it's just me =)

2011-05-17T20:43:00.000-05:00

i thought i lost this blog...so i started a new one. find me here now :)

http://designs-by-krista.blogspot.com/

2010-02-11T22:59:00.002-06:00

happy valentines day! here's a giveaway for ya :)

papers

elements

2010-01-30T22:13:00.001-06:00

valentine's day will be here before you know it!! i just added this valentine kit to my shop, get a head start on some valentine cards =)

2009-12-21T22:42:00.003-06:00

here's a little christmas gift for ya =) hope you have a merry christmas!!

papers

elements

2009-12-15T18:28:00.002-06:00

yuck!! getting alot of spam in the comments on this blog now :(

any ideas of how to stop it?? just got a comment on the last post, so now probably every other day there will be another spam comment on it. ugh! i don't like it.

2009-12-13T00:05:00.002-06:00

just added this kit to the shop

2009-09-25T21:47:00.002-05:00

i just added this to my shop :)

2009-08-15T22:08:00.001-05:00

just added this to the shop :)

2009-08-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

added something new to the shop :)

2009-07-11T09:27:00.003-05:00

thought i'd share some changes that are taking place with selling my stuff. i'm very excited to say i received an email from memory mixer asking if i'd like to sell my designs thru them ~ wow!! blew me away because they are a "real" company. so my head is spinning about that opportunity. then the next day i received an email from polka dot potato asking if i'd like to join them ~ they are into some interesting ventures outside of the digi world ~ so i have accepted their offer too. i'll be leaving scrapbook-bytes at the end of the month. so, exciting stuff to me ~ hopefully it will be the morale boost i need to really buckle down and get back to making stuff more regularly =)

2009-07-06T22:09:00.006-05:00

* mari asked what camera and lens i used. i have a canon xsi, and the butterfly shots were taken with a 100mm macro lens and the bee was taken with a lensbaby composer and i got the add-on macro lenses with that (i used the 10x one). i love macro and probably have a macro lens on 9/10 of the time.

i haven't posted any pictures for awhile ~ so here's a few =)

really happy with this one

i had never seen one of these kind of butterflies in person

pretty happy with this one too

2009-06-22T16:30:00.007-05:00

hey!! yeah, i'm still here :) and i need to buckle down and get back too it.

my dad has been sick for about 3 weeks and in the hospital for the last couple of weeks. he got rhabdomyolysis and was not doing well at all for a few days ~ i don't even think his doctors thought he was going to bounce back this time (he is 87 and i can not believe the determination the man has - wish i had gotten some of it from him, but i didn't) he was in renal failure for a couple of days and i think they thought his heart would be the next muscle to deteriorate and he'd have a heart attack so they said the family needs to talk to him about signing a dnr and dialysis... but, about a week ago his lab results and vital signs started improving and his kidneys started functioning again. so they moved him to transitional care and said he would be there at least a month ~ i don't think so ~ i'd say he is now as good as he was before he got sick. his heart doctor keeps saying "can't keep a good man down" and i guess that's true. amazing!! so, that's what's been going on with me.

2009-06-06T21:44:00.001-05:00

just added this to the shop

2009-05-25T19:15:00.003-05:00

added this to the shop today :)

ran across a snail today ~ so i held it captive for awhile =)

2009-05-19T22:03:00.009-05:00

haven't posted any pictures in awhile ~ so here's a couple...

eeewww!! i'm not a big fan of frogs, but when they spend hours just lounging on the lily pads i can't resist taking some shots of them :)

*to answer the question about if i spiced up the colors in photoshop...i guess you could say i did ~ i always use actions on photos. i really don't know a thing about using photoshop to post process, but i love actions ~ just click a button and it can totally change the look of a photo. i just love vibrant color, lol, i know some of my pictures i look at and think whoa!! that could burn a whole in your retina or something they are so bright =) but look at some of the colors i use in kits, i'm not afraid of color.

