• Knitting a sweater for my honey
  • Falling over in disbelief that school starts in less than two weeks
  • Trying to find a job

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Less than 24 hours!

Tonight at midnight the Amazing Digiscrapping Race forum at NDISB will go "live," and it will finally give you more details about how to apply for the Race, and what you'll be doing as you move through the game. Remember, applications will be accepted December 1 through 15, and then you'll have a nice break for the holidays before the Race begins. Don't wait to join up or you may miss your chance! Check the ADSR Blog beginning tonight at midnight Eastern US time for alllllll the skinny!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

What could this be?

Hm, a little blinkie has shown up in my sig line today. I wonder what it could mean? I bet if you click on it you'll find out! :)

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Monday, November 27, 2006

Congratulations to my winners!!

I'm happy to announce the five winners of the $10 gift certificates to my store from this weekend's special promotion:

Cheryl Gebhart
Valerie Bean
Kelly Buckley
Ana Gil-Taylor
Joy Phillips

Congratulations ladies! Your coupon codes should be in your email inboxes now! I hope you enjoy shopping! :)

Friday, November 24, 2006

Shop big, WIN big!

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Just another little present from me to you on my birthday! Remember, birthday sale discounts plus coupons from the free sampler packs equal great big savings. So click the graphic above to head on over to my store and join in the party!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

"Black" is boring...go colorful and SAVE!

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It may be "black" everywhere else, but at Natural Designs this weekend there will be a very colorful birthday party...MINE! But isn't it just like me to make sure YOU get all the presents? :) All weekend long, every product in my store will be 38% off...you don't need to ask me how old I'll be now, right? All I ask is that you don't tell the waitstaff to sing to me. :P

I hope you'll join the celebration this weekend! And if you want to check out my store beforehand, just click the ad image above.


PSSSST! Hey, buddy! Want to know a SECRET?!?
I was testing out the sale maker in Zen cart and decided to make the sale start TODAY and tell my blog readers ONLY! So if you want to start the party early, head over to my store right now! :)

Sunday, November 19, 2006

The Big Feast

Oh my goodness, I am already beginning to get stressed out about Thanksgiving! We are the only members of our family in the area who have a house, as opposed to an apartment, and we volunteered to host this year. MIL always hosts, and I didn't want to step on her toes, but she assured me that she was fine with it. She's even coming over the night before to help me prepare. But I'm stressing out because I'm always so worried that my sisters-in-law are going to think anything I do out of the ordinary is "snobbish" or "showing off." I thought about making cute little place cards for the dinner table. I wanted to have a couple of special dishes for dinner. But I know that if I do, I'll get the old, "la di dah, look at Cindy showing off again" attitude. I guess I did something along the way to make them think I look down my nose at them, even though I don't. One particular SIL has always had trouble getting along with my husband, ever since they were children, so I think some of it is just "run-off" if you know what I mean.

The next few days will be dedicated to cleaning up the house and cleaning out the fridge to make room. Then I'll get the food and do all the stuff that I can do ahead of time. I love entertaining and cooking, so I hope to focus on the fun part and not worry about the other stuff. People will think what they want no matter what I do, so I'm just going to do my best and have fun.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Incoherent mutterings

A bunch of stuff has been going on at Digi Shop Talk this week, some of which involves me I guess simply because I'm a designer. A thread was started by a woman who was getting frustrated by the lack of follow-through by a designer who had promised some products but had a lot of problems arise that prevented her from completing and them in the timeline she originally promised. Many people agreed that the situation was frustrating. Many more expressed that they wish the thread had not been started and the situation had been handled privately between customer and designer. That's as neutrally as I can describe it.

Many discussions have followed regarding freedom to criticize designers and their work openly. Several people pointed out that many designers are small entrepeneurs who have to carefully balance time and resources between home life, work life, and sometimes other work life too. And for that they need to be given more leeway than big "corporations" who don't deliver on their promises.

It may surprise you that my opinion falls more on the side of the consumer than the designer on this one. Certainly we need to treat one another as human beings, but then again I would do that with a customer service rep at a large store too. That's just plain good manners, good business. Shoot the designer or store owner an email and give them a chance to make you happy. But if it doesn't happen, then heck yeah you need to be able to voice those grievances and maybe force the hand of the designer to pay attention to your concern.

