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"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." ~ Isaiah 55: 8-11

6.30.2012

MR & MRS / RS #18...


Hello again! We have a new RetroSketch up this morning, based on one of Jackie's cards... I simplified it quite a bit, but I think the sketch is still well represented! As soon as I saw the sketch, I had in mind to use these sweet little man and woman cupcakes from Bite Size by the Alley Way Stamps. Aren't they adorable?

Be sure to check out the other inspiration over at RetroSketches, and I hope you get to play along with us! 


Thanks for stopping by!

HELLO FRIEND / USSIS #165...


Happy Saturday! We have a new Unscripted Sketch today. With the elements stacked on one side of the sketch, I decided to rotate it for my card and put the stamping on the right.

I used this NEW set by The Alley Way Stamps, Tropic Topic to show it off! I love this flamingo - so fun! AND I figured out how to make a palm tree with some of the stamps in the set, too!


Bye for now,



6.29.2012

SUGAR AND SPICE / ADFD Re-Release...




Well, I 'think' this is my last post for today... but you never know! We pulled out some old favorites over at A Day For Daisies this week, these adorable dresses! The collection is called Gracie's closet, and you can find them in the 'clothing' section of the shop (sounds funny, doesn't it?), by clicking here.

I did some digital paper piecing on this card, and duplicated the little apron part and popped it up.

Be sure to go see the other ladies inspiration...


Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you have a wonderfully crafty day!

AMALIA AND BUTTERFLIES / DB #31...



Good morning! It's finally Friday!!! WOOHOO!!! Here's a "tag"card for this week's Dilly Beans Challenge to make a tag. I decided to do some digital paper piecing and used Amalia and Butterflies. I thought it would be fun to make her hair(/hat) out of flowers - like they're attracting the butterflies - LOL! I printed out some extra butterflies to cut out and pop on top of the others.


Be sure to check out the other DT's creations... and come play along!


Thanks so much for stopping by!

Dilo en Español New Release Blog Hop...



Happy hop day! If you came from the super talented Melissa's blog, you are right on track!!! If you're jumping in mid-stream, you can start at the beginning by clicking here!


I used the image Hermosa, which can be found here at Dilo en Español, along with 5 other clear stamps illustrated by Megan Saurez of Dilly Beans Stamps!




There are lots of FAB prizes up for grabs, so be sure to leave comments along the way, and check out tomorrow's hop for more ways to win!


Next stop is Abby, whose work is amazing!


Bye!

MAKE A SPLASH / Behind the Alley Sneak Peeks Day 4...


Hello! It's day #4 at The Alley Way Stamps' Behind the Alley Sneak Peeks! I used Tropic Topic and Alphabet Soup. I started by stamping the hippo twice. Once on grey polka dot paper and the second time on this funky Hawaiian flower paper. Then I made him some trunks by trimming them out and using a marker to draw a line around the waist and the leg of the swim trunks.

There are stamps sets up for grabs to 3 lucky winners and MANY ways you can try to win! 

AND ONE LUCKY PERSON WILL WIN ONE OF THE NEW RELEASES FROM ME!!!! I will choose a random "commenter" from any of my sneak peek posts!!!

1-Comment on The Alley Way Stamps Blog 
2-Comment on the DT girls blogs
3-Comment on the TAWS posts for the next 4 weekdays
4-Post about it on Facebook or your blog & link in a comment
5-Like us on Facebook
( you can do any or all of these... the more you comment the better chance you have to win) 

You have until June 30th to leave comments.

Click on the images below to go check out their blogs!


Thank you so much for stopping by!

6.28.2012

THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG / DS #58...



Good morning! I am running behind. WAY behind! I started cleaning my oven on Tuesday, it was bad. (Understatement) And the kids have been sick and running fever for days, waking me up in the middle of the night, sick. So last night I remember that we are having a going away at work this morning & I promised a casserole for it. So at 9 I went to the store. Came home & finished the oven cleaning, made the casserole, made a card, made a last  minute digi scrap layout, wrote a post, and by then Maisie was up. Around 2ish.

So even though I am sleepy and grouchy, I am here with this week's FABULOUS Deconstructed Sketch!


Aaaaaand I had the PERFECT set for it! I used a new set, Fa-La-La from the Alley Way Stamps! Love Christmas in July!!!

There are stamps sets up for grabs to 3 lucky winners and MANY ways you can try to win! 

AND ONE LUCKY PERSON WILL WIN THIS Fa-La-La NEW RELEASE FROM ME!!!! I will choose a random "commenter" from any of my sneak peek posts!!!

1-Comment on The Alley Way Stamps Blog 
2-Comment on the DT girls blogs
3-Comment on the TAWS posts for the next 4 weekdays
4-Post about it on Facebook or your blog & link in a comment
5-Like us on Facebook
( you can do any or all of these... the more you comment the better chance you have to win) 

You have until June 30th to leave comments.

