Pixel Music

Three Muses - "Love is Blind"

2010-08-04T15:43:00.003-04:00

This week, the challenge at Three Muses is "Love is Blind". Here's my entry, "The Eye of the Beholder":

To check out all the other fantastic entries (or to post one yourself), go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Three Muses - "Odd Bird"

2010-07-28T08:00:00.004-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Odd Bird." Here's my entry, some very odd birds immortalized in lines from "The Walrus" by the Beatles, "Elementary Penguins":

To check out all the other cool entries (or to post on yourself), go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

"Feminist Rantings" T-Shirts Now Available in My Zazzle Store!

2010-07-23T08:05:00.002-04:00

My latest collage for the "Feminist Rantings" collection is called "Leftovers":

You can now purchase each of the "Feminist Rantings" pieces on T-shirts and tote bags in my Zazzle store, including "No Greater Love" shown here:

To check out my store, click on the link: http://www.zazzle.com/tammaraleminen

Three Muses - "Mail Art"

2010-07-21T10:05:00.004-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Mail Art." Here's my entry,

"Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder":

To see all the other GORGEOUS entries (or to post one yourself!), head on over to:
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Hugs!

New Pieces for "Feminist Rantings"

2010-07-20T08:22:00.004-04:00

The project is a 20-page soft-cover book with a collection of collages, all in a similar theme. Here's two more:

Hmm, I think I might put these on T-shirts and totebags for sale at my Zazzle store...

Three Muses - Flying Carpets

2010-07-13T20:06:00.002-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Flying Carpets"; here's my entry, "Travel Mode Confusion":

To check out the other AMAZING entries (or to post one yourself), head on over to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Hugs!

Three Muses & mITSYBELLE 50% Off Sale

2010-07-09T12:17:00.006-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Rust", and here's my entry, "Rust Never Sleeps":

To check out all the other FANTASTIC entries (or to post one yourself!), head on over to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

AND NOW FOR A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR!

EVERYTHING in mITSYBELLE's store is half price until the 14th of July! That includes her brand-new kit, "Another Year":

Here are some layouts I made with this colorful, fun new kit:

(FYI - don't play the Blinking game with an iguana.)

You can purchase "Another Year" for half price, plus all mITSYBELLE's other wonderful kits, here in her store:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_81

Three Muses - STEAMPUNK

2010-06-30T13:55:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Steampunk"; here's my entry, "Henry's Totally Pimped Out Ride": To check out all the other awesome entries, or to post one yourself, go to:
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Three Muses - EYES

2010-06-24T07:32:00.003-04:00

The challenge this week at Three Muses is "Eyes"; here is my entry, "Uncle Edgar's Creepy Portrait":

To check out all the other cool entries, or to post one yourself, go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Three Muses

2010-06-17T04:31:00.004-04:00

This week's challene at Three Muses is "Buttons and Bows":

To check out all the other fabulous entries, or to post one yourself, head over to:
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

PERSONAL UPDATE: Will's CT scans were clear - NO CANCER. Expect a free kit to celebrate very soon!

Three Muses & FREE CU Grunge Overlay Pack

2010-06-12T10:17:00.012-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Song Lyrics", and for my entry I've chosen to depict lyrics from the Fleetwood Mac classic "Gold Dust Woman":

To check out all the other FABULOUS entries (Three Muses has an incredible following of artists) or to post one yourself, go to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

PERSONAL UPDATE: I've still been nursing Will at home following the episode a couple of weeks ago with the pulminary embolism. The doctors gave him the green light to return to work, part-time, starting on Tuesday. On Monday we're driving up to Boston again to meet with the oncology team that handles the IL2 treatments; my husband is in remission, but the chances of that being a long-term thing are greater if he undergoes a second round of the high-dose Interleukin-2. That's been easier said than done, because he's had complications from the first round that have prevented a second round thus far - his remaining kidney wasn't functioning well enough for months, and just when we started to see sufficent improvement in his kidney function he had the pulimanary embolism. So we're expecting further delays... and a follow-up CT scan, which is always scary (if the cancer returns, this is how we'll find out).

If the CT scan is clear, I'll design a new kit to celebrate. In the meantime, I have a FREE CU Overlay pack for you today, with a brief tutorial for those of you who don't have a lot of designing experience.

You can snag it HERE:
http://www.4shared.com/file/o-h4W_I3/CU_Overlays.html

HOW TO USE OVERLAYS

In Photoshop, start with a new 12 x 12 document at 300dpi. Using the paintbucket, add a solid color (in this case, I used a tangerine shade).

Copy/paste one of the overlays into the document, layered over the block of color. Click on Layer/Layer Style/Blending Options, and play around with the settings. You can get a vast array of different effects by changing the settings here! This is Overlay #2 from my CU pack, with the Blending options set to "Multiply":

Same overlay, with the blending option set to "Overlay":

Here it is set to "Difference":

Same overlay, now set to "Exculsion":

To get a little more inventive, I duplicated the overlay layer, set the lower layer to "Difference" and the upper layer to "Exclusion" with the "Poster edges" filter applied:

Save the final paper as a jpg, and you're on your way to digital designing!

Three Muses and Orient Express FREEBIE Part Four

2010-06-02T06:19:00.004-04:00

This week, the challenge at Three Muses is "Time". My entry is "Time Flies":

To check out all the other fantastic entries (or to post one yourself!), go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

And Now for your FREE STUFF!!!!

Today, we are celebrating the fact that I have managed to pass another semester with my 4.0 intact. Tomorrow the college is having its annual awards ceremony, and I will be given the 2010 Creative Writing Award, the Nicholas and Theresa DiSantis Quality Printing Scholarship Award, and I will be formally inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

To get Part Four of "Orient Express":

http://www.4shared.com/file/9aTIW5Lx/Elements_2.html

If you don't already have the other the other three parts, they are available by scrolling down.

Art Project Update and FREE Orient Express Kit Part Three

2010-05-29T07:05:00.007-04:00

I'm working on a book of 20 themed humorous collages, vintage 50's with a slight girl-power attitude. The book will be called "Feminist Rantings"; here's "Good Housekeeping", the cover illustration:

And this is "Coffee Break", the latest collage I've made:

And now for your free stuff!
Today we are celebrating my husband's return from the hospital. It took the doctors a week to get him at a safe level on blood thinners so they could send him home, and my poor sweetie barely slept at all the entire seven days he was there. Hospitals make him nervous, and every time he did fall asleep they promptly woke him up to take his blood pressure or give him a pill or change his bed linens. He came home yesterday morning and within half an hour he was fast asleep on the couch, where he took a six-hour nap with Godzilla. Apart from being sleep-deprived, he's doing very well.

So here's the free stuff!

Today you get Part Three, the first pack of Elements:
http://www.4shared.com/file/vom9MRF1/Elements_1.html

"Orient Express" is a four-part kit, so come back soon to get the second pack of elements. Hugs!

Three Muses and Orient Express FREEBIE Part Two

2010-05-26T19:19:00.005-04:00

First up, the Three Muses Challenge site has reached its first year milestone! Bravo, Muses! This week's challenge is "Cards"; my entry is called "Always Some Joker":

To view all the other FABULOUS entries (Three Muses has some very talented people participating!), or to post one yourself, go to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

And now for your free stuff!!!!

Part Two of the papers:

http://www.4shared.com/file/OeKxVcON/_2__papers_2.html

Come back soon for the elements!

Orient Express FREEBIE, Part One

2010-05-25T20:38:00.005-04:00

Sorry I'm late posting this, things have been pretty crazy here! My husband suffered a pulmonary embolism Saturday - he's fine, and we were lucky that it was a mild episode that didn't cause any permanent damage, but he's still in the hospital while they get him stabilized on a drug regimen. We didn't know this, but the cancer put him at risk for developing an embolism (a fancy word for a blood clot), and they can be very dangerous (even fatal). So the first thing we're celebrating is that he's OK!

Here is my new kit, "Orient Express":

Today you get Part One of the papers: http://www.4shared.com/file/F_SlIZv0/papers_1.html

Come back soon for Part Two!

Sunday Postcard & FREEBIE

2010-05-21T14:29:00.006-04:00

Here is my entry for this week's Sunday Postcard Art. The challenge this week is "Mirrors"; my piece is called "Through a Glass Darkly":

To check out the other entries, go to: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

As of this afternoon, I am OFFICIALLY out of school for the summer!!!!!!!! To celebrate, I've put together a collection of Butterflies - and a few loose wings, one butterfly body, and some French encyclopedia illustrations. There's 45 all together.

You can snag it FREE here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/14bwZ6RO/butterflies.html

On Sunday I'll start handing out my new Kit, "Orient Express".

Free at Last, Thank God I'm Free at Last

2010-05-16T08:31:00.013-04:00

OMG, I thought I was NEVER going to get out of this semester!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been working on school projects the way the Israelites were building pyramids - work till you drop, and dodge that cracking whip if you know what's good for you! BUT the last pieces of my final project are drying downstairs on my kitchen table as I type (and it's due on Friday, so I'm AHEAD of schedule! What a concept!).

Get this - all I have to do is drive to school on Friday and turn my stuff in for my final grade, and then I'm FREE for FOUR ENTIRE MONTHS. I haven't taken a summer off since I started school in January of 2008, but THERE ISN'T ENOUGH MONEY IN THE BERKSHIRES to pay me to go to summer school this year. I am going to sit on my well-upholstered fanny and BLOg, and design freebies, and BLOG, and make snarky collages, and BLOG... you get the picture.

This is my entry for this week's Three Muses challenge. The subject this week is "relationships", so I opened up the folder labeled COUPLES in my library of vintage photographs, and decided to work with a pair of bathing beauties I call "Hard Bodies."

I also made a piece for LAST week's Three Muses, when the subject was "legs":

To check out the great artwork over at Three Muses, go HERE:
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR:

mITSYBELLE has a couple of great new kits out in her store:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4845

"Precious" has 11 papers, glittery stuff, and 42 elements. Here are a few layouts I made with this bright, beautiful kit:

mITSYBELLE's other kit is the very elegant "Madame":

It's available to purchase HERE:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4901

Here are some layout I made with this gorgeous kit:

Your freebie today is the jeweled frame shown in the layout above; you can snag it HERE:
http://www.4shared.com/file/mOrlWY9N/mitsybelle_madame_jeweledlacef.html

Come back soon, we have LOTS of stuff to celebrate, which means FREE STUFF for everyone!

TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!!

2010-03-29T10:16:00.010-04:00

Not for me, for a change, (OMG, I FINALLY got all my midterm projects done Saturday, it is SUCH a relief not to have them hanging over my head anymore!) but for those of you who have yet to take advantage of mITSYBELLE's INCREDIBLE store-wide sale:

You only have until the 31st, so go grab it NOW:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4547

AND there's a new kit in mITSYBELLE's store:

"Naturally" is a very versitle mini-kit, with 10 papers and 27 elements. Here are a few layouts I made with this kit:

"It Always Feels Like Summer When I'm With You:"

"Don't Eat the Green Ones!"

"Baby Sleep"

If you just don't have the hard-drive space for the entire store, you can purchase just the "Naturally" kit here:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4594

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIES!!!

Day Four of "Four Days of QPs" comes with a DOUBLE DOSE - you get two Qps from kits featured in mITSYBELLE's store buy-out (this time it's "Radiant Glow" and "Heavenly Blooms"), but you ALSO get two QPs from my new "Naturally" layouts!

"Heavenly Blooms QP"

"Radiant Glow" QP

PLUS two "Naturally" Qps!

You can snag all four of them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/251975749/ae8a9b89/Naturally_Radiant_Glow__Heaven.html

I think that when I post my Three Muses entry on Wednesday (the challenge is "You Are What You Eat"), I will have a new set of FREEBIES to give away... I'm thinking butterflies.

Three Muses & Day Three of FOUR DAYS OF QPs

2010-03-24T09:30:00.009-04:00

Today's challenge at Three Muses is "A Cup of Tea." I'm submiting the following floozie:

To check out the other FANTASTIC entries (or to post one yourself), go to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

AND NOW FOR THE FREE STUFF!!!

Today's Qp's are from mITSYBELLE's "Cool of the Day" and "Sweet Sixteen" kits. These are just two of the 34 kits you will get when you buy her entire store for $18... so if you haven't done so already, get cracking! You can purchase this AMAZING DEAL here:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=107&products_id=4547&zenid=2add73dcd01c7aaa2d0e05e9c58623b7

HERE ARE YOUR QPs:

You can grab them here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/246056559/f262edf0/Sweet_Sixteen__Cool_of_the_Day.html

Come back soon for more stuff! Hugs!

