Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Violets and Old Lace and a Freebie
You can purchase it at HeritageScraps and at Coolscrapsdigital along with my other PU and CU products.
I know when I'm shopping, the CT layouts are often the most helpful. So here from my
fantastic CT team are some layouts so that you can see what Violets and Old Lace looks like in action.
From Alejas
From JeanAnn:
From Dillie:
From Marnie:
From Janette White
And Marnie has very generously provided a stunning cluster for our readers. I adore this frame cluster that she made and hope you enjoy using it as much as I did.
You can download it here:
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
New Layouts
Today I want to share some gorgeous CT layouts. The first ones are from my Sweet Spring kit available at Heritage Scraps and at Coolscrapsdigital.
So here they are:
Two layouts from Lavender Angel:
And two from Marnie:
And some great heritage layouts from Jan done with my Old Clock Kit. This kit is also available at HeritageScraps and Coolscrapsdigital.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Our 4th Interview and Another Freebie
Today, I'd like to introduce a very special member of the StarSongStudio team: my daughter Dawn. Dawn is the person who introduced me to digital scrapbooking and the one who taught me all the basic techniques and continues to teach, coach and inspire me on a daily basis.
Dawn designs under the name MorningSunDesigns and she is the collaborator on the Royal Romance kit being featured this week. We're currently working on another collaborative right now: Midnight Magic, that we plan to release soon.
So with no further delay:
Here's Dawn.
Dawn designs under the name MorningSunDesigns and she is the collaborator on the Royal Romance kit being featured this week. We're currently working on another collaborative right now: Midnight Magic, that we plan to release soon.
So with no further delay:
Here's Dawn.
1. How did you get started in digital design and scrapbooking?
I stumbled across digital scrapbooking while looking around the Internet for photoshop brushes. I was familiar with paper scrapping, but digital scrapbooking was a new concept for me.
2. Tell us about your art and design background?
Starting in high school I took a lot of art classes. One of my favorite projects was when our art teacher gave us each a camera and sent us out to start photographing anything and everything. I learned to look at the world in a whole new way. After high school I went on to study Architecture in college. The Architecture program I was in was very art/graphic based. I took pottery, printmaking, photography, drawing, landscape painting and then jewelry making. I started using photoshop in college for my art classes and never looked back! I was in love!
3. What do you like best about the world of digital scrapping? least?
My favorite thing about the digital scrapbooking world is the freedom to create such amazing visual projects. My least favorite thing would be the lack of understandable terms of use for items as well as the lack of public domain resources.
3a. What do you hope your contribution to this field will be?
I'd like for my contribution to be to create things that people enjoy, and that encourage them to create beautiful things.
4. How would you describe your scrapping style and your designing style?
I'd say my scrapping style is typically heavily clustered. I adore clustering. Once I discovered how to cluster; well there was no turning back. My designing style is realistic/graphic, mainly since those are the elements that appeal to me when I am scrapping.
5. Are there any emerging styles or trends in scrapbooking that you especially like?
I really love the blended photos that I see in so many layouts. It also seems like the caliber of the photos is getting better, which I think is great!
6. Your photography is phenomenal. Any tips or suggestions? Any low cost ideas for things that make digital photography easier and better?
When ever possible use a tripod. It helps with a sharper focus. Bright sunlight is usually not the best light for photography, I love an overcast day for picture taking. Keep learning; buy a book on your camera and really get to know all the features. Then try them out. The cost of your equipment is a lot less important than training your eye to get photos that have impact.
6a. What equipment do you use for photography?
I use a Canon 30D, a wide angle, telephoto and a prime lens, a tripod, and a remote trigger.
7. Where do you get your inspiration?
Most of my inspiration comes from the things around me that I love or that I find visually stimulating. Anything from a movie scene to a nice blog layout.
8. Five adjectives that describe you as a person.
Creative, thoughtful, independent, focused, curious
9. What's on your list of goals in this field?
My only goal is to work on constantly improving and expanding my digital scrapbooking skills.
10. Hobbies and interests?
My main hobbies are dog training, photography, and digital scrapbooking. My interests would be art, architecture, gardening, and reading.
Here are my three favorite layouts. On the first two I really love the combination of clustering combined with an extracted photo. The third layout is one of my favorites because I spent hours tinting the elements to give a cohesive night time look to the scene and it turned out really nicely.
Dawn has created a freebie for you today -- a lovely cluster frame from Royal Romance.
Friday, March 18, 2011
CSD Blog Train is Here & CSD QP Freebies
Take a ride on the train and collect each portion of this mega kit.
