New Products – Overlays and Brushes

Monday morning and I’m ready to share my three latest products … and there’s a freebie involved. First up is some texture overlays: Roughed Up and Veins 2. As are all my products, my newest ones are on sale for 40% off until the end of the month.

The first one — Roughed Up — is a set of 6 overlays that I created from scans of some of my textile work. The actual textiles didn’t come out as planned (as in ugly), but I decided to try a trick that Karen (Snickerdoodle Designs) suggested to me once before (another experiment that failed) — see how they look grayscale. My failure made for some killer overlays … a little grungy with a great fabric texture.

My other overlays are a second look at creating veins. As soon as I made my first set, I wanted to try making some with a bit more variation in the veins. This experiment worked and I now have a Veins 2. Same idea as Veins 1 … use these overlays to create the look of a veined stone or just experiment to get that different look in your papers.

And now to the brushes, which I called Punchinella 1. If you’re not familiar with punchinella, you might know it by another name: scrim or sequin waste. Whatever you call it, it’s a staple of mixed-media artists. We use it as a stencil, we add it into our paint, we cut it into pieces … then I suddenly thought of another way to use punchinella: turn it into brushes.

Now you can have some virtual punchinella to do all kinds of things with … and that, my friends, is the basis for my freebie. I wanted to show you two ways you can use these brushes up close and personal. The first way is to simply make some punchinella elements by adding a style to them. For my elements,  I created a kind of rainbow colored background pattern then added a slight bevel to it.

I also used the brushes to create the paper I used for the background in the preview. This time I used a mask on the brushes to make it fade into the paper. I then added a slight bevel and a small drop shadow. To give the paper some texture, I used one of my Roughed Up overlays.

To download these, just click on the preview … then let me know what you think of them.

HUGS!!!

Batik Papers Tutorial and Freebies

Now that I’ve gone through my original 10 products, I wanted to show how I used a couple of my products — Transparent Overlays – Batiks 1 & Brushes – Watercolor Splashes 1 — to create some Batik Papers.

For the papers in the sampler, I used the distressed overlays. I created a new document in Photoshop (12-in x 12-in @ 300 dpi). I then placed one of the overlays on the layer above the background making sure it’s centered on the page. Using my watercolor brushes, I started stamping away on the Background layer.

I realize I could have created the background without loading in the overlay, but I did it this way so I could see how the background played against the overlay. It’s funny just how much different things look when you have a pattern over the top of the background you’re working on. Once I got something I close to what I liked, I used a little Gaussian Blur to soften it (you don’t have to do this if your already happy with what you have).

You can leave the overlay black, but I really was looking to make something that looked like batik fabric so I started playing around with coloring the overlay. There are a lot of ways to do this, but my favorite way (because I’m lazy) is by creating a layer above the overlay layer and clip it to the overlay. My reasoning for doing things this way is because I can play with color/blend modes without have to use the extra “clicks” to bring up the effects dialog. All I have to do to change the color is pick a new one and use the paint bucket to dump it onto that layer. I can then use keyboard shortcuts (CMD + or CMD – for the Mac; Shift + or Shift – for the PC) to change the blend modes and I still haven’t had to open the “effects” dialog.

Once I got the combination I liked, I added a textured overlay (a fabric for these) and, using my keyboard shortcuts, played around with the blend modes and transparency. All that is left is to save this out as a jpg and you have your batik paper.

Questions (maybe I can get someone to take now)??? If not, enjoy and don’t forget to download your freebie. Just click on the preview to download it.

HUGS!!!

Celebrating iNSD with a Freebie Mini

I just couldn’t let the opportunity to give you folks a freebie pass me by … especially with it being iNSD weekend. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve put together one of my mini kits so I decided to make one for you and, to make things EVEN better, I used Mother’s Day as the theme. I came up with the name — A Mom’s Hug — while looking for some sayings to use for word art.

The kit has 5 papers and 21 unique elements and LOTS of bold colors in this (it’s been rather warm here the last few days and I was definitely thinking  summer). There should be plenty of stuff for making a great layout; then all you have to do is add your favorite photo and you’ll have a perfect gift for Mom on Mother’s day!!!

You can download this kit by clicking on the preview … and remember you must be logged in to download it.

This is rather large download (72 MB), so if you have any trouble downloading it please let me know and I’ll break it into 2 files for you.

I don’t have a layout for you just yet, but I do have an add-on … more papers —

However, you can’t download them here; you need to download them from my Facebook page (yes, another gimmick to get you to “like” me). You’ll find the link to download this on my Fan Freebie tab.

I had SO much fun making this for you and I was able to use a lot of the commercial use products I’ve been busy creating. I can’t wait until my store opens so you can see them. I hope you enjoy this and be sure to share any layouts you make with it.

HUGS!!!

Where in the world is Jilbert???

How embarrassing … I only had 2 posts last month and I swore when I started this blog that I would post WAY more often than that. Same old excuse, I’ve been busy creating stuff for my new store … which is still in the works … just really slow actually getting it online. I actually took a picture of some of the things I’ve made and have yet to get photographed and extracted. I swear some of those items have mated and reproduced on their own … at least I’m trying to convince my husband they have (for some reason he doesn’t believe me).

The one thing I’ve been having a blast with is my Cameo (upper left corner). Being able to draw out an idea and have it cut out by someone (or something) other than me is nothing short of amazing. Those butterflies are my latest Cameo creations.

However, I did take some time out to make a couple of frame freebies for you. Just my way of saying thank you for not giving up on me. Just click on the preview to download.