But the larger issue to me is really the nature of forum posting. Controversial threads seem to have a lifespan, a series of stages they must go through. Some of those include the "bandwagon" posts, where people who wouldn't have been brave enough to post the original opinion have more nerve once someone else does it, so they jump in. These are often followed by the "shame on you"-ers or the "we've had enough of this"-ers who want to stifle the thread (that they have the freedom to scroll past and not open). Defense, accusation, and sometimes even the intervention of one's mother follow. We can all be proud that no one, not even once, mentioned Hitler. And after that there's a draining spiral as talk continues to go round and round and the original point is generally the first thing to be flushed while the ranting and raving continues.

So why do we feel compelled to continue these discussions? Once the natural lifespan of a thread is reached, who contributes to the downward spiral? Oftentimes I think it's people who feel they aren't quite getting their points across and must reiterate and reiterate until someone, ANYONE, steps up and agrees with them. Once you get that verification, you can relax. I don't think the majority of people posting on those threads want to generate ill will or fight. They just want to be heard and understood. But once you get to that point, is anyone listening anymore?

Personally, I find two things about DST.

First, it's an awesome place because it ingenders comparisons among us. Hey look, in Australia Christmas is in the summer, did you know that? That's so cool! Hey look, someone from Germany used the same kit I did and it looks so cute! Maybe I'll email her and ask her to translate the title for me.

But second, DST is a hurtful place* because it engenders comparisons among us. Comparing our layouts, our CT blinkies in our sig lines, our very lives based on what? An image on a screen. Shoot, there was even a thread in the designer forum where we anonymously compared our salaries. Talk about a kick in the head! It's a great way to feel small, comparing like that. And I may be wrong, but I think sometimes our forum postings are attempts to bring that self-esteem back up to a level we can live with. We may say things to feel superior again, or at least less inferior. Is that why I use my $10 vocabulary words, because deep down I'm afraid that I might be a total moron and I don't want anyone to know? Maybe.

*(I should mention that I don't really consider DST as hurtful in itself. It's how we act there.)

I think one way to keep these kinds of threads from getting out of hand is to look at the place you're posting from before you hit send, not just the words you've typed but the feelings you're having as you type them. If you're feeling hurt, or defensive, or righteous, maybe you should let those words simmer a bit before deciding to post them. They may not sound as neutral to the reader as you think.

And just keep in mind that comparisons are useless. Be you. Doesn't mean you have to shove it in anyone's face. Who you are might be NOBODY's BUSINESS. But be it anyway.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Theresa's gonna kill me for this

Or maybe kick me in the head again. 'S okay. I can take it.

If you are subscribed to the NDe*zine and didn't get your download email, I'm going to post the download link here for a short time. I'm sure it will be on the homepage soon, and when it is I'll take this one down (or when Ma T tells me to, she's the boss ya know). But I understand some subscribers didn't get their email and I hate for them to miss out on the extra cool mega kit that's free with a $3 purchase and the code from the 'zine. So here you go:

Click here for ezine download

Now, if you are NOT subscribed to the ezine, I'm trusting you to run over to the NDISB home page and sign up right away if you download this month's from here. You will do that, won't you? Witches' honor? Scrappers' honor, I mean? :D You won't regret it. This month's is really chock full and the coming months are going to be even better.

Nothing much else doing today except preparing for the super secret...um, I mean... :whistling: Nothing. Never mind. As you were. Ahem.

Keep checking back...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Ezine time!

The November issue of the NDISB free ezine called NDe*zine ("In Design") is being released to subscribers any minute now! Inside there are a few really great tutorials, new designer and creative team interviews, inspiring layouts, and a little article about balance by yours truly. Best of all, you'll get a coupon code that will allow you to download our newest mega kit called "Apres Ski" for FREE with a $3 purchase! (My new Frameworks Templates are only $3, by the way...)

