Get My New Celtic Seasons Kit FREE!

But wait...there's a catch! (you knew that didn't you?)

It's time for another Download-a-Day (DLAD) challenge! The June DLAD at Divine Digital is 'The Spirit of Dad' by featured designers Michelle Powell, Julie Kelley, and Connie Prince. The challenge is to do a layout using the DLAD kit!

What do you get for completing the challenge? How about my brand new Celtic Seasons kit? Woo hoo! Well, not the whole kit...not right away anyway...you're gonna have to work for it!

The first thing you have to do is sign up in Divine Digital's forum - it's free. Then go to the June 2007 DLAD link. Bookmark the page or subscribe to the topic so you remember to visit every day! Visit the forum each day in June to get a portion of the DLAD kit.

Next, create a LO using the DLAD and post it in your favorite gallery. Yes, you can use images from other kits, but try to use the DLADs as much as possible. Finally, send me a link [catrionamag @ gmail.com] and I'll send you part of Celtic Seasons!

Every week during the month of June there will be another piece of the kit up for grabs - for a total of four: Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain, and Imbolc.

Here are the posting dates:

* 1-7 June - part 1
* 8-14 June - part 2
* 15-21 June - part 3
* 22-30 June - part 4
* 30 June is catch up day! If you missed a piece of the Celtic Seasons kit, this is the day to post a last minute LO and let me know which ONE you need. You only get to pick one piece, so plan accordingly!

Don't worry, if you miss a part it will go on sale in my shops at DD and DSO on 1 July.

Here's a preview of Beltane, the first part of my new Celtic Seasons kit and your first posting prize.

Remember, sharing files is a form of digital piracy - even free ones. Please send your friends to my blog so they can participate in this challenge and get their own free kit. It's not that hard!

If you want to learn more about digital piracy and how you can help prevent it, click on the "Stop Digital Piracy" link on the left.

Slainte! {Gaelic for Cheers!}

The Costume Detective: How to Date Old Photographs

Do you have a box of heritage photos and no way to tell when they were taken? This website can help!

By using costume history, you can date your vintage photos by analyzing the fashions, hats, and jewelry worn by your ancestors. You will also find helpful tips, hints, and examples assist you with dating your photos within +/- 5 years. In many cases, this can help you narrow your search for supporting documents and records which may pinpoint the exact date of the photo.

Visit the Costume Detective to learn more.

[Many thanks to designer Kay Eflin for this tip posted on her blog.]

Got a lot of new purchases from i-NSD? UnzipThemAll!

Did you acquire a lot of zipped files from all the fun on i-NSD? Or do you have a ton (like I did) that you just haven't gotten around to unzipping yet? Isn't it a royal pain to unzip them one-by-one? Oh, aye! Well, here's a nifty little software program designed to do just what it's named: unzip them all. It will unzip .zip, .rar, and .ace files into their own new folders (named the same as the archive's name) in just one click! In addition, this wee program doesn't require that you have any of the archive programs, such as Winzip or Winrar, installed. It's completely independent. What a nice bonus! Here's how easy it is... Start the program. Navigate to the folder your unzipped files are in. The program recognizes the files and highlights them for you. Click the Start button. Watch the progress on the bottom of the box...it's quick! Notes... An error code 6 means the file was corrupted and did not unzip. However, if you look in your folder you will see that the program went ahead and created an empty folder anyway. It will not delete your original file so you will have to do that manually. If you have a password protected archive, you can type the password to extract files. UnzipThemAll is a "donationware" program - that means it's free but it's good karma to donate to the developer. The program is available in both French and in English. Click here to go get it.

Any DIP users out there? Your software just got a pink slip!

Microsoft has discontinued its line of Digital Image Suite products. They report that many of the digital imaging features and tools are included in new Microsoft titles and services including Windows Vista™.

However, I have Vista and when I went to look at the features I did not find much in the way of a drawing program - just a photo organizer and limited editing like red-eye removal. Maybe they will be bringing something else out in the future.

For the official statement, click the software box at the left.

I want a Washington Scottish Heritage license plate!

