http://blog.digitaldesignershop.com/
As you may have heard Digital Designer Shop is closing at the end of May so all goodies are on sale!
I am moving to a new shop so all will be revealed when I am up and running there! It is all very exciting and I have a lot to do and prepare!
Thank you so much for everyone who supported me in DDS – hope to see you in the new shop!
Things have been very hectic for me in the last couple of months so my designing has taken a back seat for a while! But did have a play at making some very bright and colourful flowers, with an added touch of metal to them! They are in the shop now! ps – and at 20% off too!!
Lynne has made this beautiful layout using a couple of these flowers :
Such a gorgeous layout!
These are in the shop now :
6 delicate glittery glimmers colored in soft shades of blue with just a touch of other lovely colors. These are perfect for tucking behind and around your photos for soft clustering. Also great for blending into your background papers for just a touch of glimmer to your page
I made two different paper packs which are both Linen look based :
And these have been grunged up :
Look at the beautiful layout Stacy created with the Grungy Linens :
and she used all these in her layout :
Lynne has created this beautiful layout using her kit : A Bedtime Story
and my matching papers : A Bedtime Story Papers 
This is so beautiful, from Kate who did the following : “Also took a paper from Honey Scraps A Bedtime Story Papers and layered it below a white paper and then changed the blend mode to overlay which allowed Veevs’ beautiful texture to come through on the white paper. 
In the shop now!
A Bedtime Story Papers – these have got beautiful texture and grunge in them and colour coordinate with Aria’s new kit (coming soon).
CU Textures 03
4 12x12 jpg files that are wonderfully realistic textures. You can overlay on patterned paper or solid colors and change your blending mode, or use with Photoshop's Texturing tool, apply as a Fx Layer texture style. Try mixing them up too and using your masks to erase parts for a blended look.
See Designing with Textures Tutorial here in the shop for more in-depth tutorials and also Technique Thursday Color & Texture FREE tutorial.
Wow, once again our fantastic CTs have been creating beautiful layouts! Feast your eyes on these beauties! Click on each photo to take you to the gallery!
Go over to the Digital Designer Shop Blog and Cilenia shows you how to create beautiful textured papers using my Textured Overlays pack. Actually her tutorial is so good that I am putting it in my blog too! In case you didn’t know there are loads of amazing tutorials on the blog! Go check them out!
Technique Thursday - Color and Texture - Digital Designer Shop
When I saw Veevs's, (Honey Scraps), new CU Textures I just knew I had to use them! And I thought what better way to use them then to show you a little of my process that goes into it and one way how to use these wonderful Textures. Veevs has done all the hard work for us by creating these little sweeties.
So the first thing I do is look for color inspirations. I can find them everywhere. A flower, a piece of clothing I love, an advertisement, or an article about Benjamin Moore paint colors for your home! Which is where I found my inspiration for these in last month Better Home's and Garden Magazine.
I usually like the darker muted Mediterranean colors, but with my soul craving spring, these more modern colors inspired me just perfect. And the textures shown in the ad also appeal to me too especially the top multi colored one under the Lenten Rose flower. It looked just like one of Veevs's textures she just released today in her Honey Scraps CU Textures 01.
So I started with a scan of the page from the magazine. Opened it in my Photoshop. Then I used my eyedropper using a 5x5 picker area and picked each color from the page adding each to my color palette.
I then saved my colors to a new color swatch palette and called it ModMediterranean.
I opened a new file 12x12 300ppi and created a new layer for each color.
I then used my paint bucket tool and applied each color to each layer.
I then opened the Honey Scraps CU Textures 01 kit file HS_CU Textures 01 01.jpg and dragged it to the top of my layers.
See a screen shot of my layers to the right here.
I changed the layer blend mode to Soft Light and took the opacity down to 50% where I thought it looked just right for a nice texture over my colors.
That was it! I then saved my file as a jpg turning off my layers as I went down on each color saving each one as I went. Easy peasy! I now have a nice linen type texture just perfect for this color palette!
Like it? You can get this sweet little paper pack today for free here called Modern Mediterranean Color Inspiration!
Hope you enjoyed and you learned how easy our CU textures really make it creating your own papers from your own color inspirations!
Cilenia – those papers are beautiful and wonderful tutorial! I will be making more yummy texture packs!
Things have been kind of hectic so didn’t get a chance to create anything for a few weeks, but I now have 2 kits of fabulous textures in the shop at Digital Designer Shop!
