in the month! Let’s check them out – in random order. (Each layout is linked to the Gallery via the scrapper’s user name so you can drop in a little praise for the ones you like best.)
Our first sample is from willow. I love all the white space here. She’s taken only a small handful of the elements in the kit and created a beautiful, calm layout.
I like how chigirl has melded some grunge via her choice of papers and paint splatters with the flowery prettiness of the elements into this loveliness.
wendeeds has pulled colour from her photos and used coordinating elements and papers to create her fun Date Night layout.
I salute the dedication of people like makeyesup who create a new themed desktop for their computer every month!
202207 Calendar
How sweet is this? PixyGirl has used the Artsy Bits from the bundle to create a secret garden with a delightful little person in it.
This layout by NHSoxGirl is another gorgeous white space layout with a sparing use of elements. When you don’t have photos that work well with a kit, but you’re dying to use it anyway, you can always convert a fave photo into black and white.
Lucky for hiddenartist, she had a perfect photo! Her clusters and shadowing are top-drawer.
This layout from Danissa makes good use of the Artsy Bits and one of the grungy Edges in the bundle combined with a lovely cluster.
Sweetpea2020 lets the papers do the heavy lifting here. The stitching adds an earthy touch.
Look at how Alasandra has clustered these flowers so the kitty seems to be sniffing one. Beautiful!
The paper strips tie all of roxana‘s photos together and the clusters enhance them, leading the eye from photo to photo.
The vintage feel of this layout from kabrak1207 is quite pleasing. I’m such a sucker for old photos…
But then… bagheertje pops up with this brand-new photo of a brand-new human showcased by a lovely, grungy but extremely simple layout.
The kit’s palette seems tailor-made for this chipmunk’s portrait and bumblebeee has framed it exquisitely with papers.
For another delectable white space layout, look no farther! The photo dhariana chose pulls colour from the kit, her choice of background paper makes it pop, and her brush use enhances the overall image. Spectacular!
LidiaG has created another grungy-gorgeous-great-white-space layout here. The large cluster draws the viewer right to the eyes of that sweet child in the photo.
I’m at a loss for words when I look at this layout from Jill. She’s skillfully clustered the elements in a natural arrangement, and divided the photo over two frames in such a way that it’s the focus. There’s a lot going on, but in the BEST way!
Every picture tells a story, but sometimes it needs a little support from the wings. AJsRandom explains and balances her photo in a minimalist layout full of movement.
in her layout, wvsandy has created a beautiful frame for her prayer, and I’m pretty sure she’s used every element in the basic kit but the flair, bead spill and bottle cap.
Last but not least, alta2014 has pulled from various parts of the bundle to create a lovely, soft layout that enhances her photo. The messy stitching adds a nice casual touch.
Are you enjoying the monthly Individual Style/Challenge Spotlight posts? I find myself inspired every time I write one. Seeing how others interpret a challenge and use a defined set of tools so creatively really gets my mojo motor revving. Time to get some scrappin’ done!
PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3zE9jwD
Scrapcrazy Creations with Robyn
The second half of the year has begun. Anybody a little alarmed at how fast time’s flying, other than me?
I had the chance to chat with Robyn, Scrapcrazy Creations‘ creative arm. As usual, we started off with the mundane stuff… How long have you been designing?
R: This year I will have been designing for 6 years.
J: That’s a good long time. What made you decide to try your hand at it?
R: I was on 25 Creative Teams and decided that I would give designing a try.
J: Whoa!!! 25?! I had enough trouble with two. I can’t even imagine. What are your go-to tools for designing?
R: I use PSE11 (Photoshop Elements 11) to create and PSCC (Photoshop Creative Cloud) to quality check my designs.
J: I’d find that confusing, moving back and forth from two different platforms. Kudos! Where do you do your creating?
R: My design space is anywhere I can sit with my laptop. A comfy arm chair, desk and sometimes the beach.
J: That sounds sublime. I work in front of our floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the mountains. Or like today, the clouds. Do you have anyone or anything that provides you with inspiration?
R: My children and their activities and photos that need scrapping inspire me to design.
J: I hear that a lot. 😉 Now, do you have a favourite kit in the GingerScraps store? What makes it your favourite?
R: I have many favourite kits but my current favourite is Flamingo Road because of the pretty pinks and I made some of the papers myself from scratch.
J: Ooh, paper-making sounds like a lot of fun! Is pink your preference? What colours do you prefer? Are there any you don’t love?
