All the Small Things

Hi, everyone!

Just a quickie to let you know a few little things, like the sale at Sophisti-Scraps has been extended through Tuesday, March 20th, I've added a CU4CU license to my repertoire, and I've put in for retirement a few of my older products that I'm not in love with anymore. They're on sale for $1 each through the end of the month, here. Get 'em before they're gone, because they won't be available at that price - or any price - ever again. :)

Eggcellence Volume 3

Hi, gang!

Have some more goodies for you! I love how this turned out and hope you will, too. :)

My sale has turned into what will be a 30% sale at the store for St. Patrick's Day. Hopefully that means you'll love it even more. Hehe! I just had the notion to maybe try this as a script, if I can even remember how. And then I'll probably remember why I stopped scripting. It takes an awful lot of patience and perseverance to ensure a script will work in all versions of PSP. Maybe next Easter the script will be playing at a theater near you. LOL!

As for blinging in this Easter, as always you can find the action and the template at Sophisti-Scraps. The sale will run through Sunday, March 18th.

The end result looks totally different depending upon what colors you choose. I think it looks particularly nice with a little extra shadow on the basket. The action is left in separate layers, so you can add some yourself if you agree. CU standards usually dictate no perimeter shadow allowed, but it gives the basket a lovely 3-D quality that really works with the egg underneath.

I've run a few for you to play with, with extra shadow and without. You can decide which you like better, and you can even decide which size you like better. I've made them them for you in both full-size and tagger-size (they're identical in looks), for your personal use pleasure. They size down beautifully from either one. Use them as a centerpiece or as an accent. Lots of choices with this one, that's for sure!

Grab yours here: http://scraparoni.net/downloads/TS-Eggcellence-03-Full-Size.zip

and

http://scraparoni.net/downloads/TS-Eggcellence-03-Tagger-Size.zip

Enjoy! :)

The Return of Scraparoni

I'm baaaaack!  What was that thudding sound?  You fainting and hitting the floor? Well, I certainly wouldn't blame you if you did.  It's been almost a year since my last blog post.  Life went a little nuts - okay, a LOT nuts - sapping me of my creativity and any free time I had.

It started when we decided to move after 15 years in our condo.  Never would have occurred to us had the housing crisis not completely trashed property values in my city.  Saying we were upside down didn't even begin to describe our overinflated mortgage and the value we lost, or the hellish process of trying to buy something new.  They put us through so many hoops we thought we were trying out for an NBA team!  Finally closed three months later on our new digs, which technically aren't new, just new to us.  The last two owners had been foreclosed upon.  You can just imagine what needed doing.  This began another new chapter in our lives - the Bob Vila period.  Husband learned he's an amazing painter and flooring installer, while I discovered I can't paint for beans, yet I'm quite the electrician. LOL!

We weren't in the house three weeks when the phone rang late one night.  Never a good thing, right?  That phone call began the next era, the CNA period.  CNA as in Certified Nursing Assistant.  My mother had a freak accident, falling out of bed and impaling herself on the corner of the night table, which went through her neck all the way to her spine.  She was completely paralyzed, requiring emergency surgery to do a double fusion on her shattered C5 vertebrae.  She was in rehab for four months.  Hence the new "job" as an unofficial CNA, until I fired myself after more than three months of being there all day every day, doing everything from feeding her, washing her hair, wiping her ass and picking her nose - the jobs she had real CNAs to do, yet they were never quite fast enough, attentive enough or competent enough to suit her.  Saying my mother is a difficult person is putting it mildly, and is in no way meant to diminish the hell she went through. I wouldn't wish what happened to her on my worst enemy. Nevertheless, the more she healed physically, the more demanding she became.  Gone was that sweet person who awoke in the ICU, grateful to be alive and promising not to sweat the small stuff anymore.  That epiphany lasted all of five minutes. My father is no better/different, unfortunately.  I figure this must be why I'm an only child.  ;)

Amusingly, they had another difficult patient during our time at the rehab facility, discharged before my mother, who was so loud and annoying the physical therapists celebrated her leaving by buying $200 in designer bundt cakes and sharing them with everyone.  I'm going to guess they bought themselves new cars after my mother was discharged.  Hehe!  At least, thank God, she *was* discharged and she's back home again - back to being my father's problem, which must be his problem with me.  Clearly my only value to them is measured by what services I'm performing for them.  Once I said I needed a break to take care of my own life and family, my name immediately became Mud.  Apparently it still is.  My mother has been home for over six weeks now, while I have yet to get a phone call or a thank-you from either of them.  I suppose I would be the crazy one if I expected differently, given our tenuous history.   Who knows, maybe I gave Florence Nightingale a run for her money even more for myself than for my mother, so I could avoid the guilt monster and sleep well at night.  And I do. :)

So, now it's time to move on - both literally and figuratively - and get to the good stuff!  I'm finally feeling creative again.  I felt like a stranger in my own life for a while there, but that sensation has finally passed and I have some new products in the store, along with samples for you to grab while you're here.  I'm even having a 20% sale through March 15th to celebrate.  Woo hoo!