Each kit contains 4 12x12 jpg files that are wonderfully realistic textures. You can overlay on patterned paper or solid colors and change your blending mode, or use with Photoshop's Texturing tool, apply as a Fx Layer texture style. Try mixing them up too and using your masks to erase parts for a blended look.
If you want to learn more about using textures See Cilenia’s wonderful Designing with Textures Tutorial here in the shop for more in-depth tutorials.
I decided to try making some really really Artsy type papers! These all started out as my landscape photos and I like the results. They are in the shop now and 20% off discount.
Check out the beautiful layouts Lynne has made with my papers :
Lynne you are a brave woman handling that snake!
And Lynne and I made a collaboration freebie Nature’s Beauty yesterday for Digital Designer Shop First Year Anniversary – she is sooo speedy and has already made this BEAUTIFUL layout with our freebie :
And check out Stacy’s gorgeous layout and the incredible family resemblance of all of them!
Such a lovely write up if I may say so lol!! And meet my Lovely lovely friend Lynne who is now a fantastic designer called Aria on Digital Designer Shop. You should go check out her kits and she is the Extraction Queen! And you have all seen her wonderful layouts, her creativity ROCKS!!
http://blog.digitaldesignershop.com/2011/01/meet-designers-honey-scraps-and-aria.html
Day 1 of 5 of our 1st year Anniversary! The entire shop is on sale! And each day we will be sharing our interviews with our DDS designers and they will be having a little gift for you too! How exciting!
Today we have two designers we'd like to introduce you to. Honey Scraps and our newest Aria!
Honey Scraps aka Veevs
We spotted Veevs' artistic skills in our galleries a year ago and convinced her to design for DDS. And are we glad we did! You'll find her gorgeous designs under the designer name Honey Scraps. Let's learn more her.
Tell us a bit about your background.
I lived in Peru until I was 19, when my family moved to the UK. I don't have any children, but I have 3 cats, all rescues (actually they all adopted me!). I have two handsome nephews in southern California and my lovely niece Lola who lives close to me in London. I work full-time as a Business Systems and Trainer Specialist.
What is the story behind your designer name?
I picked my designer name of Honey Scraps because Honey is one of my cats, my first ever cat in fact. She is a rescue and I have had her for almost 15 years.
How did you get started in digi scrapping?
I had never heard of scrapbooking at all, paper or digi. Then someone showed me a paper scrapbook at the end of 2006 and asked for supplies as a Christmas present. When looking for supplies I discovered this thing called Digital Scrapbooking! I had always wanted to do something different with my photos, so I got started with Photoshop Elements. I discovered Jessica Sprague's website in 2007 and dived in to digital scrapbooking!
How long have you been designing?
In early 2010 I completed Cilenia's "Creating Color Themes" and "Designing with Textures" tutorials. Cilenia saw what I created after finishing the tutorials and asked me to become one of her designers. I was thrilled!
When you have a creative block how do you get motivated?
With difficulty! And I panic a lot. Working full-time it is hard to find spare time to design so sometimes I just have to wait for inspiration to appear! But I do find inspiration in many places. Definitely looking at Cilenia's beautiful works of art. Often by looking at layouts and photos.
What kind of space do you create in?
I don't have much space, so my coffee table becomes my desktop! Of course, I spend some of my time moving the cats away from the screen and keyboard! I either have the TV on as background or work quietly.
Are you a morning person or night owl?
I am a morning person. I have no option because my cats wake me up at insane hours wanting to be fed!!
What is your favorite tool in Photoshop?
Because I love using textures on photos and digi supplies, my favorite tool would have to be the blend modes!
What is your favorite design?
My favorite pieces are my Scuffy Overlays and the Glimmers. I love collaborating with Cilenia, so my favorite collab piece is our Art Palette kit.
Do you have other hobbies?
I love photography and working with textures. And I also love to cycle and hit the gym for workouts.
Blog Link: http://veevshoneyscraps.blogspot.com/
Facebook Fan Page
Personal Facebook
Twitter: @Veevs
Aria aka Lynne
Aria is our newest designer and we're so happy to welcome her! You'll find her at DDS with a variety of screen names (we secretly think she likes to keep a veil of mystery around her for artistic reasons). She designs under the name Aria, can be found in our forums and gallery as lynnea, and goes by the name Lynne in real life. Look for her incredible extractions in the shop under the Artist's Toolbox category for PU/CU items or in her Designer's category.
