Hello everyone, happy FRIDAY!  It’s Beckie here today with a little color to brighten your day :)

Today, in fact, is my daughter’s 8th birthday party.  I can’t BELIEVE she’s 8 already!  She decided on a sleepover party with 8 other friends and a rainbow theme.  We’ve had so much fun making her invitations (she insisted on paper invitations – I had to get out my paper cutter and my glue – gasp!) and planning out activities.  We have painting, kraft bag decorating, and polymer clay bead making all lined up as activities!  Oh – and a new movie, of course!

So – where does a mom on a mission for a rainbow themed party turn?  why Pinterest, of course! :)  Want to see a few of favorite rainbow finds from Pinterest?

Rainbow Potion – a fun kids drink with sprite and Kool-Aid that looks so cool and colorful!

Rainbow Fruit Skewers – beautiful, delicious, and healthy!  And you could always just arrange the fruit on a tray in rainbow fashion and leave out the skewers :)

…and check out THIS CAKE.  Truly, it’s the mother of all rainbow cakes!

And there’s rainbow paint chip garland, rainbow woven gift wrapping, and even a rainbow wooden mat!

Seriously, every time I searched i ended up meandering…from food to decorations to completely random things.  But they were all COLORFUL!  So, I got to thinking…why not spice up my scrapbooking a bit with a few rainbow inspired pages?  And I asked our very own Kylie to play along with me!  I hope these cool colorful layouts inspire you to add a little rainbow color to your pages!

First up is Kylie…and all I can say is WOW!

I could look at this page all day.  SO much detail and attention into the background papers!  …the stitching, the random width of the stripes (using a Rise & Shine easy-as-pie template), the little bits of elements scattered about.  And I love how big and bold she went with the use of the rainbow in her design.  Absolutely gorgeous!

Next is one of my creations.  ‘Round these parts (Texas) it’s SO hot and dry all summer.  So when we get a little rain, the kids all go crazy.  They play in it, lay in it, run in it, basically just BASK in the rain!  I’ve had these pics for a few weeks, wondering what to do with them.  I love the way the rainbow papers in the background brighten up the overall design (especially the gray, overcast pics!).  I also like the little sentiment…because these kids really do make each other happy.  ( I love our neighbors so much I made a page about our little cul-de-sac :) )

And finally – one more rainbow inspired creation by me.  I’ve mentioned in the past how much I loved using ink/paint/pens in my paper scrapping days, and I thought a rainbow was a perfect chance to bust out the virtual paintbrush yet again :)  Oh, and yes, that photo of my daughter is totally blurry.  But I still love it.  She’s laughing, she’s being real, and i just love the moment!

Want to get the look of those brush strokes?  I started with a basic brush and made a few adjustments.  Then I saved it as a new brush pre-set, so I can use it any time!  Here are the settings:

I started with a basic “flat curve” brush in Photoshop, then adjusted some of the bristle qualities.  And most importantly – check “wet edges”.  This gives realistic color variations throughout the stroke :)

That’s it for today!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend…wish me luck with our first big sleepover party tonight! :)

BeckieInspiration, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Hello, hello! Kylie here again! :o)  This is a super-quick post to share the FREE OCTOBER desktop! – not one but TWO!!!  Feel free to download either one OR BOTH!!

The first one is fall-inspired and crafted with all the new & gorgeous digital kits released last week ~ Memory Lane…and a touch of Parker and Penelope!  They play together so well…and it was lots of FUN to put this new desktop together for you!

CLICK HERE to download the 1920 x 1080 fall version

CLICK HERE to download the 1280 x 800 fall version

And for EVEN MORE FUN, I’ve created a little halloween-themed desktop!  Isn’t SP’s son in his costume cute, cute, cute!!! :o)

CLICK HERE to download the 1920 x 1080 halloween version

CLICK HERE to download the 1280 x 800 halloween version

As a small reminder, the text “our little pumpkin” on the fall desktop and all the adorable pics of SP’s cutie-patootie lil’ man, well, they are on the post previews only – your download will be blank, of course :o)  That way – you can personalise them with your own photos and messages.  And remember that you can always find our latest free desktop by clicking the FREE DESKTOPS category located on the right side of the blog!

