get'cher CK fonts here!

The Scrap 'n Font site is having a CK fonts Retirement Party! In honor of this event, they're offering discounts of up to 75% off Creating Keepsakes fonts.

My personal fave? The CK Journaling family. They're perfect for...ummm... Well, they're perfect for journaling!
renee

ACDSee for Mac: Episode 2

Some time ago I posted that ACDSee had announced a Mac version of their popular photo management software. Seems plans are moving forward and a public beta will be available soon.

ACDSee Pro Photo Manager for Mac is an integrated image viewing, managing and editing solution for professional and prosumer photographers. You can find out more and sign up to be a beta tester at the ACDSee site.
renee

Photoshop Keyboard Combos

If you've noticed I've been referring you to Smashing Magazine quite a bit, it's only because they have fantastic content I'm usually dying to share with you. This time it's their Top 10 Killer Photoshop Combo Moves.

For example... Killer Move #10 is what they call the "Cloak of Invisibility" which removes everything from your screen except your file. That definitely comes in handy when you quickly want to see only your stunning creation without the distraction of palettes (now called panels in CS4).

There are 9 more just as useful tips offered by author Tom Giannattasio.
renee

House of 3

Designers Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer and Janet Hopkins have opened a new online store called "House of 3." These super talented ladies are stocking their site with lots of gorgeous kits and embellishments (both traditional and digital). You'll want to check them out.

And, if you're planning on participating in our most recent challenge... (You are planning to enter, right?) Then you'll be interested to know that "House of 3" has also opened a storefront in the Scrapblog Marketplace.
renee

New Simply Inspired Challenge: Visual Triangle

Welcome to another edition of Simply Inspired, the challenge where we take a concept from DSM Wire and apply it to our next layout. This week, we've been inspired by Rebecca Saylor to take a fresh look at that time-tested design principle: the visual triangle. Ready to get to the "point?" Enter today... you could win a prize that's anything but "square."

From the beginning of design, visual triangles have been one of the easiest ways to achieve a balanced layout. A visual triangle is the placement of related visual elements (whether photos, embellishments or colors) at three separate points to form a triangle. This placement helps the eye travel around the page and unifies individual elements to create a cohesive design. So on your next layout, we want to see you put this tried and true design principle to good use. You can literally draw a temporary triangle shape on your layout to achieve perfect placement as Rebecca did, or you can simply go freeform. But get that visual triangle in your next layout and let us know how you were inspired!

Upload your layout(s) on or before March 10 to the Simply Inspired gallery at Designer Digitals or create a fun Scrapblog to share with us. You could be the lucky winner who will get his or her layout published on the website and receive a $10 gift certificate from Designer Digitals!

We can’t wait to see your simply inspired layouts!
renee

Beautify your desktop

One of the best sources of inspiration is desktop wallpaper. I change my wallpaper so frequently that shopping for new ones has become a welcome web diversion.

Smashing Magazine is offering new wallpapers this year that are not only beautifully designed, but also have calendars included. My favorite is the one above by Cara Bonsdorf. Maybe because it's called "Scrappy Love?" You can see the complete March selection of 45 wallpapers here.
renee

more free fonts

Font Squirrel offers free fonts. So what? There are tons of sites that offer free fonts, right? But the fonts at Font Squirrel are different. They're commercial quality with a variety of styles (Light, Light Oblique, Book, Book Oblique, etc.) and they come with commercial use licenses. Now that's a deal in my book.

Oh! I used the FFF Tusj font for my name above.
renee

Blog Headers

Free blog headers are all over the web. What I love about the ones I found at Smashing Magazine is the quality. They're exceptionally well designed. And many of them include the PSD (Photoshop) files, so you can customize them for your own use.

Please share with us your favorite free blog header sites!
renee