Tag Archives: freebies

Starting All Over….Again!

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Once again, I have changed the way my blog is handled, as far as domain and hosting, etc. I just applied my own domain, suruha.com, to this WordPress blog. It costs, in addition to the domain ownership fee, but, it will be worth it.

For now, I am just getting the blog up and running under my domain name. All of the old posts will be archived as the links are no longer valid with my old host. Even the photos have gone awry! LOL I know so little about this stuff.

I plan to repost the freebies, the ones that I think are worth it, on a designated page. Then, as I post new goodies, they, too, will be added. What this will mean for you, my precious reader, is you have a choice! For anyone who is interested in what I have to say, read the posts. Folks who don’t care for the ramblings of this ol’ hippie chick, just skip on past to the downloads! I do not mind that at all!

My ‘Lists’ of resources have been here and there, between blog/host changes, but, I am working on those, as well. There’s nothing more aggravating, to me, at least, than a page full of links to resources that is out-dated or incorrect. Be patient. I just updated the ‘Blinkies and Banners’ page.  That is to say that the blinkies that are there all go to the sites designated. I will add more recent blinkies as my interests have broadened and new ones have replaced some of the old interests.  The ‘Resources’ page is yet to be updated, but, the links are there. Many of them are still good since these are the ‘diehard go-to’ sites even now.  Same thing with the ‘Links – Stock’ page.  I also plan to add an ‘Art Journal’ page with links to some great resources and tutorials. I used to have a page for it on another edition of this blog, but, I have no idea where it went! LOL

I adore digital art! And, Photoshop(PS)! I cut my teeth on PS by joining the digi-scrapbooking community. The people on those sites and forums are some of the nicest and most helpful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. It is an awesome community! I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt or fear of contradiction, that they taught me the most about the craft!  As I got to know my way around PS, I gave away the goodies that I had made while practicing. Some are, well, less than ‘good’ies! LOL  As time went on, I started trying to find a way to translate my art, any art, into digital. I love fantasy, folk, hand-painted, photo-manipulating and collage arts!  I like to see actual hand-made art, only in digital format. As I ventured into new things, I encountered Art Journaling. If you’ve ever kept a journal or a diary, that is what it is, only you do it with art.  You can add journaling text to the art, but, either way, the process of creating a piece is as therapeutic as the writing! If the writing is personal, I can cover it up, or turn off that layer before posting.

In the past year or so, I have worked at creating resources for one to use in their own art or art journaling. I have made brushes, patterns, textures, overlays, gosh – all kinds of stuff! I will start posting that stuff and giving it away to anyone who may be interested. My old format on past blogs was to post some tutorials on topics that I liked or felt would be helpful to others. Those will return! For all the help I received from other people whilst learning PS and digital art, I want to offer my expertise in any way possible. Karma is a value I live by – you get back what you put forth.  I want to give back and this is the place I intend to do that!

I do hope you will come back and visit. I will put a sign-up form back in place so you can get updates by e-mail, if you feel it is what you would like!

Meanwhile, thank you for coming here and do come again. Oh, and…

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SMILE!

Su

New Blog – Finally! Freebies and Links

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Hiya!  I made it!  Welcome to my new blog!  This one is mine!  LOL  I am using the WP plug-in, but, the hosting is done right here.  No more going to Minus or Box!  I am new to this concept, so, be patient with me, as you have already done.  I appreciate it!  Be sure to check out Hosting Bonanza if you would like to have your own site!  My friend, J, did all the set up for me and I couldn’t be more pleased!  I still need to transfer over my ‘resource’ pages, but, I will.  Every one of my posts from both, Blogger and WordPress, have been added to this blog, so, this one is complete!

I have lots for you today.  First off, I have been promising you some new links for good things.  I have some for you!  If you love pretty and colourful patterns, check out InkBite.  Here is quite the selection!  Here is just one of these gorgeous designs:

See what I mean?  It’s a nice site, so, do give it a click!

