Freebies

What is it that happens to my brain when I go to write a blog post? I have all these cool (well, what I think are cool) things to write about, and then bam, I open up my blog and it all goes out of my brain….

So, I think I’ll just ramble on a bit and maybe it will all come flooding back… (come on brain, that was a subliminal hint)…

OK, first, we finally got our hands on a Wii Fit! And it was worth the wait! It is so much fun and best of all it doesn’t feel like you are exercising. Perfect for this cold, cold winter and it is a great work out… I am not a huge fan of kids sitting on console games, but the Wii certainly has changed my thinking, if the kids have to be inside then I don’t mind them playing on the Wii Sport and the Wii Fit, it keeps the moving and having fun at the same time… I have spent nearly two hours on it today, and I am no where near sick of it yet… mind you my co-ordination is not the best on some of the aerobic exercises, but it is amusing LOL

Also, I had a complete change yesterday, I let my hairdresser attack me, I now have dark brown hair and a new blunt hair cut… I must say I don’t mind it at all, but after one wash it is already fading :-(. Julie my lovely hairdresser did warn me this would happen as it is dyed over blonde and will take a couple of times before it really ‘sticks’. I wonder if I’ll have less fun now that I am no longer blonde!
This is just taken by my webcam…sorry it’s pretty scary, no editing, double chin and all…

I was over at the lovely Karen’s Blog today (check it out she is an amazing photography and a beautiful person to boot) and she had this link on her blog, Days With My Father is a beautiful account of a sons love for his elderly father and the challenges that he faces. If you have ever wondered why you you scrap, go to this site. Our memories are precious things, both our memories and the memories we create of the people we scrap about. My favourite photos are the ones of the notes the father writes for himself, some beautifully poignant and wise, some tragically sad as he realises that his 98 year old mind is letting him down. While I cried all through this, the sense of love and hope is strong…. do yourself a favour… thanks Karen. I also love how the site is set out, move to the bottom of each picture to enter the next section… I’d love to know what you think.

This is turning into a bit of a ‘linkfest’ post… I am currently in awe of the art found here and here. Irene Suchocki has an amazing knack for beautiful photo manipulation, I wish I knew exactly how she acheives these effects. It looks like she uses a lensbaby on her camera, but the textures she choses finishes off her art beautifully… she even inspired me to have a go myself… here is my feeble attempt…

Obviously it doesn’t compare!

Since I am on a link binge, head on over to PickleBerryPop, they have had a site revamp and I must say it is looking very fresh, mind you I have always thought it looks great, but a change is as good as a holiday. It’s PBP’s 2nd birthday this month, there are lots of freebies and challenges going on at the moment, so head on over and have some fun!

What now? You guessed it, more links LOL…. Are you a digiscrapper? Do you like freebies? Well duh! Don’t we all! Check out both of these great sites. Digifree is run by an Australian, Maria from Sydney, but the free kits listed on the blog are from all over the world, there are some really great freebies there so check it out. Gingerscraps is run by Ginger and is another blog soley dedictaed to finding freebies and posting them all in one easy spot just for you! And me, and them… LOL Check them out and leave some love, they are both great resources…

More… these I found on Aussie Scrapbooking, which is a great link in itself, but they also have great links…man this is getting convoluted, are you confused yet?… I digress…. Aussiedares is a scrapping blog to get you motivated, a new scrapping dare is posted every month, a challenge for you to try something new and different… If you are looking for something to motivate you this might be it… Another blog to inspire scrapping, that was also mentioned at ASB is I Inspire Me, fabulous ideas on how to take inspiration from the every day things around you, plates, cushions, clothes, art, magazines, you name it… there are some great examples of how to use the things you see every day to make you pages…

This link is for the blossoming photographers amongst you, 3 videos on photography, I particularly like the first and last one.

For my last link(s), check out my sidebar, under Blog Food For The Soul, these are the blogs I visit regularly, there is so much talent and inspiration there, but most importantly they are just great people! Enjoy :-)

Here are the winners of the give-away from the last entry….

Kate F (7)

Nic (11)

Holly (3)

Karen (16)

Sheila (15)

Unfortunately Kate is on dial-up and can’t download from home, so she has opted out of the give-away, so I did another draw and

Ness (17) was the lucky girl! I have just found Ness’s blog, head over and check it out, it’s a blog after my own heart LOL I will be following it with intense interest. Thanks for dropping by Ness :-)

Below are screen shots of the draw I just did, just so everyone knows it’s above board!

I’ll get an email out to you all by the end of the week… I have, once again, gone over my monthly download limit so I am now on dial up speed (BLAH!), once I am back on REAL SPEED I will upload to my server and email the link to all the special girls above!

I really hope you enjoyed the links above, let me know if you did. There is so much good stuff out there on the web. If you have anything good to share let me know… because I don’t spend near enough time blog and site hopping! Hear the sarcasm? LOL

Just wanted to wish my good friend Lisa and her husband Richard, good luck on the impending birth of her 4th beautiful child, she is due in less than a week so it could happen any day now… I am thinking of you :-)

And to my friend Megan, who won’t be able to read this as she has just entered the Queensland Police Academy for her training… Good luck Meegs, I hope it’s not too painful!