If you are interested in our free desktops, but have no idea how to insert your own photos – please visit our TUTORIALS page and refer to the USING THE PIECE-A-CAKE .PNG FILES TO CREATE AN ALBUM titles :o)  We offer this tutorial in both screen shot and video format, for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  And, while the tutorial is not specifically for the desktops – the concepts are very much the same…and should help out a lot!

Thanks so much for dropping by today!!  Have a fabulous day…and Beckie will be back here tomorrow for quite a colourful (or, as she would say…colorful!! lol!) post! :o)

KylieFree Desktops, Uncategorized 14 Comments

Hi everyone! :o)  It’s Kylie here with our latest GALLERY GIRLS feature!  …and I’m terribly excited to get started! :o)

But for starters…it has been a few months since we got to know our last amazing gallery girl and for those new to the blog…first let me say – WELCOME to all!!!…and next, here is a little explanation on what these super-duper fun and inspired posts are all about.  All of our ‘regular’ gallery posters that we love and feel that we have almost come to ‘know’ – SP affectionately refers to as her ‘GALLERY GIRLS’ :o) – and every once and a while we spotlight a ‘new girl’!  Sooo much FUN!!  To catch up on all our past ‘gallery girls’ click HERE or on your visits to the blog you’ll find the Gallery Girls category down the right side…just a click away from beautiful faces, a sweet little chat, and layout after layout of digi-scrapping heaven!

Today, I’m thrilled to ‘introduce’ you to one of our brightest stars…AMBER! :o)

Amber has such a beautiful, happy and uplifting personality…we just love her!  And if you frequent the Shabby Shoppe’s gallery at all…then you are SURE to have noticed our featured scrappers’ layouts – they shine with personality, are seriously GORGEOUS, and oh so inspiring!  Pagefuls of super-cute pics of her beautiful family and smiles a-plenty, funny little anecdotes and uh-oh moments that make us all giggle, and extra-precious tribute layouts full of life and LOVE.  Amber has a keen eye for color, scraps the sweetest of clusters and loves to layer lots of pretty papers!  Everyday moments or special events, Amber scraps them all with love…and with such style and grace it makes your heart smile!

So without a doubt, I was soooo excited when, the very talented, Amber accepted the invitation to be our latest Gallery Girl :o)  It really has been lots of fun bringing this post to you!  Amber has been a joy to work with and she has crafted lots of exciting new layouts to share with us! YAY!  And, of course, Amber has been kind enough to answer all of our interview questions…sharing with us about her scrapping journey and family life!  We’ll get to know her better soon, but first – let’s check out one of the new pages that Amber created just for this post (there are lots of fabulous new layouts sprinkled throughout…so be sure to scroll down).  Amber will also be uploading all of these layouts to her gallery…so you can see larger images and more info about each one there :o)

I had to start off with this CUTE and perfectly pretty page!  How could I not!!  BIG SMILES!! :o)

Now, on with the interview…and plenty of inspiration along the way…

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF…

I am a Domestic Goddess, (a.k.a. stay-at-home mom), with five children.  I love my children dearly, and wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.  I LOVE being a wife and mother!  My husband and I have been married for 10 years now, and I love him more now than I did when I married him!  He’s a devoted husband and father, and works very hard so that I can stay home to teach and take care of our kids.  Our lives are very busy, to say the least!  I take whatever quiet moment I can to do some things for me, things that I really enjoy doing, like scrapbooking, sewing, quilting, decorating, or crafting – I suppose it doesn’t happen very often, though!  I was born and raised in Utah, by the most wonderful parents you could ever ask for.  I have three sisters, and three great brothers-in-law.  My mom taught me how to sew, which has been invaluable!  My Dad has taught me perseverance.  And, both have taught me the importance of family, and that I am loved and watched over by my Heavenly Father.

These fall-inspired pages are more than timely!  Beautiful details…amazing photos!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCRAPPING DIGITALLY…AND DID YOU EVER GIVE PAPER SCRAPPING A TRY?

