Grab Bag Revealed!

My Grab Bag is open! Look what was inside! You can see all these products in my Plain Digital Wrapper store now. All the images are linked to the item description in store, which also has a larger preview below the description.

I hope you are all enjoying your week. I'll be back with more previews of items coming out at SBE this weekend.

Free March Desktop

Hi everyone. The weekend's half done again. But I'm so happy because my husband has taken the day off tomorrow and we are going to do something special. It's been a while since we've had a real full day together, because he's working two part-time jobs and working 6 days a week. It's been a hard transition, and I know a lot of being go through it, but it's still not easy. After all, while hubby was immigrating here, I had him home full-time for over a year and a half. And after that he's only had part-time work. So I've been spoiled for nearly 4 years with having him around when I need him. Until now. But hopefully that will be changing soon and he'll be offered a full-time position so that he works 5 days instead of 6. That would help.

So enough of my rambling...I have had the most wonderful guest CT member for a couple months. Neissa has generously made a desktop calendar for you as well, from my new kit Symphony. I hope you'll enjoy using it!

You can download here:

1024X768
800X800
1920X1200
1440x900

It's Grab Bag time!

Don't miss out this month! We're celebrating the Oscars at Plain Digital Wrapper by rolling out the red carpet, and having grab bags available. I know that you'll love them! Very nice....

Here's a preview for mine. You'll see some of the items in the preview. 7 new products for $3. Now who can miss out on that deal?

Go check it out!!! (The image is clickable).

What's that you hear? It's a Symphony!

It's finally here. This is it. Symphony!

This radiant kit has the veiled look of a secreted forestland with the beginning of spring around the corner. Heliotrope, tan, and lavender papers with woodland and floral detailing provide for the perfect other worldly backgrounds.

This kit is amazing for so many diverse layouts from the fantastical to the romantic. The woodland images are perfect for fantastical extracted fairy tale layouts.

And you'll see below, a lovely layout that Mara did with the kit!


I hope you'll enjoy playing with this kit. It's available starting today and on sale until Monday for 25% off at Scrapbook-Elements.com

Have a good remainder of the weekend folks!

Thrilled that the weekend is here!

I'm so geared up for this weekend. I am dying to do some scrapbooking, and also get a few things designed as well...I have all these ideas, swimming around my head, and I have to get them on to paper before they disappear.

Well, Obama's visit here yesterday was quite uneventful, other than the traffic it caused. All the same, it's nice to see that he appreciated our city. I've always thought it's a nice place to live. I'm hoping to take the puppy for a long walk soon, to a park nearby, but with the Winterlude festival on, there are just too many distractions for him to walk with any kind of determination, unless he pulls to run. Well, he might have to wait a little while.

Sunday is a day I'm looking forward to. Symphony comes out at Scrapbook-Elements, and I'll get to delight in all the beautiful layouts. Check out what CT member, Cate, did with it, as a card for her grandfather.

I hope you enjoy the weekend as much as I will.

Here's another Sneak Peek! Layout wih Symphony

I've had some wonderful layouts done with Symphony. I think you'll see that some very talented ladies have done some awesome things with it. Here's a layout by Fabella:


Don't forget to drop by the store on Sunday to pick up Symphony!

The mojo came back in spades!

Well today I'm feeling way better than I was a week ago. My mojo for designing and creating is back. I did a lot of scrapping last week, and that seemed to really help. I have the joy of being on Sugarplum Paperie's Creative Team this month, and I adore her products. They are so easy to work with. Layouts just happen when I look at her products. And Dianne Rigdon's had some beautiful new stuffs come out lately too! And Miki keeps pulling out amazing kit after amazing kit. So who would I be NOT to use their products and get to enjoying scrapbooking again?

So now, the designing bug is back. Finally. I have a new kit coming out on Sunday at Scrapbook-Elements, called Symphony. Here's a sneak peek. I know you'll love it. It will be a great kit for those fantasy/extraction type of layouts. I'll be posting layouts here using the kit this week. So stay tuned!