R: My favourite colour is purple and my least favourite colour is yellow. Give me anything purple and I am happy. Purple speaks to my soul. I love wearing purple tops, dresses and scarves. I also like receiving cut flowers and planting purple flowers like irises, roses, salvia, clematis, lavender and wisteria.
I do NOT wear yellow. As a child if I was given anything yellow I would pull a face and find it hard to say thank-you as I hate the colour yellow. As an adult I find that I do wear mustard but not bright yellow.
J: Same!! My garden is full of purples, blues and some pink and white. I didn’t plant the yellow Stella d’Oro daylilies, the developer did. [shudder] As for wearing yellow… gross. Working in an ICU, I wore a lot of isolation gowns. Guess what colour they are. So, before I completely ruin our appetites, if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
R: Roast lamb with roast pumpkin, sweet potato and onion and homemade lemon meringue pie.
J: You lost me with the lamb. I worked briefly in a nursing home kitchen. Pureed lamb smells so awful there’s no chance I’m putting lamb anything in my mouth. But the rest sounds scrumptious. Maybe I could substitute a nice prime rib? Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not exist without?
R: My Moconna freeze-dried coffee.
J: Hmm. I’ve never heard of that. Lemme look it up real quick. BRB… Ooh that’s quite the assortment of flavours! I’ve never developed a taste for instant coffee; I’ll stick to my Tim Hortons with a bit of Splenda. If you came with a warning label, what would it say?
R: BEWARE! Bites before morning coffee!
J: Got it! Well, thanks for chatting with me today. GingerScrappers, remember that Robyn is also hosting this month’s Daily Download (and the kit is awesome, y’all!) in addition to the Designer Spotlight Challenge. And… drumroll please… she has a coupon code for 30% off for almost everything in her store for the month of July.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have laundry to fold! See you all again on Tuesday.
Introducing CarolW Designs
I had a lovely chat with one of GingerScraps‘ newer designers, CarolW (Wen Xin) and would like to share what I learned about her.
Of course, we need to start at the beginning… Thanks for the visit, Carol. How long have you been designing?
C: Starting in 2018, I came to GingerScraps in July 2021.
J: So about 4 years designing, and almost a year with GS. Thanks for sharing your talents with us! What tools do you use when you design?
C: I mainly use Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
J: I’m working really hard at being proficient with Photoshop Elements. Thanks to GingerScraps, I have the opportunity to continually learn new things. But I don’t have the bandwidth right now for multiple platforms. I commend you. Can you tell me what your workspace looks like?
C: My work is mainly done in the study, which is also the place where the cat and dog play. When I work in the study every day, the cat and dog also join me in the study.
J: I bet they can be quite distracting. but in a good way. What motivates and inspires you when you sit down to design (other than your deadline 😉 )?
C: Love. I’m crazy about scrapbook and everything, and when I’m designing it, I’m in a great mood and feel really relaxed. I’m happiest when clients email me and tell me they like my designs.
J: Positive feedback is always so good for the ego, isn’t it? Do you have a favourite kit in the GS store right now?
C: Write a Letter. I’ve always liked light colors. When I was packing my things the other day, I saw a letter written to me by a very good friend many years ago, which reminded me of her. She had passed away because of illness. So when I read that letter, I missed her. So I created this kit.
J: Ooh, I can see your melancholy and sadness over her passing in the vintage look of this kit. Your Creative Team did a beautiful job with it. [Click on the name of the kit for a direct link to the bundle in the shop.] Let’s do an about-face and talk about something fun… If you won the lottery, what would you do?
C: I would buy a big estate in the mountains and live there every day.
J: Wow! That’s pretty much what we did when my husband inherited a large sum of money. Our “estate” isn’t large – it’s actually pretty small – but we have a brand-new house on the side of a mountain and have an incredible view. We’re surrounded by orchards and there’s a winery under construction on the edge of our subdivision. Here’s another fun notion. If time travel was a possibility, would you travel into the past, or the future?
C: I want to go back in time. I especially want to go back to the time when there were dinosaurs. Or I want to go back to ancient Egypt. I like history very much and I like to study the history of every country.
J: History is fascinating and we could perhaps make our future better if we paid more attention to our past. Did you ever think of becoming a historian, or did you have other dreams for your life when you were growing up?
C: I wanted to be a doctor. But because I was not good at chemistry, I studied liberal arts.
J: I was never good at math or science but I ended up a critical care nurse. If there isn’t a way through, there might be a way around. What one word would your friends and family use to describe you?
