Laurens Digital Scrapping Adventures: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Topaz Black and White Effects released ( with an introductory discount)

You know Im a big lover of Topaz Adjust – but Topaz may well have a rival for my love with their new filter Black and White Effects

Topaz is offering a special introductory price of $29.99 (Regularly $59.99). Just enter coupon code: bwandbeyond when purchasing. Offer ends 09/18/11. You can apply the $30 discount towards the bundle or any bundle upgrade as well. You can also try before you buy with a free, fully-functional, 30-day trial.

Ive had some time experimenting with the effects this plugin can achieve and I can highly recommend it .

Its a very easy to use plugin – perhaps even easier than Adjust, because it comes with well over 100 presets to get you started,

Here are a few very quick images that Ive had fun playing with.

The photo below isnt that inspiring ( taken from below so you couldnt see all the of the cathedral but i liked the spires and I especially love how the spires are really bought out with the effects achieved in Topaz B&W

You can even get a nice slightly desaturated painterly effect

I know over the coming days I will be experimenting a great deal more and hope to have some tutorials written very soon.

Takahe

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by D- Lauren Bavin

Inspired by the irridescent colours of a rare and precious flightless bird known as the Takahe, combined with the equally pearlescent colours of the paua shell ( abalone) the colours in this kit will be sure to make your spirits soar and make every layout made with it into a rare treasure.
Kit Includes:

File Size:200ppi: 17.00MB 300ppi: 31.90MB

...Buy now from the DSP Store

Cut out Circles Quick Click

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by Lauren Bavin

A Funky and Fun layout with a 3 dimensional look to it Cut out Circles layered with a scallop and photo. Choose to fill the circles with photos or with background
This quick click comes in both separate png files and a single layered psd file for your convenience
What is a QuickClick?!
The QuickClick Template system is a wonderful new product that gives you the creative license to make unique layouts by filling in the "blanks (shapes)." The design work is done...you won't have to think about placement of your photos or accent papers because we have carefully designed these "interactive sketches" for you! Scrapbooking just got a turbo boost with this intuitive product and now you can get MORE pages done!
QuickClicks include multiple pieces (12x12 PNG files*) which act like an interactive sketch - All you need to do is stack all the numbered layers in order, add in your photos and decorative papers, and fill in the shapes (easy instructions are included) for a layout that is truly yours! This template system is very flexible and can be used many times; just change the photos and papers and, voila!!, a whole new layout in no time at all. For a different look you can choose not to use the any of the "decorative pieces" like the themed shapes or inked edges. A sample layout is included in the zip file to spark your creativitity.
*PNG Files are transparent files and are compatible with many software programs.
Software Requirements: This QuickClick Template System is only compatible with programs that support a magic wand tool. Software programs that can currently use these templates include - Photoshop 6 or higher, Photoshop Elements 2 or higher, Paint Shop Pro 7 or higher, PhotoImpact recent versions, Digital Image Pro recent versions, Picture It version 7 or higher, and some Corel Paint programs recent versions. Not currently supported - Hewlett Packard Creative Scrapbook Assistant, FotoFusion by Lumapix, or Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer Program.
File Size 200ppi:1.80MB
300ppi:3.23MB

...Buy now from the DSP Store

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Facebook Fan Sale REPEAT!!

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Some of you missed our notification of our great Facebook Fan Sale so we are running a repeat !!

2 more days !!—so check out the store and see what bargains you can find .

Thanks Fans! Sale!! 2 More Days!

Guess What!?! We like our fans TWICE as much!! We are doing a repeat of our Fabulous Facebook Fan Challenge Sale!!! Grab the specials quick! Sale Ends at 11:59PM EST on August 31st!

Thanks for liking us on Facebook during the Facebook Fan Challenge!!! With your awesome sharing, we hit 17% OFF! And as an extra thank you we wanted to add an extra 20.78% for those 2078 fans that have been with us for a while!!! We sincerely appreciate you all! Thanks Facebook fans! Please enjoy the DSP store sale of 38% OFF select downloadables starting Tuesday, August 30th through Wednesday, August 31st.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Pick of the Pack August 29th–Just a few random thoughts by StacieMac

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Art journalling is such a personal way of scrapbooking. I must admit to finding it very difficult to do myself. Im not one to put my heart on my sleeve at the best of times and I find it hard to let go of the normal rules of design that would normally apply.
Hence I really love this art journalling layout by StacieMac which still conforms to all the normal rules of design ( rule of thirds visual flow etc , yet still contains all the elelments of putting your feelings on a page that are required by art journals. and showing something of yourself on that page too.