2009-05-05T23:08:00.004-05:00

i just uploaded this to the shop

and a couple of pictures...it has been so rainy lately so i've been getting shots of water drops.

this one is odd, but i think it's kind of cool :)

2009-05-01T23:19:00.003-05:00

* ok ~ i'm a dim wit :P coupon should be fixed now

happy scrap day!! so, to make up for not having a giveaway for the day :( there is a crazy sale going on in my shop ~ 50% off everything ~ and to make it even better, use the coupon code happy_nsd for an extra 20% off!!! the coupon can be used for purchases of $1.50 or more. all this will end at midnight tomorrow night. enjoy the day =)

2009-04-26T21:53:00.002-05:00

thanks for the comments about my pictures :) i love to use actions for post processing. sometime i'll post a straight out of the camera shot and then an after with actions. just recently i downloaded the 2 sets that pioneer woman has as giveaways...

pw actions

so if you have photoshop (not sure if they work in elements) give them a try. at the moment i love the one called "lovely and ethereal". used it on this shot of my clematis

and here is just a shot from my backyard. you'll be seeing lots of it thru the summer :P love to be able to just step out in the comfort of my own backyard and have things to get pictures of.

2009-04-24T22:47:00.002-05:00

a couple more pictures...

a dandelion

lilac blooms

2009-04-23T10:45:00.003-05:00

haven't posted any pictures for awhile ~ haven't gotten shots that i really like ~ but here's a few...

this is bob a/k/a big boy ~ he's not fat, just big boned. he looks pretty lumpy in this shot, lol

i love hosta's, so just a simple shot of one that's coming up

because i see birds everywhere these days, this picture to me looks like a big bird pecking a little bird on the head. they are those things that come from maple trees.

2009-04-23T09:47:00.003-05:00

lately i've gotten some inquiries about how to use designs on blogs ~ and i don't have a clue =) but, thought i would share a link to a blog i ran across one time that gives instructions for customizing blogs:

easy custom blogs

2009-04-23T08:58:00.003-05:00

i'm in the process of uploading this kit to the shop

i think blog designers are the only people using my designs these days ~ and i am thankful for that. every day i look at all the new designs out there and i just can't wrap my head around the popular style :( they are gorgeous that's for sure and there are so many uber talented ladies out there. first of all i'm not an artist ~ can't draw, can't paint. and i just can't get away from multi colored patterned papers, kills me to see the majority of kits only have solid papers these days. i don't know why i'm telling ya'll this ~ i guess because designing has become a huge struggle for me and it eats at me every day i just need to vent ~ if i'm not working on something it's in my head that i should be. i think being creative and having to be creative are 2 totally different things, so if you ever feel creative don't make it a thing you have to do.

2009-04-21T17:35:00.002-05:00

i thought i'd bring this giveaway back =) just a shot of a piece of wood in my backyard ~ i thought it would make a good background.

natural background

2009-04-08T16:03:00.002-05:00

i checked the blooms element download ~ and it worked for me, so keep trying :)

same with the elements for the spring kit.

:( sorry there seems to be so many problems with downloads ~ i guess these free sites for downloads aren't so great. i may go back to 4 shared.

2009-04-05T23:11:00.001-05:00

i just added this to the shop =)

2009-04-01T23:05:00.004-05:00

i was spreading mulch and came across a couple of ladybugs. i didn't get it focused where it should be ~ but i still like it. looks like it has a smiley face : )

*frame is by sweetmade

2009-03-29T21:07:00.005-05:00

i just wanted to say a big thank you for the comments and emails re: my photography. wow! can't believe i can be inspiring =) thanks so much!!

so here's some from this past week...

poo ~ settled in under a bush doing a little birdwatching ~ looks like she is thinking what are you looking at, don't disturb me :) she is full of attitude

this is a macro of the middle of a periwinkle flower ~ perennial vinca vine

saw this shrub and fell in love with it ~ so i brought it home and planted it last week. it's a flowering quince.

2009-03-24T21:18:00.003-05:00

some pictures to share =)

spring is here and things are blooming. this is a bradford pear tree. oh so pretty ~ but very stinky flowers.

this is kitty ~ looking at something up in the tree

i couldn't decide about this one ~ she looks so serious or mean. mainly i love her eyes ~ zoomed in they are gorgeous.

2009-03-20T22:28:00.002-05:00

bummer ~ i was really on a roll for a week or so ~ now i'm back to nothing : (

so i'll share a few pictures...i don't think i've mentioned it here but i love macro photography for some reason and seem to take macro shots more than anything.

a couple more pansy shots

and unfortunately weeds are already growing like crazy. some are pretty though :) the flowers on this weed were teensy ~ only about an 1/8 of an inch ~ i used my extension tubes to get in this close. you'd never know they were so tiny, huh?

