Friday, May 30, 2008

Dear Mom 3 and Stone Washed Bluez QP

It has been one of those crazy busy days so I will have to be quick, Here are the promised part of Dear Mom the special goodie from Stone Washed Bluez that I mentioned. I wanted to share this quick page with you as my way of saying “Thank You” to all of you that took part in the Name Me contest, the name suggestions were great and your comments are always so nice, I really appreciate it. I was going to put some of the bolder pieces of Dear Mom up today but there are a few more things I want to make in the darker colors so I am saving them for Tuesday.

The quick page from SWB was made by Janalyn. You should stop by and take a look at the layout that she made this QP from, It is of a trip to Guatemala, and everything about the kit just fit the picture so perfectly it is like the kit was made for this picture.

The May Mega Kit Sampler is still active below. In the description I gave last week I said there were 130 elements and 79 papers but some how I missed Cathy C’s part of the kit so there are really 152, papers and 87 papers.



I just stopped by a few of the girls’ blogs and they have been busy, Brenda,
Beckie, Sherah, and Barbara all have freebies today so go by and check them out. If you have a few minutes go by Candee’s blog and give her a big HUG and “Welcome Back” She had to take some time off and we sure missed her, I am so happy to have my Candee back at SAS.

It is 3:30 so I better get to bed, have a nice weekend.



Download Stone Washed Bluez Quick Page Here



Sorry, Link Disabled

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

SAS Mega Kit Sampler

Wow! What a response to the “Name Me” contest, I had over 200 entries. Obviously the word “Blue” was pretty common and quite a few names contained either “Tranquil or Turbulent.” It was starting to look like it was going to be a tough choice since there were so many that fit when near the bottom of the list I found the perfect name, “Stone Washed Blues,” or almost perfect I should say, Arlene sent me twelve names but her nickname or her last name is “Bluez” and that seemed like a neat way to spell it. Stone Washed Bluez really fits, the “Stone” from Stone Accents Studio and the jean papers look like they are stone washed because of the color variations in them and I guess I don’t need to explain the “Blue” part…. LOL. Joanne Kraft and Arlene Bluez (?) will both get the mega kit and a $10 store coupon to spend on whatever they want.

If you have ever bought one of my kits you know that I go a little over board with papers, I just love to make them. When I have a good palette it is such a joy to see what I can come up with by changing blending modes or using different color overlays, it is not uncommon to come up with 80 or so papers. Obviously some of them are kind of similar but most of them are unique in some way. With this kit I ended up with almost 70 good papers. There are 20 in the kit and an additional 26 in the paper pack. It is in the store as a kit with a regular price of $5.99 but the introductory price is $4.20, there is a paper pack with 24 papers, regularly $3.25 but on sale for $2, the mega kit combines both for a total of 44 papers, the regular price is $7.50 but it is on sale for $5.75. The awesome SAS CT has already made some beautiful layouts, it is like this kit was just made for Janalyn’s Guatemala picture and it is an honor to have Marilyng’s incredible nature photos showcased with the kit, stop by and take a look.

Stone Washed Bluez



The SAS May Mega Kit was released today, there are 130 elements and 79 papers done in this delightfully playful color palette. These colors remind me of the days when I bought my kids clothes, some of their favorite outfits had these colors. I had a lot of fun making papers with this palette, the colors blend so well that I ended making 22 in just a few hours. If you buy the kit you do not need the sampler because the pieces are from the kit. I have asked the CT to make some QPs with is and I am hoping to give a couple of them out next week.

We are having a big spring cleaning sale this week, many of the designers have their older products on sale for up to 50% off so now it the time to save on some of those kits you have had your eye on. Here is a link to the newsletter, be sure to check it our so you can get the newsletter only freebies.
http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/newsletter/2008-05-21/index.htm

The Dear Mom, Stone Washed bluez and last month’s mega kit links are still active, I will have more of Dear Mom later in the week, in mean time enjoy the Mega Kit Sampler.

05-08 SAS Mega KIt



Close-up



A few of the 79 Papers



05-08 Mega Kit Sampler



Download 05-08 SAS Mega Kit Sampler

Part 1
Part 2

Friday, May 16, 2008

Name Me Contest

Before I shattered my elbow two of my favorite crafts were hand dying wool for spinning and fabric for quilting. My goal with the fabric was to be able to dye some really nice batik fabric. It is quite a process involving wax to act as a resist and lots and lots of washing and ironing to get the wax off of the fabric. I got pretty good at it but it was too much work to be fun (ironing never was my thing, just ask my DH…LOL) I recently decided to give it a try in Photoshop, it is not as much work but it is about as hard to get a good watercolor look. This kit is the result of some of my efforts, it doesn’t have the batik look but I think I did a good job getting the watercolor look. I was all ready to put it in the store when I realized that I didn’t have a name for it. Since the contests for Citrus Sunrise and Tuscan Sunset went so well I thought that would be the way to go with this kit. Download the freebie to see if it sparks anything in you. If you come up with something send it to me at stoneaccentsstudio@hotmail.com by Monday at 7 p.m. central. Please put "Kit name" in the subject line. The winner will receive the mega kit, which will be the kit and a paper pack, which has an additional 26 papers, plus they will receive a $10 coupon to spend at SAS on whatever they want. Thanks in advance for your help.