You're here at StarSongStudio and your next stop will be Kakleidesigns. Karen is an amazing designer so once you look around here and collect the freebies on my blog, jump on the train and head on over. The download for the blog train is at the end of this post but I've been posting freebies all week for the CSD quick page contest, so make sure you check out my CU and PU freebies before you leave.
If for any reason you hit a bump in the rails, the complete list of blog train participants is below. Please remember, that participants are on different time zones and might not yet have posted their part when you first visit.
BLOG LIST:
Star Song Studio
http://starsongstudio.blogspot.com/
Kakleideisgns
http://kakleidesigns.blogspot.com
Cocotounette
http://cocoscrapbook.blogspot.com
Created by Jill
http://createdbyjillscraps.blogspot.com/
MaChabine
http://m-creationsscrap.blogspot.com/
EMS Arts
http://emsarts.blogspot.com/
Chili Designz
http://chilidesignzz.blogspot.com
Snickerdoodle Designs by Karen
http://snickerdoodledesignsbykaren.com/
PrettyJu
http://prettyjuscrap.blogspot.com/
Nydia's Scraps
http://mis-myscraps.blogspot.com/
Addies Designs
http://coolscrapbook.blogspot.com/
byMurielle
http://bymuriellescrapdigital.blogspot.com/
Amanda & Millie Desings
http://sewretrosoyou.com
Junkin' Punkin
http://digitaljunqueemporium.blogspot.com/
*Adeyeo*
http://adeyeo.blogspot.com/
Connies Digi Pages*
http://conniesdigipages.blogspot.com
Pmarie
http://petitemariedesigns.blogspot.com/
Here is my portion:
And you can download it here:
And be sure to check out the CoolScrapsDigital Quick Page Contest now underway. 26 talented scrappers have signed up to create quick pages with the StarSongStudio and MorningSunDesigns collaborative kit, Royal Romance.
They will be competing for a $10 gift certificate. But you're the winner in this contest as you get to collect all of their quick pages for free. They would make a wonderful album. Each participant is posting a preview and a download link here:
And the kit is currently on sale here for 40% off.
And as I mentioned before, click on my previous posts for freebies coordinated with the Royal Romance kit. I have both CU and PU freebies and more to come. So stop back again this weekend.
The StarSongStudio Dog has a CU Freebie for You
This is our third in the series of interviews with the people who are helping to make StarSongStudio a success. Today our interview is with a dog rather than a person.
Hi, Vinnie. It's nice to be interviewing you today. But we're a bit puzzled why a dog is part of the StarSongStudio team. What role do you play?
Well I have a lot of important functions. I provide on-going comic relief when things get a bit crazy. I force people to take a break from the computer even when they don't want to. But my main role is as a photographer's model. I've had this role since I was 9 weeks old so I've had a lot of practice. You can see me in a lot of layouts.
Do you enjoy being a model?
Well it's a lot of work but I do get occasional treats. It's really okay except when they dress me in dorky outfits. I think this might qualify as animal abuse. I really need to research that.
How do you plan to research it? Do you use the computer?
Oh yes. I was really active on the keyboard when I was a puppy but I got yelled at a lot so I'm on line less now. I used to insert a lot of my own greetings into instant messages (xlle.do13lln dldyldodloy3e3ll) but people rarely took the time to answer me. I'm hoping some people will leave comments here for me today. I'd like to find out what their favorite kind of treats are. I like chicken best.
When you're not working, what do you do?
Well, I'm always working. I'm a lap dog by profession. You can't imagine how hard it is to get people to sit still so you can do your job properly. That's one of the reasons I love photoshop so much. Clemens and Ann sit still for hours now. And I do a great job of role modeling how to take a great nap. I also have to run around and fetch the ball a lot for them so they can have fun playing ball. It's a lot of work keeping people entertained.
Do you have any scrapbooking tips for our audience today?
Forget the dorky outfits in your photoshoots. And definitely no hats or sunglasses.
And do you have a freebie for our fine readers?
I do and here it is!
CU FREEBIE
Vinnie is giving you four beautiful vintage spring papers, all 12" x 12" and created at 300 dpi. These papers are CU with no credit required.
You can download them here:
Vinnie sends apologies to all of you who tried to download and had problems with the link. I just redid the link and downloaded twice with no problems so it should be good to go.
Vinnie sends apologies to all of you who tried to download and had problems with the link. I just redid the link and downloaded twice with no problems so it should be good to go.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Another Interview and a Cluster Frame Freebie
This week, I'm introducing a few of the people who have come together to help me bring StarSongStudio to the next level.