Five years ago, I tried paper scrapbooking.  I did a few pages for an album my sisters and I were making for my parents’ 30th anniversary.  It was really hard for me!  It was like pulling teeth to get those pages done!  Inspiration wasn’t very abundant for me, and I HATED it! LOL!  The mess, and ruining things because I couldn’t see where to place them and I’d keep moving them around…I don’t know.  So, I didn’t do more until almost two years ago.  I had gone through a miscarriage a few months before.  I was SO depressed.  My sister had been doing scrapbooking for quite a while – even designing papers and embellishments for a company here in Utah.  She helped me make my very first digital layout.  I was hooked!  Doing that page helped me to realize what I did have.  It helped me remember the memories of times that I have had with my four other children and how very blessed I am!  I needed that!  I still need that!  While the depression was still there, scrapbooking my memories was my antidote.  It still remains to be my antidote for the tough times..it makes me happy!

Scrap-Happiness!!  Amber’s little ones have the happiest of smiles :o)  Love these pages!

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR SCRAPPING STYLE?

“Evolving”?  Is that a style? LOL!  No, seriously.  I look back at some of my first ones and I cringe! :0)  (In fact, I have redone some of those original ones.  They look much better!)  Anyway, in the two years I have been doing this, I’ve been so inspired by others, and I just itch to be able to try new ideas!  I LOVE clustering!  I LOVE color!  Although, I’ve enjoyed doing some more monochromatic layouts as well.  Oh, and I LOVE templates – they have taught me about placement, and I am finding myself doing more and more of my own layout designs.  It’s SO exciting!

A very special photo scrapped beautifully…

WHAT IS THE FIRST COMPONENT OF EACH PAGE YOU CREATE…OR DOES IT VARY FROM PAGE TO PAGE?

Most often it’s the picture.  Those pictures have such a story to tell, and I can’t wait to get it on “paper”!  Other times, it’s the story itself, because I don’t have a picture to go with it.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LAYOUT (TO DATE) AND WHY?

Amber says ~ Do I have to choose just one?  It’s SO hard!  It’s like choosing a favorite child or something!  Then, a lot of them have amazing memories that go along with them – memories that I LOVE! LOL!  Yet, with “Baby Wobert”, I didn’t use a template, it was from my own creativity, and that layout just flowed as I did it.  I love the circles, the colors, the stitching (I LOVE stitching!), and I LOVE the memory!

Then, with “Quarter”, what a day that was!  We still joke about it!  And, I LOVE that xray!  Besides all that, Hopscotch is one of my all time favorite kits!  I go to that one all the time!

SP says ~ This layout is just all kinds of beautiful.  From that gorgeous photo – to the sweet (and honest) words…to the ‘organic’ feel of the page – it’s all perfection!  I really love it when portraits take on a candid/real feel…and that is certainly true here!  The love and happiness behind those smiles…it doesn’t get any better :o)

How could you not LOVE this layout?  Amber’s sweet dad has been through so much lately…yet he still perseveres and shines…and as a result – is an inspiration to his entire family, and many others, I’m sure!  But, it certainly goes far beyond that…because of the internet and digital scrapbooking – we are ALL able to be inspired by him, and by his beautiful daughter!  Amber’s gallery is an inspiration to us all…and her sweet personality is infectious!

WHAT TIP/TECHNIQUE DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SCRAPPING DIGITALLY?

Grrr!  Thinking about this, I feel SO dumb! LOL!  I am self taught in Photoshop, except for the help that my sister gave me at the beginning, of course.  So, I really wish I had known about the clipping mask.  I used to do it the hard way.  Select the layer, move the marquee to the paper, “cut” it, and move it back over to the layer.  So, yeah. The clipping mask is MUCH easier! :0)

WHAT IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE INSPIRES YOU IN YOUR SCRAPBOOKING?

Pictures.  Memories.  I go looking through all my pictures – which are a LOT!  And, I remember what was going on, and I feel driven to create!  It’s usually the colors in the photos that inspire the color palette.  If the photos don’t match, I LOVE slight sepia tinting!  My kids are my main inspiration.  I really want to get my memories down of them.  I guess I’m afraid that when I get old, I’ll have Alzheimer’s or Dementia or something, and I’ll forget all these wonderful memories!  So, doing this, it’s like I’m doing my own family’s history, and it’s for posterity’s sake, I guess.  I want my kids to realize how much I love them and the funny, or not so funny, things that they do.

Amber loves to scrap with Hopscotch and I can so see why!  Bright and HAPPY pages!

TECH STUFF :o) Tell us about your camera and software!