C: Very kind.
J: Carol, that’s two words. 🙂 Last question… What celebrity would you like to meet for coffee at Starbucks?
C: Woooo, I love this question!!If I had the chance, I would have coffee with Alexander Skarsgård! I like his TV plays and movies very much.
J: He’s so easy to look at! I can see why you’d like to meet him. Thank you for letting us into your world a little. Enjoy your Spotlight month!
Check out the Designer Spotlight Challenge in the Forum where Carol has a TON of gifts for you!! And before I close this post down, I want to remind you that Carol is also hosting the Daily Download this month. Carol‘s designs are both traditional and fresh; I love the colour palette she chose for her DD kit with lavender, blush pink, ivory and shades of green. Every day for the month of June you can pop over here to the Blog and pick up the day’s piece of the kit; the download links are active for 5 days. But if you’re not able to commit to all that Blog visiting or you miss a few days, the kit will be in the store later in July for purchase. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going shopping.
Lisa Minor and ScrapChat Designs
Ladies, we’re in luck! This month we have a dynamic duo in the Spotlight!! I’d like to introduce you to Lisa Minor and Jill (aka ScrapChat Designs). I’ve put the coffee on… won’t you join us?
O: It’s so nice to meet you both, We might as well just jump in and get the basics out of the way. How long have each of you been designing?
J: I’ve been designing just a little over a year.
L: It’s been a little over 20 years.
O: Lisa, I had no idea it had been that long already! That’s dedication. Jill, what made you decide to start designing?
J: My decision to design was an impulse. I sat down at my computer and designed a template. It blossomed from there.
O: You’re still at it, so it must have been a good impulse! Can you tell us a bit more about what you use to do your design work, and where you create?
J: Ah those are good questions. I use Photoshop. I also use my handy dandy notebook. I sketch templates all the time. As for the where… We moved to our house late last fall. Between supply chain issues and installations, my office is still not complete. I currently sit at the end of my kitchen table with my laptop with a pretty view of our backyard.
O: How disappointing, Jill! Hopefully the work gets done soon and you can have a dedicated space. Lisa, I haven’t forgotten you. Where do you do your designing?
L: My office is in my kitchen. We actually have 2 home offices, but they don’t have the view that my kitchen does. Our pool has a waterfall, so it’s just great to open the window and hear the flowing water and the birds singing. Our oldest recently built me a custom 10 foot desk for my birthday. I have 2 monitors and all of the office goodies you can think of.
O: Do you have a favourite kit in the store? What makes it your fave?
L: Laugh Once Daily. I love bright and bold colors and I love the versatility of it as well.
J: Mine is Read Me Goodnight. I love it because I designed it for my grandson using all his favorites.
O: Those are both great choices. Are you into sports?
L: Men’s soccer. The view is fabulous.
O: HAHAHAHAHA! Tight buns in shorts. You’re not wrong! But seriously. Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not survive a day without?
J: Before I started designing, I would have said my phone. Now that I’m designing it would be my computer. You cannot do Photoshop on a phone.
L: Coffee!
O: I can relate to all of those. 100%. Tell me Jill, if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
J: Super weird! I would eat pepper jack cheese, pepperoni and honey nut cheerios.
O: That’s an… interesting… combo. Lisa, what one word would your friends and family use to describe you?
L: Foodie. I love showing gratitude and togetherness through food.
O: But probably not pepper jack cheese, pepperoni and honey nut cheerios, am I right? 😉 So. If you could have one super power, which one would you want?
L: Teleportation of course. Just think of the travel possibilities!
O: I used to wish for that ALL the time when I was walking back to my car after a long shift in the ICU. Blink and I’d be home and getting ready for bed, not driving 10 miles through a blizzard. We know where that got me. Jill, please tell us about your dream vacation, since we’re talking about travel.
J: My perfect vacation would be to Disney World in Florida. I dream about taking my granddaughter, grandson, two sons, their two wives, my youngest daughter and her boyfriend along with my boyfriend. Utrup Party of 10!!
O: That would be an amazing vacation! I’ve been to Disneyland, but when I was in Florida, my group decided to go to Universal on our day off. It was a lot of fun. Lisa, what would you do if you won the lottery?
L: I would by land in the Texas Hill Country and build a giant ranch with side bungalows for all my kids! Then I would take my entire family on a month long vacation to Europe.
O: That would be fantastic too. Has either of you ever met anyone who’s famous?
