Month: December 2012

I’m thrilled to be welcoming Kimeric Kreations to The Digi Files for the first time! Kimeri has a traditional shabby design style that includes the weathered and worn look on papers and elements. She has the unique ability to create with bright colors in the shabby style and those collections are some of my favorites! Her contribution this month has a little twist on the tradition Christmas colors that my team found fun to work with! Let’s take a closer look at “Winterberry” that is included in The Digi Files this month:

This is ONE of SEVEN collections you get when you become a member of The Digi Game this month. You also get an interactive Playbook (in PDF and iBooks formats) that has lots of ideas for using the supplies including techniques, tips, and tricks! All of that, including access to exclusive collaborations every four months you are a member, for only $7.50 total per month!
Here are some layouts created using Kimeric Kreations’s contribution:

Layout by Jacki. Supplies: Winterberry by Kimeric Kreations.

Layout by Heddy. Supplies: Winterberry by Kimeric Kreations; Easy Breezy Part 11 (template) by Busy Bee.

Layout by Katie. Supplies: Winterberry by Kimeric Kreations; Simple Squares (template) by Scrapbook Lady; Fonts: Adobe Casion Pro.

Layout by Sula. Supplies: Winterberry by Kimeric Kreations; Fonts: DJB Mary Magpie.

Layout by Kimberly K. Supplies: Winterberry by Kimeric Kreations; Butterfly Kisses (staple) by Vicki Stegall; Fonts: Playful, Another Typewriter.

You can see more layouts created with this kit on our “Team Inspiration” page.

I’m Kim, from the Upper Mississippi Valley region of southwestern Wisconsin. My other half is Eric (hence “Kimeric”), the love of my life. I have 4 grown children, and one beautiful granddaughter whom I adore.

I’ve held a variety of jobs in my lifetime – I owned and operated an antiques/craft shop, did some secretarial work, ran an American Legion clubhouse for 10 years where I learned how to deal with people VERY quickly! I was also a paramedic for 20 years, and because of that ended up working in an Emergency Room for quite a while. Now, I get to stay home and design full time! My other hobbies include diggin’ in the dirt (I love to garden!), quilting, candle making and cooking. I also love to curl up with a good book or watch old movies with Eric.

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I love scrapping photo’s of our yard and gardens….our flowers….and did this layout to show our gardens this year. We had a horrible summer – hot and no rain for months. Eric faithfully watered everything through those months, and this LO celebrates our bumper crop that was the result! I don’t do alot of multi-photo layouts, but I had a new template pack to play with that called for lots of photo’s and thought I would try it out. I’m on the Creative Team for Sherwood Studio (also at the Digichick) , and Julie had a new kit to scrap with that was perfect for what I had in mind. I just love the way the entire thing flows together – and while there is a lot to see, it’s not necessarily cluttered. I’m not the best with shadows, but did a darn good job on this one!

I’ve always kept journals, but nothing fancy…just spiral notebooks with notes, doodles, newspaper clippings, photos. I never realized this was any type of “scrapbooking.” I always thought scrapbooks were those vinyl covered books with places to insert photo’s in plastic pockets! I was doing some web design work about 5 years ago for a local company, and was searching for images on the net when I stumbled upon a few digital scrapbooking sites. I was immediately drawn to the design work I was seeing, and thought, “Hey, I can do that!” and dove right in. I had never even done a digital layout before – so went looking for “instructions” and information on how these kits were made and what went into them. I haven’t stopped since. In 2009 I joined a few Creative Teams to gain more experience with layouts, and to help develop my design skill. It helped me more than anything!

Color first. Music second. All I have to do is walk outside for inspiration! We live on a ridge…almost at the top. At the bottom of the road to our place is the Wisconsin River. On the sides facing east and west are hayfields and cornfields…and to the north is the ridgetop – a densely wooded area filled with color in every season. Nature is all around us here. I love working with color, drawing palette’s from scenic photograph’s we have taken. There is always music playing when I design. ALWAYS. There have been many times that an entire kit’s mood is designed around the music I’m listening to. I grew up in the ’70’s when music was MUSIC, and its still what I listen to most. There is always inspiration around me!

