I love bright colors and always get excited when I find a designer that uses bold tones and a lot of them! Wishing Well Creations is one of these designers! I also love her patterned papers and that she includes several staples in each collection (dots, stripes, etc.). I adore the whimisical, almost childlike feel of her collections! I was thrilled when I saw Wishhing Well Creations contribution to this month’s Digi Files and am sure you will be too! Let’s take a closer look at “Malihini” 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 Wishing Well Creations’s contribution:
Layout by Karen. Supplies: Malihini by Wishing Well Creations; Amy Martin They Once Were Layouts template.
Layout by Jacki. Supplies: Malihini by Wishing Well Creations.
Layout by Heddy. Supplies: Malihini by Wishing Well Creations; Template 256 (modified) by Yin Designs; Doodle Alpha action by Krystal Hartley and WendyZine.
Layout by Jenn. Supplies: Malihini by Wishing Well Creations; Fonts: Haphazard and Just The Way You Are.
Layout by Katie. Supplies: Malihini by Wishing Well Creations; Fonts: Billabong.
You can see more layouts created with this kit on our “Team Inspiration” page.
My name is Laura Passage, but my design name is Wishing Well Creations. I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan but am currently smack in the middle of moving 2000+ miles across country with my family to Salem, Oregon (like right now, as I type this! LOL). I am married to my college sweetheart, who I met almost exactly 20 years ago… and we have two little boys (age 4-1/2 and 2-1/2) who we love more than anything in the world, even though they *are* tiny terrorists who do crazy, frustrating things on a constant and consistent basis. 
STORE
BLOG
I created this layout last summer when I hosted a scrap challenge at TDC. I had always wanted to do an “all about me” layout, and had so much fun doing this “37 at 37″ project… 37 things I had done in my (then-) 37 years. A year later, it’s still one of my favorite projects because it captured so many things about my life that won’t want to forget about in the decades to come.
I’ve always recorded my memories in scrapbooks, ever since I was a kid (my earliest scrapbooks date back to middle school, I think?). I paper-scrapped before my kids were born, but after my first son arrived I ran out of time to do it the way I wanted it to be done… so it slipped onto my “to do someday when I have time” list. You know that list? It’s the worst! So much guilt goes along with that list. After my youngest was born in 2009, I stumbled across digital scrapbooking while researching a project for one of my web clients (my background is in web development), and I never looked back. I started designing things for myself almost right away, as I had already been scanning and extracting things for web projects and photo books for years beforehand (I just hadn’t known that digital scrapbooking itself existed… but once I found it, I was hooked!). After a while, the items I made for myself started to fill up my hard drive, so I opened my own personal shop and sold things there until I landed at The Digichick a few months later. I’ve been there ever since (and I also sell my commercial use products at Sugar Hill Company).
Usually the first inspiration comes from color. Most of my ideas come from color palettes I stumble across in everyday life. Once, I was with my kids at our local library’s family storytime when I saw a cute little girl with an adorable floral sundress… and I went home and re-created the palette and created one of my favorite kits later that week (“Brady’s Room”).
Computer: Lately, I’ve been doing almost all of my designing on my laptop, because I can work from anywhere (and we’re moving, and life is crazy!). I’ve got a Gateway NV73 that’s a few years old (and runs Windows 7), but has an awesome (and big!) monitor — 17.3 inches, I think? — and 4GB of RAM. I use a wireless mouse, or I’d go crazy trying to design using the laptop’s touchpad… and here’s the real “fancy” technical part of my setup — I use one of my 2-year old’s big Sesame Street board books as a “table” for my mousepad when I am sitting on the couch while working. LOL! I also have an Epson Scanner and a Canon T2i DSLR camera that I use to scan/photograph elements and textures.
Program: I have Adobe’s entire CS5 suite, and while I do use that version of Photoshop quite a bit, I also find that I end up doing a good deal of my designing in PSE8 — mainly because it’s what I scrap in, usually, and so it’s often open on my computer already. I get too lazy to switch back and forth between PSE and PS, so I have found all sorts of workarounds for PSE that allow me to extend its capabilities.
Camera: I have a Canon T2i DSLR, and an older Canon Powershot that I carry in my purse for the candid everyday moments my kids always create when I don’t have the “real” camera with me. I have also started using my phone’s camera a lot in the past 6 months, just to make sure I’m capturing the everyday stuff.
Anything Else: I have a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet that I used to use all the time, but it has fallen into hardware cocoon in recent months. Hopefully after we move and I set up my new office, I’ll remember I have it and start using it again more regularly. I kinda miss it.
Hmm, let’s see. Well, one of my favorite tips/tricks is a method to make sure that your journaling/text looks realistic when added to a layout. Usually when you first type text onto a page, it looks “digital” because it’s so flat. To make it look like it was actually written (or typed/stamped/etc.) onto a sheet of paper, I usually do one of two things. Sometimes to achieve a stamped or typed look, I’ll use a distressing brush to erase little bits of the text. I have a whole arsenal of brushes I use (some of my favorites are from Just Jaimee at SugarHillco). To make handwritten fonts look more realistic, I do the following: place the text layer directly above the paper layer they’re supposed to be “written” onto… duplicate the paper layer and move the copy above the text layer… clip the copied paper layer onto the text layer, and change the blending (usually “soft light” works well… but I play around w/ the blending mode depending on the paper/text color, etc.). This adds some texture to the text layer, and makes it look like the grain of the paper can be seen through the text. So much more realistic! It’s a subtle difference, but looks great when/if the layout is printed.
