December DSO color challenge

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!! This month found me down and out for a week and a half with the flu bug. Awful stuff. And this was with a flu shot in me. GRRR!! But, I'm back on my feet and ready to get through this busy time of the year. Kim's DSO Color Challenge was first on my list, as I always learn a lot about Photoshop while making something to share on her forum. I probably could have added more to it, but "other" stuff is tugging at me to get done around here. Click on the preview to download.

P.S. The download is named November, but it's really the December one. Sorry!!! These holidays have fried my teenie brain, I'm afraid. HA!

Corduroy Styles

Last night, I spent some time learning to make styles for Photoshop. I decided that I could use some Corduroy to add to my ever increasing list of styles. To get me started, I made 5 of them using Kim's, DSO, November color challenge. I see that I spelled the name wrong on the preview. Oops.. Oh well, life goes on...Click on the preview to download them. If you're working on a kit or layout for the challenge, feel free to use them. And be sure to go to the previous email to grab the kit I made, using the Color Challenge colors.

Kims Nov Challenge and a Quilt finished!

YAY! I finished the quilt that I was making for my friend, Judy's, daughter's new baby. The theme is Dick and Jane and today is the shower where she will receive it. I can't WAIT to hear how she likes it. I even had time to show it off at the Santa Clara County Quilting Association meeting, last week, before putting it in the mail. Here's a picture of it as it was being shown.


So, with that out of the way, I found some time to work on Kim's November Color Challenge at DSO. You can grab it by clicking on the links below the preview.

Paper Download
Elements Download

A QP For My New Kit

Today found me sitting here and playing with my new kit. I'm sharing a quick page that I made to go along with it. However, I WILL admit that I took a little road trip to the mall and did some shopping at Macys for awhile, before designing it. Found some great bargains. One is a new winter coat. And with the change in the weather lately, I'll be wearing it REAL soon.

DH and I have started a new walking regime every morning for 2 miles. It's actually turning out to be a really great thing. I have lots more energy for shopping. LOL

Click on the preview to download.

October Color Challenge-DSO

I participated in Kim's color challenge on the DSO site again, this month. I look forward to this each month and find it such a fun challenge to create something from the 5 colors that Kim gives us. Please click on the preview image to download my mini kit and enjoy. If you create something with it, I'd love to see it.

October finds me quilting on a new baby quilt that I'm pretty excited about finishing. I'm working on the actual quilting part now and hope to have it finished this month. That's the goal anyway.

My goal to learn Photoshop, this year, is still progressing in a forward direction. YES!!! I no longer go back to Photo Impact because I'm frustrated with Photoshop. Another YES!!! Creating scrapbook pages from family pictures gives me such pleasure. Sure better than just viewing pictures in a photo album.

Kims Sept Color Challenge

What the heck causes a person to become so obsessed with Kim's Color Challenges that nothing else gets done until it's completed. HA! Well, at least I got the bills paid. WHEW! Otherwise, I'd be putting this kit together, with my laptop and sitting on the front sidewalk and hoping that a neighbor brings me a Starbucks Green Tea Soy Latte. ANYHOO....I'm done and, once again, had a wonderful time putting it together. Each month, I spend learning more and more about Photoshop and realizing that the kits, papers and elements are going together easier all the time.

Now I can begin a new baby quilt that I'm just "itching" to start.

I hope you enjoy my kit and I'll put on a happy face if I see a comment or two. Please click on the thumbnail to download my Sept kit.

Uppercase Living fun

OMG!! It's been a whirlwind of fun with girlfriends, Judy and Danna visiting. Eating, shopping, computer and photoshop practicing. We have all learned so much. And today we put up some Uppercase Living wording in a few places in my house. I LOVE IT!! They add so much to an area. This one is a picture of the entry into my living room. Above the entry it says "It's Good to Be Home".

We, actually started out in the kitchen with Bon Appetit on the back splash of my stove top. The surface is Silestone and it applied with no problem at all.

To add a warm feeling to the front door, I placed a "Welcome".

It sure was easy to apply these. I can't wait to put "CREATE" in my computer room next. Check out Uppercase Living at Danna's site listed on side of my blog.

A New QP for Kim's CC

I'm getting ready to have some girlfriends (Judy and Danna) come visit this coming weekend and am so excited. We will be eating, shopping and playing with Photo Shop. YIPPEE SKIPPEE!! We always come away with so many ideas and tips when we all get together. Not to mention the DSW shoes that will be added to our collections. hehehe Oh, and Danna, who is a demonstrator for Upper Case Living, will be helping me put up some quotes on my walls. I'm pretty excited about that. Check out her website link, on the side bar. I'll post pictures after they are done.

SO, in between DH's birthday and getting ready for my friends, I have made a QP using my kit. Help yourself to it and I hope you can use it.

Kims August Color Challenge

I'm back from a wonderful cruise to Alaska taken on a Stern Wheeler called the Empress of the North. This is our 2nd cruise on this small ship and we've loved doing it each time. The first was down the Columbia and Snake Rivers in Oregon. But this Alaska cruise was spectacular. I took a helicopter ride so that I could walk on a glacier one day. Then hiked with an armed guide through the forest to watch bears catching salmon another day. The bears were so close that it was scary. Fifteen whales played around our ship made for some great camera shots! And I've seen more eagles that I've ever seen in my life. So, if you get a chance, be sure to visit Alaska.