Four Days of QPs, Day Two

2010-03-21T10:50:00.006-04:00

AAAAARRRGGGHHH, I'm up to my eyeballs in homework again, trying to get all my midterm projects done for Friday. I'm designing a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation on the African Influences in Early Modernist Art, a paper of Nora Zeale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God", a poetry portfolio, and a 20-page book of collages called "Feminist Rantings" that includes this piece, "Determination":

On to Day Two of Four Days of QPs (they are obviously not going to be consecutive days), in honor of mITSYBELLE's HUGE store-wide sale - her entire store at SAS for a mere $18, including CU grab-bags and THIRTY-FOUR COMPLETE KITS!!!! Buy it now (HURRY!!! Limited-time offer!!!), and you can take up to three months to finish downloading your MOTHERLOAD of scrap supplies (and you'll need some time, because you're getting a INCREDIBLE amount of stuff in this deal!). So DON'T MISS IT!

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=107&products_id=4547&zenid=e16a7d935ce81185e61d49a7bf32105a

Today's QP's are from "Young Lily" and "Sweet Thang":

Quick Page One: "Young Lily"

Quick Page Two: "Sweet Thang"

You can grab them both FREE here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/246056559/f262edf0/Sweet_Sixteen__Cool_of_the_Day.html

Come back soon for Day Three!!!

Three Muses & FREE Four Days of QPs!!!

2010-03-19T08:00:00.006-04:00

First off, the challenge this week at Three Muses is "INCOGNITO"... how cool is that? You will so have to grab a cup of coffee and head over there to check out all the entries, because there are some fabulous artists who contribute regularly to this site, which I think is the best challenge site on the web (take a bow, Indybev, Ozstuff and Taluula!).

Here's my entry, which I call "Uncertain Destination":

PS: Welcome back, Ann!!!!

To check out the AMAZING art at Three Muses (or to post one yourself), Go to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

NEXT, the fabulously talented mITSYBELLE has her ENTIRE STORE up for sale until the end of March for a paltry $18. You'll get all her kits AND some incredible CU packs!

It's an AMAZING deal! You get:

Season's Renewal
Awaken
Oh Baby
Love Blooms
Sweet Sixteen
This'n'That
Refresh
All That
Oh the Joy!
Christmas Cheer
Young Lily
Cee Zee
Natural Beauty
Halloween of Old
Sweet Thang
Autumn's Bliss
Changes
Gentle Life
The Moody Blues
A Radiant Glow
Birthday (Plus Quickpages & Add-On!)
My Jessica
In the Den
A Citrus Summer
Nothin Sweet
Paperscraps One & Two
Cool of the Day
Mysterious You
J'Aime Rouge
Sweet Sunshine
Bloom
Lost in a Dream
Mi Cottage

And did I mention the CU stuff? You'll get all that TOO!!! So run, run, RUN to mITSYBELLE's SAS store and grab this INSANE deal while you till can:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_81&sort=20a&page=1

WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE FREE STUFF!!!!!

For the next four days, we'll have FOUR DAYS OF QUICK PAGES using some of the best layouts I've made using mITSYBELLE's incredible kits. Today, you get two QP's made from "All That":

You can snag them HERE: http://www.4shared.com/file/244569996/1fe3ac15/_2__All_That_QPs.html

Come back tomorrow for more goodies. Hugs!

Three Muses, ZINE Cover, and FREE Victorian Thrift Shoppe Part Three

2010-03-11T15:44:00.004-05:00

This week's challenge over at Three Muses is "newsprint." Here's my entry, "Newspaper Fantasy":

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself), go here: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Some more good news: I entered a couple of art pieces for the campus literary magazine ZINE, and this one ("Creativity") was chosen for the cover!

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all for waiting patiently for Part Three of "Victorian Thrift Shoppe." Here's what you're getting today:

And you can snag it HERE:
http://www.4shared.com/file/239226133/40810f5f/Victorian_Thrift_Shop_EPHEMERA.html

Come back soon for another batch of free stuff. Hugs!

New mITSYBELLE Kit and FREE Victorian Thrift Shoppe, Part Two

2010-03-05T05:14:00.016-05:00

Still playing catch-up....

While I've not been posting, I've still been making collages, so I've got a back-log of stuff you haven't seen, most of it like this:

AND (drumroll, please), I have managed to find a good home for T-Rex. Yes, it's a sign of how complicated my life has become that this didn't rate a mention sooner, for it is TRULY a great occasion and normally would have rated his own round of celebratory freebies... after all, how many times does one sucessfully unload a twenty-pound homicidal iguana?

Those of you who follow my blog know the saga of THE PRINCESS's infamous iguanas (and those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about can read about it HERE) and how I was bitten by the biggest and meanest of the trio. And I spent months trying to find the evil lizard a home, which was vastly hampered by my stupidly telling everyone the truth about his personality. So people basically envisioned a lizard that looks like this:

as something that looked more like this:

which is basically how WE see him. Or, as I told his new owner, "his name is T-Rex, but you can probably change it because I'm not sure he knows that's his name... he probably thinks his name is 'BAD LIZARD!' or 'Oh You Little Bastard'."

And now a word from our sponsors...

The very talented mITSYBELLE has put out many kits in the pastr two months, and I have been a TERRIBLE CT for not posting about them, although I did make all the required layouts and posted them to the SAS site (which is now called "The Studio"). But this is her newest kit, "Awaken."

"Awaken" has 8 pretty papers and 50 elements, and it's on sale until March 15th so you can pick it up for a paltry three dollars and change HERE:

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4483

Here are some layouts I made with this terrific kit:

"Let's Go Fly a Kite"

"It Isn't Easy Being Royalty"

"Heaven Sent"

"Family Tree"

And if you go to mITSYBELLE's blog, she has some FREE stuff for you too, so run over there after you've picked up MY freebies:
http://mitsybelle.com/blog/

AND NOW FOR THE FREE STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part Two of "Victorian Thrift Shoppe" is the ELEMENTS:

YOU CAN SNAG THEM HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/234741111/bf34319b/Victorian_Thrift_Shop_ELEMENTS.html

If you don't have Part One yet, scroll down to the previous post and pick up the Papers. And come back soon for Part Three: Ephemera!

THE SARCASTIC REDHEAD IS BACK WITH FREE STUFF!!!!!!!!

2010-03-03T11:57:00.001-05:00

Hello, all! Life has been VERY difficult for the past three months, but good fortune has prevailed and I am back on the blogosphere with celebratory gifts. After my beloved Will was diagnosed with 4th stage inoperable renal cancer, we both tried to be brave and stoic faced with what seemed to be the inevitable conclusion of that diagnosis. But our oncologist pulled a rabbit out of his hat: high-dose Interleukin 2treatments. This is complicated and best summed up by "worse than chemo", but my Will cowboyed up big-time and now, twelve weeks later, the cancer is in full remission - THERE ARE NO TUMORS LEFT.

SO LET's CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off, I have sorely missed the great artists over at Three Muses. The challenge this week is "Men"... they must have touched on a good (or sore) spot, because there's already 30 entries posted and the challenge just started today. Here's my entry, "Suspicious Resemblance":

This pales in comparison to my other news, but I won LOTW over at SAS (now The Studio) a couple of weeks ago with this layout, "He Rose to the Occasion", using papers and elements from mITSYBELLE's wonderful kit "This'n'That":

Let's see, I've fallen SOOOOO behind... I won a few more awards over at school, where (somehow) I am still hanging on to that 4.0 (REALLY, don't ask me how, I spent the WEEK BEFORE WINTER FINALS with Will in the ICU up at Beth Israel in Boston while he underwent the first round of IL2 treatments - talk about YIKES). I have FANTASTIC professors (hugs hugs hugs to Lisa Yetz, Chuck Prescott and Keith Shaw!!!), which is part of how I've just been invited to join Phi Theta Kappa, the international College Honor Society.

(They probably don't know how snarky I am or they wouldn't have been so quick to ask, huh?)

ANYWAY, we'll play more catch-up tomorrow-ish (you all remember that I can't tell time, right?), for now LETS BRING ON THE FREE STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Victorian Thrift Shoppe" has 9 patterned papers, 5 solid textured papers, 31 assorted bits of lace and other fancy bits of embellishment, AND a pack of 34 pieces of assorted ephemera. The first two parts are CU use included, but I'm not 100% certain that it's kosher to use the French currency image in the Ephemera pack on anything you're going to sell.

TODAY you get the papers:

YOU CAN GRAB THEM HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/233563350/f77d1409/Victorian_Thrift_Shoppe__PAPER.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/233577984/fa2b956c/Victorian_Thrift_Shoppe_PAPERS.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/233591679/9205539e/Victorian_Thrift_Shoppe_PAPERS.html

HUGS! See you soon!

BIG SALE One Day Only, and FREE set of Snarky Christmas Tags

2009-12-14T09:38:00.019-05:00

HURRY to my Zazzle store and take advantage of the deals and the opportunity to finish you Christmas shopping without leaving your house! I have ties, tote bags, mousepads, t-shirts, prints of many of my weird and snarky artwork, Christmas cards, and coffee mugs (including one with the PIXEL MUSIC logo), and you've still got time to get everything ground-shipped (i.e. the cheapest way) in time for Christmas. Here's a peak at just a few of my designs; three of them have won awards for BEST NEW ITEM OF THE DAY, including my naughty "Victorian Floozies" Calander!

Shop to your heart's delight (and come back here and leave me a message telling me you made a purchase, and I'll e-mail you an EXCLUSIVE digital minikit as a thank-you gift!), and to get your discounts just use the following code at check-out: 12DEALZAZZLE

MY STORE IS HERE: http://www.zazzle.com/tammaraleminen

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!

You asked for snarky, sick and twisted tags, and by golly I've delivered. It feels GOOD to get some of the evilness out of my system after listening to all the sweet-and-jolly Christmas music on the radio every day AND sitting through a marathon of Christmas movies with THE PRINCESS this weekend. I hope you're not disappointed!

You can snag them here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/172754228/3b2aba22/Bah_Humbug_Tags.html

Hugs!

Three Muses X2, Something Completely Different, and FREE Christmas Tags

2009-12-10T22:39:00.011-05:00

The challenge this week at Three Muses is "Bottles and Jars". So I whipped up this:

"When All Else Fails":

As I am chronically late, I'm also just now posting LAST week's Challenge, which was "Games People Play":

"A Shocking Revelation"

Go check out all the AMAZING artwork by the very talented people over at Three Muses, and maybe post one of your own?

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Remember the little floozie sitting on the martini glass in the first piece? I actually designed her first, for the tag challenge at this week's Something Completely Different. The theme of the week is "Party Girl":

I'm a bit embarrassed to see that my co-design team members posted much more innocent takes on the theme (like Zetti-punk goth tweens and sweet, charming little girls in party dresses - and OMG they are SO cute, go check them out HERE), but since YOU all know that I'm sick and twisted already, I'm unrepentant about my artistic preference for bawdy babes. In fact, I liked the naughty little wench so much I also posted her on Christmas cards available at my Zazzle store:

I've got TONS of last-minute gift items in my store; mouse pads, t-shirts, coffee cups and totebags, starting at the ten dollar range. (One of my designs was selected as one of the "TODAY'S BEST ADDITIONS"!!)And there's still plenty of time to have stuff shipped in time for Christmas giving. Which is a great seguway into your FREEBIE:

FREE CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS!!!!

These are the individual .png files, in high-resolution RGB transparancies, suitable for digital scrapbooking. I'll get a printable version (without the ties, of course) in high-resolution CYMK set for cardstock printing.

I will also have a second set of snarkier tags for those of you who share the twisted sense of humor of a certain troublemaking red-head.

http://www.4shared.com/file/170240512/80cd2807/Ho-Ho-Ho_tags.html

2009-12-07T03:35:00.002-05:00

Today's deal at my ZAzzle store is $5 off all T-shirts and 30% off all mousepads; use the code:

EMAIL12SHIRT

at checkout to get either deal (or both). Everything in my store is on display on the slideshow at the bottom of this page of the blog; or you can go browsing HERE:

http://www.zazzle.com/tammaraleminen

30% OFF Mousepads & FREE SHIPPING!!!

2009-12-06T08:47:00.005-05:00

Fill your Christmas stockings with gifts from Pixel Music!

Today in my Zazzle store, mousepads are 30% off the normal price of $10.95, and shipping is free on orders over 25$! I've got a vast assortment of original designs on sale, and they make great stocking stuffers!

