Fred, She Said - Digital Design & Papercrafting Goodness

Red Polka Dotty Flower Card & Digi-Freebie

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Here is a card I made for my BFF. I used the Polka Dotty Flowers Set, in red. The leaves are from the set, but ( HERE's a TIP :) ) I coloured over them with prismacolor pencils ( kelp green and sage green) to deepen the colours. I actually blended with the sage green pushing it back and forth into the darker colour. So if you want your leaves ( you will always have extra leaves from the sheets ;) ) to match or work better with what you are doing, try colouring over them, with pencils or copics or whatever! The ribbon stems is May Arts 3/16 stitched ribbon I got from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts. I also used black dew drops for the flower centers.

I am adding the digi paper I used here as a freebie. I love this one as it goes with everything, especially the coloured flowers :) Please click the sheet below to enlarge then right-click and save to your hard drive ( I meant it to be 5"x7" at 200 ppi but you can resize larger if needed).

:)* Fred

Emma the Mermaid Coloured Set

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:16:00 +0000

After a few more gray hairs and panic attacks, I have finally finished Emma the Mermaid & Friends in all their technocolour glory! I am so sorry for the delay ( like really sorry!)... I will just say this, this one was a struggle for me but I think it all came together in the end so nicely :)

You can find them HERE.

Now I am working on more flowery and fluttery things and a couple of sets I am long overdue in completing.

:)* Fred

Goodie Bags on the Cheap

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd post so you would know I am still alive and kicking LOL. Actually I hope this is a multi-posting day heehee!

Here is a quick project I resorted to at 9 PM the eve before dear Emma's 7th birthday. I didn't have time to head to the "big city" to grab supplies so I did my shopping locally and usually that means, you don't find what you want or at the price you want. I overpaid on most of the goodies to put in the goody bags ( but I don't mind, God bless the store owners as I know the taxes and rents they pay in our small town - yikes). ... and I couldn't find any decent gift bags that were cheap. And, come on, these little princesses are 6 & 7 LOL, they care more about the goodies inside ;) Well I thought I'd try to make quick toppers to put on brown lunch bags. They were a hit! I had a few extra cut-out FLOWERS in my to do box ( who am I kidding... a ton of extra flowers LOL). I scored and bent them, added some Stickles to the centers. While they were drying, I made thin strips of coloured copy paper and curled them with the edge of my scissors. I punched out a few branches with a MS punch, and used a Martha embossing border punch on some white paper. After assembling, I stapled the bags shut and added the toppers with some double sided adhesive.

Here's Emma with some new adoptees! Have a great day!

:)* Fred

Busy Design Team!

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:59:00 +0000

I must say, the Fred, She Said Design Team has been churning out beautiful project after beautiful project. I have put together listing ( Shared Items Listing in my blog side bar) with the DT's posts. Please check it out :)

Also, if you go here, you can view the listing as new web page, complete with pictures :)

Edited correct link:
FSS-DT-TEAM Projects Listing

Also, if you have recently made project with my designs and you have posted it on your blog, please let me know and I will feature it in new reader listing!

I have spinned the "project-o-matic" ( LOL) and am bringing you this lovely take-out box from Sonya ! All I can say, is Oh My Goodness!

I hope to get back to the regular grind starting this week! I've missed you :) It has been crazy here, but know I have been at my drawing board and I hope to have some new stuff to play with soon. I have also promised some readers precoloured Mermaid set. I hope to have it up by Friday/Saturday.

Have wonderful day!

:)* Fred

DESIGN TEAM announcement

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000

To all who applied, I apologize for the delay. I spent the past 2 days of every scrap of free time deliberating. It was brutal! Everyone is so talented. Thank you so much to all the 30 applicants, you all made it really tough to choose, you are an amazing bunch! I couldn't narrow it down to 10 so I opted for 12.