First up, a very springy and blingy doodle action, Doodle Gems 07, which is also available in template form for those of you who don't use Photoshop.

Continuing the spring bling theme with Easter in mind, please allow me to introduce the next installment in my Eggcellence action series, Eggcellence Vol 02.  As always, also available in template form.

I have ideas for more Easter goodies, so please stay tuned, there will definitely be more to come.  In the meantime, grab some lucky #7 tagger-size doodles here, and the eggs shown in the preview here. 

Hope you'll like and enjoy them!  :)

Editing to test a different way to download my freebies. My premium account at 4Shared has expired, and I'm not too thrilled with their free setup. You shouldn't have to wait to download or to be bombarded with ads. Nor am I thrilled with the higher price to renew their premium service. So, let's try making the files available at my domain. I liked 4Shared mainly for the ability to leave comments, but let's be honest here - most of you don't leave comments anyway. You can always leave me some love right here if the urge should strike you. :)

I'll leave the links above to 4Shared for now, but if you'd like an ad-free, no-waiting download, try these links instead:

http://scraparoni.net/downloads/TS-Doodle-Gems-07.zip

http://scraparoni.net/downloads/TS-Eggcellence-02.zip

Easter Sale at Sophisti-Scraps!

Scraparoni Sale at Sophisti-Scraps!

Holy cow, I can't believe it's been almost three months since I've posted. I haven't died or disappeared - or changed my name. Heard a funny rumor about that, as a matter of fact. Nothing that exciting has been going on, I assure you. Nor have I ever designed under a different name. I didn't use a name when I first started, but that changed after my second or third kit, when the name was born and so was this blog. It's been Toni's Scraparoni (or Scraparoni by Toni) ever since.

I've been just as active in the design community as always, except I've been working behind the scenes, learning PHP and coding mods for Zen cart. My motto has always been, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Getting what I wanted for the store was no different. While I've always been a muddler through the Greek and Chinese to make cosmetic and small functional changes, getting serious started, yep, about three months ago. LOL! I needed a simple fix for something to do with gift certificates. Did well with that, so I thought, "If I can do that, let's try to do this." The "thises" kept coming until that turned out to be a really nifty gift certificate manager. And they're still coming. Hehe! I've done three mods so far that I'm very proud of. Not going to post previews 'cause there's really nothing to see you would find appealing - unless you have a Zen cart store yourself. If that's the case, visit here and knock yourself out. ;)

I'm sorry I don't have anything new design-wise for you to play with, but you haven't been off my mind for a moment. This has all been for you, so you'll have more fun while shopping. Case in point: gifts with purchase. I've wanted a mod like this since we opened. Many months ago, I requested one be created by someone who does a lot of Zen work in the scrap world. It wasn't at all what I wanted. Now we have egg-zactly what I envisioned, and what I hope you will enjoy.

Hope you'll also enjoy a little sale on Scraparoni while you're at it. 25% off at the place I live and breathe, Sophisti-Scraps. I'm working on one more mod you'll enjoy, and then I promise, it's back to designing something a little prettier. ;)

New Year Sale at Sophisti-Scraps!

50% storewide sale. Woo hoo!! Click the banner above or http://toni.ws/2011 to get there. January 1 - January 5. Don't miss it! :)

Bling in the New Year - 2011

Hi, gang!

Happy New Year! Again! LOL!

Originally from 2010, Bling in the New Year has been updated to include 2011 word art. It's also been re-packed and re-uploaded. Both sizes! Last year, quite a few people had trouble getting the full-size kit, so I haven't split it this year. It's one big-ass .zip file of approx 160 MB.

If you're on a slower connection, try setting it to download at night, before you go to sleep. Hoping the number of people on slower connections will be fewer than last year, as technology advances. You dial-up users certainly have my sympathies. I'd have been in the mental home years ago! LOL! Luckily we have a choice where I live, but I know that isn't the case for everyone. So let's try it this way and see how it goes.

Get the page kit here and the tagger kit here.

Hope you'll like and enjoy the kit, whichever size you choose! And of course, wishing you the most shiny, prosperous, healthy, and Happy New Year!! Let's hope 2011 has at least a little bit of heaven. :)

17 Days - Day 2

Not going to give you a preview every day, just of tomorrow - 'cause it's my turn!

Bling - it's what's for dinner! LOL! This is slightly different bling than I normally do. I wanted to get that "plugged in," glowy look. So I guess it's time to get lit up! ;)

Available in both action and template. Tomorrow, both will be on the house. Better be quick! You know where to find them - my favorite store, Sophisti-Scraps. :)

17 Days of Freebies!

Jingle Bling!

Time for a fun, fresh take on Christmas, scrap kit style! Jingle Bling was originally available for one day only during the 2009 Sophisti-Scraps Christmas promo. It's gotten even fresher for 2010 with the addition of a few more elements.

As always, find the page kit and tagger kit at Sophisti-Scraps.

Hope you'll like and enjoy! :)