You can purchase them HERE in my Zazzle store; to receive the discount & free shipping, use this product code at check-out: EMAIL12FOUR9

The mousepads will still be 30% off tomorrow, but the free shipping deal will have expired - so act quickly!

(PS: You can purchase professionally printed copies of my Freud Christmas card at Zazzle, too.)

Something Completely Different, New mITSYBELLE KIt, and Blogtrain FREEBIES

2009-12-03T16:01:00.007-05:00

Over at Something Completely Different, the fabulous Dawn set the challenge this week, and asked us to produce "Marilyn Monroe Tags."

My hat is off to the woman, because OMG, in the first week of December, with the theme being TAGS, who else would have thought THIS FAR OUT OF THE BOX?!?!?! Let's all give Dawn a big Standing Ovation for originality! Does she rock, or what?

Here's my tag:

To see all the other gorgeous (mostly handmade) entries - or to post one yourself (digital is OK also) go here: http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

Next Up: mITSYBELLE has a brand new Christmas kit out in her store! It's called "Oh The Joy":

"Oh the Joy" has 12 textured papers and 39 fabulous elements, and it's not only ON SALE for 35% off ($2.93!), it matches perfectly with her other kit "Christmas Cheer." Here are a couple of layouts I made with "Oh the Joy":

"Holiday Teamwork"

"Christmas Magic":

You can purchase this wonderful Christmas kit here:
http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=4028

Still working on more free stuff - but it sure would help if my professors didn't keep handing me MORE & MORE assignments......................

BUT you can still snag OODLES of free stuff off mITSYBELLE's blog; not only does she have this cool freebie:
...but from her blog you can follow the BLOG TRAIN to collect a MEGA FREEBIE KIT called "Holiday Sugar Cookie" featuring the work of nearly 90 designers around the globe! To pick up the various pieces, start HERE at mITSYBELLE's blog: http://mitsybelle.com/blog/

See you soon!

Three Muses, Something Completely Different, & FREE Tag Templates

2009-11-27T17:03:00.004-05:00

Hello, Three Muses people! I have missed you! But my computer is up and running again, and I'm entering this week; the theme is "Time":

"Time Spirals"

To go and look at all the other fabulous entries - or to post one yourself! - go to:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Over at Something Completely Different, the challenge is a Christmas card with a Snowman in Red and Green. As you all know, I am not exactly a potential Hallmark employee, because I am a non-traditional snarky wench, so here's my take on it (click on it to get a larger version):

I think the inside should say: "This year, try not to over-analyze the Holidays and just enjoy yourself." But feel free to suggest alternatives!

You HAVE to go an look at all the GORGEOUS entries that have been posted this month at Something Completely Different. These ladies have made the most beautiful hand-made cards! To go drool (and try to figure out how to get on their Christmas card list), go here:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!

This is a set of tag templates, in both individual png files and a printable 8 x 10 sheet. Tomorrow-ish (you remember how well I tell time, right?) I'll have a set of completed tags I designed myself, also in individual png files (to drop into digital scrapbook layouts) and in a printable sheet (for anyone who just wants to cut them out and use them in the up-coming holiday season... I'll try not to be too much like, well, myself.)

http://www.4shared.com/file/161043552/d101e8cc/Tag_Templates.html

see you all soon! hugs!

A Mixed Bag of Stuff WITH FREEBIES

2009-11-24T14:05:00.012-05:00

I'm back (and thank you to those of you who wrote to inquire about my whereabouts! you're SO sweet!), following a rather drawn-out and distressing computer crash, coupled with even more unnerving health issues with my beloved husband Will, all with exams and term papers thrown in like migrane-inducing croutons in a tossed salad of unmitigated crisis...

BUT if I start whining and ranting about it, we'll be here all day, so let's just get back to business! First, here's my VERY LATE entry (and it's so embarrassing because I'm ON THE DESIGN TEAM) to Something Completely Different's Challenge (LAST week!!!!) "Pink Card With Christmas Tree":

Then I didn't even get to MAKE this week's card because after my computer crashed I couldn't reinstall my copy of Creative Suite CS3 for DAYS........... oh jeez, there I go, into whine mode again.

Someone fetch me a martini, will you?

And then, go look at the FABULOUS handmade cards the very, very talented ladies at Something Completely Different have designed:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

NEXT, mITSYBELLE has a new kit in her stores. It's called "Christmas Cheer", and it's really cute!

You get 18 papers and a very cool 68 elements - what a bargain, huh? There's beads and snowflakes galore and even though I made three layouts I didn't even get around to using HALF this kit. Here's the layouts:

"Naughty or Nice?"

(I'll let you decide - but HINT, it's the same kid giving me the sardonic "pose" on the bottom of the next layout.)

"I Never Get Tired of Babies in Silly Hats"
Of course, the problem is that the babies DO get tired of wearing the silly hats. (I talked about this in a layout from last year, using a different kit).

And now that my granddaughter is 5 I'm fresh out of babies, and this year I'm stuck with the cat and the iguana. Getting them to pose should be interesting.....

ANYWAY, after camping on my son, I should get back to mITSYBELLE's kit, and point out that he was not the only one trying to talk their way off the naughty list...

"Come On Out, Little Brother!"

(It's almost 20 years later and they still fight like cats and dogs.)

ANYWAY, you can purchase this wonderful kit HERE: http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_81

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since it's time to start making cards, tags, and other Christmasy things, I've put together a set of Victorian-era clipart for your usage, in both png format (for all you digital folks) and in printable collage sheets (for those of you using real scissors, paper and glue!). They are all royalty-free so knock yourselves out making whatever you desire.

I'm showing them here in collage-sheet mode, which will print nicely on standard sized regular paper (I haven't tested it on cardstock. The resolution might need to be adjusted down to 230 dpi to allow for the way cardstock absorbs ink). You can download both sheets in PRINTABLE (CMYK mode) form here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/158920591/4550bfcc/Vintage_Christmas_Collage_Set_.html
And you can get them in individual png files with transparencies (in RGB mode for computer use) here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/158918212/93db20c4/Vintage_Christmas_Collage_Set_.html

I hate to wallow in my bad news; and I have good news to share, too! So I'll be back tomorrow with more goodies and in a better mood (if all else fails, you can buy Christmas Spirit in a bottle, right?) HUGS!

SCD Christmas Card & Sophie's FREE "A Book of You" Blogwear

2009-11-06T10:22:00.017-05:00

This week, the challenge at Something Completely Different is Red, Green & Gold Christmas Cards. And I've got to tell you, I'm really looking forward to seeing what our talented ladies come up with this week! They've been wowing me all last month with their spectacular hand-made inchies - and OMG I can't imagine working with such a tiny canvas by hand - but now that they've been given a bigger canvas to work with, I'm expecting some GORGEOUS artwork will be posted. In fact, I'm just hoping I can get out of the week without being put to total shame, because you just can't top the sheer beauty of hand-made greeting cards. Go take a look yourself at the entries this week:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

AND NOW I HAVE FREEBIES -

but they're all courtesy of the very talented Sophie at

http://my-cup-of-milktea.blogspot.com/

who designs custom blogwear. She's made three different sets of blog designs using the original "A Book of You," its Add-On, and "Misty Water-colored Memories." They're all below, with the links to her blog where you can download them FREE (there's also instructions on how to set them up on your blog here)

This is the header for Set One, which is called "Victoria" and has a choice of two backgrounds:

http://my-cup-of-milktea.blogspot.com/2009/10/victoria.html#comments

The next set is called "Zehave", which is also a header and a choice of two backgrounds:

http://my-cup-of-milktea.blogspot.com/2009/11/zehave.html#comment-form

And Finally, we have "Velma", from my "Misty Water-colored Memories" Kit, with the same header-and-choice-of-background as the others:

http://my-cup-of-milktea.blogspot.com/2009/10/velma.html#comments

Sophie also has dozens of other designs using kits from other designers; you'll enjoy going through her blog and looking at all her work.

Hugs!

Three Muses

2009-11-02T08:48:00.003-05:00

The Challenge this week over at Three Muses is "A Peach of a Couple." AS I mentioned a post or two ago, I expected weirdness to come out of my head due to an overdose of wildly unrelated school work, but what actually spewed out was pure sarcasm:

"Birds of a Feather"

ANYWAY, head on over to check out the other artwork - there's always some AMAZING stuff posted by the loyal followers of Three Muses - and maybe even post one of your own (but be quick, the contest changes in the next 36 hours or so).

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Come back soon... I'm cooking up good stuff. Hugs!

SCD, BIG SAS Halloween Sale, and FREEBIE!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-31T08:27:00.019-04:00

The last challenge for October over at Something Completely Different is (of course) Halloween.

This is my inchie; go post one of your own (you have until Thursday), and/or drop over to check out the other entries. As before, most of the talented ladies who post at SCD are making their inchies by hand (WOW, I think I'd go cross-eyed trying to work on an inchie on REAL PAPER), but slowly my digi-example is being explored by a few brave souls...

Laura went digital this week - way to go, girl!

In any case, it's a great mix of art and mediums, so go check it out:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

(LAURA'S iNCHIE)

PS: I'm not supposed to tell you what the next challenge is, because it's like a big fat hairy secret and I'd be in violation of the Webart Homeland Security Act or something, BUT...

...IT's NOT INCHIES.

Moving on...

Just go there. Enough said.

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!!!

Part Four of Part Four is the JOURNALING CARDS that make "A Book of You" unique; they provide a springboard for you to get your journal going.

There's also a few headers, some blank text boxes, and a couple of extra bits of decoration that didn't get into the Elements file; fifteen pieces in all.

http://www.4shared.com/file/145118697/6d4f15ac/Add-On_Cards_textboxes__and_Headers.html

sCROLL DOWN TO PICK UP pART tHREE OF pART fOUR, pART tWO OF pART fFOUR, AND pART oNE OF pART fOUR.

tHEESE FOUR PARTS MAKE UP THE add-on FOR

"A Book of You."

For those of you who don't follow my blog: These four parts I've posted in the last four blog entries are an ADD-ON to the September original "A Book of You" Kit. IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE THE ORIGINAL Three Parts of "A Book of You", you can pick them up here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/129421081/f2103a70/A_Book_of_You_CARDS.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/129954935/203823d1/A_Book_of_You_ELEMENTS.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/129118357/c6fefbb8/A_Book_of_You_PAPERS.html

(You still have to scroll down to get the three ADD-ON parts.)

FREE Ephemera!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-28T07:56:00.005-04:00

Sorry I'm late posting Part Three of Part Four of "A Book of You"... I've been caught up in HOMEWORK HELL for the past four days. This week's intellectual goulash: a quiz on Photoshop printing techniques; a quiz on the Julio-Claudian Emperors of Rome; a Western Civ Mid term (tomorrow!) covering Neanderthals to Classical Greeks, and a paper on W.E.B. Dubois's concept of double consciousness and how it relates to the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. HA HA HA, I'm going to pop on "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay and work on a collage for the Three Muses's "Couples" challenge this week... stay tuned to see how all that filters together (I'm expecting weirdness).

HERE'S YOUR (TARDY) FREEBIE:

21 pieces of hi-res ephemera and postage mark overlays, meant to coordinate with the "A Book of You" journal but certainly of use to non-journalling altered art people as well. Go get it HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/144336577/802a0897/Add-On_Ephemera.html

Come back Tomorrow(ish) for Part Four of Part Four: Cards and Headers

New mITSYBELLE Kit & Part Two of A Book of You Add-On FREEBIE

2009-10-24T08:03:00.016-04:00

Get Ready to Party with SAS!

The very talented mITSYBELLE has another kit in her SAS store! "Cee Zee" was designed to mix with its sister kit "Sweet Thang", and both kits will be on sale for 25% off this week!

"Cee Zee" has 13 papers and 33 elements that combine for dozens of very different looks!

Here are a few layouts I made using this wonderful kit:

"My 13-Year-Old Daughter

(OR: Why My Husband Wants to Buy a Shotgun)"

"Great Big Box of Miracles"

"A Fateful Day in the Sandbox"

You can see how well this all works with "Sweet Thang."

You can purchase both kits here:

On sale, they come to under $7 for both kits, AND make you eligable for THIS:

With "Colorful Fall", you get 16 textured papers and 46 elements: 2 laser cut paper borders, 1 folded paper edge, 4 rectangle frames, 1 oval frame, 1 string frame, 3 brads, 1 swirl, 1 leafy swirl, 2 scarecrows, 1 twig, 5 flowers, 1 sunflower, 1 cabbage flower, 1 butterfly, 5 leafs, 2 physalis vines, 1 tag, 2 mats, one with frayed edges, 1 notepaper, 3 folded ribbons, 3 tied ribbons, 2 tied ribbons with eyelets, 2 strings with beads... ALL FREE WITH YOUR PURCHASE OF "Cee Zee" and "Sweet Thang"!