Aria lives in northern California and enjoys reading, photography, travelling and (of course) scrapping and designing. She is a grandma to two precious boys, a mom to two fabulous daughters, and a wife and best friend to a man she feels has been designed from a wish list! We asked Aria to tell us more about herself.
How did you get started in digi?
My niece introduced me to digi scrapping. I took several beginner classes from Jessica Sprague and away I went! I’ve always liked working outside the box, trying to think of something new and different. Digi scrapping gives me the latitude to do exactly that. I frequently did extractions for my layouts, and then began experimenting with creating a story with my designs, and viola, I arrived at this fabulous place and time!
When you have a creative block how do you get motivated?
I take a shower. Honestly! When I am completely relaxed, my mind starts to wander. And ideas constantly pop into my head. I also get a lot of ideas when I am sleeping, so I keep a pad and pen by the bed at all times.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! From my grandsons ("Grandma, look at that butterfly!"), to getting messy in the kitchen while attempting to cook (I am not an accomplished cook, although I love to eat!). All aspects of life are potential layouts or kits for me. I go on morning walks, so everything I see is an exciting piece of a puzzle.
Are you a morning person or night owl? Why?
Oh, definitely a morning person! Although as I age it seems morning is starting to get later and later, LOL. I typically wake when the sun comes up and go to sleep around 11:00 pm. I am one of those very fortunate people who sleeps solidly, so six to seven hours is enough for me.
What is your favorite kit and why?
The Dream Big kit by Cilenia Curtis. I love that it's a little grungy, in my favorite color range, and has a variety of papers and elements to play with over and over. The flowers and borders with handwriting lend themselves to romantic layouts, and the gears and clips are perfect for a layout about my rough and tumble boys. I also like the Happy New Years kit by Teresa Digi Designs -- it is very versatile!
What is your best advice for aspiring digi scrappers or designers?
Scrap what you like -- don’t get overly influenced by the trends. Start small and build up your skills and interests, and more than anything, enjoy the journey! To me, scrapping is a way to tell your story through visual means. Journaling is a bonus, but not a requirement. In some ways it is like playing paper dolls again. I can create whatever scene I want with the photos I use, or I can build my story using a kit as my inspiration. My best advice for beginning scrappers or designers: Let your imagination guide you; it can’t be wrong.
Aria hasn't started a blog yet… but we just about have her talked into it. But you'll be sure to find her all over the galleries and forums just about every day!
And here's a little gift these two awesome designers collaborated together for you today!
You'll find it FREE in the shop's category of Freebies & other Sweets! Hurry though…it's only free for our 5 days of celebrating!
And to celebrate, here is the first freebie which is a collaboration between Aria and myself!
From two of our Designers here is a collaboration they did called Nature's Beauty! Beautiful samples of Honey Scraps Overlay's and the awesome extractions from Aria! What a great team effort!
Be sure to leave them some love in the forum or on the blog, they really did go all out on this as their gift to you!
If you want it its only free for a short while!
As you know tomorrow is Digital Designer Shop First Year Anniversary. Here are the previews of the kits I created based on a huge collaboration kit called Winters Dream :
Lynne and ValeriGail have made 2 beautiful layouts with the Winters Dream Swirls.
From Lynne
Paper from Artsy Papers by Honey Scraps (releasing on Friday!)
Glitter from Winters Dream Glitter Styles by Honey Scraps
Swirls from Winters Dream Swirls by Honey Scraps
Snowflakes for wand glitter from 12 Days of Dec by Honey Scraps
Branch and log from Walk in the Woods by Aria
Mushroom and leaves from a kit soon to be released by Aria
From ValeriGail
So go check the shop out! And, we have 5 days of freebies coming up with the first one tomorrow by myself and Aria!
It’s tomorrow and we have tons of goodies in the shop!
All the Designers have been working extremely hard to create some wonderful new kits! I have previews which I will post in my next entry (just be patient!!).
In the meantime, I was ill during Xmas with the horrible cold and flu that was doing the rounds so I neglected to update my blog with all the amazingly beautiful (and sooooo many) layouts that our fantastic CTs have created! They are so talented and keep churning beautiful layout after beautiful layout that I now must keep up with them! So feast your eyes on these wonderful creations.
To get the credits for the layouts just click on the layout and it will take you straight to their pages where the credits are listed.
From Lynne
From Stacy
From Nicky
From ValeriGail
From Tamara
From Kate
See?? I told you they had been very busy!
