Bit By the Bug Tuesday: Bobby's Bo-Bo

Hello everyone!  It is Bit by the Bug Tuesday! If you are new to the blog it is that day of the week when I share with you all, the latest freebie available over at Creative Bug on the Loose.  

While Naomi concentrates on healing, I'll be pulling double duty and providing you all with her weekly freebies.  Keep reading to find out how to nab it.

This week we have "Bobby's Bo-Bo" for you.

You should have heard the ruckus this one made until I let him up out of the store for awhile.  Man, toddlers are a lot of work!

In order to take advantage of this week's free digi stamp, 'Bobby's Bo-Bo', head over to Creative Bug on the Loose and follow the instructions on how to grab it.  While you are over there, don't forget to check out all the great digis Naomi has available in the store for purchase. If you have the chance, please leave her a little love too.  She could definitely use some right now.

Now since this image might be one that Naomi has offered as a freebie in the past, I decided that I didn't want anyone to walk away empty handed so I created a special freebie of my own for anyone who wants it.  It is a sentiment that you could easily pair with this image.  I've offered it in two different formats.  Take you pick or choose both.  It is completely up to you.  Just don't forget to familiarize yourself with my terms if you are new to my blog and images.

 

Now, strangely, here on the blog they look like two different sizes but the font sizes are the same for each.  Go figure.  Also, as always, the original size will be much larger than it appears here, depending upon the program you use to view it in.  You can always decrease the size of the image without affecting its quality.  Don't forget I love to see what you create with my images and showcase your work in my gallery.  In fact if you haven't checked it out in awhile, the gallery is coming together quite nicely.  You should take a quick peek if you have time to see what your fellow crafters have been up to.

I've caught the bug,

have you?

Until next time,

Note: I apologize if there are any formatting issues.  This is a scheduled post and we all know Blogger has a mind of it's own.  If it turns out that something looks wonky, i.e.--part of the sentence is a different size, font, or colour than the rest, I'll fix it as soon as I'm able to.

Font Info: 

• Scriptina Pro
• Prism

Click on the font to take you to its download location.  These fonts are considered free for commercial use.

If you are not sure how to copy the image, check out the download instructions page. Please be sure to read the Angel policy found under the copyright info tab above. Below is a quick summary of those Terms of Use:

• Do not claim the image as your own.
• Credit 'Decosse's Dynamite Doodles' somewhere on your creation.  You may sell handmade creations with this image.  Just be sure you check out the specifics of my t.o.u.
  
• Do not share my images with family, friends, etc.  Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc.  Instead, please direct people to my blog so they can grab the image for themselves.
• If I have signed an image, do not delete my signature.
• Leave a comment on my blog.  It is currently the only way for me to know if any of my freebies are being nabbed.  Additionally, it will help to inspire me to continue to create and offer future freebies.

 

Card Design: San's Design Sneak Peek Revealed

If any of you were around the last week of April, you may have seen a tiny sneak peek of the card I created using one of the new images from San's latest release.  The sneak peek looked something like this...

The image from the new release that I used for this card was one of the wonderful new lace images available..

SN00161--Lacey

This set is great because you get two different types of lace to work with.  For my small things new release sneak peek I worked with the top lace in the set and created the following card...

I also used San's amazing 'What would you attempt...' sentiment that was uploaded to the store earlier this month.

SN00153-What would you attempt...

I kept the inside of the card simple and just created a sentiment that I thought went well with San's great quote..

Image Details:

• This is another great design that I'll be able to use over and over in a variety of different projects.  For this project I coloured it up with a watercolour pencil and with Copics B32 and B34. 
• I kept the front of the card simple because I wanted San's designs to take centre stage.
• One of the challenges is shabby or vintage.  I personally feel that the laces and DP I used have a vintage feel to them.  It isn't just me is it?

Sentment Details:

• I took San's sentiment and coloured it up to match the papers I would be using.
• I created the inside sentiment, matching it to the fonts that San used and to the same colour as the front one so that the piece would have a cohesive look to it. 

Paper Products:

• Card base: Michael's Recollection's Cardstock, white.
• Designer Papers:  Blue and white (inside)--K & C Company Designer Paper--blues collection.   The strips of solid blue on each end of the front are Michael's openstock scrapbook paper.