AND SPEAKING OF FREE...

Yes, it's Part Two of Part Four of "A Book of You"! This time you'll get 17 elements that will match all Eight Parts of this Four Part Kit. (I know, it's mind-boggling, I'm a 4.0 honor student and yet I can't manage to count to four without getting into trouble.)

http://www.4shared.com/file/143240658/b955a73a/Add-On_Elements.html

ATTENTION ALTERED ART PEOPLE:

Tomorrow you'll get Part Three of Part Four:

Add-On Ephemera

hugs!

SCD Inchies, Opening of my Halloween Zazzle store, AND NEW FREEBIES!!!!!!!

2009-10-23T12:42:00.012-04:00

The challenge this week at Something Completely Different is "Face," to be interpeted as an inchie - those teeny-tiny canvases we've been pushing all month. Here's mine:

You've got until THURSDAY to post one of your own - and then go check out the other artists, who have done some really creative things with their inchies! Last week, Lesely combined two black& white inchies to make a moo card; Zoechaos printed up 9 inchies that combined to make one bigger picture, mounted window-pane style on a handmade greeting card; and Humel turned hers into a pendant! Come check them out here:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

By the way, if YOU want to make a cool inchie pendant (or a keychain), you're welcome to use any of my designs! My inchies are loaded here at 300dpi; click on them to get the hi-res version and right-click to save. A cool tutorial on making them into a glass pendant is here , and you can order the supplies here .

ANYWAY...

My Zazzle Halloween Shop is OPEN!

Here are the designs:

"I Get a Little Batty This Time of Year"

"Carve My Pumpkin"

"Demon Gambling"

"The Finest Witch in the Henhouse"

"Moon Goddess"

"Union 666, United Coven of Witches"

All are available in men's and women's t-shirts; "Carve my Pumpkin" is also available as a man's hoodie (in black); and all the other designs EXCEPT "Carve my Pumpkin" are available as really nice Trick-or-Treat bags. You can purchase them here:
http://www.zazzle.com/tammaraleminen*/gifts
All Halloween gear is 10.31% off from now until Halloween; use the code:
TRICKORTREAT
at checkout. Shop by Wednesday to guarantee delivery for Halloween.

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!

The long-awaited Part Four of "A Book of You" actually comes in four parts, so I'm just calling it an "Add-On" instead. You get Part One of Part Four today - MORE PAPERS.

http://www.4shared.com/file/143076724/d16393e6/Add-On_Papers.html

Come back tomorrow for Part Two of Part Four!

Hugs!

SCD goes Black & White; Three Muses; and NEW mITSYBELLE kit

2009-10-18T08:07:00.009-04:00

The theme this week at Something Completely Different is

Black & White Inchies.

OK, it's hard to get the hang of the teeny-tiny canvas at first, but after that it's kind of fun. I'm still the only digi-artist posting (although kudos to Juno for giving it a go! You rock, girl!) so I want to encourage all you digital altered art wizards to go over and post one yourself! Also, check out the work of the ladies making their entries by hand with stamps, inks and embossing powders - all on a 0ne inch scrap of paper! They're amazing!

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

Moving on...

The Challenge this week at Three Muses is "Hair." I actually did a serious piece of artwork, just for the novelty of it, and because I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sarcastic streak. This is most likely due to loosing an entire week of school for miserable depressing health-related issues, so I am now so far behind that I have to radio ahead to locate my own shadow. But fear not, you can expect EXTRA snarkiness from me as I try to work my way out of the academic hole.

Also, I've attempted to atone for my detour into adulthood by giving this piece a sufficiently snarky title to compensate:

"Isn't It Wonderful What Those New All-Natural Shampoos Can Do!"

Anyway, go check out all the fabulous artwork by the other artists at Three Muses - they always get incredible entries!

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

And now a word from our sponsors!The amazing mITSYBELLE has a new kit in her stores called "Natural Beauty."

As you can see, it's a very pretty, delicate kit in lovely pastels. You get 12 papers and 41 elements (LOVE the green tasseled fringe).

Here are two layouts I made using this beautiful kit:

"I'm So Glad I Said Yes":

"You're Such a Flirt!"

You can purchase this fabulous kit in mITSYBELLE's SAS store here, and then head over to her blog to download a FREE QP and this cool FREE Halloween mini-kit!

I'll be back soon with goodies - hugs!

Three Muses

2009-10-12T22:01:00.004-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is "Numerology." Here is my entry, "Your Lucky Numbers Are..."

Make sure you click on the image so it's big enough for you to read the message in the fortune cookie.

To check out the truly awesome artwork produced by the people who regularly post at Three Muses, grab a cup of coffee and go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Week 55 in Nancy Baumiller's Crowabout - "CROWABOUT JUNKIE"

2009-10-10T06:39:00.001-04:00

Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

Something Completely Different & New mITSYBELLE Kit

2009-10-08T05:00:00.011-04:00

This week's challenge over at Something Completely Different is "Bird Inchies." And I'm happier with my second try at one of these teeny-tiny art pieces:

Consider this one a free download; click on the image to get the full resolution and then right-click to save. If you're into jewelry making, it's just the right size for one of those cool glass charms that seem to be so in vogue right now. THE PRINCESS puts them on necklaces, charm bracelets and key chains.

CU is OK - knock yourself out!

And by all means, go check out all the other entries! Except for me, all the artists submit handmade pieces, and I'm in awe of their ability to work with stamps, inks and embossing powders on such a tiny surface.

(Don't tell my Art Teacher I said that, or she'll assign me to make a whole series of them just to force me to work outside of my comfort zone; I love her, she's a FANTASTIC professor, but she's also a slave driver.)

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

mITSYBELLE has a new kit out in stores right now, and it's just beautiful. It's crammed full of stuff for scrapbookers and altered artists alike (check out the cool vintage Halloween greeting cards, and the beautifully detailed lace!). The papers are also gorgeous:

Here are a few layouts I created using this kit, which show how versatile it is:

"Moon Goddess"
(my Altered Art piece)

"Vintage Children"

"Autumn in the Berkshires"

You can purchase this wonderful kit here:
http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3720&zenid=54f1c57ff266eeaf6bab9b73903bd05f

Then head on over to mITSYBELLE's blog to pick up this freebie:

It's part of a blog train, so grab some coffee and dig in for an hour of freebie hunting!

http://mitsybelle.com/blog/

I am currently trying to dig myself out of a basket of YIKES at school (and I thought I would get a break with the 3-day weekend, but my evil Lit teacher announced that since we would miss the Monday class due to the Columbus Day holiday he was assigning us AN EXTRA ESSAY INSTEAD), but the Halloween shop should be up on Zazzle by this weekend, and I'm working on a very cool Add-On to
"A Book of You."
Also, we've been covering "expert methods of image extraction" in my Advanced Photoshop class, so I could probably make up another free set of Vintage Fairies and Floozies for all of you that I can also turn in for homework!!!!!
So come back soon! Hugs!

Crowabout Week 54 & Something Completely Different

2009-10-01T16:12:00.003-04:00

Here's my entry to Nancy Baumiller's Crowabout Challenge. The honest truth is I'm supposed to be doing my Lit homework and instead I've been collaging this all afternoon because it just seemed so damn cool. Too bad I can't submit it instead of the essay on James Weldon Johnson I should have written...

"The Strange Tale of Herman the Cross Dressing Milkman"

I made my first inchie for Something Completely Different. Why don't we all pretend I spent a couple of paragraphs griping about how hard it is to work with a 1-inch-by-1-inch canvas and just move along? This week's theme is "Oriental":

I'm not thrilled with it; I hope the next one comes out better... go over to the SCD site and see what inchies are supposed to look like (or maybe post one yourself?):
http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

Now I have to go do homework...

Three Muses and Something Completely Different

2009-09-29T20:41:00.003-04:00

ARRRGGHHH, I keep forgetting that EVERYONE I talk to on-line seems to live in a different time zone than mine! I made this for this week's Three Muses Challenge, thinking the challenge "Windows" wouldn't change until Wednesday... except that it's already Wednesday over where the Three Muses are, so now the challenge is "Zlightly Zetti"... oh well, here's my (late) entry anyway,

"Her Eyes Are the Windows of Her Soul":

And go check out all the work by all the other (NOT tardy) artists - or post a "Zlightly Zetti" piece yourself: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Someone wrote me after my last post to ask "what on earth is a MOO card?" Which is exactly what I said when I first saw the challenge up on Something Completely Different. It turns out that a MOO card is pretty much a skinny ATC - the dimensions are 2.8 cm x 7 cm. I made my first MOO for this week's ABC Challenge, and it wasn't half as irritating as it is to try to make things postcard size - go figure!

But I'm not going to pat myself on the back just yet - they're switching to inchies for October, when I'm officially a member of the design team, and YIKES that's small. Cross your fingers for me! And then go over and check out the site: http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

ALSO: I got a letter asking (very politely) what had happened to Part Four of "A Book of You." Which resulted in a head-slapping "DOH!" on my part, because what happened to Part Four is that I just plumb forgot to design it, because I'm a hopeless air-head, and how I'm pulling down straight A's in school I'll never know.

(I think they're just keeping me around for the entertainment factor.)

So I'll try to get Part Four out this weekend...

Hugs!

A Mixed Bag of Stuff and New FREE kit

2009-09-26T06:47:00.012-04:00

I am so behind that this was my entry to LAST week's Crowabout Challenge (although you'll be shocked to learn that I managed to enter it on time - I just never got around to posting here.)

I continue to have trouble with my right thumb (torn ligament from the iguana bite... that rotten lizard has just been the gift that keeps on giving!), and of course as a Fine Arts major I use my hand A LOT, so it swelled up and became temporarily unusable last week, and I've been playing catchup ever since (and I can't figure out the math - if you miss ONE four-hour class, why does it take SEVEN DAYS to make up for it?!?!? That's been a consistent ratio ever since I started college, but I still can't make sense of the absentee inflation...)

ANYWAY, lots to discuss!! First off, I was invited to join the design team at Something Completely Different. It's an Altered Art Challenge site, and the challenge this week is ABC "Moo" cards. This one is Laura's:So far, they mostly get hand-made entries, and lots of the challenges are small-scale. We made a deal - I'm going to introduce their artists to the coolness of pure digital art, and they're going to force me to work on itty-bitty pieces. If you've followed my blog, you know that I've steadfastly resisted this in the past... but the fabulous Lisa (my art teacher/college advisor/fashion guru) says that "working outside your comfort zone is good for you as an artist." So it should prove interesting... but expect to hear me grumble, because I have always been of the mindset that size DOES matter...

ANYWAY, go check out the wonderful hand-made art submitted to their challenges:

http://adifferentchallengeaweek.blogspot.com/

I'm also working on a Halloween-themed store at Zazzle... I'm making (and will have up for sale) lots of spooky T-shirts & posters. Here's a preview:

And mITSYBELLE has a new kit in her store, just in time for the SAS Progressive Scrap Sale _ everything is a whopping 60% off today, 50% tomorrow, 40% on Monday... you get the drift, the faster you go, the cheaper everything is. mITSYBELLE's new kit is called "Sweet Thang":

It's gorgeous, and if you get there TODAY it's a paltry $1.80 (at 60% off the usual $4.50 price). You'll get ten papers and 40 fabulous elements, many of both equally suitable for you altered art folks. Here are a few layouts I made using this great kit:

"Little Gothic Butterfly"

"Too Bad We Can't All Be Blonde"

"You're Never Too Old to Play"

You can buy this kit (not to mention all the other kits in her store, which are on sale too for the same insane prices) here:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_81

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!

"Misty Watercolor Memories" has 10 papers and 23 elements, including a lace header and more scrolls (neither shown here). I made it for the fabulous KimB's DSO Septemer Color Challenge, and you can snag it HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/135040339/ba1e6fe9/Misty_Waterclored_Memories_ELEMENTS.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/134912458/7d9df3fb/Misty_Watercolored_Memories_PAPERS.html

Come back soon! Hugs!

Three Muses & FREEBIE "It's All About the Hat"

2009-09-12T07:45:00.008-04:00

The challenge this week at Three Muses is "Moonstruck." The entries were so fantastic that I'm hesitant to post one myself; I just hope I can stand up to the competition! Here's my entry,
"Marvelous Night for a Moon Dance":

Really, you've got to grab some coffee (you'll be there a while) and go check out the other artists: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/By popular request:
THE LIZARD UPDATE!