2009-03-15T23:08:00.003-05:00

i'm in the process of uploading these and adding them to the shop :)

2009-03-14T22:40:00.003-05:00

i'll sure be glad when my backyard is full of stuff to get pictures of ~ flowers, bugs, etc. slowly but surely things are starting to come back to life. here's a couple of shots...

i love vines and the way they wrap around

and i just thought these little leaves were the cutest :) it's a honeysuckle vine.

2009-03-11T00:11:00.005-05:00

it's that time of year when spring fever sets in ~ although it's going back to cold for the rest of the week :( here's a little spring kit for you...oh yeah, i've read some things about 4shared and viruses, so i'm trying media fire for downloads.

*sorry about the elements link ~ it's fixed now

papers

elements

2009-03-09T22:41:00.006-05:00

i got out in the backyard and got some pictures today. i planted some pansies on saturday. pansies are my favorite annual flower. i always look forward to planting them in spring and fall :)

a couple of new things in the shop.

2009-03-05T20:36:00.004-06:00

seems like forever since i posted here :) haven't been taking any pictures lately. i seem to have a hard time with multi tasking. i've been trying to work on (spending more time looking for inspiration actually) some digital stuff and i can't seem to do both. i think i'm going to try some different things for my shop ~ i've always pretty much concentrated on kits, and right now the thought of putting a kit together is daunting ~ so i made a little brag book and some chipboard floral things. here they are...

2009-02-20T20:59:00.005-06:00

first of all ~ tracie asked what font i used for the word art in the friends download ~ it is called "amore" and i believe i got it from "my fonts" :)

it always amazes me what people like or not. here is a picture i took yesterday of a snowflake. i think the dof is too shallow, but it was the best shot of a snowflake i got so i posted it. i've never gotten so many comments on a photo.

nancy suggested i post a picture of my kitchen cabinets that i stenciled. i was inspired by the cabinet in the corner. i'll be kicking myself for doing this should we sell because it won't appeal to many. but i like the cabinets better than before.

2009-02-17T22:02:00.005-06:00

i started posting a photo a day again on smugmug ~ i missed it. it does make me try to get better shots, because there are some really talented people who post, so i feel like they have to be good. i don't know if that is good or bad. if i can just hold out till spring i won't have any trouble with a photo a day. here's a few...

poo enjoying the sunshine

bob thinking about climbing a tree

i threw bread out for the birds and some ended up in the pond

2009-02-14T23:31:00.003-06:00

finished another page for the week =)

2009-02-12T21:05:00.005-06:00

ya'll are so kind, thanks for the comments about my pictures. part of me wants to keep it up but part of me wants to quit. so, i don't know ~ maybe i'll continue with the weekly lo's and if it's not a photo a day ~ so what, i'll just use 7 photos from the week. if i can just hold out until spring i'll do fine. 'course from then thru fall it will be all about my backyard ~ flowers, bugs...

i love to look out the window and see the activity of birds. they must feel spring is near, today i noticed they were gathering nesting stuff. so i had the idea to make a wreath of nesting material for the birds. i was looking up what they like and actually they sell these kind of wreaths. i'll have to get some feathers to add too it. i should really not be supplying string for nest building, but it says they like it :( sadly, some baby birds have had to lose their lives because their legs got tangled up in string.

i just finished last weeks pages.

2009-02-10T19:02:00.005-06:00

so ~ i'll be the first to admit i'm fickle, i'm flakey and a few other not so great things ;) i get po'd and my feelings get hurt too easy ~ i react without thinking. i like having giveaways. so let's go back to business as usual. my future giveaways may be more like this though, kind of like a quick page (there's lots of times i can think of something to make but the thought of a whole kit to go with it is too much) but it will all be in separate pieces so you can use it together or in other things =) enjoy!!

my valentine

yeah, i've been slacking on the photo a day ~ i'm giving it up :( seriously, i'm boring and i don't need to be reminded of that every day, lol. i really think it is making me hate the thought of photography :0 'cause some days i really don't feel like doing it.

2009-02-07T23:58:00.003-06:00

i hate hanging things on the wall ~ always ends up crooked or something. i've had these (and a couple of other things that i ended up not using) sitting on the floor for months. finally hung them and don't care for them now. maybe they will grow on me. now let's see how long it takes me to get pictures in that frame :P

2009-02-07T20:09:00.004-06:00

i started a photo a day back in november. i had planned to start in january, but i am so impatient i decided november would be a good starting point because it's my birthday month ~ so a start of a new year for me. i'm just getting around to doing pages for november and december. just finished these...

the double page is a template by katie pertiet. the pages i've done so far have been a week per page, so wasn't sure about using a 2page lo for 1 week...but thought what the heck i'll change it up thru out the book.