Blog Carnival for February 1st!

Welcome to the February 1, 2009 edition of digital scrapbooking.

Tutorials

Miss Chris presents Pioneer Woman Photography - Ree Drummond posted at PW FULL RSS FEED, saying, "This photography tutorial really speaks to us digital scrappers!"

Andrew Edgington presents Updates to Adobe Camera Raw 5 and Lightroom 2 posted at Learn Photoshop Now, saying, "The very latest tips on leaning photoshop and elements editing software along with simple to follow videos. You will be provided with the first steps to get to grips and to build up your confidence with your Adobe editing software."

Andrew Edgington presents Photograph Flames Continued posted at Learn Digital Photography Now, saying, "Tips on how to use a digital camera like a pro. An insider look at the latest digital cameras resulting in a great guide for all digital photographers."

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Reflected Photo Tutorial in CS3 posted at Nicole Young Designs- A Funky Wonderland of Scrapping.

Dwayne Tucker presents How To Better Organize My Photographs posted at The Global Advertiser!, saying, "Digital Photography"

Dwayne Tucker presents Create An Online Album posted at The Global Advertiser!, saying, "Digital Photography"

StarXLR8 presents 5 things everyone should know about Photoshop Elements posted at Simple Scrapper.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Technique Tuesday - Stamping over Layers at These Chicks posted at These Chicks.

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents The famous smooth edges technique Tutorial - Free Online Photoshop Tutorial posted at Celoxdesign Newest Tutorial Feed, saying, "How to get smoother edges when using scanned in doodles."

News

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents The Official Announcement posted at Simple Scrapbooks, saying, "Simple Scrapbooks Magazine news"

Other

StarXLR8 presents 6 creative reasons to use a template posted at Simple Scrapper, saying, "Includes a freebie template!"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of digital scrapbooking using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: digital scrapbooking, blog carnival.

Ahhh, the weekend! And it's February!!

Well, winter's about half done I'd say. And it's looking better than last year for sure. It's a cool one here today though, which is good because next week Winterlude starts. It's a fun festival of snow sculptures, sledding, skating, huge 20 foot snow slides...all kinds of fun. And now we live within walking distance, which will be nice for us. I just hope my ankle is up to walking on all that uneven snow.

Here's a little treat for you, by a new regular CT member of mine, Cate. She's made this gorgeous QP for you from Tryst, my collab with Miki Ferkul. Enjoy! And if you do, please leave a comment! Thanks.

Download here.

Everyday gets a bit better!

So, now you know my long boring sob story about my ankle. Next time I promise to hurt myself in a more dramatic fashion for good reading. Hahah. Well, everyday the ankle gets a bit better. Things are getting better of course because the weekend is almost here. It's been a long week at work so far, but it's manageable. I think everyone who endured that winter storm yesterday understands what I'm talking about.


Here's another pick-me-up for you! Mara did some QPs that are absolutely wonderful. I know that you'll love this one.

You can pick up this gift from Miki, Mara and myself right here. Stay tuned this week for more!

If you like your gift, I'd love it if you could leave me a comment using the widget on the right, or leave a comment when you download. Thanks!

Funny how timing works in life!

Well, it's been a ride, I'll tell ya. These last few weeks have given me more than my share of situations where I need perseverance. And I think I'm getting better at it. :)

Two weeks ago, I sprained my ankle, very badly. How? Oh, you know how they say that most accidents happen within one kilometre of your home? Mine happened in the doorway. Well nearly. I was putting on my boots, ready to go to work. You know how you balance on one foot while putting the other boot on? Well, apparently my ankle decided that it wasn't fully awake yet, and instead of wobbling and letting me know it was tired, decided to give out entirely. So all of my weight (which makes me think now due to the pain, that I really do want to lose about 40 lbs) came down on my ankle. And I tumbled to the floor, and cried like a baby. I cried because I felt stupid, because my ankle was killing me and swelling to match the contours of my boot, and because my husband was not in the apartment, and how was I going to tell him I'm on the floor?