If you're not a subscriber, what's the matter with you? LOL Go to the Natural Designs HOME PAGE and scroll down until you see the links for subscription instructions on the right. Sign up quick! And enjoy. :)

Monday, November 13, 2006

New templates from Jen!

Jen Caputo has a new set of layout templates that just arrived in the store last night, and they're really cute. See them HERE. Here's a quick peek at them, as well as a layout I did using one.



Saturday, November 11, 2006

Frames are up!

My new Frameworks Classic set is up! Find it by clicking HERE. They're regularly priced at $3.00 but until November 15 you can get them for just two bucks! :)

Hey, have you been to Pam's blog lately? She's got a cute little fir branch wreath freebie that she created using Terry Maruca's latest product, so check out the link over there on the left in my CT listing. :)

While you're blog surfing, run on over to Mary's blog and see how she used the Frameworks set on her blog header...it's SO cute!

And have a fantastic weekend. We'll be painting the family room in preparation for Thanksgiving guests...fun fun.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Something new

Hi everyone! If you're here looking for the coupon codes, please scroll down two posts to the entry on November 6. Things move fast around here, lol!

It seems like every time I finish a kit, the next thing I create is an independent embellishment set of some kind. I was inspired yesterday to create the set you'll see below. It's five different frame templates (gold, silver, brass, iron, and chipboard), layered just like the layout templates that you can get from Anita or Nina at NDISB, or from Jen Caputo at The Digi Shoppe. There is a layer for each photo in the frame so you can drop in your pic, group it, and resize it for a perfect fit! Drop in six photos or papers and add the whole shebang to your layout and TA DAH! A neat and EASY way to make a multiphoto layout. Also, there is a set of small embellishments for each metal/chipboard style so you can dress up the frame a little like I did with the stars in the sample.

These templates will work for PS, PSE, PSP, and DIP. Files are saved in psd, tif, and png format to make it versatile for many program users. They'll be available probably tomorrow in MY STORE at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Oldie, goodie

I thought I could handle all these extra CT gigs along with being a good designer and putting out new stuff AND keeping up with the forums at Natural Designs. Turns out, I'm too disorganized for that. So I'm back to just plain old designing (and occasionally doing something for my friend Jen Caputo). I did a page just because I wanted to this morning. Not only that, I dug into the archives and used a kit I bought LAST year. Yay!

The kit is Spooky N Sweet by Gina Cabrera at Digital Design Essentials.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Choose your coupon! Three ways to save!

For my new kit I'm going coupon crazy! I have three DIFFERENT coupons for you to use, depending on how much of the collection you want to purchase. No matter what you buy, you save! The collection is available now, so don't wait!

Vist MY STORE to see closeup views and get more info!

Saturday, November 04, 2006

A thank you and a "coming soon!"

Thanks to everyone who downloaded my realistic pinning action below. It will remain up for a while in case someone comes along and still wants it. It's so simple I really don't have the heart to charge anyone for it, lol. Don't forget to drop me a line if you use it, because I'd love to leave you praise!

Now, for the "coming soon" part. I have a new kit! YAY! It's all warm and snuggly, with cool wrought iron elements that will bring to mind wood stoves and fireplace screens. It's a perfect kit for snowy days, cold days without snow, or masculine pages. The kit includes a full crumpled paper alpha, and there is an add-on wrought iron monogram set. And for this kit I will be posting a sampler pack so you can try before you buy...FREE! As always I'll be having a few coupon codes floating around, as well as an introductory special price, so don't miss out on those. The kit will arrive in the store Monday. Here are the previews:



Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Photoshop Action Freebie!!

Okay, I'm no Atomic Cupcake but a friend at The Digi Shoppe asked if someone could create an action to make it look like a pin is going through a piece of fabric or paper. I happen to like my technique for this effect, so I created an action for you to use if you want to. You can download it here:

Easy Pin Action

Make sure that you put a selection around the piece you want cut out BEFORE running the action, using the marquee or lasso tool. Here's what it looks like when you're finished (I hope!!)



EDIT AT 7:30 pm EASTERN: Something weird is going on either with Blogger or with Photobucket, because my blog header and some other graphics have just disappeared, including the one that illustrates the pin action. You can see it HERE if you can't see it on the blog.