Memories of my Grandma

As I was compiling a list of songs for this blogs playlist jukebox I was overcome with memories over certain songs. Does that ever happen to you? Perhaps you had not heard a song in years and it wisked you back to a certain memory, time, place, and emotions.

Music has always been a way for me to connect emotionally. But some songs are more so than others. Such was the case with memories of my Grandma Toby. She was a woman who lived her life simply. I lived with her for a few months after my Mom died when I was five. She babysat many of her grandchildren anyway when her sons and their wives worked so I got to know my cousins a little bit better because at that time (we are talking the mid sixties here) kids were left with family members when their parents worked.

Grandma Toby's simple living has stuck in my head and heart. She had a pot bellied coal stove in her house and it kept the little brown house warm. I remember her making breakfast for all of us kids and we had oatmeal and hot buttered cinnamon sugar toast from her gas oven. (No toaster and it tasted better than any I have had since).

I remember her 40's and 50's styled furniture and the big floral patterns of slipcovers or heavy, scratchy upholstery on the furniture. Grandma did not have an abundance of money but she sure had an abundance of love for her grandkids.

When I was older I became aware of the music Grandma listened to. My Uncle, her youngest son was only a few years older than me and he had vinyl albums of Carole King and Neil Young. It was then, in the 70's and I would visit her and we would listen to the music on a small turntable. She loved the song 'Old Man' by Neil and whenever I hear it to this day, I think of my Grandma Toby. It lifts me up and makes me remember her with a smile though she has long passed away, memories of her have attatched themselves to bits of music, smells and tastes, colors and patterns of things.

It was due to these memories I created "Remembering Grandma" a digital scrapbooking quickpage. The flowers in this qp remind me of the 40's and 50's style of patterns found in Grandma's little old brown house. It is a comfortable 'feeling' I get from it.

I miss my Grandma Toby very much. This qp is in her honor~

It uses some of the handdrawn Paisley designs I have been creating for ages and oil painted roses. I will add a photo here of the qp. Those that wish to leave a comment and put their email address in the comment will get the link to the download for "Remembering Grandma".

I enjoy creating digi scraps. I would like to share them with others, however, they will only be offered in exchange of commentary from now on. I think its a small price to pay for getting these creations in exchange. If you wish to have this please leave comment, with email addy and preference as to what format you would like "Remembering Grandma" quickpage in. I will send you the link to whatever you prefer.

A New Year ..The Little Red Hen...and a new Freebie~

First, I wish to extend you all a Happy New Year~
A new change here at RedHead Pixels for the new year, an offering of music to listen to. You can get your own playlist player too for your page. Music is so important to me personally. I really think I rely on it so much for a mood lifter. I hope you enjoy the tunes here and maybe even find a few of your own favorites in the lineup.

Yes, 2008 is finally here and this year we are hoping for a much better one! Last year was not so great for many in the United States, including my own family. This year has got to be better, right?!
There are so many things that are making life difficult, from the constant nonsensical rising prices of gas, food, energy and the lowering value of the dollar in the US, to the sad state of the lack of equal and fair Health care for ALL in the US and this stupid war we have been in that is not doing anything but putting America's future children in debt for generations to come and making enemies across the world due to our military being there.

I am hoping that this year will be a year of change for the way the Government is ran and how it trickles down to America's citizens. We are desperate for positive changes in this country.

It is important that we all VOTE for CHANGE!
Off my soapbox for now on that subject~

On the issue of Digi scrapping and Freebies.....

Despite the lack of posting, I have been very busy with creative juices running rampant~
This is a 'good thing'. You are going to benefit~
I love a good digi scrap freebie. I am getting picker about what I download as I have so many designs on here and its hard to sift through them and have spent more time creating than downloading of late. There are many beautiful designs out there to buy, but it seems like more and more designers are getting tight with their 'nicer' designs and going for profit. While I can see nothing wrong with making profit, it would be nice to see more quality freebies being offered to not only inspire the digiscrappers out there but as a general nice thing to do.

This goes back I am sure to respect for the creative output by designers. If the majority of down loaders fail to be kind in return and give a comment to the designer, well it doesn't do much to inspire them to share does it.
That being said, doesn't take much to share a kind comment...but those lamenting the drying up of quality freebies should realize, the lack of kind commentary, leaves the designers not wanting to share further quality items.
Reminds me of the tale of The Little Red Hen. Remember that from childhood? A good moral tale. If you don't know the story here it is:
The Little Red Hen Tale

The gift of giving....
Holiday money being tight this year, we gave our loved ones homemade gifts. I have to say, everyone seemed to appreciate the effort put into what we gave. My husband makes his own wine and so he gave wonderful bottles of his Homemade Pumpkin Persimmon, a Homemade Sangria (out of this world good) and Elderberry wines. I gave my special blends of homemade soaps in packets. I also made a baby quilt for my new granddaughter (first pieced quilt I have ever done and needless to say it didn't turn out quite square but they loved it anyway ). The other thing that took a long time was I scanned photos in of my kids and printed out photos for them as well as the in laws. They really appreciated them. I was able to use my digital creativeness and that was a lot of fun for me, as well as they enjoyed the results immensely. Paint Shop Pro is my favorite program and I love what all I can do with it.

I highly recommend homemade gifts over store bought. There is so much materialism in the world and we do not have to 'buy buy buy' all of the time. Nothing says love more than a gift from the HEART. Gift cards say "I didn't have time, or I don't know you well enough to choose a gift for you".

Speaking of gifts from the heart, if you're still with me, you re asking about now, is there a 'freebie' in this blog post? Well there is! In fact, there could potentially be more than one, if you remember the tale of the Little Red Hen. What ever do I mean? Well, today I am posting for your enjoyment, a new quick page to download. I just love 'plopper' type quick pages. It makes things so easy and quick for creating a gift. This newest one was made because of two things...my desire for Spring to come SOON and my love of all things Victorian; lush jewel tone and gold colors, velvet, floral and other Victorian textures.

So my offering today is my new Redhead Pixels Bring Me Spring quick page. Bring me Spring was made from some of the papers and elements I have been busy creating for months. I have many of these in different lush colors for different looks and I will be combining them in more quick pages in the future for you all.

You will remember as well back a few months ago I offered some of my Paisley designs. I have been creating new paisley elements for a long time and I have not forgotten that I said I would be offering them in a kit for you all. It is going to be a 'create your own' paisley design kit when I am done and you will all be able to create your own pages from the elements and papers I have been busy creating.

Those who are kind enough to remember the Little Red Hen and LEAVE A COMMENT, with their email address, will get an email from me providing the download link to whats in the gift box, a special gift of Thanks for Appreciating what I am doing here.

Those that don't, wont, Its that simple.
Redhead Pixels Bring Me Spring quick page has lush colors and rich textures. Hopefully it will inspire you to be thinking of Spring!
For me, I had so much fun creating everything, then putting it together in this quick page. I am happy to be offering it here for you all today as a special Freebie. I think it shows a definite improvement in my skills as a digital designer from past offerings, as I learn more and more with each creation. I just love the rich velvet ribbon. I made it in other colors as well and each one turned out looking just as realistic as this one. The enjoyable thing for me is after I have learned a new technique to put it in practice and then get better and better at it.

RHP Bring Me Spring quick page will be available in several different formats in order to please all the different programs being used for digi scrappers out there....PSP format, PSD, PNG and JPEG:
Download BMS in PSP format
Download BMS in other formats

Don't forget your chance to get whats in here!