Kiki Halbert Designs

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Easy Peasy Cake Mix Cookies

I know when I am looking for recipes, I am often looking for recipes that are quick and easy, but still yummy.  Back when I was in college, another girl in the dorms introduced me to these cake mix cookies.  I've been in love ever since.  (And if your kids forget until 8 p.m. that they need cookies tomorrow, these are an easy way to go.)

Easy Peasy Cake Mix Cookies
1 package of cake mix (any flavor)
1 large egg
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 cup of water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water. Beat until well blended.

Roll in to balls and place on cookie sheep about one inch a part.

Bake for 12 - 15 min.  Cool and enjoy.

(Extra tip.  If you use a lemon cake mix, dusting the cookies with
powdered sugar makes them extra yummy.)

I've also created recipe cards to download and add to your collection.  The file contains both 4x6 and 8x8, so that you can print the size you need.

(You can download the cards here.)

These cards and the preview were created using Springdipity from Kiki Halbert Designs and is available at ScrapbookElements.


Hope you enjoy the cookies.  Until next time, don't forget to take pictures.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

That's me Layouts

Kiki recently released a wonderful new kit "That's Me" at Scrapbook Elements.  I was looking through the SBE gallery and came across a few customer standouts.  Here is one from Danesa.  What a stunning picture and it is perfect for this kit:
This one is from Lynnirene.  I love the clustering

Friday, January 21, 2011

Drawing Attention to the Main Event: Your Photo

Today, I want to discuss using a simple tool available in both Gimp and Photoshop Elements that can help draw attention your photo, Stroke Selection.

Here is my original photo turned to black & white (this technique works just as well with color photos).


Using Stroke Selection you can bring focus to the photo and it's very simple, so you don't need to be a master scrapper to use it.

First, open a blank canvas at the size you would normally use for scrapping.  My canvas was 12x12 and that is what I am using for my example but you could use this with any size canvas.

Next add your photo as a new layer on the canvas and resize as desired.

Now add a new transparent layer on top of the photo.  (That way you can redo this as many times as desired until you like the way it looks.)

It's now time to add a grid to help you draw your line.  In Photoshop Elements, you will find your grid by going to View and then choosing Grid.  With Gimp, you go to View and then choose Show Grid.

Now you may find that the grid lines are not close enough together for this project.  In Photoshop Elements, you can change the look of the Grid by going to Edit>Preferences>Grid.  With Gimp, you can change the Grid by going to Image>Configure Grid.

For Photoshop Elements, you will want to set your Grid to 1" with 6 subdivisions.  In Gimp, you will want to choose Solid Line Style with Spacing of 150 Pixels and 0.5 inches.

We are now ready to use the Rectangle tool (Rectangle Marquee in PSE and Rectangle Select in Gimp) to choose the location of the line.  This is where you will use your Grid to make sure it is in the same location on all sides of the photo.  (Make sure you are on the transparent layer, so that you can delete if necessary.)

Once your rectangle has been created, it is time to do the Stroke Selection.  You will find Stroke Selection under Edit in both Gimp and PSE.  I find that line of 5 or 6 pixels looks best for this technique.  But by using a transparent layer on top of the photo, you can play with line size as much as you want.

Here's my final photo.  I also added my title right above the line, it looks good and makes adding a title easy (that is the hardest part of the layout for me, creating a nice looking title).


And here's my layout using the above photo.  I really like how this simple technique really draws attention to the photo.

(full credits, including font, available here)

This layout was created by using That's Me from Kiki Halbert and Available at ScrapbookElements.


Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you find use for this simple technique.  If you use it, post a link to your layout below so I can stop by and give some love.  If you have any questions about the technique, post them in the comments as well and I will try to help.

See you next time.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Spicy Peanut Chicken

OK, I borrowed this recipe from a fellow blogger who finds the most amazing recipes.  She thinks she got this one from Rachel Ray, so I want to give credit where it is due, but whatever, it is really good!!
To create this, I used Kiki Halbert's "That's me" kit.  I love green and coral colors in this kit.