THE BAD LIZARD: Well, I've contacted shelters and rescue homes as far away as Bloomfield, Connecticut (that's at least 80 miles from here) and so far NO ONE is willing to take T-Rex (the psychotic twenty-pound iguana) off our hands. Yes, I know, it's shocking; you'd think people would be lined up around the block just hoping for the chance to own their very own demon lizard, especially one the size of a baby alligator who bites, hisses, and tail-whips anything that comes near him. So I'm still stuck with the reptile from Hell... but now that I'm back in school I'm hoping I can find a brave/reckless 20-something boy willing to try and tame the crazed beastie. One of the (very Goth) boys who sat next to me in Drawing last semester has a tarantula, so maybe he needs a psychotic twenty-pound iguana to round out his private Chamber of Horrors?
THE GOOD LIZARD: Meanwhile, my dear sweet Will, who has been terrified of reptiles all his life, is now routinely sitting down at night to watch Chris Matthews and hand-feed grapes to the (good) lizard in his lap. Godzilla continues to labor under the delusion she is a dog; she even sits up and begs!

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!

Here's a new collection of Crowns and Silly Hats (no pointy hats; I'm saving them for the Halloween collection, coming SOON). You can download them FREE here: http://www.4shared.com/file/132152796/4ed53e3e/Its_All_About_the_HAT.html

Come back soon! Hugs!

Crowabout Week 51 - "Boo!"

2009-09-10T14:13:00.002-04:00

The challenge for Week 51 at Nancy Baumiller's Crowabout is "Boo!" I used (and greatly altered) the following images that were provided by Nancy: the house, the eyes, the skull, the bats, and the figure of the wandering ghost. Here's my entry,

"Possibly Haunted":

I have good news and bad news: the good news is that I (finally!!!) got my grades for the summer session and I've managed to hang on to my 4.0 another semester; the bad news is I'm back in school and once again studying a weird mixture of random subjects at the same time (and those of you who follow my blog know what that does to my art!). This week's intellectual goulash: Langston Hughes in English Lit and Neolithic Agriculture in Western Civ. (I expect to hit the peak of weirdness around mid-October, when The Jazz Age in one class will correspond with The Black Plauge in the other - jeez, as if I'm not strange enough NOW.)

Thank God It's Friday & Theme Thursday

2009-09-08T06:50:00.005-04:00

Dear Readers, I'm going to try very hard not to whine about having to go back to school today, although if I had a choice in the matter I would rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick that's been rolled in the dirt and infected with leprosy...

...not that I'm COMPLAINING, or anything...

ANYWAY, the challenge this week at Thank God It's Friday is "Funny Animals." Here's my entry,

"Now The Truth Can Be Told!":

(Background Paper from KimB)

To check out the other entries (Taluula's piece furthers the adventures of NapoleaHen the Royal Rooster - it's so cool to see my freebies turn up in the challenges!), or to post one yourself, go to: http://thankgoditsfriday.wordpress.com/

Over at Theme Thursday, the challenge is "Halloween." Of course, they want ATC's and I just don't work that small, but I'm going to post anyway because I'm a terrible pain in the butt as well as a smart-ass. So here's my entry,

"A Fowl Lesson":

(original vintage photos, which I have colorized and rather seriously altered, from Nancy Baumiller; cool Halloween text box from Cathe Holden)

To check out the other entries, or to post one yourself, go to: http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

Well, I guess it's back to the real world (if you can use that term to describe Art School). On the bright side, if the professors ask us if anything interesting happened to us this summer, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can answer "I was bitten by a psychotic twenty-pound iguana."

Three Muses and "A Book of You" FREEBIE Part Three

2009-09-03T16:30:00.003-04:00

This week at Three Muses the challenge is Charlie Chaplin. Here's my entry,

"Starstruck": To check out the FABULOUS artwork at Three Muses, grab a cup of coffee (you'll be there a while) and go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

But WAIT!!! Before you go, don't forget to snag your FREEBIES!!!

Part Three of "A Book of You" is elements - 37 of them, to be exact, only a few of them shown here. In addition you'll get a bunch of vintage florals, two more frames, more lace, bows, butterflies, and somehow NO scrolls... I'll have to put them in Part Four. ANYWAY, you can grab them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/129954935/203823d1/A_Book_of_You_ELEMENTS.html

Come back tomorrow for the last Part of "A Book of You." Hugs!

Dans Ma Maison and "A Book of You" FREEBIE Part Two

2009-09-02T05:25:00.007-04:00

This week, the challenge at Dans Ma Maison is "Doors", and so I figured I wouldn't give them just ANY doors, I'd give them

THE Doors...

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself!) go to: http://dansmamaisonilya.blogspot.com/

And now for your freebie!

Today we are celebrating the fact that I have (somehow) survived the annual school jeans expedition with THE PRINCESS. Normally this child radiates the serenity which comes from being blonde and assured of one's absolute perfection. But alas, the Eighth Grade is such a hotbed of social pitfalls that even Her Royal Blondness was in full-blown adolescent-angst-mode at the mall this year. This manifested itself as an unending stream of anxious (and judging from her glare at responses, rhetorical) questions that sounded something like this:

How low on the hip is a low-rise supposed to be? Which is cooler, the skinny cut or the boot cut? Do flares make my butt look big? OMG, what if ALL the kids shop here and EVERYONE has this same pair of jeans? Is a size 4 fat?

AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully, after six hours of this (and a long, arduous trudge through EVERY STORE in the mall), we emerged with a supply of jeans that met with THE PRINCESS's exacting standards, and by the time we were in the car she had regained her tiara of confident magnificence.

ANYWAY....
Part Two of "A Book of You" is a collection of eight journaling cards, to help jumpstart the journaling engines. Each one has a different design and a different question about YOU. And you can snag them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/129421081/f2103a70/A_Book_of_You_CARDS.html

Come back tomorrow for Part Three! Hugs!

One Powerful Hour, Sunday Postcard Art, & NEW Round of FREEBIES

2009-08-31T12:06:00.007-04:00

Hello, everyone! I'm happy to say that the splint on my right hand is gone and the stitches were removed Friday. It's nice to be able to use my right hand again!

So we'll have to celebrate with a new round of freebies!

But first, check out the piece I made for One Powerful Hour. Their theme this week is "Alphabet List," and it involves choosing three words at random from a list provided on the site; I chose OCEAN, UMBRELLA and COFFEE, and created this:

"Java Junkie"

You can see all the other artwork (or post one yourself, at least until Friday) at:

http://onepowerfulhour.blogspot.com/

Next, we move over to Sunday Postcard Art, where the theme for the week is "Fish." As someone whose artwork almost invariably incorporates off-beat humor, "Fish" is a real gift - just the word fish sounds funny all by itself. Here's my entry,

"Elizabeth's Pet Peeve":

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and go see all the other fabulous fish (and trust me on the coffee, this challenge gets a lot of entries!), and consider posting one yourself:

http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

But before you go, make sure you download your FREE stuff!

"A Book of You" is a journaling kit, from which you will be able to fashion 8 coordinating pages; the first part is the papers. You can snag them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/129118357/c6fefbb8/A_Book_of_You_PAPERS.html

Tomorrow you get Part Two! Hugs!

Three Muses Challenge

2009-08-27T15:58:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge over at Three Muses is "hands." I've got a lot of cool vintage hand images; dainty Victorian Lady clip art hands, and old cut-work pointing hands, and neat palmistry charts. But when I opened up the "hands" folder I gravitated towards a pair of hands from a Dover illustration of Indian henna patterns, and then kind of ran with this insane-redhead-does-Zen kind of theme. So here's my entry this week,

"Cosmic Circus":

You can go check out all the artwork (it's always exceptional), and even post one yourself:
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

I'm working on a new set of freebies... might be ready tomorrow....

Dans Ma Maison, Sunday Postcard Art, & Iguana Update

2009-08-25T09:54:00.007-04:00

The challenge this week from our French buddies over at Dans Ma Maison is "In my House there is a CROWN." The challenge is ALWAYS "in my house there is...", and the entries are supposed to be house-shaped. Everyone else makes these cool pieces of altered art using all kinds of different techniques (collage, embroidery, image transfer, beading, etc.). Then they send in digital photos. But because my art is digital it's hard for me to do house-shaped, because blogger doesn't do transparencies. So (as usual) I've decided to ignore the rules and give them houses instead. I actually built this one from bits and pieces of old French clipart (it is, after all, a French blog), many of which I've gotten as freebies from Augence Eureka. I've called my entry

"A Man's Home is His Castle":

(Thanks to The Paper Collector for the Russian General suit, and to Augence Eureka for the parts to build the house!)

You can check out the other entries HERE: http://dansmamaisonilya.blogspot.com/

I particularly enjoyed making the Deranged Russian Dictator Iguana, which is a good segueway into my LIZARD UPDATE.

My oldest daughter Katrina came up to visit Sunday, with her guy Roger and my granddaughter. Katrina immediately fell in love with Geico, the smallest of THE PRINCESS's trio of iguanas, and persuaded her younger sister to part with him. So the good news is that I'm down one over-grown lizard; the bad news is IT"S THE WRONG LIZARD. I still have possession of T-Rex, the twenty-pound psychotic iguana who bit me last week.

I got lots of great mail after my lizard-bite post, and it turns out that T-Rex has gone into some kind of mating frenzy that's made him crazy-aggressive - especially towards ME, because in his evil little lizard brain he has decided that he has to over-throw me to become the DOMINANT IGUANA. Now, it was news to me that I'm the current dominant iguana, or indeed the dominant anything, since I can't even get anyone to pick their socks up off the floor (and that's after 25 years of trying!). But I do understand that "mating frenzy" leads to a litter of little iguanas, and frankly my house is already infested with too many iguanas. So I immediately removed the female (Godzilla, who is also hands down the sweetest, nicest lizard of the trio)...

..and YIKES, T-Rex is ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS. Now I can't even come into the room where his cage is, because he starts arching his back, whipping his tail and hissing the moment he sees me (after his first week in the house, he had stopped doing that unless he saw me holding the nailclipper, and even after the bite he only did it when I approached the door of the cage - but of course that was BEFORE I stole his woman!).

Meanwhile, newly liberated Godzilla has morphed into what is essentially a green scaly dog. She is toilet trained, and has pretty much free run of the house. She scratches at the back door when she wants to go out for a walk, and when Will sits down in front of the TV with his evening snack Godzilla will go over and beg for grapes. She even sleeps in a mid-sized dog bed! And rather than missing the company of the other iguanas, she seems to be thrilled at having us basically all to herself.

ANYWAY, Here's my entry for this week's Sunday Postcard Art. This week's theme is "Botanica", and here's what i came up with,

"By Fairy Post":

The grass is from mITSYBELLE's "In the Yard" kit; the gardent tool and the botanical seed packets are from Lynn Griffin's "Secret Garden". Both kits are available at SAS.

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself), go to:
http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

That's all for now; I've got to go walk a lizard.

Triple Art Post

2009-08-22T13:00:00.004-04:00

First up is Three Muses! This week, the challenge is "Wings on Things," and here's my entry,

"Night Song":

(Background papers from mITSYBELLE's "Mysterious You" kit.)

As always, the art produced for the Three Muses Challenge this week is fantastic, and I really encourage you to go over and check out the other entries:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Also, you've got until Wednesday to post one yourself!

Next up is Sunday Postcard Art. The theme this week is "Glamor Girls", and here's my entry,

"Manhunt":
To check out the other entries, go HERE: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

Finally, I made an entry for Dans Ma Maison and missed the deadline (AGAIN). Same problem as usual - it's the next day THERE hours and hours before it's the next day HERE. And it doesn't really matter (AGAIN) because I didn't do what I was supposed to do anyway. The challenge at Dans Ma Maison has a catch just like the one at Gothic Arches - the art has to be shaped like a house every week. The theme was "wings" (or, to be exact, "In my house there are WINGS"; the challenge is ALWAYS "In my house there are..."). Most of the art isn't digital, but mine is and I don't do "house-shaped" because blooger doesn't do transparencies. So I gave them houses WITH wings, in

"Arial Tax Dodge":

By the way, all three pieces were made left-handed. The only thing I can't do digitally without my right hand is extractions (lots of fine motor control needed to extract an image). Not bad, huh?

LEAPING LIZARDS!!!!!!!!

2009-08-19T11:05:00.013-04:00

I have a piece of art to enter in this month's "Awfully Big Art Adventure" and a set of FREE background papers for you today...