Then it occured to me that I could call his cell phone. I got a hold of him, after the second call (what is it with my husband and not answering the cell?) and told him to get inside. No, wait...maybe blubbered is a better word. Yes, I blubbered "Get inside". So he came in to find that I had crawled to a chair, removed my now beyond-tight boot, and was looking at a grapefruit (or large Florida orange, depending on your grocery store) of an ankle. He insisted we go to the hospital, who had no wheelchairs (free health care and all its benefits here in Canada folks!), and got sent to Xray. It's not broken, but it definitely is the worst sprain I've ever had. In fact, the colours that it is producing have quite inspired me to design some new green and purple papers, maybe with touches of black and yellow.

Now prior to the event, I had been quite pleasantly anticipating Friday, because we were going to pick up a little addition to the family, our new Husky, Nanouk. This was going to be fun now. Doctor had ordered me to be on crutches for two weeks, with no weight-bearing on it at all. And I now have a puppy that needs to go to the backyard every three hours or so. He's a really good boy, and quite advanced for his age (look at me, the gushing mommy....). Still it's a trial nonetheless. And we have managed to get through the two weeks with an ankle still intact, a puppy who does not have a bladder the size of Manhattan, but manages to not have accidents, and a husband who is quite exhausted. It seems that this has taken its toll, not on me so much, but on my loving hubby who doesn't desire to see me in pain, but at the same time cannot fathom making dinner after coming home from work, while making sure the puppy does not chew his way through our dining room table legs. Ah, men.

Still, it has inspired me in designing again, and I've quite liked doing a collab with my friend and colleague Miki Ferkul. So I have put myself out there to do some other collaborative kits with friends. I'm looking forward to it indeed.

So hopefully the rest of this week will be uneventful, pain-free, and mojo-full. I fully expect to have this overflow of creativity I feel come out this week and weekend. So stay tuned for some more beautiful collabs to come!

Some goodies coming to you from my CT!

Carolyn has been at it again. She made a wonderful QP that is so gorgeous, you'll want to frame it and put it on your wall!

You can download this gift from Miki, myself and Carolyn, here. There will plenty more where that came from...and if you haven't seen the whole kit, well you don't know what you are missing.

Check out yesterday's post to see what it's all about. It's a huge, gorgeous, romantic, dark, sweet kit.

Are you Naughty or Nice? Check out Tryst!!

Tired of the sweet, pink Valentines kits? Or want something a little edgier, a little naughtier for your passionate pages? Something for those pages that commemorate love lost? Or maybe a kit that's perfect for your favorite vampire book or movie layouts?

Then we've got the kit for you! Introducing "Tryst" by Microferk Designs and Kiki Halbert Designs!

This kit calls upon deep shades of red, muted purples and midnight blues, with some burnished gold thrown in for good measure-making this a gorgeous set you can use for a wide variety of your scrapping pleasures.
http://store.scrapbook-elements.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16230

Papers:

Elements:

Different Paper View and Alphas:


Included in "Tryst" by Microferk Designs and Kiki Halbert Designs are 16 lushly patterned, grunged textures- and maybe even slightly glittered- papers. You also get over 30 unique elements including: a bracket matte, 2 silver-rimmed charms, a silk flower, a gorgeous wreath frame with ribbon, large multi-colored ribbon, a stamped frame, an embellished swirl (with and without shadows), a glittered tag, a cutout tag, velvet ribbon, tied velvet ribbon, 2 pieces of word art, 4 word tags, 2 golden frames (square and rectangular), a street post with lamp and golden light glow, same street post without glow and with hardware to hang street signs, a set of 6 street signs including a blank one for your own customization, deep red rose, a chicken wire fence piece with ribbon tatters (12 inches wide), a row of heart and dot "bling", 2 embellished heart pieces, a golden curled ribbon (with and without shadows) a jewelled journal block, a large embellished swirl (with and without shadows), an ornate feathered, sequined and beribboned mask, and piece of crocheted lace.