2009-02-07T08:28:00.004-06:00

just as i shut down my laptop last night it hit me i didn't post a picture, and i didn't feel like starting it back up...so this is for yesterday. litter dust is a big problem in the house, so i thought cut a hole in the door to try to contain it to the laundry room. lol, i know there is probably some reason that this is not going to work and the same amount of dust will get out of there =) me and my bright ideas.

2009-02-05T23:28:00.003-06:00

another home sweet home shot. is there anything better than the comfort of your own bed?? i sleep on a waterbed. i tried to give it up once, but i was miserable. one thing i never liked about a waterbed is not being able to use a dust ruffle ~ well, last time i got a new bedspread i rigged it up so i could use a dust ruffle ~ why hadn't i thought of that before?? oh, and another thing is the bookcase headboards, didn't like them much. so i just used the frame and screwed a sleigh bed type of headboard and footboard on.

2009-02-04T22:36:00.006-06:00

so last week with only the radio to listen too and nothing to watch ~ made me look around and realize i need to do some deep cleaning. so went to target and got some supplies. i just love those murphy oil wipes for cleaning wood furniture ~ i'd give them 2 thumbs up :)

this weeks picture of the week subject is home sweet home. i may use that subject for the rest of the week :) a cozy spot i like...

i love to decorate!! had i actually gone to college i was planning to be an interior decorator. i'm getting that urge to redecorate. maybe a llittle more casual. my brother-in-law asked if the house still looked like a museum...funny huh? not.

and a page with last week's pictures.

2009-02-03T23:14:00.002-06:00

well darn, i took some pictures today ~ and my card wasn't in the camera :( i'd have thought it would give me a message or something. or maybe i missed it. i'll cheat and redo it tomorrow.

2009-02-02T23:07:00.002-06:00

this magazine rack sits beside my bed, and it kind of aggravates me to see it every day. i love to learn from books. but, i'm not one to spend hours with a book ~ i'd say i'm good for a half hour at the most, that goes for magazines too. at that rate i don't think i'll ever get thru all these :( i know i should concentrate on the understanding exposure one, but that one really doesn't hold my interest for long. i do love the scott kelby digital photography books though ~ a couple paragraphs per subject. last week would have been a perfect time to read them, but i didn't.

2009-02-01T21:46:00.010-06:00

so i got up wednesday and we did have some snow on top of the ice. the sun came out for a few minutes, so i got a few shots of the backyard.

then about 10am the power went out. yuck!! usually it only stays out a few hours when it goes out. so i sat around all day just listening to the radio and waiting. it was a long day. about 77% of the city was without power. so thursday was spent running around town looking for batteries and flashlights. it was crazy everywhere. went to walmart and they only had the grocery side of checkouts open and they were lined up half way to the back of the store. needless to say didn't buy anything there. about 8pm on thursday the power came back on ~ yay!! ~ only to go back out about 9am friday. so the news was that power may not be totally restored in some places for 3 weeks (i'm sure that will be the really rural areas) so friday was spent trying to find a generator. i would love to know just how many were sold during this. they were coming in by the truckloads and the radio would announce so & so has them and in a matter of minutes they would be gone. finally got one from home depot. brought it home, and the rest of the day was spent running around town looking for extension cords to use with it. it has been a miserable week. the first day or two the cold wasn't too bad ~ wearing fleece and a few velux blankets felt pretty warm. the worst part of it all was the boredom. i am totally addicted to the internet and tv in my spare time, so i was all out of sorts. i was very thankful to have hot water ~ thank goodness for gas hot water heaters. had i not been able to have a hot shower every day ~ that might have sent me over the edge, i'd have been looking for somewhere to stay.

unfortunately, i didn't get a lot of pictures ~ i wasn't in the mood, with no electricity and all. i should have gotten shots of all the people waiting in lines for kerosene and propane. and all the people wheeling generators out of the store. pictures of all the broken trees (that is sad to see). here's a couple more shots to give you an idea of how much ice there was.

2009-02-01T10:34:00.002-06:00

quick update for those that may still check in here. the ice i spoke of in the last post became the ice storm of the century here. i'm in kentucky and maybe you saw on the news what a mess it's been. haven't had power since wednesday morning. it came back on a bit ago, hoping it stays on this time.