 Embellishments:

• I picked up these funky white bell shaped flowers at Dollarama.

Ribbon:

•  The pink ribbon I used at the base of the flowers is Offray from a stash I got from my mom. 

Challenge I am hoping to enter this digital design into:

• Crafter's Digital Art Centre --  Anything Goes 
• Fashionista Challenge -- Shabby or Vintage
   

You can find each of these sets in the web shop.  I've linked them up so you just have to click on the name underneath the watermarked image to go to their location in the store.

I am so glad you have had the chance to stop by and also hope you get the chance to go and check out the latest releases that San has put out if you haven't already.  While you are there, why not take a look and see what other fabulous designs you can find in the store.  There are lots of beautiful designs perfect for all your card making needs.

Your place to go for amazing digital designs and card inspiration!

Until next time,

    

Note: I apologize if there are any formatting issues with the text.  This is a scheduled post and we all know Blogger has a mind of it's own.  If it turns out that something looks wonky, i.e.--part of the sentence is a different size, font, or colour than the rest, I'll fix it as soon as I'm able to.

An Explanation For My Absence and a Freebie!

Hey everyone.  It's been several days since you've heard anything from me and since I said I'd be back to my normal posts as of yesterday and I wasn't, I figure an explanation is in order.

Unfortunately, late Tuesday evening, we lost Internet connection.  There had been an area outage earlier in the day but when the area outage was fixed, we were still left without any connection.  A repair man was scheduled to come in this morning but late yesterday afternoon we found ourselves connected again.  As it stands, the repair man is stumped since it obviously isn't our modem (which was the first thing they suspected).  This also means we don't know if it is back for good since we don't know why we lost it in the first place!

Over the duration of that time without access to the Internet, and  over the course of 4 email accounts, I ended up with a total of 591 messages to go through and approximately 75 that will need written replies.  So, for those of you who have sent me an email and are expecting an answer, please know that I will get to it as soon as humanly possibly.  If it was urgent, just resend it so that it gets added to the top of the list.  This of course also means that the showcase and spotlight will not resume until next weekend as well.  Additionally, since I put out my 'Friday Flashback' on the first Friday of the month, I'm going to have to defer that post until next month now.  I'm not sure if there will be a 'Wonderful Wednesday's' post this week but be rest assured that by the end of May you'll have four things for this month's kit.  Sunday is the last day to enter in the Path to Positivity challenge and voting begins Monday so as long as I stay connected, I'll definitely be putting out a reminder post.  I'm working on finishing up the 'Congratulatory Considerations for April' post and it will hopefully be going out later this week.  A little bit later than I hoped but there is nothing I can do about it.  Life sometimes sneaks in and throws us curve balls that we have to deal with.  While inconvenient, this was just a tiny curve ball when viewing the bigger picture of life.  I'm lucky that the problem was simply an Internet connection issue.

So to thank you all for your patience as I work through the backlog and keep up with all my present obligations, here is a little treat...

I thought that this quote is apt and I'm sure that you'll be able to use it for cards when you are trying to encourage others dealing with a difficult situation.  The image above is one solid png but I've also provided it as three separate images so that you could divide the quote between the front and inside of a card and then place the quote credit line where you want.

 

For some reason, when I separate the quotes and save the parts individually, the image size changes so it might be necessary to resize some parts so that they end up being relatively the same size.

I guess that is it for now.  I'm off to do some more catching up before I head down to make some supper.  It is going to be a rather packed few days so wish me luck!

Until next time,

Fonts Used:

• Jenna Sue 
• TrashHand 

Click the font names to take you to a download location.  These fonts are free for commercial use.
 
If you are not sure how to copy the image, check out the download instructions page.   If you haven't already, please become familiar with my terms of use found in the copyright tab at the top of this page.  Quick summary of Terms of Use:   

• Do not claim the image as your own.
• Credit 'Decosse's Dynamite Doodles' somewhere on your creation.  You may sell handmade creations using one of these sentiments.  Just be sure to become familiar with my full terms of use.
• Do not share my images with family, friends, etc.  Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Pinterest®, 4-Shared®, etc.  Instead, please direct people to my blog so they can grab the image for themselves.
• If I have signed an image, do not delete my signature.
• Leave a comment on my blog.  It is currently the only way for me to know if any of my freebies are being nabbed.  Additionally, it will help to inspire me to continue to create and offer future freebies.

