News and Updated CU Freebie :-)

It's been a very hard week for me. My close friend that had a serious stroke on Friday last week was taken off life support and died on Tues, May 27, his 59th birthday. We felt it an appropriate day in the circumstances. I haven't been able to scrap anything yet, it's too raw for me, but I do have a layout to share. My daughter prefers paper scrapping over digital and she made this paper layout, Unfortunately her scanner is non-functional at the moment so she sent me a pic of it --

George May 27,1949 - May 27, 2008

've been a mess most of the week but I did manage to finish up a post I started last week for a CU freebie ---

Thanks to the ladies in my ADS Designers Yahoo Group, I have learned to make seamless tiles. I realized while working thru a couple of tutorials on the subject that my 'Over the Rainbow' kit CU add-on, Oil Paints Textured Layer Styles for Photoshop had these horrible seam lines in anything over 3 inches. So -- Today I have an updated version to share, completely seamless, Please delete the old version, this one is much nicer! I like a bit of bevel on my styles but I realize not everyone does so in this update I have the layer styles with a bevel, a pattern file that is flat, and png fills for psp users :-)

Over the Rainbow CU Ok Add-on Oil Paints Textured Style, Pattern, & Fills - Download Here

New Layout and My First 3 Tags :-)

I have my first of seven tags that I owe - My first tag went to Sindiego
I also have my second and third tags - the second goes to DreamerPaula
and the third goes to Andrea Gold

I noticed that most of my ADS group members had multiple tags so I've decided to tag my favorite designers :-)

I have a layout to share, this is my layout for the May Template Challenge at GDS. Andrea Gold has beautiful templates. This month's goodie is a 2 page brag book set and posting a layout gets a full size Template for a posting gift ----

Brag Book Template by Andrea Gold. Ano Nuevo Kit by Jessica Alger. Glitters by me :-)

I haven't had much time to design the last few days with everything that's going on. I do have a couple things ready to go but for the previews. That always seems to be the hardest part for me, lol. I promise to get something posted as soon as I can :-)

I've Been Tagged :-)

It's been a very busy week. I was working on my post last night, telling you 7 weird and random things about myself. I was just too tired to decide who to tag next and was going to finish this morning, But, I've had a family health emergency today so I haven't gotten done anything I planned to do. My ex-hubby and I decided years ago to get a divorce and stay friends rather than stay married and be enemies. We have continued to be close friends, This morning he had a stroke followed by a full out brain bleed, The doctors in the er had to make burr holes in his head. It was very hard to see him so quiet and still. He's in a coma and there's no way to know right now if he'll wake up or not, and what damage there is. I know you all will forgive me for not tagging anyone right now, I've been tagged 5 times now and I will try to get a layout made for the layout tag blog game. Blog tag is so fun, I'm such a bad blogger, I need more hours in the day, Here's what I have so far on answering my tags. I promise I'll get caught up. Doing this will help keep my mind occupied,

I've been tagged, and not just once but 3 times! This is the first time I've ever been tagged, it's pretty cool. Now if I can just come up with 7 appropriate wierd or random things. On to the formalities ---

I've been tagged by --- Tara of Creations by Tara, Kathy of Carolina Girl Scrap Creations, and Debbie of Beckmoore's Scrapalittle Thank you for the chance to play ladies :-)

Here are the rules ---

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

And now 7 facts about me ---

1 - I'm an old hippie that still loves tie-dye. I've shared a house with a bunch of other old hippies for 10 years+ in Southern California,

2 - I'm originally from Kansas. When asked how I got to California, my favorite answer was/is - I put on my ruby red slippers, clicked my heels together 3 times and said there's no place like home and I landed here, without landing a house on anyone, thank goodness, lol. I heard every Wizard of Oz joke there is when I moved here and too make things worse, I had a yorkshire terrier at that time, not quite a scottish like in the movie but close enough. Nevertheless, the movie remains a family favorite.

3 - I'm totally addicted to Netflix!! I love movies and don't go to theaters. I impatiently await the mail on movie days, lol.

4 - One of my favorite programs for my computer is Windowblinds, part of Object Desktop by Stardock/Wincustomize. Windowblinds skins the win xp/vista user interface. There are lots of artists, called skinners, that live for making skins to make computer desktops look different, I have an idea but I need a skinner's help. I want to convert my scrapkits to skins. Imagine opening your start menu and seeing the layout of your choice. Getting a right click menu that looks like a journaling or tag. Think scrapping your computer interface. Anyone interested in this idea please leave a comment with your email.

5 - My mom passed away on Feb. 18. It was a hard mother's day,

6- I'm a complete computer junkie. Alot of women shop for shoes, etc, not me, lead me to closest software store. Better yet, I stay at home and shop online. I'm also totally addicted to freebie hunting, And not just for scrap freebies, Some of my best other than scrap freebies over the years have been a complete queensize quilt cover set from England, a leatherman multi-tool, an igloo cooler, tons of samples and full size products, photo paper and other printing supplies, pens, calendars, cook books and magazines,

7 - I've found that I prefer to have both photoshop cs2 and paintshop pro 9. They're usually both open at the same time, Oh yea, ArtRage too, lol.