I jumped right into doing another Color Challenge for DSO and Kim. This is the kit I came up with after spending days and days in Photoshop as I continue to get through my learning curve. Hope you enjoy it and be sure to go to DSO to get other submissions. Kim even gives a free mini kit for layouts, kits or quick pages.
Click on the preview to download.

Lynn's July Color Challenge

Oh gosh, I'm having just too much fun with these color challenges this month. Lynn at DigitalArts-Cafe has a challenge with wonderful colors called Sunny Dance. I put together a QP for it, to share. Click on the preview to download.

More From Friends

I get luckier every day. Yesterday, another close friend and struggling PS user sent me a QP she put together using my July AND June CC kits. If this keeps up, we'll end up with a mini album. Remember though, these are 8x8's since that's the size that myself and my friends use. I'll have to retrain them to do 12 x 12's. HA! And you KNOW how hard it is to retrain friends. hehehe Click on the images to download.



I'm also sharing some papers that I put together yesterday while playing around with overlays and then adding color. As I've said before, PS is all new to me so I'm still in the learning curve. This exercise with overlays gave me some good practice.



Here comes the heat wave outside. Good day to stay inside & out of the bad air quality we're having because of the heat and the fires still burning our beautiful forests here in Calif. So Sad.

Quick Page from a Friend

One of my closest friends and PS pal, just surprised me with a QP made from my Kims July CC kit. Isn't it pretty? Thanks Danna. She's given me permission to post it for everyone. So, just click on the preview to download it. This page is designed for an 8 x 8 layout.

Kims July Color Challenge

Kim has posted another Color Challenge at DSO forums and I'm jumping in, once again. I WILL say that putting together a mini kit forces me to use Photoshop and learn new things. So, it's a win/win situation for everyone. One of my favorite colors is red, so it was fun for me to use that color in a mini kit. I'm still in awe on how people can put together the Actions in PS. I watch all those scripts pass over my screen and it boggles my mind. But, I'm glad that someone has taken the time to put them together. It saves me a hunk of time, that's for sure.

Tomorrow is my quilting day with friends, but if I find some time, I'll make a quick page to go with the kit I put together. And perhaps "borrow" some elements from others that have contributed to the July CC. Click on the preview image to download.

Kims June Color Challenge

Another month has passed me by. Where DID it go? Between some travel and getting through Adobe Photoshop lessons, I've been busier....but smarter. HA! Learning this program has been my goal for this year. I've been trying to get to it for years.

Because of the Beginner and Intermediate PS lessons, I have jumped into making my first mini kit. Now don't get excited, it's small and basic. But it's my first one and I'm thrilled to have accomplished this much in PS. It is a kit to submit to Kim's Color Challenge at DSO. Everyone has contributed so much for Kim's great challenges. I always love her color choices. Click HERE to check it out.

SO...here's the preview to my kit. Just click on it to download. Please leave me a comment or I'll have to crawl back into my corner. LOL

Kims May Challenge-Another QP

I just couldn't resist making another QP for Kim's May challenge. The colors she's chosen this month are so appealing to me. I've taken a little of this and a little of that from the kits that others have been making to put together this QP. Click on the preview to download.

Kims May Challenge

Kim at DSO has a wonderful May challenge going on and I just couldn't resist making a QP for it. I used my own design for the paper. Then I chose some of the elements that have been created by others for this fun challenge. The frame and lace are Kim's designs.


You may download here.

Red Hat Bocci Ball Challenge

March also brought my Red Hat group together for a Bocci Ball challenge in Morgan Hill, after a lunch to build up our strength. HA! We divided up into Red and Blue teams. The Blue team won and I was proud to be on that winning team. April has us ready for another challenge by the Red team. We're called The Red Hat District of Silicon Valley.

For this kit, I mostly used Kathryn Etsys "Cute Stuff in Red" kit. The frame was a freebie that I had collected during the Christmas holidays from Fotosusu's Blog.

Mexico fun with the girls

The beginning of March, I joined a reunion of Burlingame High School gals for a 7 day cruise to Mexico on Carnival Cruise Lines. They were all celebrating their 60th birthdays and some had not seen each other since high school. One of my dearest friends was part of that group and invited me along. It was truly a fun experience and at the end of the trip, I felt like I had graduated from that same school. HA! I feel like I made 20 new friends and am looking forward to when we can all gather once again. Here's a picture of all of us dressed in our "finest" and posing on the ships grand staircase.

And then, of course, I had to scrap a layout so that I could remember the trip and my adventure of getting into the water with the dolphins. That was such a wonderful experience and one that I will never forget. They are so gentle and intelligent.

The kit used is called "Colors of Cancun" and it was a freebie from My Digital Addiciton .

Welcome to Ms Teapots Blog

It's been such fun exploring digital scrapbooking. So I have decided to begin my own blog and have a place to share thoughts, tea ideas, scrapping layouts or quilting projects that are going on right now.