Motivational Monday: Picture Inspiration & Update on the Path of Positivity Challenge

If you are new to my blog and would like to know why I started Motivational Mondays, please go HERE.

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Before we get to today's Picutre Inspiration I have a few updates to share with you on the Path of Positivity Challenge.  First off for those of you who haven't had the chance to familiarize yourself with this new challenge aspect to my blog, please go HERE for all the details you will need.  The updates I am providing below have now been added to that original post.

Now for those of you who are familiar with this new feature, I just want to update you on a couple additions.  Throughout the week there were a couple of questions and so for clarification, here is what I said...

Desire asked:
Just one question, can we enter a card with an inspirational sentiment but where the post itself in which it appears is not necessarily inspirational?

• Sorry if I wasn't clear the first time around.  It can EITHER be a post that has an inspirational vibe or just a card that is inspirational in some way.  You don't have to have an inspirational card AND an inspirational post.  One or the other is fine.

Deb asked:
Can I share someone else's website? 

• I'd prefer that people link up there own blogs but am willing to talk about individual situations.  Just send me an email to discuss it.

Thanks for the questions ladies.  I hope this clears it up for anyone else who may have been wondering the same things.  

In case you haven't noticed it yet, I have created a special badge for this new challenge.  You can find it at the top of my right sidebar.  If any of you would like to take it and share it with your readers to help spread the word of this unique challenge, please feel free to.  To help your readers find the information they need, please link the badge to the original page where the information and linkup is:  http://decossesdynamitedoodles.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-path-of-positivity-challenge-begins.html.

We have had a new sponsor jump in!  YAY!!!!!!!  So, not only will there be a prize for a random draw and 10 digital images (courtesy Creative Bug Digitals) for the person who receives the most votes, there will now also be a prize of three images of the winner's choice from Ike's World.  I've still to figure out the criteria for that prize yet.  Maybe for the person who receives the second highest number of votes?  What do you think?  I am open to input.  Now, in case you have forgotten anything remember that you can always check the original post for all the details you need to know in order to participate (click HERE).

Right now there are four wonderful entries.  I truly hope that more of you will join up over the next couple weeks.  Remember it can be something as simple as card that tells someone you love them.  That is certainly positive in nature!

Now for this week's motivation.  Once again I have a picture to inspire you.   If you are unfamiliar with Picture Inspiration, I have decided to explore different forms of motivation and inspiration.  So at least once a month during a Motivational Monday post, I will offer up a photo that will hopefully inspire you in some creative fashion.  Many challenges use pictures to help motivate their participants to create something new and unique.  I myself am often in awe of the pictures I see on my daily journey; so I've decided to share some of them with you. Maybe you will be inspired simply from the interesting colour combinations that work together or you might zone in on a specific texture. Others may see shapes and some of you may see something that no-one else does. 

Now both Naomi and Ike have both created projects, having been inspired by pictures I posted.  Naomi based hers on the photo I put up for February and Ike did one based on March's choice.  If you are ever inspired to create something using a picture I display, make sure you link it up to the Path of Positivity Challenge.  In fact, Naomi and Ike if you are reading this, I expect to see both your projects linked up to the challenge!  If any of you do choose to create something after having been inspired by this month's photo and you do link it up, just write based on DDDoodles picture inspiration when you leave your comment so that others visiting you understand why it was linked up.
 

In honour of my husband's upcoming birthday next Monday, I'm displaying this reflected image of a tree frog. He adores frogs and I thought this picture could inspire you in so many different ways.  This photo taken by John Starkey is from Photobotos and may be displayed for viewing on websites.  If you would like to keep a copy of this particular picture, I've linked it so that it goes back to the originating site.  If you grab a copy of it to display on your own blog please just link back to the page that hosts the image and the photographer’s credits (i.e. the page you go to when you click the image).  

So what do you see when you gaze into the depths of this picture?  What elements speak to you?  Does this picture inspire you to create something new and unique?  Let me know, I'd love to hear all about it.