No Photoshop Tip today, but check back soon, the next entry will have one, or two, or three….

I am off to write my next article for Aussie Scrapbooking, be sure and check it out when you can. Have a great day and leave me some love!

The subscription offer is now closed, if you have subscribed and have not received your CD Calendar subscription gift, please leave a comment here or go to the Contact Me page and I’ll get right onto it! If you haven’t yet subscribed to my blog, don’t despair, there will be ‘subscriber only’ give-aways coming soon.

Here is today’s freebie… 5 lucky commenters, chosen at random, will receive another kit, leave a comment and it could be you!

[download#4]

Blue Bayou

This gave me a laugh, I found The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator at AussieBloggers.com.au… what a great idea! I am sure I may find some uses for it, being a blogger and lazy, it’s made for me…

PHOTOSHOP TIP #6, #7 and #8

OK two three short and sweet ones here….

Tip #6 ~ Control>J copies the current layer. Love this one, use it regularly…

Tip #7 ~ Shift>Control>Alt>N Creates a New Layer, bypassing the New Layer Dialogue box, which can be pesky…

Tip #8 ~ or if you want the New Layer dialogue box, just hit Control>Shift>N then you can name the layer, change the blend mode, change the Opacity and change the colour of the layer in the Layers Palette all at the same time, before you even touch the New Layer….

Anything you’d like to see in these tips? Well post a comment and ask!

Have a great day :-)

As I said in my previous post, I am really interested to know who is visiting my blog, just wanting to know a little bit about you, how you found me, your blog or gallery address and whatever else you think is relevant. And as an incentive for ANOTHER FREEBIE, all those that leave comments will receive a mini kit called Afternoon Delight. My last freebie had over 200 downloads, so hopefully I will be giving away lots of this extra kit and finding more about you guys.

Now for the freebie, this is a kit called Come On Get Happy, bright colours are not what I usually use, so it was nice to make this kit and see where it took me… I hope you like it :-)

Click here to Download ~ [download#3#size]

See above for how to get ANOTHER freebie by leaving a comment

http://theblissfulpixel.com/kits/LeeScott_ComeOnGetHappy107.zip

PHOTOSHOP TIP #4 (and #5)

OK this is a nice easy one, I’m sure most people know that hitting the letter “D” on the keyboard will get your foreground/background colours back to default. Very useful, particularly when using layer masks. The second tip is that by hitting the letter “X” on the keyboard, will switch between the foreground and background colours, again this can be very useful when using layer masks, easily switching between colours to mask areas out or back in, as the case may be. It’s also useful when try to add texture to backgrounds, switching between two colours and painting will add depth, particularly if you are using a textured, or grunge brush.

A quick welcome to my new subscribers, introduce yourselves in the comments section, so I can get to know you, visit your blogs, find out where you are from, you know, all that stuff…

Guess what! My baby is on the front web page of the Digital Scrapbooking Magazine site! Check her out (Proud Mum gone mad!) LOL. Isn’t she just beautiful?

OK without further ado (who really says that?), the link for the freebie is below in the alert window, beware, it is close to 80mb. Why? I hear you ask, well it is a layered file, saved as a TIF, so it is usable in various programs, not just Photoshop, you can move the Ribbon and Buckle (or hide it), and also move the frame, or just use the background on it’s own, the choice is entirely yours.

Please leave a comment if you download it, it may lead to a Freebie Frenzy, dancing in the street, and ticker tape parade, world peace….OK, I’m getting carried away! LOL (Download Link below)

CLICK FOR A LARGER VIEW

[download#2#size]
By the way, if you read this post , you may be interested to know that Quinn is STILL wearing my old slippers, melts my heart really. *sigh*

A quick thank you to Nick Ohrn who just rewrote some code for a Wordpress plug-in that I was having problems with and it’s now working. Thanks again Nick, I really appreciate that you made the effort to do this. You can check out this handy Pre-Publish Reminders plug-in here.

If you’re in Australia, have a great long weekend, if you’re not, well, have a great weekend!

Save, save and then save again. I was working on a Speed Scrap (Quick Page) last night to give away on my blog, I was sooo happy with what I had, it was essentially done, I had so much fun playing and experimenting, trying different techniques, but I had to make one last teency weency change, move that frame 2 pixels to the left and

BAM!

PHOTOSHOP CRASHED!

Grrrrrrrrrrrr! Not Happy Jan! Hadn’t even saved it once. Couldn’t remember what I had done as there was so much playing and changing. So I started all over….Anyway, it’s too late to upload the freebie tonight, but I’ll do it in the next day or two….here’s a screen shot.

As promised here is the site I mentioned on my last post, check it out, he really has some great cartoons on there, I spent a long time reading them, here’s another I liked.

Check out http://www.gapingvoid.com/