Today, I'm thrilled to introduce the person who made this blog such a delight to behold: Rebecca known on line as Alejas did the blog design. She's totally flexible and willing to do as much or as little of the total job as you need. In my case, I needed everything. So she choose the kit she felt would work best from my store (Royal Romance) and started in, checking with me each step of the way. When she gave me the okay to get online and see the finished product, I literally gasped. Those of you who visited this blog site before she arrived know what a magical transformation it was. You can get to know her a bit here in this interview but then head on over to her blog and see her blog, layouts and kits she has designed and see what a truly talented lady she is.
1. Rebecca, how did you get started in digital design and scrapbooking?
I went about this sort of backwards. I wanted to make a video for my mom for Mother's Day. I made a page for her video and it was terrible but everyone loved the video so I vowed to do better on the next one. The best way to improve was to practice so I started making pages for my husbands family album. The word "addicted" seems overused but alas, it is what happened.
2. What do you like best about the world of digital scrapping? least?
I love leaving comments in the galleries. When I feel a bit down (which isn't very often but it does happen) the best medicine is to hit a gallery and just go crazy. I don't pass a layout. Sometimes I set a goal to comment on a certain number and sometimes I set the timer to see how many comments I can leave in 10 minutes. I can't help but smile as I'm leaving comments.
Least? Looking at a gallery and seeing that a page has been viewed 13 times but no one has left a comment. It must be the Mia (my grandma name) in me. Seriously, how hard can it be to find something positive about a page. We're all guilty of "dump and run" sometimes but that should be the exception, not the rule.
3. You're a versatile scrapper. You are on CT teams, do quality control for stores, design kits as well as design blogs. Which one of these is nearest and dearest to your heart?
I love them all but for different reasons. Being on Creative Teams allows me to experience working with different styles (sometimes very different). I love Quality Control because it is "instant gratification". I QC a kit and cross it off my list. The kit designing is new and I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my business partner, Just Creations. She is the artist. I just take what she gives me and put my "twist" on it. The blog design falls into that instant gratification category as well. I love seeing a blog that is plain or is using one of the blogger templates turn into a true representation of the individual.
4. When you're not scrapping (and based on the list above, I'm not sure when that would be) what do you do?
My husband and I have 12 grandkids and our first (it's really his because I'm not old enough for this) great-granddaughter arrived on New Year's Day. There is always something going on. If I have to leave the computer, my favorite thing to do is 4-wheeling in the mountains in Colorado. I love being outside but it's just too hot in Texas.
5. How would you describe your scrappingstyle and your designing style?
Traditional definitely comes easiest and warm colors are what "call to me" from the stores but I try and stretch myself because I've learned to love the fantasy styles too.
6. Are there any emerging styles or trends in scrapbooking that you especially like?
In the beginning I wouldn't even consider using a template and I didn't care for the pages with lots of white space. Templates are a staple for me now. It took a while for me to figure out that you don't have to use is as it is. You can get just as creative with a template as you can with a kit. Now, I almost always start with a template.
7. Your blog designs are exquisite. Any tips or suggestions for people doing their own blogs? What do you feel really makes a blog stand out?
I think your blog should be a representation of your style just like the clothes in your closet or the way your home is decorated. It's the first look someone gets and it helps them determine if they want to stay or not.
As for tips, if you know what to do and can do it quickly, then go for it. However, if you've put it off because you DON'T know what to do or you've spent hours on it and you're still not happy then you should hire someone; especially if it's a blog you use to promote your business.
In this business, your blog needs to represent YOUR style. For some that's busy and full of graphics and for others it could be a more clean look. If you post often and your content is always changing then it might be better to go with less on the design so people don't get distracted. The most important thing is to make it "kind" on the eyes. If you choose a font that is too close to the background it makes it hard for people to read and they won't stay long.
8. Where do you get your inspiration?
Color! Colors speak to me.
9. Five adjectives that describe you as a person.
Honest
Silly
Stern
Tenacious
Sensitive
And in continued celebration of the Quick Page contest at CoolScrapsDigital featuring the very Royal Romance kit that Alejas used to decorate this blog, here is a cluster frame. The frame is designed with the elements from the kit.
To download your freebie click here:
And if you don't already have this kit, you can purchase it this week at 40% off at Coolscrapsdigital.com:
And I hope you'll be back tomorrow. We'll have another freebie available and here's a sneak peek of our next interview: StarSongStudio's own Vinnie:
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- Ann
- Pennsylvania, United States
- I'm a scrapbook addict. I've been involved with digital scrapabooking since July 2009, when my daughter introduced me to her favorite hobby. When I'm not scrapbooking (hmm, when exactly is that?), I'm enjoying life with my family including my two daughters and two grandsons, my husband Clemens and my Cavalier Spaniel, Vinnie. My hobbies include photography, reading, biking, and hiking.
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6:51 AM | 
Posted by Ann
