Tilt Shift — Blurring the lines

After capturing a sesson of photos, I usually sit down at the computer for a good amount of time editing and adjusting. Well, for those of you that don't have access to Photoshop and can't spend extra $$ on a new lensbaby, but you love the blurring effect that Instagram offers, there is another option called TiltShiftMaker.com. Have a look at my test shots before and afters.

There are loads of options for getting the customization that's right for your shot. Plus, once that's all done you can download a great quality jpeg of the final shot. Here's a peak at the interface.

And if you're looking for some great examples of tilt-shift photography to give you a little inspiration before you get started, have a gander right here.

Fun Graphics - Overlays and Add-Ons to Enhance your Photos

One of my favorite sites for free vector art is VectorStock.com. They sell a great collection of royalty free vector art for next to nothing ($1-$3 per download for a standard license), but they also have a large section of free art. This free floral and bird sketch by Nataliia-Ku inspired me to get creative with some personal photos. I changed up the color palettes to work with my two different photos. I also cropped into the graphics to help frame the subject matter of my photo or highlight some copy. Have a look at the results below.

I also got crafty with a creation by Cinzia Loosemore from Oscraps (on the left) and free flowers from this background vector by vectorstock (on the right). I just love how you can build on the creatiions of others to enhance the tone of your own photos. What fun!

Crazy for Chevron?

Seems like everywhere I turn there is a cute chevron rug, tape, shower curtain or pillow. And, it's just not enough. I want my iphone engulfed in that welcoming wave of wonderful color. And as it heats up outside, I just want to slide my foot into those easy flip flops that dance with zig zag delight.

Well, I'm jumping into the pool. You can download my reinvention of chevron. A little play of varying thickness and subtle color gardients. For your crazy pleasure — find an illustrator file, a PDF and a jpeg.

How to create a free custom monogram or name for a special event

This is a how-to for creating a name logo or monogram with a free font download. It will walk you through font selection and the basic design and type arrangement in Illustrator. Then once you complete your design you can print it on cards, have a stamp made, or whatever you want really!

New Resource - Creative Market

Handcrafted, mousemade. Easy access to fresh design content like icons, brushes, fonts and more. From the creators of COLOURlovers. Get $5 in early access credit and be the first to know when Creative Market launches! 

Oil and Vinegar - a Perfect Pair

My bottles have arrived! I'm so excited because these oil and vinegar bottles from
PaintCreekHill are just perfect. I was able to work with Susan to design just what was needed to work in my kitchen. Have a look at the beautiful work.

Boy Blues

Sometimes there's just no getting around it — you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Well, this past weekend, my little guy was feeling the blues... and all the sunshine in the world couldn't shake 'em!! So instead we embraced them with all these great actions, graphics and fonts. 

First some photos from our walk needed a touch of color adjusting with actions from Manicho. I went with "retro feeling - blueish" (fitting right?). Next a little blur and shadowing, then right into the frame graphics and notecard — a facebook freebie from the Potential design free from Dawn by Design. And to finish our layout off, a little hand scribbled note in Elise font from kevinandamanda.com. Done.

Chevron in Every Shade!

Chevron, Chevron, Chevron and Free, Free, Free! 25 beautiful shades of chevron just waiting for you to get creative.

Download them all here. Thanks to Sprik Space.

And, because everyone seems so chevron crazy these days there is even more:

1. from whoisbexxie.com, a great photoshop download
2. the weddingchicks.com have a super elegant invite design
3. tinysea.net also has a beautiful palette

Monster Bash - Free Art Turned Invite

I started my monster bash design with a little unexpected inspiration — from weddingchicks.com freebies designs. The modern monogram suite is so lovely. That was my starting off point. Next onto the  hero here, free "Little Monster" brushes from pumpkinsandposies.com. They were used to create the  graphic for the party theme — father and son party monsters. Just add to that a few details from the "Happy Birthday" brush set also from pumpkinsandposies.com and one sharp font called scribble box, downloaded from dafont.com, and your favorite color palette. Then go crazy with a custom stamp so you can add the mark to napkins, cupcake toppers, table cloth and party favors! Done.

9 More Valentine Free Goodies & Downloads

The goods: No.1 Paper Heart Garland with downloadable template from Ellinee.com No.2 Valentine’s Day Art Prints from Pizzazzerie.com No.3 Vintage Sweet Heart Free Texture Grab from Insight Designs Blog No.4 DIY Valentine’s Day Brownie Bags from Twig and Thistle.com No.5 Old Style Papers from Far Far Hill No.6 St. Valentine Free Bunting from me, LUXfreebies No.7 DIY freebie: Be my Valentine cupcake flags from hollisampson.com No.8 Be Mine Freebie from The Rubber Punkin No.9 yarn eggs craft from Disney's Family Fun.

St. Valentine Love & Free Bunting

So I'm currently on the hunt — for all things party. Both of my boys are celebrating birthdays next month, and in my search for the right blended theme, I discovered these oh-so-lovely inspiring bunting designs.

Upper left FREE printable paper bunting from A Pair of Pears, upper right washi tape garland for $5 from etsy shop owlanddove (pair that with these super cute striped paper straws and the look it complete), bottom left personalized bunting for $20 from etsy shop bluebirdandviolet, bottom right vintage fabric bunting for $21 from etsy shop AFeteBeckons.

After all this delight I started on a little test... and ended with my own creation for St. Valentine's Day. You can download the FREE printable here and create your own bunting.

How many ways can I say...

...how wonderful The Coffee Shop Blog is!! There is so much info and energy and FREEBIES, oh my:) And my favorite download these days — Frame #14. I'm in love. Not only is it a fab vintage frame (supplied by Lori Peterson), but it will age your image without any extra editing in photoshop. Does it get any better? 

Download this goodie along with other finds, right here. Thanks Rita!!

Texture, Beautiful Texture

It's Tuesday, and I need a little texture lift. I put together an inspiration board of a few fantastic freebie texture backgrounds. I'd love to see what you do with them. I too will share future creations here as well.

The Freebies: No.1 polka dot texture from Night Fate Stock, No.2 yellow vintage from Dying Beauty Stock and No.3 wood texture from bittbox.com

Sweet memories

It's a new year, and after the holidays. I want to remember every last detail from our recent holiday past so I put together a fun digital scrapbook page design from a collection of different freebies. Have a look at the result.

The Freebies: Background Canvas Texture from fuzzimo.com, picture frame art from besottedblog.com, Hand of Sean handwritten font from dafont.com and sunny pop photo action applied to photos from thecoffeeshopblog.com

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