Also included is an alpha set: a burnished gold with inlaid deep red glitter that included full upper and lower case letters, numbers and 7 extra characters.

We also inlcuded a set of 5 glitter styles (saved as ASLs for Adobe Photoshop) so you can customize your layouts with control.

Each element is in its own file - no need to 'cut' apart.

All elements and papers are created at 300ppi, with papers saved as high-resolution jpgs for stunning print clarity, and elements saved as png files to preserve transparency. Drop shadows are only applied in instances where layering of pieces within an element necessitate shadowing for realism.

It's here!!! Flutterby, new and on sale!

It's finally here! Flutterby is here!

This enchanted kit has the glow and mystical feel of the hidden forest homes of fairies. Heliotrope, indigo, tangerine and lavender papers with woodland and graphic detailing provide so many options for the perfect background. This kit is unbelievable for so many varying layouts from the fairy tale to the fantastical. Kit includes 12 papers with patterns, textures and woodlands, 1 three image frame with jewels, 1 cut edge frame, 1 lace trim, 1 set of rain drop jewels, 1 raffia wrap, 1 string wrap, 1 knotted string, 2 curled strings, 1 lacy ribbon, 3 curled ribbons, 2 jeweled stars (also shadowed), 1 glitter Heart (also shadowed), 1 journaling tag, 1 double bow, 1 pair of wings, 1 ribbon dangle with holly, 1 flower, 1 glitter swirl, I glitter swirl sticker, 2 birch pieces, 2 butterflies, 1 fairy, 2 light beams and 1 journaling swatch.


You can get it starting today, on sale Sunday and Monday, at Scrapbook-Elements.com.

And look what some very talented people did using this kit. Below you'll see just some examples of how to use the kit. Many thanks to my CT and the gals who replied to my one-kit call!


To see all of the layouts done using this kit, you can visit DST and search for kits using Flutterby.

In Preparation of My New Release

I can't help myself. I have to show you another sneak peek of my latest kit, Flutterby, that will be available tomorrow at Scrapbook-Elements.com! One of my CT members, Carolyn, did this beautiful layout with the kit, and she graciously offered to create a quick page for the blog readers. This is stunning, despite being a simple layout. Wait until you see the kit! You won't believe all the beautiful layouts that have been made using it. I'm going to show them all off tomorrow at DST in the thread announcing the sale of the kit. So be sure to go and check that out.

So without further ado, here's the page that Caroline turned into a Quick Page:


You can download this beautiful quick page here. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the final reveal of the full kit!

Time to show off something new at Plain Digital Wrapper:

The latest in my watercolour series, Through the Grape Vine is full of wonderful purples and tans. The canvas texture will really help create your artistic masterpiece. It's on sale right now too.

And I've re-released my Elegant Overlays. I know that you'll love the texture and elegance these will add to your digital backgrounds and papers. And on sale, you really can't resist these beauties.

And don't forget that Flutterby is going to be released at Scrapbook-Elements.com on January 4th. I'm so excited. You should just see the gorgeous layouts that my CT have created, and some wonderful scrapbooking gals who answered a one-kit call, and did just the most wonderful things with it. So come back Sunday and you'll see all these wonderful layouts, and then be able to pick up the kit while it's on sale!

Welcome to 2009!

Is it just me or does it seem like our dates are starting to sound like something out of a movie like Star Trek? Star Date one point one point two thousand and nine. It just amazes me how quickly time flies now.

I have a special treat for you to start the year off right...with digital scrapping!



Erika has created another beautiful Quick Page with the Amethyst Nights page kit I have at Scrapbook-Elements. You can download this gift here.

Hope you enjoy this year more than last!

Coming soon to SBE!

I can't resist. I have to put this here and tease you all just a little. I've got a new kit coming to Scrapbook-Elements.com that is a different style for me. I stretched out a bit, and created this new one...Flutterby. I'll be posting layouts to show off the kit later this week.