2009-01-27T23:00:00.004-06:00

so disappointed with this winter storm. they were talking large quantities of snow ~ and what have we gotten? nothing but freezing rain. and it's still coming down. we may get an inch or 2 of snow on top of the ice.

finished a page for last week's pictures.

ekorn asked if poo was a nickname ~ yes that's a nickname :) her name is sassy but she has always been such a little you know what. so i call her poo. she thinks she is the queen of everything, and she's not so nice to the other cats. don't get me wrong. i may talk bad about her sometimes, but believe me she is loved to pieces and spoiled rotten. but she is such a poo head ;)

2009-01-26T23:15:00.004-06:00

this is poo ~ on top of the kitchen cabinets.

can you believe i painted and stenciled the kitchen cabinets shortly after moving in. crazy, i know!! i chose the oak cabinets but they were not the shade of oak i had in mind. i wanted a darker shade. i hated them.

2009-01-25T22:47:00.006-06:00

mainly i was just playing around with my flash trying different settings. tried to get a shot of the tv (what is it with the screen, it's usually blown out??). am i sad or what ~ watching real world on mtv. there's a few shows on mtv that i'll stop and watch if i catch them when flipping thru the channels :P

2009-01-24T22:08:00.005-06:00

i have loved tarts, wax melts ~ whatever you call them ~ for years. i discovered yankee candle's first ~ back when they were a dollar or less. then the price of those started going way up and i discovered old virginia candle's wax melts. the main problem with both of those brands is over time something has changed ~ the scent just doesn't last as long. so, for awhile i quit buying them because of the price and fact that they don't last as long as they used too. i really missed them though. so, one day a couple of months ago i decided i was going to stock up again and went to a little gift shop in town that is known for candles ~ and they had this brand. they smell so good and keep the scent for a good amount of time. i think the honey buttered rolls is my favorite and hot maple toddy is my 2nd favorite.

thanks so much for the comments!!

omgosh gayle, you are so right about remembering the bags when you get to the store. lol, i thought i will just keep them in my car all the time that way i won't forget them. so i go to krogers today and get to the checkout and see the rack of bags ~ duh!! i left mine in the car, geez.

and to answer ourpartyof4 about what's the difference in photoshop and lightroom ~ i'll just tell the diffence i can see from the little i've used it. to me it seems much easier and faster in editing photos than photoshop. honestly, i don't know a whole lot about image editing in photoshop. i went to a few meetings of a local photo group and they would work with editing images in photoshop, and i gotta say i didn't have a clue ~ you'd think i'd never used the program before. it is what i use to design and i spend so much time in it for that, that i really don't care to learn the whole image editing side of it. so i have been using actions which are fast for editing with just a click of a button.

2009-01-23T22:38:00.005-06:00

something new to learn :)

i downloaded the trial a couple of weeks ago and this was the first picture i used it on ~ then i wanted it. ok, her eyes are more green than aqua but ~ wow! i just used the vibrance slider. looking forward to learning more about the program.

2009-01-22T21:04:00.003-06:00

a couple of weeks ago i bought the reusable bags that walmart has ~ because it bugs me the way the cashiers put 2 or 3 items in a bag and you leave with umpteen bags...anyway, i used them last weekend and really liked them. so yesterday i bought some from krogers. theirs are cute, i am such a sucker for a flourish ;)

2009-01-21T21:46:00.004-06:00

i check out the 2peas photography forum every now and then. they have a list of picture of the week subjects for the year ~ i'm going to try to do them all. this week the subject is technology. this is the handiest bit of technology i have ~ it's a scanner (docupen). just turn it on and run it down the page you want to copy. saves me money in the long run, i have to get all kinds of copies for the title searches i do and 25 cents a copy adds up fast.

2009-01-20T21:49:00.003-06:00

love!! the new pepsi packaging. i know it's just because the font is along the lines of what i chose for my logo ;)

i could share some photo tips along the way. here is one i find handy ~ i avoid using flash, it always seems too bright ~ so a lot of my inside pictures have a yellow cast. if you have photoshop you can correct that by going under images>adjustments>photo filters>and choose one of the cooling filters =)

2009-01-19T22:22:00.003-06:00

do you remember dreamsicles ~ or maybe they still make them?? i used to have quite a collection, but i tend to purge things quite often ~ this is the only one i have left.

2009-01-19T21:57:00.008-06:00

here are my photos from the 1st to the 18th =)

i'm using jen wilson's project 52 templates.