Just a reminder that other than quick updates on the Path of Positivity Challenge, the regular Motivational Monday post will be on hiatus until May 6th.  As I mentioned at the end of the Saturday Showcase, with my birthday coming up at the end of this week, my husband's on the 22nd and our wedding anniversary on the 29th, I need to take some time and spend it with the dear man who puts up with me and all the hours I spend with you guys.  It's only fair I throw him a few extra hours, as we celebrate these special occasions.  Additionally, my parents are coming up today for a couple days and I haven't seen them since Christmas, so I'll definitely be spending some time with them too.  So, I will be taking some time off from approximately April 18th to May 2nd.  I will still be around though, I have DT obligations to fulfill and other stuff that needs taking care off.  I'm just going to be taking some time off from some of my regular posts.  If you need to reach me, just send me an email.

Until next time,

Note: I apologize if there are any formatting issues.  This is a scheduled post and we all know Blogger has a mind of it's own.  If it turns out that something looks wonky, i.e.--part of the sentence a different size or font than the rest, I'll fix it as soon as I'm able to.

The Path of Positivity Challenge Begins Today

If you are new to my blog and would like to know why I started Motivational Mondays, please go HERE.

________________________________________________________

A couple of weeks ago when I was rushing around to put the finishing touches on my "100th Follower Celebration" post (click HERE to go to that post if you haven't been yet, there are lots of goodies up for grabs), one of my very best friends Naomi from Creative Bug on the Loose, offered to help me out.  I had done a little research and had come to a decision as to which type of 'linky' site I wanted to use, with a little help from Vicky from Crafting Vicky.  So, Naomi offered to go in and get me all signed up with InLinkz.  Now with InLinkz you have an unlimited number of text linkups and just one thumbnail linkup.  Now apparently, Naomi hates it when you can only do a name linkup, so she took it upon herself to gift me with a six month subscription to InLinkz so that I can have as many thumbnail linkups as I want.  Naomi is such an incredibly generous woman, and I am so blessed that she is in my life.  So, I plan on creating as many thumbnail linkups as I can come up to make her purchase worthwhile.

Spending a couple weeks thinking up different things, I have first decided to come up with a new concept to attach to the Motivational Monday feature of this blog.  I was thinking that you guys could come over and link up something that you have done during the week that you consider motivational in nature to share with the rest of us.  It could be an inspirational card, an encouragement card or you could be talking about happiness, kindness, dreams, etc.  Even a 'thinking of you' card would be okay because the goal behind that is to bring some happiness to someone on your mind.  If you create a card based on an Inspirational Picture that I put up one Monday, please link that up too.  Anything of a positive inspirational nature that you'd like to share is acceptable.   04/21/13--UPDATE:  It doesn't have to be a card, it can be any type of project whatsoever. Don't forget it can also just be the post that is inspirational.


It could be something from a week ago or a month ago.  I'm not worried about back linking right now BUT only submit it once.  For example, you have a post that you created three weeks ago that you would like to share this month.  Link it up, but next month you will not be allowed to submit the same link again.  

The whole idea is for us to create a Path of Positivity for people to follow to bring sunshine to our corner of the blogging world.  As long as it is positive and inspirational it qualifies.  Just link up and be ready to receive guests.  People participating should come back throughout the week and visit others on the list, leaving comments along the way.  Please note though that if I go to your blog and find just a regular birthday card post or something along those lines, unless there is an inspirational story attached, the link will be removed.  There must be an inspirational or motivational vibe to the creation or post.

 04/14/13--UPDATE BASED ON QUESTIONS RECEIVED THROUGHOUT THE WEEK:

• It can EITHER be a post that has an inspirational vibe or just a project that is inspirational in some way.  You don't have to have an inspirational card AND an inspirational post.  One or the other is fine.
• I was asked if participants can link up other people's blog posts that they find inspirational.  I'd prefer that people link up there own blogs but am willing to talk about individual situations.  Just send me an email to discuss it.

Each Path of Positivity challenge will remain open for a full month.  In the remaining Motivational Monday posts for the rest of the month, I will provide the link up to the challenge and a summary to help remind people.  I will also try and create a badge to put in my sidebar, letting people know of the challenge.  Hopefully, these things will help to spread the word and encourage people to linkup.  <<<THIS BADGE HAS NOW BEEN CREATED AND YOU CAN FIND IT AT THE TOP OF MY RIGHT SIDEBAR>>>  The challenge will be open from the first Monday of one month to the Sunday before the first Monday of the next month. I know we are starting late this month so it will actually only run from Monday, April 8th to Sunday May 5th at 11:59 pm.  The following month it will run from Monday, May 6th to Sunday June 3rd.  Got it?  When you link up, leave a comment summarizing what it is about your post that you feel is inspirational/positive/motivational.  That way it will help us have a focus when we come over to take a look.  