Members of the Tacoma Scots Pipe Band have begun a campaign to raise money for the development of a Scottish heritage license plate in the State of Washington. The sale of the plate will go to promote our Scottish heritage in the Pacific Northwest...a very worthy cause if I do say so myself!

If you are interested in supporting the development of this plate, please visit the Scottish Heritage License Plate Campaign website or the Washington State Scottish Heritage Society.

Happy Mom's Day!

Here's a freebie for you and your mom!
It's a 6"x4" printable that would be great as a brag book cover page, a greeting card, a gift tag, or on a layout embellishment. Download it here.

Don't forget, send your friends (and their moms!) to this blog to get their own freebie!

Slainte! {Gaelic for Cheers!}

Woo hoo! I got a new car!

(The man in the photo is the salesman.)

We'd been talking about getting a new car but hadn't yet decided on one. We'll, last week we were forced to bite the bullet...our old station wagon decided to go to the great "junk yard in the sky"...sigh!

Now we are the proud parents of a wee PT Cruiser! I never would have thought of owning one before but it really is a versatile little thing...it even has a jack for my MP3 player right in the radio! (I'm such a geek - LOL!) And, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color...a soft, sparkly, medium blue...perfect for a Scot, eh? I already put a Saltire blanket on the back seat and a Courtney Davis window sticker on the back window. I think a wee bit of delicate Celtic knot pin striping would just be the best finishing touch...don't you?


Text on the tag
My old Taurus station wagon, with over 300,000 miles on it, decided to finally give up. The transmission went out while I was driving to work and would only work in 1st gear or reverse. I limped home at 15 miles an hour and grabbed the truck to head in to work. When I took it to the repair guy at lunch time, he confirmed the worst and the cost of the repairs would be more than the car was worth. One of our friends got a PT last year and loved it. We decided to go test drive one and a few hours later we were signing the papers and had the keys in our hands! Weʼre going to donate the wagon to a charity.

Credits - all items by me
Papers: Full Moon Crazy kit
Charm: Affirmations Charms
Bow, ribbon, tag, staples, flower: Full Moon Crazy Add-on set (not yet available)
fonts: Plantagenet Cherokee, Vivaldi, Pristina

i-NSD Sale - 50% 0ff on 5 May - ONE DAY Only!

Inter-National Scrapbook Day is here!
Click on the image below to go shopping...

Don't forget to check out the Bargain Bin for our weekly .99 cent sale!
You can save big, Big, BIG!

Hooray, hooray, it's the first of May!

Happy Beltane! The first day of May is celebrated in many countries for many different reasons. It is also an important part of the Celtic calendar. Beltane is a cross-quarter day, marking the midpoint in the Sun's progress between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. Since the Celtic year was based on both lunar and solar cycles, it's possible that the holiday was really celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.

Beltane also marks the beginning of the pastoral summer season when herds of livestock are driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. In modern Irish, Mí na Bealtaine {month of Bealtaine} is the name for the month of May. The name of the month is often abbreviated to Bealtaine, with the festival day itself being known as Lá Bealtaine.

The traditional lighting of great bonfires marks a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and is accompanied with rituals to protect the people from any harm by Otherworldly spirits, such as the Sídhe. Beltane is a time when the Otherworld is seen as particularly close at hand. Early Gaelic sources from around the 10th century state that the druids of the community would create need-fires on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle between them to purify them and bring luck {Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn in Scottish Gaelic - Between two fires of Beltane}. In Scotland, boughs of juniper were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves.

The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today. A revived Beltane Fire Festival has been held every year since 1988 during the night of 30 April (Beltane eve) on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland and attended by up to 15,000 people.

One joyful tradition, Maypole dancing, actually has Germanic roots and is most popular in Germany, Sweden, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Finland for Spring, May Day, Beltane, and Midsummer festivities and rites.

Here's a wee Celtic chipboard frame (3"x3") that's a preview for my Celtic Seasons kit - now in development!


Get it here or click on the picture.

Please, no file sharing...that's digital piracy.
Send your friends to this blog so they can get their own copy.

If you use it on a project, send me a note. I'd love to see what you do with it.

Slainte! {Gaelic for Cheers!}