...but first, a rant.

AS YOU MAY HAVE READ LAST MONTH (if you regularly follow my blog, that is), THE PRINCESS managed to acquire a trio of iguanas on the internet. This was due to a sad convergence of technology (when I was a child, bringing home unsolicited pets was limited to the unclaimed animals found wandering in my actual neighborhood) and parental shortsightedness (I was foolish enough to tell the child that, AND I QUOTE, "you can buy yourself any dumb-ass thing you want as long as you purchase it with your own money" when what I really meant was "I would like you to use your allowance to pay for your Panic at the Disco CDs and the 27 thousand bottles of hairspray it has suddenly become necessary for you to have."

However, while I admit I was not clear enough in my phraseology, I am uncertain how the child heard what I did say and translated it into "why don't you save up your money for a year so you have enough cash to import three lizards the size of baby alligators into our household").

ANYWAY, for the last 5 weeks we have been providing salad and shelter to said overgrown reptiles, the largest of which is T-Rex, who is about the length of my arm (including the tail, which is about half his body and he uses like a whip whenever I come near him, just in case I missed the underlying hostility in the concurrent back-arching and hissing -- he's like a pissed-off cat who thinks he's Indiana Jones). Now, I admit that when T-Rex first arrived in the house I make some sarcastic comment in his earshot about what a fantastic handbag he would make, but that was 5 weeks and a hundred heads of arugula ago, and by now it seems like he should have gotten over it, especially since the other two (Godzilla and Geico) now adore me and wish to shower me daily with lizard love (who knew iguanas could be cuddly? the smaller two are essentially really ugly lap dogs!)

So our creepy-crawlies have been pulling the old good lizard/bad lizard routine (they must have watched too many cop shows in their last home).

And I've spent the last 5 weeks wondering how I got to a place in my life where I'm doing things like putting Mozart on the stereo when I go out because the lizards don't like being left alone, or wondering if the iguanas would like dandelion greens with their spinach today, and saying things like "did you take Godzilla out for a walk yet" and "awww, who's the best lizard?"

But T-Rex continues to loathe me - and, admittedly, pretty much everyone else, so THE PRINCESS has abdicated his care on the grounds that she can't handle him. I can't even argue this, since he is clearly a seething, scaly ball of towering reptile rage (and we've asked around, but shockingly no one seems to be willing to take a psychotic 20 pound iguana off our hands).

Will hates ALL reptiles, even the cuddly vegetarian variety, so I've been the one taking care of T-Rex.

(Art by Chris Achilleos)

And yesterday the vicious brat finally managed to bite me (the fact that it hasn't happened sooner has certainly not been for lack of trying on his part), chomping down as hard as he could on my right thumb AND THEN REFUSING TO LET GO!!!! I let out a blood-curdling scream and THE PRINCESS comes running in, gets a load of my hand spurting blood around the jaws of an enormous hostile lizard, and promptly goes into a fit of hysterics. I finally got T-Rex to release my hand by kicking him in the rump, and there's blood EVERYWHERE, and I've got a deep bite wound that is clearly going to need stitches.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: if you are ever badly bitten by a psychotic 20 pound iguana and need to go to the hospital for stitches, here are some valuable tips:
1. DO NOT ask your hysterical thirteen-year-old daughter to telephone your husband so he can come pick you up and drive you to the hospital. She will make it sound as if you have lost limbs, and before you know it, you will be trying to slow your bleeding while simultaneously dealing with a hyper-ventilating teenager, a hysterical secretary, and a husband on the verge of alerting homeland security.

2. Once you arrive at the hospital, DO NOT assume that you will be able to get away with just saying that you've been bitten; EVERYONE will immediately ask what bit you. On the bright side, it is kind of amusing to see just how many nurses will attempt to respond to the reply "an enormous homicidal iguana" as if they hear this exact response every single day.

3. Unlike nurses, doctors will not pretend the ER treats iguana bites on a regular basis. Quite the opposite; be prepared for a quick visit from every single doctor on the floor, as one by one they decided to pop in just to make sure the previous doctor wasn't just yanking their chain about having an iguana-bite patient.

4. Accept that at least four of them will sing the verse from "Mexican Radio" that goes "I wish I was in Tijuana/eating barbecued iguana."

5. If you (like someone else we know) are a world-class smart-ass and therefore you encourage your singing medics by making lizard jokes yourself, you are running the risk of one of them handing you AN ACTUAL RECIPE FOR BARBECUED IGUANA they have printed off the internet with your discharge papers when you leave.

AND if you think this kind of thing ONLY HAPPENS TO ME:

http://stacybearden.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/iguana-burns-down-lake-charles-childrens-museum/

ANYWAY...

This month's challenge at "Awfully Big Art Adventure" is "Story in a Box." Here's my entry,

"The Royal Rooster Napoleahen":

I want to encourage you all to post an entry in this month's contest, because they don't get enough digital art pieces and I'm trying to drag them into the 21st century. In any case, go and check out the gorgeous hand-made craft items that most of the other artists enter! They get EVERYTHING - altered art, beading & embroidery, jewelry... there's even one lady who specializes in designing cake toppers!!!! Check them out HERE:

http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!

Part Four of "Accidentally Art" is a set of background papers, suitable for altered art and/or scrapbooking. You'll get 12 patterned and completely lizard-free papers in the classic 12x12 size, in a rainbow of colors, 300 dpi. You can snag them here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/126115104/2526221d/Papers.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/126134194/3698ad51/papers_2.html

My right hand is in a cumbersome splinted bandage, which will slow my designing down a bit; but bear with me, I'll be back with more goodies soon. In the meantime, I have to find a new home for the psychotic 20-pound iguana...

...or at least someone who is into really exotic cooking...

Sunday Postcard Art & "Accidentally Art" FREEBIE Part Three

2009-08-15T22:14:00.004-04:00

This week the challange at Sunday Postcard was "Nursery Rhymes." Except I'm once again caught short by the fact that the theme changes the day BEFORE it's supposed to change, so I'm too late to officially post my entry,

"Hey Diddle Diddle":

The thing is, I CHECKED the site before I made this piece, and it was still "Nursery Rhymes" THEN. But by the time I had completed the piece and went to post it (two hours later), the theme had been changed to "Glamor Girls."

Oh well, I HATE posting artwork in that 6x4 size they ask for anyway. Being the obnoxious wench I am, I was just going to ignore the rules and enter my 12x12... I guess they showed me!

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!

Part Three of "Accidentally Art" is "Fairies, Floozies and Far-out Feathered Folks." There's 15 images all together; some are hand-colored vintage photos, some are hand-colored and embellished vintage photos, and some are weird assemblages I've cobbled together for you from stock photographs, CGI, and vintage illustrations... including, as shown here, my personal creation "Napoleahen."

(Yeah, it's an old "Pam Jam" joke.)

You can grab all my freaky little friends HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/125201372/85fe1355/fairies_floozies__far-out_feathered_folk.html

COME BACK SOON, I've still got backgrounds to give away. Hugs!

Three Muses & "Accidentally Art" FREEBIE Part Two

2009-08-14T11:37:00.006-04:00

I apologize for my tardiness; as I'm such an airhead one might assume that I've applied an unusually loose definition to the term "tomorrow", but (at least this time) I am late due to computer issues. Happily they are resolved, and I can post again!

This week's challenge over at the Three Muses is "Hats." It was a real challenge, because I'm extraordinarily fond of hats - including the digital variety, as I had A LOT of different images I could have run with for this one! Here's what I came up with,

"Harriet's Hats":

To check out the other entries (and there's always some VERY COOL artwork over at Three Muses), or to post one yourself, go HERE:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

And to make posting in this week's challenge that much easier, I'm giving you ALL...

HATS! Lots and lots of HATS...

...not to mention crowns.

"Accidentally Art" Part Two is a collection of 30 hats and crowns, all isolated .png files at 300 dpi. You can download them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/125023341/aadb2bcc/crowns__hats.html

TOMORROW (at least barring a recurrence of Internet failure!), I will have Part Three for you:

"Fairies, Floozies, and Freaky Feathered Folks."

One Powerful Hour Challenge & FREE "Accidentally Art" Kit

2009-08-10T16:14:00.007-04:00

The Challenge this week at "One Powerful Hour" is "Dolls." I had some STRANGE stock photos taken from Parisian Department store windows (I used six or seven diffrent source photos to create this image) and I've been having lots of fun with them!

So here's my (seriously weird) entry,

"Mannequin Queen":

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself), go HERE:

http://onepowerfulhour.blogspot.com/

And now for your freebie!

PART ONE of "Accidentally Art" is a set of ten isolated, hand-tinted vintage photographs of children. They are .PNG files, all at least 4 inches tall and 300 dpi. You can snag them FREE here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/124199549/d5cbd628/tiny_tots.html

Come back tomorrow for Part Two!

Three Muses & "August Elegance" Freebie Part Two

2009-08-09T07:42:00.013-04:00

This week's theme at The Three Muses Challenge is "Art in the Round", which for some reason keeps getting that old song stuck in my head, the one that goes: "For every season, turn, turn, turn / there is a reason, turn, turn, turn..."

...and THEN my (decidedly odd) brain jumps to the old black-and-white intro to Rod Sterling's "The Twilight Zone." I CANNOT EXPLAIN THAT, but hey, by now you all know that I'm a few bricks shy of a chimney, right?

ANYWAY, here's my entry,

"Circular Logic": To check out the other entries (there are some seriously cool artists who post over at the Three Muses!), or to post one yourself, go HERE:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

And now for your freebie!

Here is the link for the ELEMENTS: http://www.4shared.com/file/123579441/3bd4f6d4/elements.html

To snag the papers (if you haven't already), please scroll down to the next post.

ATTENTION ALTERED ART FOLKS: Come back tomorrow, for part one of my next FREE kit,

"Accidently Art."

Thank God It's Friday (Take Two!) & FREE "August Elegance" Kit

2009-08-07T12:30:00.010-04:00

This week's Challenge at "Thank God It's Friday" is "PENS AND BRUSHES." Or, at least it was 5 minutes ago.... but NOW? Who knows? They could be scrambling to change it to something completely unrelated as I type (not that I'm still upset about missing the deadline yesterday, or anything.)

ANYWAY, here is my entry, a freaky bit of photomanipulation I call

"Creativity."

To see the other entries (or to post one yourself), visit the site HERE:

http://thankgoditsfriday.wordpress.com/

PS: Don't freak out when you see that the first paragraph is in German! Just scroll down for the English translation.
(This may be how I ran into trouble posting yesterday afternoon - I'm not sure what the time difference is exactly, but I think they're ahead of us here in the Berkshires by a good 6 or 7 hours at least, so it may have been just after midnight in Germany. Damn, I guess they take their deadlines SERIOUSLY.)

And now for your freebies!

The sharp-eyed amoungst you will recognize KimB's DSO Color Challenge pallette, used here to create "August Elegance." Today you get the papers - 13 patterned papers and 9 lightly textured solids, 22 in all. Tomorrow you'll be able to download the elements. Here are the download links for the papers:

http://www.4shared.com/file/123565187/f7f480e/patterned_papers.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/123575216/969c5438/solid_papers.html
Come back tomorrow for the elements, and hopefully a new peice of artwork too. Hugs!

Thursday is TOO LATE to Post for "Thank God It's Friday"?!?!

2009-08-06T17:05:00.010-04:00

I noted yesterday that the "Thank God It's Friday" Challenge this week was "Tears." So I made this,

"A Mermaid's Tears":

However, now that I'm ready to post it, it seemes that THURSDAY is too late to post an entry for "Thank God It's FRIDAY." So my art is stranded! The irony is enough to bring tears to your eyes...

ANYWAY, mITSYBELLE has a new kit out yet again, and I used some of the papers to make the sea and the sky in "A Mermaid's Tears", as well as the text box. Here's a better look at the kit, which is called "The Moody Blues."

The kit comes with 15 papers and 42 beautiful elements: beads, bows, brads, and even a metal bird! There's two diffrent lace frames, and a great assortment of flowers.

Here two more layouts I made using this wonderful and very versitile kit:

"Summer Schedule"

"The Princess"

You can purchase "The Moody Blues" in mITSYBELLE's SAS store:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3455&zenid=15de19f5a1c76a61bc0bff5c29ae132f

MY new kit is almost done... yikes, it's HUGE.

New mITSYBELLE Kit PLUS Free Kit With Purchase

2009-08-04T09:44:00.010-04:00

mITSYBELLE has a fabulous new kit out in her store this week! It's called "A Radiant Glow."