Computer: I have a Gateway 1.5 TB PC with 8 GB of RAM running with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OS. I use a single 23″ monitor. I no longer use an EHD after losing almost everything I had when one died last year, so I back up everything to both CD and DVD as well as online storage.
Program: Unlike most designers, I use Paint Shop Pro almost exclusively. I have versions 9 – 14, but find myself always using version 9. It’s my fav! I recently broke down (caved in?) and purchased Photoshop Elements 10, as I wanted to try styles to see what ‘all the fuss was about’. I also use Xara Design Pro and my Bamboo for drawing, and Artrage for glitters.
Camera: Just a plain old ordinary Kodak point and shoot. Eric has a Nikon 35mm that he breaks out once in a while – but its old…and the picture quality isn’t that great anymore. I’ve been trying to talk him into a new fancy one with some good lenses…but until the old ones kick the bucket – we will use what we have.
Anything Else: Just my Bamboo tablet.

I don’t have alot of tips or tricks (at least I don’t think I do?) – but one invaluable thing I’ve learned is to scrap with my own products. If I can’t scrap a page with it, no one else will be able to either! I create my preview as I’m designing so I can ‘see’ if the pieces work together…if that flow is there. I can’t begin to tell you how many pieces have hit the trash bucket – if it doesn’t initially work, nothing I can do with it will change that basic fact. One thing I do know is that if something isn’t initially working – set it aside. The next time you look at it – it will be with a fresh viewpoint, and I’ve found that some of my best work has come from that new perspective.

This was a tough one – – I love all my kits for different reasons. But this one is just so bright and happy – just the way a summer kit should be! It was inspired by my own CT gals – one of them requested a kit for photo’s from a balloon race..and the rest of the team chimed in with suggestions on what could be included…and Good Old Summertime was born! I make alot of kits based on suggestions from my Creative team, and everyone of them is special for that reason.

I think its the color palette in Market Square that drew people to it…not sure, but that would be my guess? I developed the palette from a photo of an open air summer market we had taken last year. It was filled with color and a festive atmosphere. It just made a wonderful set of colors to work with – and a very versatile kit to scrap with!

Here are some of my favorite products by Kimeric Kreations:

Here are some more inspirational layouts using Kimeric Kreations’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.

Save 35% off Kimeric Kreations’s store with coupon code kimeric_DDtake35 (one use per customer, expires Jan. 31st, 2013).
Go have a look in Kimeric Kreations’s store! We will randomly select a winner from the comments to win $10.00 in product from her store! (Comments must be posted before midnight EST to qualify)!

I instantly fell in love with Polka Dot Pixels designs! I adore her wide style from art journaling to a strong retro vibe! She does a great job of pulling retro together through her papers, elements, and fantastic word art! I am very happy to have Emily joining us for the first time in The Digi Files! I can really relate to a lot of what she says in her interview and bet you will too! But first, let’s take a closer look at “Christmas Past” that is included in The Digi Files this month:

This is ONE of SEVEN collections you get when you become a member of The Digi Game this month. You also get an interactive Playbook (in PDF and iBooks formats) that has lots of ideas for using the supplies including techniques, tips, and tricks! All of that, including access to exclusive collaborations every four months you are a member, for only $7.50 total per month!

Here are some layouts created using Polka Dot Pixels’s contribution:

Layout by Jacki. Supplies: Christmas Past by Emily Abramson – Polka Dot Pixels.

Layout by Trina. Supplies: Christmas Past by Emily Abramson – Polka Dot Pixels.

Layout by Ronnie. Supplies: Christmas Past by Emily Abramson – Polka Dot Pixels.

You can see more layouts created with this kit on our “Team Inspiration” page.