So here is the Fred, She Said charter design team :)

in alphabetical order:

Bonnie Rose "A Life Unrehearsed"

Donna "Bearly Mine Designs"

Erin B "Scrap, Stamp and be Merry"

Jen Young "Pieces of Me"

Lisa Cook "Stamped Art by Lisa"

Lora "Lora's Cards"

LORi "by LORi Designs"

Maria Matter "Joyful Stamper"

Michelle "Inspiration Blooms"

Robin "Robin's Artful Musings"

Sonya Appel "Appel Quilling Garden"

Trudy aka True "True's Gifts from the Heart"

Congratulations ladies. I look forward to working with you :) I will be in touch next week with info and details for all the DT members.

Have a good weekend!

:)*
Fred

DT call - thank you

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:18:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who has submitted applications for my DT call. I have received 30 ( wow ) from an amazing group of talented people. It will be hard to choose... ack! I have been asked to do double duty at my catering assistant job so my free time has been unexpectedly limited. I hope to review all the submissions, make my decisions and have an announcement by Saturday. I am sorry for the delay and for keeping all these wonderful people "hanging" a bit longer.

:)*
Fred

who is off to work... hi ho hi ho...

OPERATION: Spread the Fred DT CALL

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Happy Birthday To Fred, She Said! It has been a whole year since I opened the Fred, She Said Store. Wow, time flies when you are having fun!!! Thanks so much for all your support and friendship. Stayed tuned this week for some freebies!

In honour of our birthday, I am putting out a Design Team Call so here it is:

DESIGN TEAM CALL for FRED, SHE SAID DESIGNS

-I am looking for 10 designers.
-The term will be for the months of JUNE, JULY & AUGUST.
-The call will be open for entries until May 25th Midnight EDT.

-Exclusivity? NO :) You may be part of other design teams but make sure you are open to be on another team and have the time for another committment.
-Exclusivity of Fred, She Said Designs on your design submissions? NO, but they should be the main focus.

-For this term, we will be in "Spread the Fred" mode which means all items currently in the store as well as items released during your term are up for grabs, all I ask is that you design at least 3 cards or paper crafted items per product you want to use ( there will be a bit of lee way if you use multiple products on one crafted item). There will be a minimum of 2 products to design for per month.
-A side-bar button for the FRED, SHE SAID STORE will be required on your blog plus a small special design team button that will link to a list of the Current DT Members I will have on my blog.

-Please EMAIL ME with Subject DT CALL with your name, blog, any communities/forums/challenge blogs you haunt( LOL), any design work you might have done, attach 2 or 3 of your cards that you feel would best suit my designs and add a bit of what types of cards you would like to make, what techniques are you focused on ( eg digi-image colouring or stamping ... pencils? copics?, decoupage, floral punchcraft, etc)

- I will have a ratio of spots based on techniques. I need designers for digi-images with focus on colouring ( flowers and/or digi-stamps), designers who are interested in incorporating my designs, especially flowers with floral punchcraft/quilling/dutch papercrafts like dry embossing/cutting, embroidery and paperpricking. I am also open to any with unique ideas on the frou-frou prettified side LOL! Good photography skills are a must.

DT Members will be announced between May 27 and 29th depending on the amount of submissions to be reviewed.

Thank you in advance for any submissions and good luck!

Flower card

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Playing with my pastels and pencils again :) I added some Tuscan Red pencil to the leaves that I also used on the flower. Flower and leaves from Fred's Flowers v2 Pointy Petals Pack.

:)*
Fred

Blue Floral Card

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

I am feeling "Blue" today! :D I used Fred's Flowers V1 edition A precoloured flowers. I added plenty of Stickles ( Waterfall on most of card and Lime Green on the leaves ) The verse ( computer generated) is one that just speaks to me at the moment :) I am feeling a tad overwhelmed and boy, this one gets you through ;)
The background is art pastels and versamark, I love it so much, I hope I can replicate what I did again LOL. The blue ink on the nestie frame is Broken China distress ink sweeped on, nestie used as a stencil. I can't believe how I lucked out on the matching!

I am posting the verse I used, and an alternate I made. Feel free to snag if you like. Just click on images to enlarge and save to your hard drive.