The kit comes with a full Alpha (upper and lower case, numbers and symbols), 12 gorgeous papers in rich browns and golds, and 43 elements that include some glitter and metalic shimmer to go with the bows, flowers, and scrolls. Here are a couple of layouts I made with this beautiful kit:

This week, "A Radiant Glow" is on sale for 30% off... PLUS there's a gift with purchase! If you get there by August 7th, you can get this kit with any $5.00 purchase at SAS:

Regularly, "For the Boys" sells for $5 itself. There's 12 papers and 37 elements, as well as an uppercase alpha. It's got a fun, whimsical feel to it and contrasts well with the elegance of "A Radiant Glow." Here are a couple of layouts I made with the kit:

The link to purchase "A Radiant Glow" is HERE:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3439

And you can pick up the free-with-purchase kit from now to August 7th HERE:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=31_55&products_id=3435

More FREEBIES soon - hugs for now!

Sunday Post Card Art

2009-08-03T10:25:00.005-04:00

This week's challenge at Sunday Post Card Art is "BINGO." For a change, I actually followed the guidelines on size... but I'm not crazy about working with the 4x6 canvas, I think everyone will just have to put up with my usual 12x12's in the future. In the meantime, clicking on the teeny-tiny little piece of art that results from posting a 4x6 will bring up a (very little bit) larger view. Here is my entry,
"Demon Gambling":

To view the other entries (or to post one yourself), go to the Challenge site:

http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

I'm still waiting on the grade for my Art History final to see if I've kept my 4.0; but I've been working on the celebratory freebies, and they should be on-line SOON!

Three Muses Challenge

2009-07-29T12:36:00.006-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is

"Inspirational People."

When I was a kid, the two people I admired the most were Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. (Hmm, now that I think about it, that explains A WHOLE LOT...)

The upper text is a quote from Einstein, dismissing the whole "Chaos Theory" of cosmic design by random chance; the lower addendum comes from some snarky red-headed artist (whose household, by the way, is still plagued with an infestation of enormous lizards).

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself!), go to: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Sunday Postcard Art & A Deco Garden Freebie Part Two

2009-07-28T13:47:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge at Sunday Postcard Art is "Fashion." Here is my entry,

"Not Your Average Blonde":

To check out the other entries (or to post one yourself!), go to: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE:

"A Deco Garden" comes with 29 elements, only a few of which are shown here; there's also more scrolls, text boxes, borders, ribbons, flowers and frames. You can download the whole kaboodle here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/121137049/2b5754f6/A_Deco_Garden_ELEMENTS.html

If you don't have the papers yet, please scroll down to the previous entry to download them too.

I'm awaiting the results of my finals to get my final grades for the summer session; I'm pretty well on track to maintain my 4.0 another semester. When that's official (the grades should come out by the end of the week), we will have to celebrate with another round of freebies!

Three Muses Challenge & MORE FREEBIES

2009-07-26T20:54:00.003-04:00

The challenge this week at Three Muses is "Incredible Journey." So here's the bit of weirdness I cooked up for them - it's called

"With the Wind in Your Knickers":

To see the other entries, or to post one yourself, go here: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

AND NOW:

Here's Part One of your Freebie!

"A Deco Garden" has 18 papers in all - 8 patterned papers, 6 solids and 4 lace papers. THe papers you get today; the elements will be posted next, along with whatever new artwork I might happen to have made between now and then... which will doubtlessly be as weird as all the previous offerings, but hey, we've all figured out that I'm seriously twisted by now.

http://www.4shared.com/file/120881074/ad084f39/A_Deco_Garden_PATRN_PAPERS.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/120883601/3ca79948/A_Deco_Garden_LCPL_PAPERS.html
So, be sure to come back tomorrow for Part Two! Hugs!

Sunday Postcard Art & FREE AT LAST Freebies Part Two

2009-07-24T10:17:00.010-04:00

This week, the challenge at Sunday Postcard Art is "Vintage Children." Here's my entry, called

"A Bright Idea":

Note the little girl with the lizard; SOMEONE thought it would be a good idea to encourage THE PRINCESS to save up her cash (not to mention giving her extra chores so she could sweeten the pot that much more) with the blythe statement: "you can spend your own money on any dumb thing you please."

The idea was that her costume jewelry and her Modest Mouse CDs should be paid for out of HER wallet (as opposed to mine). REPEAT AFTER ME: "It Seemed Like a Bright Idea at the Time!"

SOOOOO she doesn't spend so much as a penny for a year, and then blows her giant pile of cash on a trio of iguanas she found on Craig's List.

(Little known fact: people desperate to rid themselves of a trio of iguanas on the internet apparently will deliver said iguanas to your doorstep.)

One of them is as big as a cat, and he has decided to loathe me with a seething passion (and this might - just MIGHT - be my fault; he may have taken offense to my comment, carelessly made in his earshot, that he would make a really nice purse. Who knew lizards were so sensitive?).

To check out the other Sunday Postcard entries (or to post one yourself!), go HERE: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

AND NOW, here are your freebies!!!!

There's 18 elements in all, not all of them shown here (more bows, more frames, more roses, another text box). You can snag them FREE here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/120328659/b87d8a5c/divine_deco_elements.html

If you haven't picked up the matching papers yet, please scroll down to the bottom of the next post to get thoose, too. And be sure to come back Sunday (not tomorrow, because it's my wedding anniversary, and my fabulous husband is taking me out for the day somewhere quiet, romantic, and lizard-free), when I should have more foolishness to share with you. Hugs!

FREE AT LAST Freebies

2009-07-23T13:14:00.011-04:00

Oh Thank God, summer school is finally over! Those 2 classes were SO intense (during the summer session, they basically shove a 16-week class into an 8-week time period) I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I took my final exams yesterday (yes, of course BOTH of them were on the same day, that's just the way things work for me), and now I have five glorious weeks of freedom before the fall session begins. SO WE ARE GOING TO CELEBRATE - and what better way to celebrate freedom than with freebies?!?!?

HOWEVER, first a word from our sponsors...

Yes, mITSYBELLE has a new kit in her stores! It's called "My Jessica," after mITSYBELLE's daughter (who is almost certainly another princess... just don't tell mine, because as far as Her Royal Blondness is concerned,

there can be only one princess!

"My Jessica": has 15 pastel papers and 50 elements, including beads, brads, bows, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Here's some layouts I made using this cool kit:

"Mister Sun"

"Her Royal Blondness"

Another actual recent photo of THE PRINCESS, who has now magnaminously consented to be photographed TWICE this calendar year.

(Hmm, she must want something big for Christmas.)

"You LEAF Me Breathless"

One of my favorite photos of THE PRINCESS in her younger years (before I had to negotiate with her agent prior to taking her picture).

and finally, "Fairy Princess Rule"

(Altered Art folks, take note of the fairy I made here... I'm looking into my crystal ball here, and I see fairies in your immediate future...)

You can purchase "My Jessica" for $3.50 this week (30% off the $5.00 price) HERE:
http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3393

AND NOW FOR YOUR FIRST FREEBIE!!!!!!

Part One of "Divine Deco" - you can snag them FREE here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/120120121/74d40bc8/divine_deco_lace_papers.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/120124436/7a02fa96/divine_deco_patterned_papers.html

Come back tomorrow for the elements, and probably more

weird art and snarky stories, too.
Hugs!

Sunday Postcard Art

2009-07-08T09:54:00.004-04:00

This week's "Sunday Postcard Art" challene theme is nests. Here's my entry - I call it

"Nesting Habits":

You can check out the other entries (oh man, there are a few artists there whose weirdness is a serious challenge to my own) here: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

OK, OK, back to the homework.... the problem with writing a term paper is the word processing program is on the computer... and THAT'S WHERE ALL MY TOYS ARE.

mITSYBELLE's Blog Party, Birthday Kit, and FREEBIE

2009-07-07T07:24:00.012-04:00

I know I said I'd be absent from the blogosphere this week, but I must have been smoking crack (or enrolled in American Lit, which seems to be equally mind-altering) or something when I wrote that, because I totally spaced on the fact that I agreed to be part of a blog-hop this week.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of her designing career, the very talented mITSYBELLE is having a week-long blog party!

http://www.mitsybelle.blogspot.com/

There will be daily give-aways on her blog (her freebies are only up for 24 hours, so be quick!) games and other assorted fun stuff. She has designed a celebratory "Birthday" kit that goes into her SAS store today:

"Birthday" has 18 patterned & textured papers and 63 very cool elements (ALTERED ART FOLKS: take note of the silly hats, balloons and party whitles!) that includes the "Happy Birthday" word art, along with candles, flowers, ribbons & bows, and a cool assortment of frames. Here are some layouts I made using "Birthday":

And of course you don't HAVE to make birthday-themed layouts; there's plenty of good stuff in this kit to work with, and lots of small, non-birthday moments to celebrate:

You can purchase "Birthday" for $3.00 (40% off!) this week as part of mITSYBELLE's blogpart festivities. It's available HERE:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3305&zenid=69e0addd41534ad0a344fa9b404fbdef

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!

Two QP's I designed using mITSYBELLE's "Birthday" kit. You can snag them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/116497413/e0a9510e/birthday_QPs.html

Here's the entire blog-hop list; go freebie-gathering!

mITSYBELLE - http://www.mitsybelle.blogspot.com/
Diana - http://www.amberpony.blogspot.com/
Tammara - http://www.pixelmusicscraps.blogspot.com/
Carmen - http://www.thecrazysombreo.blogspot.com/
Sara - http://www.scrappingalltheway.blogsot.com/
Jean Ann - http://jacksscraps.blogspot.com/
Misty - http://missmisdesigns.blogspot.com/
Tammy - http://www.elegantlyfunkydesigns.blogspot.com/
Kay - http://grandmaspixels.blogspot.com/

(And now I have to get back to the books... I'm &%$#@! drowning in homework this week! YIKES!!!!)

Three Muses Challenge, New mITSYBELLE kit, & Last PAM JAM Freebie!!!

2009-07-05T13:07:00.011-04:00

This week's challenge at "Three Muses" is UP, UP AND AWAY! This is the little bit of weirdness I cooked up to send their way; it's called "Joe's Garage":

You can check out what other artists made for the challenge (or submit one yourself!) at:

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

SECONDLY, the very talented mITSYBELLE has a new kit in her store: "In the Den", which features 12 papers in shades of blue, gold, brown and off-white, and 42 beautiful elements ranging from scrolls and flowers to lace, an assortment of frames, and flowers.

Altered Art aficionados take note: the kit ALSO contains an antique globe, a jeweled magnifying glass and matching letter opener, and a really cool antique compass. Here are some layouts I made using "In the Den", all featuring the amazing Sunny, who TAKES HER OWN PICTURES (yes, including the gorgeous Bahamian wedding shots!!!)

Right now, "In the Den" is 30% off, and you can purchase it for a mere $3.15 here:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_81&products_id=3295&zenid=45847df6f8338ba5dd6e32f2c7d2bb54

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!!!

The final installment of PAM JAM: "Odds and Ends" (with the opperative word being ODD). You're getting a melange of elements, old photos, ephemera, and backgrounds. There's weirdness galore! There's an old Victorian encyclopedia image of bats, an antique diving helmet, a few old audio appliances, a pair of fangs, more silly hats... even a flying pig! You can snag it HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/116134783/3be572e2/Pam_Jam_BONUS_odds__ends.html
SO... now I have to hit the books hard this week. I've got a paper on "Death of a Salesmen" due Tuesday, an exam on Byzantine Art on Thursday, and a term paper on 20th Century Modernism in American Literature due next Monday. YIKES!!!!!!

It's most likely I will be absent from the blogosphere that week. But here's the deal: leave me a URL for anything you create with PAM JAM this next week (if you don't have your own blog, you can upload it to photobucket and send me that URL) in this post's "COMMENTS" section. When I come back, I'll put them up on my blog. Show me YOUR weirdness!

I'm LATE!!!

2009-07-04T07:27:00.009-04:00

Where did yesterday go???? All the kids were here (and the granddaughter) and so I wound up spending the entire time dispensing food and justice (the oldest two are 24 and 21; as far as I am concerned, THEY OUGHT TO BE OLD ENOUGH BY NOW to stop with the "Mom, he's touching me" crap!!!). If they could only behave as well as they can eat...

They took off late, leaning me with a big mess to clean up, and plotting:"Mom's Revenge"

ANYWAY... here's Part Five of "PAM JAM": two downloads of pure unadulterated weirdness, from old anatomical drawings to running chickens, from pewter frogs to tarot cards to the hand with a pocket-watch at the top of the post... and Napoleon, for no good reason at all. (If you find a good use for him, you HAVE to share a link with us, ESPECIALLY if it also involves the chicken.)