I’ve always loved this kit, even before I created it. For a year or more, I envisioned it every time I walked into my oldest son’s bedroom… from his sheets (that look very much like the patterned vehicle paper in the kit) to the artwork I painted on his walls (various cars/trucks/etc.)… it just all seemed like it *needed* to be made into a kit. I finally got around to it this past January, and I just love how it turned out. It’s so cheerful and fun, and it always makes me smile.
Brady’s Room has always been a popular product, even today (almost a year after it was first released). It was inspired by my youngest son’s bedroom, and I think its appeal probably has to do with the fact that it’s so gender-neutral and can be used for both babies and kids, digital scrapping or hybrid projects, boys or girls, etc. When I created it, the hope was that people would be able to use it to create entire albums that were coordinated without feeling boring.
Here are some of my favorite products by Wishing Well Creations:
Here are some more inspirational layouts using Wishing Well Creations’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.
CODE: WWCDailyDigiYay
Save 40% off any purchase from Wishing Well Creations’s store at TDC during the month of August 2012 (expires 8/31/2012).
Go have a look in Wishing Well Creations’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)!
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Great Kit glad i joined in time to grab it.
Gorgeous kit…
I love the use of saturated colors. The not-quite-solid color gives the papers a lot of depth. Beautiful!
Gorgeous colors! Will definitely be using on some of my Hawaii layouts!!!
I just wanted to comment again as I forgot to say thanks for the generous coupon. I just picked up a few drool-worthy items at a great price. This generous coupon took an additional discount off the current site-wide sale. THANK you so very much! I’ll be back. : )
Love the colours!
I love this new designer! Great colours, all her kits are so cheerful! Thank you for the coupon and the chance to win
Love Owen’s room and I can’t wait to use the Malihini Kit with some of my Jimmy Buffett concert photos. Thanks!
Love her kits. Does she design for Jillibean soup? The tie paper looks like one of their printed papers.
Thank you for the inspiring Hawaii scraps … now I dont have any excuse for not creating my scrapbook pages. Thanks for your great artistic work!
I love that all of Laura’s kits seem so happy. Thank you, Laura, for the great tip and very generous coupon! And thanks TDD for the chance to win!
I gravitate to bright colors as well, so I absolutely love Wishing Well Creations’ kits. So many that I could use…
I think I’ve found a new favorite designer, thanks to TDD! The colors are so vibrant and bright…so fun for layouts about kids or anything really! I love her Christmas theme kits on her site, too. Will definitely be spending some $ there soon, whether or not I win the $10!
I am absolutely IN LOVE with her designs! Crossing my fingers and toes to win the gift certificate! =) Thanks so much for this contribution to the Daily Digi this month!
I’ve been a fan of Wishing Well Creations since I first found Laura’s designs a few months ago. Since that time, I’ve bought numerous kits, but she’s always got something new that I love. I like everything about her products, from the colors and the kits themselves to the “packaging.”
Just love the Owen’s Room kit. Great colors.
love your kits. I was so excited to see you part of the Digi Files this month.
Look how cute these kits are! Awesome. Thanks.
Thanks for introducing me to a “new-to-me” designer. Malihini is far and away my favorite kit from this month’s files. We lived in Hawaii for three years (1980-83). I have yet to scrap those years, and this kit will be perfect for it. I enjoyed the interview, and I am anxious to try her tip for making journaling looking more authentic. Thanks so much!
I LOVE your colors! Sorry you are moving from MI – hope your move goes well!
Thank you for the coupon. I like Everyday Life Bundle (Volumes 1, 2 and 3) and I Heart Stars Templates just to name a few. I love the color scheme of TDF contribution….AWESOME!!!!….maybe that’s why I like the Everyday Life Bundles as well. Thanks.
I loved reading this and learning more about my new neighbor!! Hee, hee! Welcome to Oregon, Laura!! (By the way ladies, I had lunch with Laura this week. Jealous?)
I love the colors in all the kits. It’s so great. I was looking for a summer kit and was so excited to see this one in this month’s downloads! It’s so excting the first of every month!
I love the tip! I will have to try that soon. The kit makes me want to take a trip to Hawaii.
I love the ‘Malihini’ kit. I still haven’t scrapped our honeymoon to Hawaii and that was 8 years ago. This would be perfect for it.
So nice to know I’m not the only one with one of those “To do when I have time” lists!
Great tip on the journaling – definitely will try that!
I really liked the bright, happy colors of the Malihini kit. Thanks for the great tip on improving the look of text on a layout, and for the generous coupon to your store.
The summer and picket fences bundles are my favorite.
I’m a big fan of Lauren and Wishing Well Designs.My favorite kit is Brady’s room but I have bought almost everything else in her shop.Thanks for the chance to win.
Love Wishing Well Designs! Her papers always look so real and textured and she has a great sense of color!
Thanks so much for the text texture tip! I will definitely be using that!!
Love these colorful kits!! (I’ll be using that generous 40% off to pick up “Owen’s Room”! Great tips on type, too! Going to try those out soon!
Love her bright colors! Owens room is so cute. Thanks!
I had so much fun with this kit! I think what I like best about Laura’s kits are the patterned papers that “read” as solids, like the florals in this kit. I just love that! And, even though today is the first day of school, I want to go start a layout right this minute to try the text idea. I’ve been wishing for something like this ever since TDD posted “Fonts Don’t Float” (except in PSE lol). Thank you thank you thank you! From Laura’s shop, I loved Owen’s Room, Pinwheel, and Cornucopia. Thanks for a chance to win!
I love her designs, my favorite one is Owens Room. Thank you for the chance to win!
This is a “new to me” designer and I love her kits! So bright and colorful! Thanks for the great coupon and chance to win.
I love the colors in this months kit. So bright and happy. Thanks for the coupon to the store.