My name is Emily Abramson, Owner/Designer of Polka Dot Pixels. I live in Memphis, Tennessee, with my husband of 30 years, Larry. I have two daughters, Sara 26 and Katie 23. I work outside of the home, every other week, for a large food company in purchasing. I have had this schedule for ten years and it is perfect for my love of design and travel and dislike for working for “the man”. 🙂

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I don’t have much time for personal creativity, outside of my designing, which breaks my heart and makes me feel like an underachiever when it comes to being an expected ambassador for Digital Scrapbooking. I recently fell in love with art journaling and decided that I was going to be more committed to creating personal projects in addition to my work. This particular project was so much fun for me, as well as a means by which to express myself. It is not my greatest project, by any means, but it is one that is near to my heart. In fact, I have it framed in my office. It really says it all about my life and how I feel most of the time…overwhelmed and moving in a million directions at once, getting nowhere in the process. What a great art form with which to be creative and pour your soul onto a page. I would like to say that I have accomplished the goal of creating more for myself, but unfortunately, I still find it difficult to find the extra time. But, that is okay…my work is creative and I love it, and that is all that matters.

Credits: Public Domain images from the internet and Photoshop

My history will definitely show my age. I was given my first PC at work in 1982, and was told that I needed to learn to use it. I thought to myself, what is this thing and why do I want one? I became a computer junkie and wanted to learn everything I could. So, I listened and watched the other IT geeks and taught myself everything I needed to know. I bought my first home PC in 1985…an IBM PC XT. Yes, I had floppies. No pun intended. Oh…And if I had been smart back in the day, I would be wealthy. I created a Lotus spreadsheet that did our taxes for us. Granted, it was very basic, but just think, if I had a bit of vision, I could have invented TaxCut or TurboTax. Bah. If you have a good idea…act on it.

My scrapbooking portfolio is a bit embarrassing. Yes, I was a paper scrapbooker before starting to scrap digitally, but more specifically, a scrap supply hoarder. I shopped more than I scrapped. Once I began designing for digital, I started scrapping more but not as much as I should. I am ashamed of myself for being such a slacker. But, I bet I have the best collection of supplies you have ever seen!

I started designing for web about ten years ago, when my daughter’s high school asked me to maintain a website for them. I taught myself to use Frontpage and enjoyed it so much, I started doing websites and blogs for family and friends. That is how I stumbled upon digital scrapbooking. I thought…Hey! I can do that!! I started out with my own little blog, where I offered freebies, just for fun. I opened my first online shop in 2008, which mostly served the blogging world, but I branched out and began designing for the digital scrapper in 2009.  I have been designing for Two Peas in a Bucket since September of 2010.

It is amazing how your world changes when all you think about is design. I have to touch everything I see. I examine font choices on television and in print. When I am at my job, I look at product packaging in a whole new light. I began to collect vintage ephemera, years ago, when I was paper scrapping. It is an obsession. I think the greatest source of inspiration lately, for me, is Pinterest. I cannot get enough of the beauty and gorgeousness that comes across my feed every day. It is amazing. Maybe that is because I follow designers and creative types who have great taste and design sense. I think that Pinterest inspires us all to dress better, cook more, be better parents and friends, and get the most out of this life.

Computer: I have a Macbook with 8G of RAM, updated so that I can maintain 20 windows open at the same time. 🙂 I have a Mac Mini as well, but gave it to my husband because I just recently purchased a 27 inch cinema display which I dock my macbook to…it is brilliant! Best thing EVER!

Program: Adobe Creative Suite 6 – Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
ArtRage Pro

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel
Fujifilm XP
iPhone – my favorite

Anything Else: Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet

My philosophy on any kind of scrapping is this… There are no rules when it comes to preserving your personal memories or creating in general. Do what makes you happy, because that is ultimately why you do it. Oh and one word…MAC.

My favorite product is my Penmanship collection. I have a thing about ledger papers. Again, part of my love for all things old and vintage. This is a collection put together using ledgers, fonts and ephemera, celebrating my love for these type of elements. The color scheme is one of my favorites…I cannot seem to keep away from it.

My most popular kit is the Collage Craft kit. It contains an eclectic mix of ephemera and distressed vintage elements and papers. I think that vintage and shabby elements are very popular and this kit has a little bit of everything. The color scheme just grew organically as I was adding elements to it. I love creating those kind of kits, that take on a life of their own and basically design themselves.

Here are some of my favorite products by Polka Dot Pixels:

Here are some more inspirational layouts using Polka Dot Pixels’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.

Go have a look in Polka Dot Pixels’s store! We will randomly select a winner from the comments to win $10.00 in product from her store! (Comments must be posted before midnight EST to qualify)!