You can snag them all HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/115921254/c1e11a95/Epemera.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/115922218/be8e3c54/PAM_JAM_elements.html

TOMORROW: You Can't Throw a Party Without Having Leftovers

Zazzle Sale & Pam Jam FREEBIE Part Four

2009-07-02T21:02:00.010-04:00

This weekend (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) is Zazzle's 4th of July Sale. All T-shirts (and, presumably due to some glitch in their graphics department, apparently all their ads too) are 17.76% off.

(Yeah, the cut-off ad is a little strange, but I'm pretty sure they'll send you the ENTIRE shirt.)

http://www.zazzle.com/tammaraleminen

Use the code ZAZZLEUSAUSA at checkout, and you can take the discount on ANY of my T-shirts - including "A Patriotic Lass":

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!

You have wings and hats, and people to stick them on; but we can't leave them all dressed up with no place to go! Even a goddess, like the one here in "Viva La Vida", needs a background!

SO HERE THEY ARE!!!

Fifteen assorted background papers, ranging in colors and weirdness (check out "Uzi Romance"!)

Yeah, I KNOW some of them are a bit bizarre, but hey, a sick and twisted mind is a terrible thing to waste! (BESIDES, thanks to my Art History and American Lit classes, this week I'm trying to cram Early Byzantine Christian Art and Aurthur Miller's Death of a Salesman" into my head at the same time!!!)

ANYWAY, you can snag them (in three downloads) HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/115600696/b7791ab9/Pam_Jam_Papers_1.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/115604120/37c3e795/Pam_Jam_Papers_2.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/115606402/4739ee5b/Pam_Jam_Papers_3.html

TOMORROW: Odd-ball Elements & an Assortment of Strange Ephemera

Pam Jam FREEBIES Part Three - Vintage Cuties, Weirdos & Trouble-makers

2009-07-01T12:19:00.007-04:00

Now that you have downloaded a collection of silly hats and a wide selection of wings, you need people to decorate! Of course, it's perfectly acceptable to decorate your own family photos, as I've done with this (older) photo of THE PRINCESS:

But you're probably going to want to use vintage photos for your altered art pieces - if for no other reson than because the people in them have gone to their heavenly rewards, and so they won't get upset with you for dressing them up in silly hats, wings, tutus (or sticking their heads on chickens...). So here's a good collection to get you started - 35 copy-right free vintage photos, most of them high-resolution TIFF files. You can snag them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/115343485/831736b1/old_photos.html

Tomorrow: Part Four, Backgrounds.

Give Me WINGS!!!

2009-06-30T21:19:00.005-04:00

Welcome back for Part Two of "Pam's Jam!" Today everyone is getting wings, just like this shy fairy
"In the Bee-Loud Glen". (sorry about the obscure Literary reference)
Once you have silly hats, you've got to have wings to go with them, right? So here they are, fifteen pairs in all - butterfly wings, angel wings, fairy wings, even a pair of bat wings!

You can snag them HERE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/115213970/7f811177/wings.html

Tomorrow we'll have Part Three, because now you'll be needing people to decorate with wings and hats, right?

Sunday Postcard Art & Part One of "Pam Jam" Freebies

2009-06-29T20:57:00.010-04:00

This week's theme at Sunday Postcard Art is "The 4th of July"; my (slightly naughty) entry is "A Patriotic Lass":

I've got this one for sale on T-shirts at my Zazzle store, sizes XS - XXL. If you hurry, the shipping is free (but I think there's only one more day of that, so SCURRY! You can buy a "Patriotic Lass" T-shirt (plus other stuff, including "Pixel Music" coffee cups!) here: http://www.zazzle.com/a_patriotic_lass_t_shirt-235134609339702432

AND NOW FOR PART ONE OF MY FREE SIX-PART "Altered Art Style" KIT: "Pam's Jam"!

This was a real challenge to put together, because you never know what you're going to need to make a good altered art piece. I always start with an old photo; I look at the face and the photo tells me what it wants to become. Sometimes that takes a lot of pieces to achieve, like here in "The Finest Witch in the Henhouse":
But other times it only takes a few pieces, if they're the right ones. Like here, in "King of the Fools":
One thing seems certain - you can never go wrong with silly hats. So without further ado, I present Part One of "Pam's Jam": The Silly Hat Collection.

You'll get 4 crowns, 3 witchy hats, and another 4 assorted pointy hats in various colors and degrees of wackiness. You can snag them here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/114848582/700b553/funny_hats.html

Come back tomorrow for Part Two: The "Give Me Wings" Collection.

Alphabet Tree & Dragonfly Summer Elements

2009-06-28T12:19:00.005-04:00

This week's theme over at Thank God It's Friday is "Alphabets," and here's my entry, "Alphabet Tree": You can check out everyone else's "letter" art at http://thankgoditsfriday.wordpress.com/

AND NOW FOR YOUR FREEBIE!!!

Here's Part Two of "Dragonfly Summer". You can snag it here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/114647584/8c0a6140/Dragonfly_Summer_ELEMENTS.html

Let the FREEBIES commence!

2009-06-27T14:42:00.004-04:00

Oh thank God, midterms are over! I have once again managed to get through yet another grading period with my 4.0 intact, and we are CELEBRATING!!!

"Dragonfly Summer" has a total of thirteen papers (the ones not shown are the soilds). The sharp-eyed among you recognize the palette as the fantastic KimB's color challenge at DSO (check it out for lots more freebies! And if you submit a layout made with this kit (or any one of the others you can pick up there for free), you'll get a terrific posting bonus from KimB).

You can pick it up HERE:http://www.4shared.com/file/114489585/93ea6aef/Dragonfly_Summer_PAPERS.html
The elements for "Dragonfly Summer" will go up at some point tomorrow. And Monday will be the inauguration of (as Monty Python says) "something completely different". A while back, Pam suggested an "altered art" kit, and I must admit that at first I was stumped at how to put together such a kitchen-sink kind of kit (I've mostly been a scrapper, the weird stuff is recent, and I'm new to my "cross-over artist" status). But I've whipped up something that should please both my scrappers and my less-traditional digital art afficianados. So come back soon!

Theme Thursday

2009-06-24T19:20:00.003-04:00

This week's "Theme Thursday" challenge is TIME, so it took me about two seconds to decide to enter "Strawberry Fields Forever". If you're unfamiliar with them, you chan check out the "Theme Thursday" people here:

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

My Gardening Angel

2009-06-24T19:17:00.003-04:00

Isn't she cute? Too bad she isn't keeping the rabbits from eating my tomato plants...

mITSYBELLE KITS!!!!

2009-06-23T08:55:00.011-04:00

Due to complicated (but non-squirrel-related) computer issues, I have been unable to download mITSYBELLE's kits for a while, which (as you can imagine) really put a crimp in my CT duties. But I've now resolved the issue, so I'm playing catch-up... here are FOUR NEW KITS from the very talented mITSYBELLE! The first is the versatile and very beautiful "Cool of the Day."
Here are a couple of layouts I made with it; the first is called "Young Love":

And this is a photo Cynthia B. took of her adorable granddaughter (and favorite model) Abbie:

The next kit is "A Citrus Summer," which has a summery, little more playful tone. There are 12 lucious juicy papers and 42 wonderful elements done in gorgeous fruity colors:

And here is a layout I did using this fantastic kit; it's THE PRINCESS, around age 3, who (shockingly) has never responded well to not getting her own way... it's sad, really, when you rule the world but your parents are just too thick to comprehend the fact. Poor kid.

Next up is "Nothing Sweet", a really lovely kit with 11 papers and 42 elements, and a more masculine slant to it:

Here are a couple of layouts I made with this great kit; I call the first one "Another Reason My Son is Afraid to Bring His Girlfriend Home to Meet Us":
Yep, at age 21 my oldest son Alex is Mr. Cool NOW, but I know (and took pictures of) some of the more embarrasing moments of his earlier life. Same goes for my oldest daughter, Katrina, who was a SERIOUS tom-boy growing up:
Gee, I'd be in trouble, except for the fact that none of my kids could be bothered to look at their mother's blog... ha-ha, you'd think they'd know me better by now than to leave me alone and unmonitored with an audience!!!

ANYWAY, The next kit is the newest one (so it's on sale, at 30% off!). It's called "In the Field," and it's seriously cool, with 10 papers and 32 elements, including lots of garden-oriented elements (lots of grass and flowers, a cute wooden birdhouse wrapped in ivy, a wishing well, some gardening tools, and a rustic wooden fence).

Here are a couple of layouts I made using this wonderful kit; the first is "Flower Children Grown Here:"

And the second is THE PRINCESS again, once at age 4 and again this last March. Still blonde, still crazy for shoes, still rules the world... I admit, the ubiquitous i-Pod is a new appendage, but basically it's the same kid. Although, for SOME UNKOWN REASON, she has turned into a first-class smartass. Hmmm, I wonder where THAT came from...?

As usual, you can purchase any or all of these stunning kits at mITSYBELLE's SAS store:

http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_81

ART HISTORY EXAM TOMORROW - to be followed by a rash of "I survived mid-terms!" freebies! So come back soon!

To Collage or Not To Collage...

2009-06-17T11:01:00.005-04:00

This one is "Prufrock's Love Song," another entry in my "What-the-hell-is-she-reading-now?" collection. (Click on the image for the full-sized version.) The good news is that Greek architecture has complimented Early 20th Century American Poetry strangely well (although whatever you do, DON'T try it with Dave Matthews on the stereo... holy cow, that produced some of the weirdest dreams I've ever had THAT night); the bad news is that I'm SUPPOSED to be writing my midterm paper right now but instead I've been playing around in Photoshop all morning (again).

ENG LIT MIDTERM PAPER is due Saturday; ART HISTORY MIDTERM EXAM is Monday. Then we will celebrate the mid-way point of summer school with another Four Days of Freebies! (Well, at least something like that. You all remember that I can't count, right?)

Only One Peacock

2009-06-11T21:11:00.004-04:00

Hey, you think THIS is weird, you ought to read the English Lit paper I just wrote...

I've entered in in the Monday Mixed Media Challenge - this week, the challenge is "Tell Me a Story." Go check it out: http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/

Let me get through my mid-term exams next week, and there will be more freebies to celebrate.

Sunday Postcard Art

2009-06-09T07:21:00.002-04:00

The challenge this week was "Vintage Bathing Beauties," and I took a less traditional approach here in "Trident's Daughter."

I Think I'm Going Through A Phase....

2009-06-05T21:01:00.010-04:00

I’ve adjusted to the rhythm of my on-line classes, even though they’ve turned out to be incredibly intense, crushing a 16-week course into 8 weeks – do not pass go, do not collect $200, no time off for good behavior. What I have not yet adjusted to is the weird amalgamation of stuff I’m shoving into my brain this semester; it’s not anyone’s fault, you understand, it’s just the way this particular combination of courses works out.

THIS WEEK’S MAD INTELLECTUAL HODGEPODGE: The lit class alone was a weird mix this week; we were asked to read Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, which is one of the quintessential pieces of that odd sub-genre of “high-strung feminist” (think Virginia Wolfe and Silvia Plath, the whole “male-dominance-is-giving-me-a-nervous-breakdown” thing... if you saw the film "The Hours", that pretty much covers it) AND Jack London’s “How To Build a Fire” (very good, and not as chest-beating as “Tarzan of the Apes”, but certainly London was a big fat hairy deal in the machismo-at-one-with-nature set). Add to that my Art History assignment – Egyptian Tomb Art – and throw on “Abbey Road” in the background for no good reason at all (but hey, it’s not like SOMETHING ELSE would have mixed any better!!!!), and… well, here’s the result.

"STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER"

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER"

"FLY ME TO THE MOON"

"CLOWNING AROUND"

and, finally:
"ALL MY HEART"

(some vintage images used thanks to The Graphics Fairy)

NEXT WEEK'S MENTAL GUMBO: T.S. Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and unspecified poems from Ezra Pound and e.e.cummings in English Lit, combined with Aegean & Greek Art. Let's take a vote: shall I throw Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Pink Floyd 's "Dark Side of the Moon", or the Beatle's "Sgt. Pepper" on the stereo while I study? Or perhaps you have a write-in vote?

In any case, I'm working on a new kit, it should be posted shortly. I'll try to curb my current weirdness... but no promises. You may be stuck with this until the first week in August, after my classes end... sorry.