L: Yes, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former President George W. Bush, Boomer Esiason, and Chris Collinsworth. My husband’s list is longer, and I’m jealous, he travels a lot.
O: Oh my! You’ve met some interesting people! Jill, if you had a warning label, what would yours say?
J: Warning: This person is fueled by ADHD and coffee!
O: Should we add coffee to your list of essential survival items, then? What did you want to be when you grew up?
J: I wanted to be a teacher. I went back to college at 42 and got my associates. Life had other plans for me before I got to the bachelors degree. Instead, I taught paper scrapbooking for almost 10 years. It was fun and rewarding. It helps me with my designing now.
O: Ah, we were both “mature students”. I started nursing school at 34. Now, last question… since May is pretty much full-on spring in North America and my plan for this week involves all the garden centres – do you have a green thumb? What do you grow?
J: No, but fortunately, I married a man who does.
O: Lucky you! Mine thinks watering my plants means dumping the last of his ice on them. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me!
Before I forget, Lisa has created a beautiful collection that will be the May Daily Download and Jill has provided a free template in the Spotlight thread in the Challenge Forum. You can collect the parts of the Daily Download each day by checking the Blog for the links. They’re also hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge this month, so check that out in the Forum. Jill‘s store is 25% off for the month and Lisa has a coupon too!
Code: LM_May22
Good for 25% off, one use per customer
Expires: 05/30/2022
Don’t miss out on any of the fun!
Importing a Tear
PDF Version : https://bit.ly/38jCIlt
I’ve been eagerly waiting for an opportunity to share this little trick with you but certain aspects had to fall into place. And now they have. This technique is so easy and rewarding that I think you’ll use it right away…
Have you ever wanted to add a paper tear to your layout but felt overwhelmed by all the steps to get there? Then this one is for you. There’s a way to import a paper tear from a template into a layout-in-progress that only takes a few easy steps and very little time. However, you must have a template with a paper tear on its own layer, or a commercial-use paper tear template. They have their own limitations, and may not give you the look you’re after. So try this.
I started out with this template from Tinci Designs’ Second Chances V.2 collection. I resized all of the layers (except the background paper) to allow for adding a tear.
I was waiting to find a template like this one from CarolW Designs’ Spring Dawn. That tear is moveable!! But how can I move it onto Krizstina’s template?
There are a couple of steps that need doing first. But to start, I found the tear layer in Carol’s template, right-clicked on the layer and chose Duplicate Layer from the dropdown menu.
Now Elements needs to know where to put it. The new menu shows all the files currently open in the Photo Box, and offers the option of creating a New Document. That’s what I’m going to do.
This step is completely optional. I chose to give my new document file a name, Paper Tear Mask, for clarity.
And this is what happens.
But look at that Bounding Box! I was thrilled to see there’s more to the tear that can be used just by Resizing it.
Now to make it useful and not work too hard while I’m at it. I added a new blank layer underneath the tear layer. Just hold down the CTRL/CMD key and click the sheet-of-paper icon at the upper left of the Layers Panel.
Next, I used the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the whole of the blank layer I just created. Pick any colour you like (but not white) for this step.
To turn the coloured part into a Layer Mask so papers can be Clipped to it, I used a hard, round brush within the Eraser Tool to remove the coloured part above the tear. This can be done quickly because as long as I don’t cross over the tear into the lower part of the coloured area, I can just scrub it away.
And that’s it for creating the tear mask! To move it over onto Krizstina’s template, I’m going to Activate both layers by click-shift-clicking on each of them, then right-click to open the dropdown menu to Duplicate Layers…
This time, I’m going to send them onto the Tinci template.
‘MKay. there are the tear and the mask, placed on top of the background paper and underneath the rest of the layers.
I don’t like the tear up there, just to be a non-conformist. So I’ll move it.
And all that’s left is to add the papers. I’ve used North Meets South Studios’ March Daily Download kit, When Life Gives Lemons. (It’s not available in the store yet, but if you weren’t able to collect all of the files last month, don’t worry. It’ll be in the store soon.) I want the woodgrain paper to be my background and the yellow gingham to be a tablecloth, sort of – maybe one of those vinyl ones with the fuzzy background and now it’s torn 😉 . By Clipping the woodgrain paper to the coloured part I added to the tear, that’s what I get. Cool, right?
Now, if you’d like to do this technique again sometime, you can Save your work As a .psd or .tiff file and reuse it again and again. By having all that coloured area, you can pretty much put the tear anywhere!