Digital GEEK TIP: I coloured the verse in Paint Shop Pro by adding a Flood-filled layer over top the text in my chosen colour with layer set to "Screen"; Photoshop, Artweaver & other similar programs should do the same thing. I am pretty sure you can change the colour in WORD and other word processing programs as well.

Big Hugs,
Fred

Digital Tuesday Challenge Blog

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Please check out the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog! I am sponsoring this week . More details on the prizes over at the challenge! This weeks challenge is TAGS. And here is my card I designed for the challenge.

Details:
Products used:
Viney Flourish 1
Fred's Flowers v4 - Dahlias - Outline Sheets

Flower and leaves coloured with Pencils and OMS, I used my own digital patterned papers for the scalloped frame and the punched flowers. Robin's Nest Pearl Dewdrops, Crystal Stickles on the buds, alcohol inks background, Dollarama riboon, and a Nestabilities Ribbon Tag. Greeting is computer generated.

Have a great day!
:)*

the Nolan... just an update and a freebie

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:16:00 +0000

"the NOLAN"

Nolan ( 11 yrs ) made me this cute Mother's Day card, while he was at Sunday School. He wanted me to mention he that his supplies weren't the best ( dried up markers and dull pencil crayons) LOL! But his little version of himself is so cute... inside it says " ... From your Little Clone"... love it. There is also the obligatory blurb about promising to wash dishes, bathroom, making bed, putting away stuff and helping his sister. THEN he puts in parentheses ( results may vary, depending on amount of time required). ha ha.

Between his mad fits of Lego building " up in his room", he is working on character development, creating characters for another comic. He has taken to doing much of it on his digital tablet he received for Christmas. He continually gets better with his hand/monitor coordination... it takes a while, I know! He will have a blank page and an hour later... there will be about 15 cute little creatures on it. I keep needling him to make me some for digital stamps. I am HOPING LOL.

Here is the Nolan

Last month I asked Nolan to make an illustration for his Grandad's birthday card. This is what he thought up LOL! This is Nolan's freebie to you ;) If you like it, please click on the image to enlarge then save to your hard drive.

From Nolan & Me... Have a great day!

:)*

Emma and Flowers Card

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:17:00 +0000

I made this card for my mom, for her birthday, I hope she's not looking! The image and flowers were coloured with prismacolor pencils and OMS. I also used a bit of blue distress stickles and waterfall stickles.

I apologize for the lack of posts and freebies I posted about. I've been a bit out of sorts, really tired... not sure if its allergies or stress. Don't take much to mess me up LOL! :P I hope to get some freebies out next week.

I will be sponsoring the Digital Tuesday Challenge this Tuesday :D. Please check it out on Tuesday, May 19th for a great fun challenge using your digital images!

Tomorrow I will post about the Nolan, his mother's day card and some things he has done.

Later Gator...

:)*
Fred

Emma & the Butterfly

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Announcing Emma & the Butterfly digital stamp :) At the STORE.

This is a little older more lady-like Emma. She is growing up too fast before my eyes! She still has the same free spirit and looks ready to twirl or make a get-away just like the butterfly she is admiring LOL!

Card Details:
Emma and the flower/leaves are coloured with pencils and OMS ( actually Emma is coloured with Goo Gone. It has a lemony smell that reminds you to colour in a ventilated place! LOL - yes OMS has nasty fumes... you just can't smell them ;) ). I was miserly and made the blue matte by cutting white CS to size and colouring the edges with the same denim blue pencil I used on the dress sash and blended with Goo Gone, I love the effect. Another miserly trick is that I took the cuttings made from trimming my bow and tucked them behind my flower ;) The background was made by doodling with pastel pencils ( blue, green, yellow) all over white paper then gently smudging with a tissue but trying not to blend the colours together.

Have a great day!

:)*
Fred

Dahlia's and Viney Flourish 1

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:00 +0000

There are 2 new products at the STORE.