Be sure to go visit both Deconstructed and The Alley Way stamps - there is tons of inspiration flying around today!!!

Hugs!

HELLO CHICKIE / Behind the Alley Sneak Peeks Day 3...


Hello! It's day #3 at The Alley Way Stamps' Behind the Alley Sneak Peeks! I used a new set, Tropic Topic! Isn't this flamingo fantastic?!?


I'm also playing with CAS-ual Fridays - Pretty in Pink Challenge!


There are stamps sets up for grabs to 3 lucky winners and MANY ways you can try to win! 


AND ONE LUCKY PERSON WILL WIN ONE OF THE NEW RELEASES FROM ME!!!! I will choose a random "commenter" from any of my sneak peek posts!!!

1-Comment on The Alley Way Stamps Blog 
2-Comment on the DT girls blogs
3-Comment on the TAWS posts for the next 4 weekdays
4-Post about it on Facebook or your blog & link in a comment
5-Like us on Facebook
( you can do any or all of these... the more you comment the better chance you have to win) 

You have until June 30th to leave comments.

Click on the images below to go check out their blogs!


Thank you so much for stopping by!

6.27.2012

PHOTO EDITING AND ADDING A WATERMARK 101 / Using Pixlr in Windows...

* Looking for the TAWS Sneak Peek post? CLICK HERE*

Good morning! Recently I have heard several people wanting to know how to edit their pics and/or add a watermark. I've put together this tutorial in pictures (so you can print it out and keep it by your computer!) using a free, online photo editor that is similar to Photoshop, called Pixlr. There are MANY different ways to do this - this is just how I do it!

You can click on any of these images to enlarge them.

Step 1 - Got to http://pixlr.com & choose "Open Image From Computer"

Step 2 - Once opened, right mouse click on "Duplicate Layer" in the center Layers box on the right hand side of your window. I always do this for 2 reasons, you can't alter a layer that is locked (see the little padlock) and even if some reason the background layer isn't locked, working with a duplicate layer is helpful if you mess something up!


3 - Now go to "Edit" and choose "Free Transform" (ctrl+T) so you can straighten your image up! No one wants wonky images on their beautiful blogs!

4 - Holding the cursor over any of the corners, you'll see it turns into a 'curly' arrow. When it does this, left click and slowly drag the image to straighten your image.


5 - Once it's positioned, click outside your box & a window will pop up asking if you want to 'apply the changes' - click "Yes".


6 - Now it's time to crop. Choose the little crop tool on the top left of the tool bar on the left side of the window.

7 - Now position it at one corner where you wan to crop, left click and drag it to the opposite corner & release the mouse button. At this point you can click the middle of this box and move it around to position it where you want.


8 - Now double click on that box to crop.


9 - Now we're going to lighten our image. I always start with the "Levels" (ctrl+L). Open them by choosing the option from "Adjustment".

10 - In that box, look over to the left - if there is a gap from to side of that box toward the middle where the jagged lines start, click on that little box/arrow and close that gap. As you do, you'll see you image lighten. If you do it too much, the white in your pic will start to glow - LOL! You can also play with the other 2 arrows to see what will happen. It's easy enough to start this step over if you don't like the results.... just hit cancel!

This ends the "basic" editing. I will probably do another soon regarding color correcting and editing "problem" pictures.


11 - Now it's time to add you watermark. Go to "File" and "Open Image" (ctrl+O) and open your watermark.


12 - Go to "Edit", then "Select All" (ctrl+A).

13 - Go to "Edit", then "Copy" (ctrl+C).



14 - Now click over to the other window with your edited image & click "Edit", then "Paste" (ctrl+P). Your watermark will be pasted on a layer on top of the edited photo. If it isn't on top, you can left click on that layer and drag it up to the top of the "Layers" box. That's how you re-arrange the layers. Think of them as a stack of paper - whatever is on top is REALLY on top!



15 - Now go to "Edit" and choose "Free Transform" (ctrl+T) to shrink your watermark. Click on a corner and drag it to the opposite corner to shrink it. There didn't seem to be a way to keep the proportions when you shrink, so just "eyeball" it. Double click it once it's the size you want it. Then click the top right "Move" button on the tool bar on the left and move the watermark where you want it. 


16 - At this point you can also reduce the opacity by clicking on the bottom left button of the "Layers" box, and move the slider to reduce. I usually set mine to 60. Still readable, but not dominating the photo. Choose what looks best depending on the background of your photo.


17 - Last step - SAVE!!! Go to "File" and "Save" (ctrl+S).


WOOHOO - you did it!!! I hope you have found this helpful, please email if you have any questions! If you leave a comment that requires a reply, please leave your email address in your comment! All the images in this card are from The Alley Way Stamps!

Happy crafting!


*** Please feel free to "link" to this tutorial, but DO NOT copy and paste it elsewhere on the web! If you mention it or link to it, please give me credit! I've spent a couple hours on it - LOL!

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