My husband bought me a Cannon Rebel T2i not too long ago when my other camera decided to die.  (It’s pretty wonderful!  Although, I’m still trying to figure out how to use all the bells and whistles.)  I use Photoshop CS4, and LOVE it!

FAST FIVE FACTS!

• Favorite COLOR: Blue!  Although, I love how brown can go with almost any color!
• Favorite FOOD: Sugar.  Ooh!  Especially Brach’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins!  One of the reasons that I LOVE Fall!
• Favorite MOVIE: Confessions of A Shopaholic :0)
• Favorite SONG: “Rhythm of Love” by Plain White T’s – You’ve got to find it and listen to it! :0)
• Favorite MEMORY: The day my husband and I FINALLY got married! (He had called off our wedding, and then proposed again a few months later. I loved him too much to say no :0).  And, now, I have something to tease him about!)  And, then, there’s the birth of each of our children.  Very special moments, indeed!

And to finish…WOW!!

—————————————————————————————————————————

Amber, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for having fun with us…for sharing a little of your world and for allowing us to admire all these wonderful layouts, precious pics and special memories, here at the Shabby Shoppe blog today! :o)  It has been an absolute pleasure and I’m ending this post excited and completely INSPIRED!  Best of all – I KNOW I am not the only one!

THANKS for joining us today!  We’ll see you all again very soon! :o)

KylieGallery Girls, Inspiration, Uncategorized 9 Comments

Welcome to a new week, everyone!  And you know what that means?  It’s Kim here today to announce another Layout of the Week!!  There were a lot of layouts to choose from this week in the gallery.  I am loving seeing all the new SP kits in your layouts, and you’re all rocking the current template challenge.  So it was tough to pick just one layout, but I had to do it :)   Congratulations to aconover’s “No Training Wheels” layout!

This layout caught my attention right when I saw the title: What’s Missing?  I just had to click on the thumbnail to see the whole layout and find out what it was!  I was glad I took the time to look at this one too.  This layout makes great use of the Gracie kit (which is still on sale for a short time in the Shoppe).  I like pops of pink in the strip of paper and recolored hearts.  I can’t help but love the words “training wheels” on the photo frame strip.  There are a lot of great details to look at in this layout!

Thanks for sharing this one with us, aconover!  You’ve been emailed a $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe (please check your spam if you don’t see it)!

And thanks to all of you for sharing your layouts in our gallery.  Keep them coming!!  That’s all for today, but be sure and check out the blog on Wednesday as Kylie shares our next Gallery Girl.  Can’t wait to see who it is!

KimLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Hi all!  It’s Kylie and I’m excited to share a bunch of Shoppe News with you all today :o) …especially for those that haven’t yet seen the latest NEWSLETTER – & if you wish, here is the option to VIEW or DOWNLOAD it (…it’s about 11 megs in size – so might take a few minutes to fully download) OR you can just scroll down, as all the info is right here!!

Here at the Shabby Shoppe, we have an amazing team of artists who share their talents and creativity with us via their layouts and blog posts, and we are looking to ADD to our small team. YAY!

Interested?  Again, here’s how to apply! …and we hope you do!

Send an e-mail to kylie@theshabbyshoppe.com (both Kylie and SP will be overseeing the applications and will send a quick reply to let you know your application was received).  Please note that all applications must be received by October 11th.

Be sure to include the following information:

• User <screen> name and real name
• Link to your most up-to-date gallery (or several if you have them)
• Link to your blog (if you have one)
• Prior CT/Blog experience
• Tell us about YOU and why you want to join us!

ALSO, I just wanted to let ya know that we added a bunch of gorgeous NEW STUFF to the Shabby Shoppe yesterday :o)

Don’t forget that our NEW PRODUCTS will be on SALE for a limited time only (sale ends September 24th)

If you are loving the new Shoppe kits…then you must make your way over to shabbyprincess.com and download the coordinating (and FREE) Not Too Shabby Sampler Collection!  They were designed to complement our latest Shoppe additions!!

We’ve all been scrapping up a storm with the latest Shabby Princess goodies (free & shoppe products!)…so please do check out the Shabby Artists’ gallery for all our new pages and all the wonderful scrapping inspiration!

THANKS for stopping by the blog today…we’ll see you back here on Monday for Layout of the Week!  Have an awesome weekend…and happy scrapping!! :o)

KylieShoppe News, Uncategorized 14 Comments