Name Me Kit



Close-up




Sampling of papers



Name Me Freebie




Download Name Me Freebie Here

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Dear Mom Part Two

I have some more goodies from Dear Mom for you today. One of my favorite pieces is the cameo, I have always wanted to make one and the flowers in the kits seemed perfect for the project. This download has some of the softer lighter elements but the next few downloads will have a bolder brighter look. I noticed a little problem with the heart from part one, if you already downloaded part one you can download a new heart below.

I have a new kit almost ready to put in the store but I cannot do that until I have a name for it. Naming
kits and coming up with descriptions for them is a weak point for me, it is so bad that when Jan use to put my kits in the store I would send her a description that consisted of a few keywords that I thought were appropriate followed by “blah, blah, blah” LOL, fortunately she never just put the description in like that, instead she always came up with something that sounded much better…LOL. Lori suggested that I have a naming contest again so that is what I am going to do. I will have a freebie from the kit for you on Friday so that you can get a good look at it. If you come up with a good name send it to me at stoneaccentsstudio@hotmail.com by Monday at 7 p.m. central. Whoever sends in the winning name (meaning the name I choose) will win the kit and a $10 store coupon.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments about my last post. We make decisions in our life and have no idea of the impact they will have. I made a few very bad ones when I was 15 and 16 that caused me and my family a lot of pain for many years. I think back sometimes and wonder if I would do things differently and I am not sure that if I could if I would. I say that because I am who I am and where I am because of those decisions. You know what they say, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” Those words can help you through the toughest of times knowing that when you come out the other end you will be a stronger person because of it. Thanks again.

Dear Mom Part Two



Download Dear Mom Part Two Here

If you downloaded part 1 before today you should download this new heart. If you download part one today you do not need it because I put the new heart in the download.

Sorry, Link Disabled

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Dear Mom Freebie

Here is the first part of my Free Kit of the Month. It is called Dear Mom and it is in honor of my mom. With Mother’s Day being this Sunday it seems like an appropriate time for this. One of the biggest regrets of my life is that when I was fifteen I made some stupid decisions that took my path in life many miles from my mother. I say “regret” but I can’t regret that those decisions lead me to where I am now, married to a great guy with four children that are so dear to me. I regret that I have not been able to share my life with my mom except for the occasional visits. She is a very special women, she left my father in a time that most women stayed in bad marriages but she knew that we would be better off without him. She worked very hard all of those years to support us without any help from my father, her family or the government. I was an only child until I was thirteen so we were very close. When I was fifteen (that time in life when I knew everything…LOL) I moved away from home not knowing that it would be forever. For a few years more than miles separated us, it took me becoming a mother for that gulf to close and for me to realize just how much my mother had sacrificed for me and how little I really did know. My mom taught me lots of things but mostly she taught me how to be a mother, much of the mother I am came from her. We have had lots of good visits over the years (but never enough) and one thing I learned about my mother is that she is one of the funniest people I know, I have always had my best laughs with my mom, real “hurt my belly” laughs. I guess that is how life goes, kids grow up and move on but I do wish I could have shared more of my life with my mom. One piece of advice to you moms with young children, enjoy it while you can, it was only yesterday that my little ones were asking me to give them a good night back rub or to read them a book. Now they are grown and living lives of their own, some of them too far from home, it goes WAY too fast.

BTW, for all of you moms that will be getting flowers this Mother’s Day, here is a little secret I learned that will keep those flowers looking perky for a long time. Mix up the little packet of crystals that comes with the flowers in the correct amount of water and then add ½ teaspoon of bleach to the mix. I had just read about this in the newspaper when my DH got me flowers for Valentines Day and our anniversary so I decided to try it. The roses were still looking good after two weeks and the mixed flowers kept for over a week and a half. I think the bleach also helped them to dry well, I hung them upside down for a few weeks and they are beautiful, as soon as I get time I am going to take some pictures and make some elements from them.

I will have more of Dear Mom next week, there will be about 24 papers and no telling how many elements. I was hoping to have more elements ready today but the flowers took a long time to get looking just the way I wanted them to. This kit will have a lot of looks because the papers went in a few directions but it should be a good mix and match kit. Happy Mother’s Day and Enjoy!

Flower Frame



Dear Mom Part One



Sorry, Link Disabled