{{Please note that this next paragraph has been edited from the original due to learning how voting works}}

Now, this linkup has been created to allow voting.  The way voting on a collection works is that you only have one opportunity to vote and voting begins when the collection has been closed.  Then at the end date, voting will be disabled as well.  Therefore I have set it up so that the collection will close on May 5th at 11:59 p.m. and voting will begin on May 6th at 12:00 a.m. You will then have until May 12th at 11:59 p.m. to vote on the creation or post that you have found to be the most inspirational of the bunch. If you are voting, make sure to leave a comment telling us what it was that inspired you about your choice. You are more than welcome to encourage your friends to come over and vote and even participate if they'd like.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a large number of blog posts to visit to help inspire us throughout the month?

What is the incentive for participating you ask?  Well my hope would be that you'd participate just for the sake of bringing a smile to someone's face and sharing your own positive vibe with others but for those who need a little extra motivation Naomi is very generously offering up a prize of 10 digital images for the person who receives the most votes during the month.  There will also be a random draw for a creation that I make.   If any of you designers out there would like to support this challenge idea and add an image or two, we can increase the prizes given out. Please contact me if this is something you'd like to be part of and sponsor.  

 04/14/13--UPDATE--Ike from Ike's World has generously donated three images as well.  We are now up to THREE PRIZES!

This is a brand new idea so we'll see how it goes.  This will most definitely be a work in progress.  Right now the entries will be unlimited BUT this may change down the road depending on the number of people who decide to participate.

My contribution to start our path this week is the idea to make sure that you think positively each day.  Every time you are in a positive space it can lead to more opportunities for being positive.  Positivity has a spiralling effect.  Of course, we all know there will be those days where it is difficult to find anything to be positive about.  The days that challenge us are the days where we have to try a little bit harder.  I know.  I've been there.  If we stumble along the path of positivity we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, keep looking and moving forward.  As should be everything in life--one step at a time!

Here is a quote to help you along the way...

I've provided today's quote for you a couple different ways.  First, I've provided it as one single image which you can find directly above.  I've also split it up so the first line could be put on the front of a card and the rest of the quote inside.  Note that since it is author unknown, I've taken some liberties with the punctuation in the split version.  It just seems to make more sense this way, when dividing the quote into two pieces...

Both parts are the same font size.  Also, these quotes are much larger than they appear here.  Take whichever version you are interested in, you can always take both if you want.  Don't forget I'd love to see what you come up with if you use any of my creations.

So how about you?  What positive project or thought can you share with us this month?  Let's keep the path of positivity going!  You can find the linkup at the very bottom of this post.

Summary

• Each Path of Positivity challenge will remain open for a full month.  The challenge will be open from the first Monday of one month to the Sunday before the first Monday of the next month. 
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz.  You will be able to submit your link up to May 5th at 11:59 p.m.
• When you link up, leave a comment summarizing what it is about your post that you feel is inspirational/positive/motivational. 
• Voting will begin on May 6th at 12:00 a.m. You will then have until May 12th at 11:59 p.m. to vote on the creation or post that you have found to be the most inspirational of the bunch Then leave a comment telling us what it was that inspired you.  
• There will be a prize of ten digital images for the person who receives the most votes during the month, another prize of three digital images (the way in which this prize will be won is yet to be determined) and a prize for a random draw.  

GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

 

 

 Your patience while I undertake  this brand new venture is appreciated.

Until next time,

Fonts Used:

• FoglihtenPCS 
• Dancing Script 

Click the font name to take you to a download location.  These fonts are free for commercial use. 

Quick summary of Terms of Use:   

• Do not claim the image as your own.
• Credit 'Decosse's Dynamite Doodles' somewhere on your creation.
• Do not share my images with family, friends, etc.  Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc.  Instead, please direct people to my blog so they can grab the image for themselves.
• If I have signed an image, do not delete my signature.
• Leave a comment on my blog.  It is currently the only way for me to know if any of my freebies are being nabbed.  Additionally, it will help to inspire me to continue to create and offer future freebies.