Here are Stacie’s notes on this layout which can be viewed and commented on here

Credits:
Random Thoughts by Lauren Bavin
Just Spring by Lauren Bavin
For the journaling, I let myself freewrite for a minute or two and just recorded the train of thought I was on at the moment.
“It seems there is never enough time to do all that I need to do and all that I want to do. I want to spend the entire day taking pictures of Madeline and Charlotte, but I need to spend it doing a lot of laundry. I should also go through all of the girls’ clothes and take out everything that they have outgrown. It seems like they are getting bigger by the minute. It sometimes makes me so sad when I look at them and wonder where my wee little babies have gone, but then I think of how blessed I am that I have two perfectly healthy, beautiful girls. They are two of many blessings in my life and I know that should spend most of my days on my knees thanking God for all that I have been given.”

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Special Feature The Art of the Scraplift– Gimme a Copy 4

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This edition of Gimme a copy featured a gorgeous layout by Renee_S with a really unique and funky design

We had some really wonderful scraplifts – including some creative uses of the design by rotating and flipping.

Open any of these layouts by clicking on them and be sure to comment on them if you like the layout – try and scraplift any of these layouts yourself – Im sure they will inspire you as they have inspired me.


NZ Fur Seal by Lauren This is a scraplift of Renee_S's layout here I used my Whispered Promise Page Kit and Cut out Frames	Aunty Dawn 1999 by Sharon Lynn DD with Lauren's Gimme a copy Rnd4 Scraplift of renee S Our Kitty Impetuous Summer Created by Lauren Bavin Impetuous Summer Keyword:15124 Whispered Promise Created by Lauren Bavin Whispered Promise Keyword:15128 Wordee 3 Deluxe Word Art Created by Marcee Duggar Wordee Deluxe Word Art Set 3 Keyword:10886	Della Jo Adore by DixieMama This is the little niece of my photographer friend, Twila. Twila doesn't 'do' computers, so she sends me photos to 'clean up' for her & lets me play with them This is for Lauren's 'Gimme A Copy' challenge #4, using Renee_S's Our Kitty as inspiration. I flipped and rotated mine Photography by Twila Firkins. uses Floral Finery by Lauren from the Scraps of Fun - Flowers downloadable CD Adore word art is a Tina Chambers Friday blog Freebie (11/07/08)

*Echo Storm* by Carla (A DSP Layout of the Day) Gimmie a Copy Scraplift Challenge #4. This is a scraplift of "Our Kitty" created by Renee S and can be found here: Journaling reads: We said that we would have only one animal when we brought Spider home but when Echo showed up on the door step we could not turn her away. She took to both of the kids like she knew that she was meant to be in their lives and she stole their hearts. Now we can not imagine what it would be like to not have her in our lives. Spider has even found a soft spot in his heart for her. Credits: Raspberry Lane SVC by Lauren Bavin I created the shadow frames myself.	Pumpkin Patch 2010 by bludlfn003 Credits: Lauren Bavin's Whimsical Country and Late Summer Whimsy Page Kits I love this picture of Aaron, he is my little bumpkin and these kits were perfect for it. Scraplift courtesy of: renee s' Our Kitty	This-_N-That by happybeingamom I love Lauren's Gimme A Copy Challenge, I have found that I have learned many scrapping skills by lifting LO's. Lauren's challenge gives me the incentive to keep on lifting and learning. This time we are lifting Renee S wonderful LO Our Kitty For this LO I used This N' That Page kit by Lauren Bavin. I have loved this kit but never used it before so I am happy to put it to use. I also used stitching from Cut Out Frames by Lauren Bavin We had a Kitten family under our front porch and I snapped some pictures to make a LO about it. Renee beautiful LO reminded me about so two years later I finally scrapped it.