Photobucket


Here is the beautiful kit.  It is available at Scrapbook Elements:

Sunday, January 16, 2011

That's Me! On sale today and tomorrow 25% off!

I'm so happy to show off my new release for you! That's Me! is a feminine kit made to tell the store about YOU! And yet it is versatile enough to use for everyday pics. You might consider using it for a Project 52 about you. Who is going to tell your story if you don't? It's so important to document your feelings, your desires, where you are at this moment in time. It will be a treasure to look back on for years to come.

  • 20 patterned and solid papers, all sized 12X12
  • 7 buttons
  • 6 ribbons
  • 9 flowers
  • 1 bead scatter
  • 1 blank label with metal rim
  • 1 brooch
  • 1 glitter stamp
  • 2 clips
  • 1 fabric frame
  • 2 pieces of greenery
  • 1 stamped foil seal
  • 3 frames
  • 1 journal mat
  • 2 journal frames
  • 2 journalling spots
  • 1 key
  • 55 word labels
  • 1 round frame
  • 1 glitter splat
  • 1 metal heart
  • 2 strings
  • 1 full alpha with international letters and symbols.
I hope you enjoy working with it! When you do, come back here and leave me a comment with a link to your layout so that I can leave you some love. I'm also looking for people who'd be interested in working with my products on occasion when I need some extra layouts. If you are, be sure to leave a link to your layout and let me know in the comments!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Want to win it? And 40% off!


I forgot to mention in my earlier post that Saturdays this month you can save 40% off my products at SBE. So be sure to visit.

If you want to win my new kit that is being released tomorrow, just leave a comment here letting me know which kit you love most in my SBE store, and I'll select a winner at random tonight at 10 p.m. EST to receive my new kit for free. But make sure that you leave a comment, with a way to contact you if you win. Thanks!

More Sneak Peeks of tomorrow's release!

Hi everyone. Kiki here once again to show off some layouts using my new kit, That's Me! which comes to Scrapbook-Elements.com tomorrow. I'm really excited about this kit, especially since I do a lot of All About Me pages and wanted to create a kit that you can use for AAM project. Take a look at these beauties. It's a huge kit and very versatile. Remember the kit will be on sale Sunday and Monday at 25% off, so take advantage of the sale and get it then.





Thanks for stopping by, and if you make a layout using this kit, please link me up in the comments. I'd love to see how you used it.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Sneak Peak!!!

Kiki has a beautiful new kit coming out!!!  Here is a picture so you can drool.....lol!!!  Don't forget to come back on Sunday to see the entire kit!!!  Her kit will be available at Scrapbook Elements on January 16, so save that date!  Also, it will be 25% off on Sunday and Monday!!!!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Template 4 You

It's a new year and it's time for us all to get back to scrapping. (Cause isn't one of your new year's goals to scrap more?) To help you get started, I have a free template for you.


To help get those creative juices flowing, here is my layout using the template.  As usual, this layout features my amazing husband.


I used Cool Nights Blue Sky for the layout.  Not only is it a great kit for those more masculine layouts.  But it also works for pictures from your last hike. You can find it in Kiki Halbert's store at ScrapbookElements.


I hope you enjoy the template. I'll be back next week with another blog post.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Snowberry Punched up freebie!!!

Kiki is getting ready to release a new kit, so stay tuned.  I know many of you are stuck in lots of snow, so I have created something with just those layouts in mind.  I checked out one of Kiki's older kits- Snowberry Punched up and it inspired me!! What a beautiful color combo of blues, browns and pinks with so many cool elements (love that trim!!) and all the cute frames and alphas!!!  I created a freebie for you, so I hope you enjoy it!!  This kit is available at Scrapbook Elements. (just click on the picture)
Photobucket

The freebie is available at box.net
Photobucket

ShareThis