Next comes tagging 7 others. I'll be back tomorrow to do that. My brain is fried from trying to think up 7 things about myself, lol. When I get this tired my fingers tend to forget how to type. Goodnight, cya tomorrow :-)

New 'Micro' Kit :-)

I really like the 6 inch by 4 inch brag book size scrap pages. It's alot easier for me to send a 6x4 layout into Walgreen's Photo to be printed for 15 cents than it is to send in an 8x8 or 12x12 from $1.50 up. I've filled a photo album already this year and urgently need a new one, lol. Don't get me wrong, I do make layouts in all 3 sizes. Sometimes, if the layout resizes right, I have my larger layouts printed in 6x4. With my larger 8x8 or 12x12 layouts I like to make a picture dvd so I can pop the disc in my dvd player and watch a slide show, very much like the slide shows available on most blogs. Last month my fav designer Paula Yagisawa aka DreamerPaula released a gorgeous 6x4 full kit called "Micro Flowers" at her Gotta Pixel store. It was the first kit I've used that was designed in 6x4, I usually resize down from my full size kits. I immediately started having ideas for my own 'Micro' 6x4 kits. The kit I have for you today is my first 'Micro'. But first, I have some layouts to share. These first two I made with Paula's 'Micro Flowers' ---

Here's my munchkins again :-D. I made these layouts as a 2 page set, I have them meet on the doodled flower side. I did throw in my own touch in a couple of places. I made the frame using all 5 colors of the fibers in the kit. I love the charms, Paula also included a blank charm. I just embossed a recolored to match arrow on the blank charm. The colors in this kit are fabulous and it's so fun and easy to work with. You can check it out for yourselves at Gotta Pixel.

I have my first 'Micro' kit, designed in 6x4, to share today, 'Spring Pastels Micro 6x4'. Truly the only thing 'Micro' about this kit is the layout size, there are a whopping 50 papers and 80+ elements. All papers are 6x4, 300 dpi, and all elements are scaled to size. Here are a couple of layouts ---

These layouts are my beautiful daughter Courtney with son Jake first and daughter Abbi second. Several items were made with CU items by members of my ADS Designers Group. Isn't that mushroom the cutest? I've made both of these layouts into brag book pages as a bonus :-) Here are your links ---

Papers - Download Here

Elements - Download Here

Brag Book Pages - Download Here

Don't forget the June 1st Popsicle Paradise blog hop. There are 23 of us at last count from my ADS Designers group participating. I have to tell you the kits are fantastic. This is going to be HUGE and GREAT!!! You don't want to miss this. Busy on June 1st? No worries, the blog hop links will be up for at least 30 days. Clear out some space on those crowded hard drives, you're going to want it, lol :-D

A Quick Freebie :-)

I have some glitter papers and brads to share. I made them to go with an upcoming kit but as I finished more of the other papers and elements, I decided I didn't like them with that kit anymore, But, I do really like how they came out so here's my newest freebie, Black Glitters. There are 5 glitter papers and 10 oval & square glass brads. The preview looks really crappy here, I promise they look much better than the preview :-)

Download Here

New Kit :-)

I'm so proud of myself, I actually kept my dentist appt this week. I have a very bad habit of letting my phobia take over at the last minute and not going. I had one extraction and one filling. The shots to numb me up were horrible but the rest went fine. It is nice to be able to chew my food properly again. I'm mighty tired of soup, lol.

I have a new kit to share today. I'm really bad at kit names, I call this one Square Swirlies.

Papers - Download Here
Elements - Download Here

As always, please when sharing, send your friends here to my blog. Please support the fight against digital piracy.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for June 1st. There's a giant ADS Designers blog hop coming, We still have new designers signing up. Make sure you block yourself a good amount of time, it's going to be great!! Check out the listing of ADS Designers in my sidebar, our group is growing all the time, We have a great group for aspiring designers/commercial use freebies. It's the best!! Info on joining available at Digiscrapilious

I also want to say thank you for the wonderful condolences comments and emails I've received on the passing of my mom in Feb. They mean the world to me!!

I have several new kits in the works and a new commercial use freebie as well. Check back soon :-)

Toothache :-( & Autism Awareness Collab Kit :-)

It's been a long, painful 10 days or so. I've had the worst toothache I've ever had, plus I've been very sick with it. So now I have the trips to the dentist, I'm VERY phobic with dentists. It usually does take pain or an abcess to drive me there. I have my second appointment tomorrow, my tummy is already in knots, lol. You know I'm sick when I don't feel up to being on my computer, I'm so sorry I've been away so long, I had planned to have a cute mini ready for NSD, but..... I should have it ready in a day or so, There is a much more important post I'm late for ----

Donate to AutismSpeaks.Org

send the receipt to XandraMartinDesigns@yahoo.com

with Autism Charity Kit in the subject field, and you will be sent the download links and password!

I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in such a worthwhile project!! Here's a peek at my part -

I'll be back very soon with my next freebie :-)