Next up is Animus.  There, you will find some of everything – design-wise, anyway.  At first look, it seemed that there was not that much content.  Then, when I clicked on the menu items, patterns, then, floral, in particular, it took me to a page like this:

Each of the circle previews can be clicked to see a larger preview and to download.  You can see the list of patterns offered.  It is about the same for brushes, fonts, even clip-art.  Go give it a whirl!  I think you’ll like!

This next site is one on DeviantArt, The Strawberry Tree.  This site is aimed at providing stock images for manipulations.  It has some great images!  If you do any kind of art or image-manipulating, this one is a jewel!  I’ll let you check it out.  Do follow any TOU’s, of course.

This one, e-Scape and Scrap, is for scrapping.  I had never seen it before!  There is a great selection of designers here!  I don’t know what it is about this site, but, I loved everything!  LOL  That doesn’t happen often, either.  I picked just one of the offered freebies to show you, but, there is a lot more!

See?  Check it out!

The last link today is SDWHaven.  This site is a design-oriented website which leans towards illustration.  It has been around a while.  There are some wonderful brushes, patterns, styles, etc, here.  Here is just one brush preview:

The offerings are good quality!  Give it a try, too!

Alrighty, then!  Those should keep ya busy for a little while.  Onward!

Did You Know…?

that in some versions of Photoshop, you can change the brush size and the opacity by holding down the ‘Alt’ key, then, clicking and dragging the mouse?  Click and drag right and left to change the size, up and down to change the opacity.  I know this feature is available in CS5 and CS6. I am not sure about PS Elements.  It won’t hurt to try if you have another version!  I like it as it keep my hands on the keyboard around the area where I do the most key-strokes – the lower left-hand corner of the keyboard.  To me, that is nice!  LOL   I hope someone can find this useful!

Keystroke Shortcut

For our keystroke shortcut of the week, let’s use all of our fingers!  LOL  By depressing all three modifier keys, ‘Alt’, ‘Shift’ and ‘Ctrl’, then, ‘E’, while on the top-most layer of your layers panel, it will create and place a composite image of every layer on top of them all.  This is best explained with an image.  Say you have several layers created.  You don’t want to merge them or flatten them as you may have to make some changes.  However, you really want to add an effect to the finished design.  This is where this shortcut comes in handy.  I threw together an image to illustrate this:

Looking at the Layers Palette, we see the layers we have:

Now, I want to clip a texture to the entire image, but, I don’t want to merge.  So, I hold down all three modifiers and click ‘E’.  You must be on the top-most layer to do this and get the entire image.  If you only have one layer, for some reason, you can just add a new layer, select it, then apply this feature.  There just has to be more than one layer and you have to be on the the top layer.  If there is a layer you don’t want included, just turn it off!  Easy-peasy!  Here is the Layers Palette after applying this step:

Now, I can go ahead and do whatever I want to the image and the layers aren’t affected.  It is a bit of a trick clicking on all three keys plus the ‘E’, but, it is worth it.  I use this almost every time I am on Photoshop.  I find lots of reasons I want various layers combined, yet still separate.

So, that is a gonna do it for this post!  I have a surprise for you!  Call it a ‘Welcome Gift’ if you like, but, I have some element sheets I forgot to give you from ‘Summer Fun’.  Oops! Click on each image for larger sizes, then, right-click and save!

Citrus Slices

Summer Signs

Tropical Fruits

Whew!  LOL  I hope you have found something useful here today!  I am so excited to have all of my blog together in one place!  Woo-hoo!  LOL

I am out of here!  There is another afternoon thunderstorm brewing.  I have to turn off everything.  I’m not replacing all that stuff again!  Cha-ching!(Sound of cash register)  So, until next time,

Smile Pretty!

Hugs,

Su

‘April Showers’ Freebie Collage Sheets

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Since I am such a sentimental ol’ fool, I wrote on last post over at my Blogger blog with the last freebies to be offered at that site – three(3) collage sheets.  These are the smaller elements that go with this month’s collaboration with Miss Edna’s Place.  Be sure to visit there to collect the three sheets.

http://www.suruha-freespirit.com

Here is a little preview:

Next Monday, do come back here for the final parts of this pretty kit.

Thank you!

Su