Trees of Significance by evergreen100 I have used Forgotten Trails by Lauren Bavin Forgotten Glade by Lauren Bavin Bracket from Slightly Bright (recoloured)by lauren Bavin Copper Glitter alpha by Meryl Bartho (gift with store purchase week of 15th Aug 2011) Journalling Reads: Growing on the farm were quite a number of trees with large areas of their trunks removed. When the farm was sold and trees needed to be removed for the capital works programme to go ahead, the trees were inspected by aboriginal elders and identified as being of significance to the aboriginal culture, the cuttings believed to have been made hundreds of years ago by aboriginals for the making of canoes. The tree trunks were saved from destruction and now have a place of honour in the aboriginal artifacts section at the local Botanical Gardens where, if we are feeling nostalgic for the family farm, we can go visit them. In this photo, Maddy and Laura reacquaint themselves with one of Pop's trees! I have scraplifted Renee_s's LO Thanks for the inspiration Renee and for the challenge Lauren	2011-08-21 Mochy by LauraLou This is a scraplift of renee s page as suggested in Gimme a Scraplift. I used the Gimme challenge kit: Impetuous Summer by Lauren Bavin After I had created the layout, I decided to turn it upside down. The only problem was redoing all the shadows. Took a while!	Never Too Old by Sharon1313 I haven't done that many scraplifts, and it was amazing how fast this page came together when I didn't have to think of a design to start with! Loosely scraplifted "Our Kitty" by Renee S. I really love these little journaling frames by Lauren Bavin - there's a whole set called The Whole Story. I was eager to scrap with them and this was the perfect page to try them out. I used all products by Lauren, including: The Whole Story Photo Journaling Frames Two Orange Dragonflies Page Kit Through the Viewfinder Overlay Stack (overlay) Seriously Steampunk Page Kit (screws) Journaling reads: Katie and Amanda had the opportunity to spend an hour or two at a playground they had never been to, while Diane and I talked. They checked out every single slide, swing and jungle gym and played in the underground fort. Good times! May 2011

Marnie - 18 mths by ebears Marnie refusedto give her dummy awayso her father threw the dummy into the chook pen. For days Marnie stood looking into the chook pen at her dummy Credits: Lauren Bavins "Burst Of summer"	Favorites at 6 by GrandmaCrys Tristan's favorites at 6, which I thought I better do, since he'll be turning 8 in another month. A scraplift of renee s's Our Kitty Papers and elements from Lauren Bavin's Whispered Promise; Lauren Bavin's Cutout Frames Elements Set;	Heart by Mars Gimme a Copy 4 challenge Featuring You - Midnight Silver This is scraplift of: Our Kitty by renee s (I rotated it) for Lauren's Gimme a Copy 4 challenge which is to scraplift a given layout from a previous gimme more challenge. I also used the kit for 'Featuring You' challenge. All layouts entered using the challenge kit are featured on Lauren's blog. CREDITS Midnight Silver page kit by Lauren Bavin Midnight Gold by Lauren Bavin Edgers: Dickens word art by Tina Chambers

Sunshine & Laughter by Webfrau Scraplift of Our Kitty by Renee S for Lauren's Gimme A Copy 4 challenge supplies used: Speaking clearly acrylic journalling mats by Lauren Bavin Tranquility page kit by Lauren Bavin Simple Gradients – quickbit clipping masks by Lauren Bavin Coastal Breeze by Lauren Bavin Wings of a Dream Value Collection by Lauren Bavin Bits and pieces by Lauren Bavin Carolina Blues by Lauren Bavin wordart by Jeanet Almhoj (blog freebie)	White Rabbit by mandy T Lifetime Friends - by Lauren Bavin Friendship Flourish - by Robyn Gough Both found on the DSP Scraps of Life: Friends CD Copper Glitter Alpha - By Meryl Bartho Scraplift of: Our Kitty by renee s in the DET gallery - for Lauren's Gimme a Copy challenge Journaling: Although we had decided that we would not get more pets, we relented and got a rabbit. Rebecca chose a little white baby bunny that she named Princess Snow White Bunny! We have ended up calling her Snowy Bunny. She is really an absolute sweetheart. She has the run of the house and the run of the garden. She uses the same door entrances as the cats, and you can hear her hopping through the house to come and greet us in the mornings before she goes out again. She loves apples but loves grapes even more - we joke that you could ge her to do anything for a couple of grapes. You can always tell when she has been digging though - as her fur gets muddy red coloured.	Wedding Scraplift by Sueya Sweet Surrender by Lauren Bavin Desktop Memories by Lauren Bavin Stargazer by Lauren Bavin Butterfly from Minuet in Pink by Lauren Bavin Freebie Word art from Tina Chambers filled with gold gradient and bevel added using Paint Shop Pro