This is my finished layout, photos courtesy of Pixabay.
Last week I forgot to mention that Ginger-the-Magnificent has created a special Gallery where layouts you’ve created with these tutorials can be shared. You asked, she answered!! I’ll be swinging by every so often to check it out and leave some love.
PDF Version : https://bit.ly/38jCIlt
It’s Miss Fish!
Oops! I meant to share my conversation with Juli, aka Miss Fish, with you over the weekend but I fell down a genealogical rabbit hole and spent the weekend reading barely legible military service records looking for proof of a hitherto-unknown marriage in 1915. ( I was successful!) Of course, that opened up a bunch more avenues for research. It’s like a snowball rolling downhill. But I digress again. Let’s get to know Juli. (Since we have the same initials, for clarity I’ll be “O” today.”)
O: Thanks for chatting with me, Juli. Let’s get the mundane stuff out of the way first. Can you describe your work space?
J: I have several workstations. I have a laptop that I move around. I have a desk area in the bookcase of our family room where I spend most of my time designing while my husband watches TV. That way we can talk. I also have a hook-up in my home office and when I have to travel for my full-time job I work from the hotel at night with an extra portable monitor to make it easier.
O: Holy cow! How many hats do you wear?? Don’t answer that. It’ll make me feel really lazy. What motivates you when you’re designing?
J: I am inspired by designs that I would use myself to document our travels. I’m also inspired by ideas I get from my Creative Team and my customers.
O: Admirable! I love to scrap my travel photos… I’m sure the Sugar Cookies are very sick of Ireland by now. What one word would people who know you well use to describe you?
J: Kind. I am a people pleaser and I always try to make everyone feel well taken care of and loved.
O: Hmm. I bet your Enneagram is 9. And what a segué into asking you what you’d do if you won the lottery.
J: Is it bad that I already have this planned out? I would quit my full-time job and travel full time between houses all across the globe. I would spend my days exploring and taking photos and my night making travel albums. That would be heaven!!
O: Is it bad? NO! Especially when you’d do something so life-changing with the money. In a perfect world, I’d do something similar. Okay, time for the really stupid question of the convo… Are you more likely to sing, or to dance in the shower? (I have a HUGE shower in my bathroom, big enough to have a party in, so this question comes from that.)
J: Sing and badly. I’d probably slip and kill myself if I tried to dance in the shower.
O: I understand! But nobody can hear me dancing. The neighbours would complain if I sang. Now, if time travel was a thing, would you go back into the past, or ahead into the future?
J: I would want to go back to the early 1900’s just to experience life as it was so I had a better understanding of the history that created America and the cities I’ve visited.
O: I’d be happy if I could make more than one stop. I’d tell my younger self a few things that would change the future. But I’d love to go back to maybe 1930 and visit my Swedish great-grandmother, about whom I know only basic facts. She would be around the age I am now, and would have so many stories to tell. But let’s move on. What colours are your most, and least, favourites?
J: My most favorite color is blue. I always want to buy blue shirts when I’m shopping for casual wear. My least favorite color is orange. I only like certain shades more in the coral range.
O: I’m with you on the orange! I don’t love it at all. Yellow is a close second. You can bet if there are flowers of either colour in my garden, somebody else planted them. Are you a sports fan?
J: I love to watch American football and I often listen to games while I’m designing.
O: I’m glad you clarified without me asking if you meant FOOTBALL or FUTBALL. I don’t enjoy soccer at all. What did you want to be when you grew up?
J: When I was small I wanted to be a teacher. Probably so I could tell everyone what to do. I liked being the boss (still do!)
O: I can relate. One of the things I really loved about nursing was the opportunity to explain what was happening with my patients to their parents. It’s the only way they can make good choices for their kids. The boss part was what drew me to critical care, where nurses have a lot of autonomy. And there I go again, back to you. Aside from necessities, what’s one thing you couldn’t live without?
J: My cell phone! I use it non-stop to communicate with my kids, work, my husband plus it’s the best way to check in with my fans and my Creative Team while I’m at work.
O: Uh. Necessity!! I know you’re busy with all the jobs you have so I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for the visit!
Ladies, Juli has put her entire store on sale at 30% off, from April 3rd to the 30th! If there’s a template set (or 6) in her store that you’ve been eyeing up, now’s the time. In addition to this sale, she’s also providing the Daily Download this month and hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge. You don’t want to miss a minute!
See you all again soon! (Tomorrow. I have a nifty trick for y’all!!)