Fred's Flowers v4 - Dahlias - Outline Sheets
&
Viney Flourish 1

This first card uses a mirrored flourish in green. The Dahlia and leaves were coloured in Artweaver using the gradient-fill. The background cuttlebugged paper is so neat... I chalked multiple layers of pinks/yellows then painted random little flowers and leaves with shimmery paint ( sakura pearlescent watercolour pallete) before I embossed with the bug. I pearlized a white brad for the center of the flower. Also used: Martha Stewart punch, and gold peeloffs and plenty of silicone glue LOL.

This card uses a single version of the Viney Flourish and Pointy Petalled Dahlia's outline sheet. I coloured the flower with pencils and OMS. The background paper is various smudged layers of chalk pastels ( purple, pink, green and I think yellow) then I stamped my swirly doodle stamp in a purple ink. I guilded the frame with gold pearlescent watercolour applied carefully with a liner brush. I added some green stickles to the buds on the flourish. Also used: Spellbinders Curved Rectangles, a gold Robin's Nest dew drop :).

Have a gread day!

:)*
Fred

OPERATION: Spread the FRED

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:30:00 +0000

Hi peeps! Sorry for the delay in posting, I got sidelined by a stomach flu Friday and I have also had to get a start on my taxes. I hope to get some delayed projects up soon. I did manage to figure out how to make an animated GIF over the weekend -- It is my first ( yes, I am a bit chuffed LOL ) :D

Want this badge?

If you would like to help "Spread the Fred" please take this badge and put it somewhere on your site. Simply, click on the "Want this Badge?" link under the badge and follow the instructions at the Word of Blog site.

Mwah!
:)*
Fred

Card & a Digi-Freebie - Simple Striped Papers

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:19:00 +0000

I made some nice simple striped papers, 21 of them, to go with the Polka Dotty Flowers pack. Actually they should go with all the flower collections. ... Actually, stripes go with everything and, depending on their angle, they can be slimming LOL! But anything with dots, definitely could use some stripes. ;)

DOWNLOAD HERE ( note, it's 4 shared.com so you will have to wait for the timer thingy).

(Get this, I zipped a 6 mb folder of papers and the file is only 165 kb! Wow, the magic of compression LOL! - stripes ARE slimming! )

The card was made using some of the striped papers and some BIG Dahlias. The swirly doo-hicky is a work-in-progress, but I am really digging it! Have a great day!

:)*
Fred

LINKAGE: Mermaids & Fishies & Crabs, Oh My!

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Please check out what my new friend Poppet has done with the Emma the Mermaid & Friends set!

Poppet's Emma the Mermaid card !

Poppet's card with Fishy with Balloons and a Little Crabby!

Thanks so much for sharing Pops! They are awesome!

I hope everyone had a blessed and enjoyable Easter holiday. I hosted a family dinner on Sunday and there was much turkey and stuffing and pies to be consumed! I still felt the after-effects of overeating the next day LOL! I did manage to drag myself off the couch to take Emma to see the new Hannah Montana movie. I am pretty sure Emma has changed her mind about being a mermaid... I bet if I asked her now it would be a rock star LOL!

Have a great day!

:)*
Fred

Emma The Mermaid Card - By Mada V.

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:54:00 +0000

My lovely cyber friend, Mada made this awesome Emma the Mermaid card. She used acetate for the water and put some elements in front and behind the acetate for a gorgeous 3D effect. You can visit Mada's wonderful blog HERE. Thanks so much for sharing, Mada :D

:)*
Fred

Digi-Freebie - Floral Doodle Digital Stamp

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:34:00 +0000

I needed a "break" from designing and decided to test out the new Painter 11 demo. LOL.... you have to know me ;)

I ended up with this crazy floral doodly concoction :) I digitally watercoloured it but you will have to wait and see it, I am going to make a card out of it first. :P

I thought I will add it here as a digital stamp for you to print out and colour. ( if it tickles your fancy ) If you use it and "show it", pretty please tell them where to find me!

Please click to enlarge, then save image to your hard drive.

Mwah!
Fred

Questions....

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:11:00 +0000

I have been asked if there will be some background papers to go with the polka dotty flowers.
Answer: Hopefully! I plan to make some simple lovely little doodly papers that should go with ALL the flower available for you soon.

