I know a good deal when I see one!

This is a MUST buy from Creations by Rachael! She is selling her entire store for $30!!! She has another deal that allows you to be in her "Kit Club". This sounds amazing and it is a bargin. Rachael's kits are terrific and they keep getting better! She is always coming up with new and creative kits. Do yourself a favor and grab one of these deals (or both ; )) at Pretty Scrappy

Freshly Baked by Rachael

Baking kits are few and far between so make sure you grab this one from Creations by Rachael. She is offering a coupon for 25% off the kit if you buy it from Pretty Scrappy. You will pay only $3.75 for this great kit and several quick pages! What are you waiting for Head over to Rachael's site and grab the coupon, then head over to Pretty Scrappy and check out her Freshly baked kit!

still loving textures and layers!!

Once again Rita over at CoffeeShop has something new and exciting. MORE FREE TEXTURES!! She has made some valentine textures. Go to her blog and check them out!! I took a picture and tried two different textures. Keep in mind I am a newbie at layers. I opened my picture, then I cropped it. One I left color the other I changed to black and white. In both of the pictures after adjusting the opacity of the texture, I used the eraser on the kids faces. I lowered the opacity on the eraser and tried to create a heart shape. FUN STUFF!! TY Rita!

Layers/ Masks and Thank You Rita!

For several months I have been afraid of masking and layers in PSE, but not anymore! I was determined to not be scared of the big bad layers and dove in. I read SEVERAL tutorials and kind of pieced them together. The one I found most helpful was by Rita. Hopefully Rita over at Coffee Shop does not think I am a stalker : ). I am all about checking her site for tutorials and free actions. She is very generous and is always up to something new and interesting!

I used a tutorial from her blog titled Coffee Shop Tutorial Attic Vintage. She gives step by step directions. For more instructions she has another Layer Masks Tutorial. The wonderful thing is you really can't mess up! There are so many variations on layers it is amazing. When I used to teach art, I told my students about " happy accidents". This is when you did something that you thought was wrong, but turned out to be wonderful!

I took Rita's advice and checked out Paul Grand's Scratchy Texture on Fickr. I saved the picture and used it as a layer. It worked great! I did not use the Coffee Shop Vignette Action as she did in her tutorial. I used 2 different Coffee Shop actions. One was Honey Retro, and the other action I used was Powder Room 2. I used Honey Retro to get the effect of softened burned edges, and I used Powder Room to enhance Nate's eye's.

I am proud of myself! Not bad for a first timer!! I still have so much playing and learning to do.

I cannot thank Rita enough for opening up the world of layers, masking, and actions to me!

Thanks Rita,

One of your fans, Lori : )

New Free Action From CoffeeShop!!

Thanks to Rita at Coffee Shop, we have a new FREE Action to play with!! This one is called Honey Retro. It allows you to create an edge to your photograph. You can give your picture a light or dark burn look with one click! Don't forget to swing over to Erin's site Digital Photography for Mom's if you need help installing the actions in photoshop. She breaks it down for you step by step. Erin makes it so easy, even I can do it ; ). Here is my before and after using Honey Retro...

Before

After

2 New Years Eve LO'S

y last two pages in my 2008 album are done - YIPPY! My New Years Eve pages were made from a freebie I found. Check out this great kit called Rockin-New Year from Pimp Your Scrapbook. Now I am waiting for a good shutterfly coupon so that I can print my 97 page album!