Sunprints

It’s been way too long since I posted anything. Unfortunately, life has been a bit crazy around here. Things are stressful enough pulling together products for the commercial use store I’m working on, but then my father-in-law suddenly needed to have open heart surgery. The surgery was a week and a half ago and he’s now doing FANTASTIC. We’re hoping he’ll be back home in another day or two and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things will settle down just a bit.

BUT, I did manage to find some time to play and play I did. I discovered a really fun way to “dye” fabrics and realized it would be a great way to make papers. It’s called sunprinting (or sun printing). Now I was familiar with the photographic process of doing sunprints where one uses specially treated paper to create images. While the process is somewhat similar, this is different in that it uses paint on fabric to create your images (like my daughter used to say “exactly the same only different”). I’ve always wanted to try my hand at either fabric painting or dying, but the thought of messing with all those dyes and the hazardous materials one needed to use kept me from actually doing it. I found the idea of using paint in place of dye much more attractive although it did get somewhat messy at times.

I did some shopping around and found one of the paints (dye-na-flow) at my local Jo-Ann’s where I also bought my 100% cotton fabric. I had gathered some ideas for what I would use for the “printing” … now all I needed was a sunny day. Luckily, we’ve been having some really wonderful weather. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to be outside and NOT have to work in the yard. I’ve gotten some great and some not so great prints but I had a blast. Here are some photos of what I’ve made (so far).

I got such GREAT scans of these and have loved playing around with layering them on top of each other and tweaking the colors. In the process, I tried adding some of my patterned overlays on top and that, my friends, is the basis of this post … FREEBIES!!! I decided to share some of the papers that I made. All you need to do is click on the preview to download them.

If you’d like to try your hand at sunprinting, this is the link to the tutorial I used — http://www.bloombakecreate.com/2012/09/more-sun-printing-fabric-with-dye-na-flow/. You can also Google it using the term “sunprint with paints.” I would love to see what you make or have made … just post a link in your comment below. Plus, feel free to share any tips or tricks you might have. I’m definitely a beginner with this and would really love to learn more about the process.

Southwestern Venture redux

It’s come to my attention that I forgot to provide a download link for my Southwestern Venture kit. Thank you Donna for being so persistent and patient with me!! Click on the preview below to download and remember you must be logged in.

I’m now thinking I need to provide a single index to my kits … guess I need to put that on my todo list!

Spring Bling Paper Add-on

As is typical with me, I have created an add-on to my Spring Bling kit. It’s a pack of 8 more papers which will give you a total of 16 papers. However, I’ve added a bit of a twist for this download … it can only be downloaded from my Facebook page.

If you’ve never downloaded something from someone’s Facebook page, here’s how you do it. Go to my page — http://on.fb.me/XqCI2w — Click on the Fan Freebie tab — and, since you’ve never done this before, click on “Like” at the top right of the page. You’ll then see the preview above with the words “Just click the preview to download” — then do what it says … click the preview. Hopefully, your download will start … if it doesn’t, let me know by either posting on my Facebook page or adding a comment to this post.

Spring Bling

It’s been WAY too long since I did anything “fun” and then given it away. Instead I’ve been busting my bum pulling together products for a commercial use store which is still in the works.

Yesterday, I made the decision to take a break from creating content that is under appreciated and decided to make something that I know will be appreciated … a freebie kit for you, my readers. I call it Spring Bling and bling it definitely has. Check out the preview …

It uses the color palette that I selected for Round 4 for the Designer Darling contest that I dropped out of. I just couldn’t let it go to waste and you all are the beneficiaries of my need to do something a bit more creative with my time. As I learned, I did a layout with it just to make sure it would be workable.

The picture I used is from my photo session at my friend’s mother’s house. This lady always has a bunch of something blooming at her house so I’ve learned to bring my camera with me whenever I visit. This time I was well rewarded … to the point that I ran out of juice in my camera batteries.

Back to your freebie. As always, you must be logged in to download the kit and you can download it by clicking on either preview or just clicking here. Be sure to keep an eye on me because you all know I’m not typically one to release a kit and not want to add to it. I’ll also try to do a better job of posting stuff … even if I don’t have any “good news.”

Lace Frames Freebie

I didn’t want to leave you all hanging … especially since I wasn’t going to post this week’s entry on my blog when the link expired in the STS Designer Darling’s forum.

I took a quick look through my past freebies and noticed one of your favorite freebies (based on the number of downloads) is my frames. SO, I made you some new frames … nice lacy ones. Like always, click on the preview to download them … AND, if you’ve actually been able to set up an account on the Stuff to Scrap forum (seems to be a common theme … folks are still having issues getting registered), think about voting for me.

On another note, I just passed the 100 likes on my Facebook page and figured a Facebook freebie was needed especially since I now know how to provide one (special thanks to Piccolina Designs for her tutorial on how to do this — http://bit.ly/IC0M0N).

The only problem is that I am clueless right now as to what to make and would really love your help. What would you like to see??? I would love to hear from you — even if it’s only a theme, color palette, or element suggestion. Just comment below or send me a note.

HUGS!!! Jill

Southwestern Venture – Borders

WOW!!! I can’t believe all the wonderful comments you all have been leaving … and the amazing number of downloads for the last 2 kits. THANK YOU!!!

And now for the borders that go along with all the other pieces of my kit. You can download them by clicking on the preview.

Be sure to stay tuned for Round 3 … that is if I make to Round 3 …

Again … thank you for all the love AND, especially, the votes. HUGS!!! Jill