More CT Layouts!

More lovely work from my CT members. I couldn't just stop with a few of them. Here are some more:


From Erika:


From Mara:




From Teri:

From Janel:

Aren't they lovely? I really appreciate my creative team members. I just love to see how they are going to use my products. I'm also still looking for guests, so take a look a few posts back and apply! My requirements are very flexible. Use one kit or many...it's up to you.

Tomorrow you'll see my latest in the Watercolour series, Through the Grapevine. I love doing these watercoloured papers. This week, I'm also going to be scrapping my heart out using the kits from the designers I CT for, like Miki Ferkul and Dianne Rigdon. I have so much scrapping to do!

And I'm pleased as punch to be invited to be a guest for Sugarplum Paperie's Nicole Seitler in February. That will be so much fun. I love the simple elegance of her kits. It's easy to do the minimalist layouts with her stuff and look elegant rather than just empty.

So I hope you all have a safe holiday period. Drop by again during the holidays for a few little treats here on my blog. You never know what little gifts await!

A Snowy Day with a Cherry on Top!

Well, we managed to miss Snowmaggedon. It passed just South-West of here, so we only got about 15 centimetres. Go figure. And today is a gloriously sunny day, but as is typical of this area, when it's sunny, it's a biting cold day. I mean feel your nose hairs freeze the moment you step out of the door kind of day. So while I hunkered down in my warm apartment this weekend, I worked on some more watercoloured papers. Here are my latest, Cherries Jubilee.

As sweet as its name, the "Cherries Jubilee" paper pack is a beautiful addition to your scrapbook stash. With subtle texture and marbled beauty, this pack features eight papers in gorgeous hues of purples, violets, tans and creams. Great for heritage, romantic and many other pages, you'll love the sweetly delicious "Cherries Jubilee".

I hope you enjoy them!

My CT really rock!

I'm going to take the next few days to show you what my amazing CT members have been up to! I really love their enthusiasm and spirit. I'm truly blessed.

From Janel:

From Erika:

From Caro:


From Sarah:


From Nikkiana:

From Sharon:


Erika made this lovely gift for you, using my Amethyst Nights kit.

You can download it here.

I really hope you enjoy this weekend. Tomorrow, you'll see more amazing things from my CT!

New Overlays at PDW - and on sale!

Have you seen my Damask Overlays. They are on sale right now at Plain Digital Wrapper. All you need to do is add colour, and change the blending, and you've got some new gorgeous papers. They are very versatile.

I hope you enjoy them!

Want to try my products for free? Guest CT Call

No beautifully designed graphic. Just a call for some guests to join my existing team.

You can see my products in the gallery at DST to get an idea of what you'll get to work with. I'm looking for guests for January through April. Deadline is December 31st.

All I need is....Your name and userid at DST (if you are there):
Link to your largest gallery:
An example of what you do best:
How many layouts you can commit to a month:

Send me that info either using the widget in my sidebar contact me, or by email with CT Call in the subject line to kikihalbert AT gmail DOT com.That's it. Looking forward to your applications.

New wintery goodness at PDW!

There's some new wintery goodness at Plain Digital Wrapper today. And it's on sale. Winter has hit this part of the country and we are well under a blanket of white. So what's a gal to do except make the best of it, and use it as inspiration. So I've done some beautiful shimmer snowflakes for you. These are large snowflakes that you can use as is on paper, to give a glittery addition to your layout, or you can reduce them in size for a subtle effect.

And here's Winter Wonderland. These papers are great for creating stacked backgrounds. There are 7 scenes in all, and with your purchase you receive the full 12X12 jpg format, and the worn pngs, shown in the preview.

I know that you'll love them for all your outdoor layouts this winter.

Now, I'm also having a guest CT call for January through April. The requirements are very simple. Just send me your name, a link to your largest gallery, and tell me how many layouts you can do a month. That's it. Pretty simple stuff.