I have also been asked if I could make some butterflies, etc to go with the flowers.
Answer: Yes! I am dying to get this one started! I love butterflies and birdies and .... :)

Have a great day!

:)* Fred

Big Dahlias.... oh my!

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Also up at the store:

BIG DAHLIAS in 18 yummy colours! or some other type of flower that suits your fancy ;)

There are also outline flowers in various assortments nearing completion. They will be available soon. ( sigh, I sound like a broken record... "soon" LOL!)

:)* Fred

Emma the Mermaid & Friends Digital Stamps

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Please click image to enlarge preview.

Emma the Mermaid & Friends in now "live"! :D ... at the STORE.

A coloured set will be available soon. Sorry for the delay.

:)* Fred

100,000 Hits: Candy Winner!

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Ok I am going to do this as I am writing this post. oooh how exciting! LOL.

Drawing method. There were 52 comments made. I wrote the comment number and the name on strips of paper, folded them up and, carefully put them in a bowl, and mixed them up REALLY GOOD :) Those random integer thingies... I don't like them!

OK .... and the Winner is..... Comment #6 Ivolina!

Ivolina , please email me and I will give you the details of your winnings!

Thank you all for playing! Emma the Mermaid & Friends digital stamps and some flowers should be up for sale by the end of today. I will announce it as soon as it happens ;)

:)* Fred ( who is off to find some lunch in the fridge )

Printers: Your opinions please

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:38:00 +0000

A reader has asked what type of printer I would recommend. I have a printer that is fairly old, an Epson Photo 820 ( 810 in Europe) and have been using compatible inks for a few years in it ( as they are around $5 CAD a cartridge). This is not a recommended practice, I know, but when a printer is out of warranty and the price is right... :) I feel I am not really in a position to offer advice as I am wondering the same thing myself. I am not sure how many more legs my printer has left, I am nearly out of ink and reconsidering buying more ink but I don't know if the printer will last long enough to use up the cartridges. My printer is dye-based and is quite dependent on what type of paper I print on to get good results ( eg. brightness of colour and bold/crispness of blacks).

There are many great printers out there. I'd love to know what you think is a great printer.

Here are some important issues I'd like to discuss:

1. Is your printer a dye based or pigment based printer? ( pigment based use "water-resistant", "fade resistant"," smear-proof" inks).

2. DYE-BASED printers: Dye based printers are great for the following colouring techniques - Coloured Pencils and OMS & Copics/Alcohol based markers - Not so much with watercolour techniques unless you fix the inks somehow like with a sealing spray. I also heard that you can heat set the print ... I also heard mixed results. Maybe it depends on your paper? Watercolour paper causes less bleeding?

3. PIGMENT-BASED printers: I know Espon makes these. I know the cartridges are a bit more expensive, you will have a harder time finding pigment based compatible cartridges. However, they apparently give good print results on most papers as the ink lays on top of the paper as opposed to dye ink that is absorbed into the paper. MY QUESTION is how are Pigment based printers with various colouring techniques? Can you watercolour on them or do they smear/bleed? How about Pencils/OMS or Copics? Another question, how do you find the prints on cheaper uncoated papers? Is the colour good?

Please use the comments section of this post to give us your opinion. This is your "forum" LOL

Thanks so much for any advice given.

:)* Fred

Blog Candy Time! 100,000 on my counter

fred.she.said@gmail.com (Tracey Lynn 'Fred' Miller) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Hello friends! I am looking at my hit counter and very soon the odometer will turn 100,000 yippee! I doesn't seem that long ago I had a 5,000 hits challenge and I thought THAT was a long shot LOL! Thank you so much for your friendship and support and riding with me through my spits and spurts :) You are all a blessing to me and my family.

Please leave a comment on this post ( one only). You have until Wednesday 12:00 PM EDT . I will announce the winner that afternoon.

The Candy is a $20 CAD Gift Certificate to my store. Thank you and good luck!

:)* Fred

P.S. while I have your attention, Emma the Mermaid is almost ready to come out and play! Here is one of her friends and he's ready to partehhhh!

this Blog Candy contest is now CLOSED. Thanks for playing!