Inner Beauty Growth by Scrapping4Him I don't normally upload without my LO being completely finished but I realized late this afternoon that I'd overlooked lifting this gorgeous LO of Renee's (Our Kitty) and now I have to run out for dinner and an evening with friends! I'll repost my final version after I have time to finish it up later tonight after I get home. Back from my evening with friends and got my finishing touches done (added the wordart, tweaked a few things here and there) kit: Amanda's Bouquet by Lauren Bavin kit: Amanda's Dream by Lauren Bavin cutout circle frames: Cut Out Frames by Lauren Bavin gold mesh bracket mat: Grannies Thread by Lauren Bavin wordart: Just You Wordart (formerly part of January 2010 Club Digital) by Erica Belton font: CK Roxy	1943_Charles_and_Hugh by Barbie This layout documents a story I recently heard about my dad and a young friend. Supplies: Secret Desire Value Collection by Lauren Bavin Journaling: On one of his visits to Baltimore after going into the Army, Charles and Hugh went to a baseball game together (probably Baltimore Orioles). Hugh took his glove and was most eager to catch a ball--in fact he prayed fervently to be able to catch a ball.. As it happened, a ball was hit straight toware Hugh’s glove, but unfortunately it bounced off his glove; his buddy Charles reached http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=394197out and snagged the ball. Immediately, one of the ushers approached to retrieve the ball (that was what was done at that time), but when he saw that the ball had actually been caught by a uniformed soldier, he allowed Charles to keep the ball. And Charles gave the ball to Hugh. At Hugh’s funeral visitation in 2011, his daughter, upon being introduced to Charles’ wife, told the story as she had recently heard it from her dad. He has kept that ball as a reminder of how much our Heavenly Father cares about even our smallest needs and desires. God’s answer was even better than Hugh had imagined--if he had caught the ball, he would not have been able to keep it, but because Charles had caught it, he had a wonderful keepsake!	The Day We Met Angel by Chanmansmom Desert Blooms by Lauren Bavin Cut Out Frames by Lauren Bavin I love this gorgeous kit of Laurens and the cut out frames are fantastic! This is a lift from Renees New Kitty lo which I absolutely adore! The day we met our new family member.Amy was very surprised when we took her to pick out her new puppy.She had no idea what was going on.She picked out Angel at 3 weeks old and 4 weeks later Angel came home.It was such a special day that our family won't ever forget. Amy & Angel February 12,2011

Say Cheese! by teetopper This layout is for Lauren's Gimme A Copy Round 4, and is a scraplift of Renee's Our Kitty. For those that don't know, this challenge is based on scraplifting a layout chosen by Lauren. Upload to any gallery, and then link back to the challenge forum. For every 10 layouts posted, she will have a draw for a free page kit. Pretty awesome isn't it?!? This is my great-nephew and his grandpa. Credits: Bombastic Value Collection by Lauren Bavin Somewhat Conspicuous Page Kit by Lauren Bavin Sprayed On Backgrounds by Lauren Bavin Cut Out Frames by Lauren Bavin		Garth Brooks in Concertby Fade2pink This layout is for Lauren Bavin's Gimme a Copy challenge, which is using Renee's darling layout: - I used Lauren's Hint of Heather page kit, her Simply Stylish and Secret Desire VC

Thanks to our facebook fans this weekend–with a sale

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Thanks for liking us on Facebook during the Facebook Fan Challenge!!! With your awesome sharing, we hit 17% OFF! And as an extra thank you we wanted to add an extra 20.78% for those 2078 fans that have been with us for a while!!! We sincerely appreciate you all! Thanks Facebook fans!
Please enjoy the DSP store sale of 38% OFF select downloadables starting Saturday, August 27th through Sunday, August 28th.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Explore the DSP Pixel Pathway and collect a free collection on your travels

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A wonderfully warm Welcome to my blog, one of 12 stops along the DSP Designer Pixel Highway. At each stop you can collect two pieces of your 24 piece kit which has an art journalling theme.

Art journaling is a highly creative way to express yourself – Its so easy because there is no right or wrong, traditional design “rules” don’t apply here, and basically you can just release your emotions as creatively as you wish.

Learn more about Art Journaling here.

Click on the links below in your desired resolution to download the pieces I have on offer

[200ppi version] [300ppi version]

You may be interested in my latest Art Journal kit Random Thoughts available in the DSP Store

Check out all the other wonderful products in the DSP Sore designed with art journals in mind.

Finished exploring??- check out the next stop on the pathway and pick up your next two kit pieces on Ericas Blog

Monday, August 22, 2011

Missed em Monday–Sales up to 50% off!!

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njoy 10-50% Select Previous Year's products introduced in this Calendar Month!!

Grab the Savings Here!
Sale Ends at 11:59PM EST
Quick Link to Specials: | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |

Missed em Monday – the best Monday of the month if you are after a bargain – thats when products released in August of previous years go on sale – at up to 50% off – the older the product, the more the discount.

Here is a list of the products I have on sale today – click on the product to go to it directly in the store