some of the freebies around at the moment...

WHAT A GORGEOUS KIT FOR SOME BOY SCRAPPING - http://free2scrap.blogspot.com/

Oh and if you wish to get the jump on your christmasy kind of scrapping ....

http://sgrowedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/11/mischief-scrapz-would-like-to-present.html
BLOGTRAIN "IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR"

AND DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG FOR ALL YOUR XMAS FREEBIES - GOING LIVE ON THE FIRST DAY IN DECEMBER - YAY FOR FREEBIE DEDICATED BLOGS
BOOKMARK THIS BLOG NOW

http://digitalcrea-galerie.fr/blog/?p=281

Attack of The Sads

Hi there :)


I'm posting here a little late, because I've been having some heartachey woes and even freebies could not cheer me (it was THAT bad) I'm bipolar and have bad days, weeks sometimes even months. I'm hoping to provide myself with a creative outlet with my scrapping to help process some of the traumatic things in my past and also the ongoing challenges of this disease.


I'm sure in time, I'll let you know all about me -but for now, I just keep it lightish.
I am doing layouts this weekend - notice I am just telling myself to do it.
My partner has gotten Swine flu, and playing nurse after playing nurse for a broken foot is really hard on both of us, he is grumpy and I am emotionally frustrated - my partner in crime is out of action and cuddles could be so nice right now, but they are not allowed.
So, I thought I should try again to go freebie hunting, and so I did..


Captivated Visions give great freebies don't they - oh the clusture elements- great quality. 
http://blog.captivatedvisions.co.uk/?p=2531
Check the last few posts, I also got a freebie called The Thinker - but I'll be darned if I can get the link to the blog, and I must link to that of course.


A high quality string bow element (CU) http://louclark.blogspot.com/2010/10/cu-mix-and-freebie.html Small freebies are still excellent when the quality is high.


http://tracireed.com/teamblog/?p=3078
*The tracy reed love affair continues - freaking 12 BB page album in a thanksgiving theme.
Tracy Reed is well on her way to recieving the hallowed Freebie Queen of the Year Crown.. oh yes, there will be judging and glittery presents.




A funky little template for you - it has my favorite trend at the moment, underlayers :)
http://katharynbrine.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-freebie-lt16.html


http://candycoutoure.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-cute-halloween-kit-boo-with-qp.html
Kendall is bestowing us with yet another awesome QP - halloween themed of course!


I trust you all got the DARLING little smoke puff alpha from the always fab Kristen @ Digi delights? It's so cute and so obvious really, but I have seen no one do such an alpha!


http://digidelights.blogspot.com/2010/10/fired-up.html

OH AND LAST PART OF THE GORGEOUS KIT = THE ELLIES AND ALPHA ARE STILL UP!!
This is so fun, I adore these cute toon like elements in the latest halloween kits - I am a sucker for a good doodle. Goodness!   That just sounds so wrong, lol!  You know what I mean! It's great designing so be sure to leave the designer a note of thanks, it is very important we give back our appreciation to those artists who choose to give to us, it only takes a few minutes, much shorter than making this kit I imagine :) Just sayin folks!
http://scrappinserenity.blogspot.com/2010/10/tonight-its-halloween-alpha.html
http://scrappinserenity.blogspot.com/2010/10/tonight-its-halloween-elements.html


And lastly, for those who like photoshop styles like I do (not to mention fonts, actions and textures which I also covet - but I have a problem, lol) 
http://pinkigloodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-freebie-3-happy-halloween-styles.html
Three lots of halloween glitter styles -woo hoo!  Thanks for that Pinky!




I'll be back with more over the weekend and some more chats.. still feeling a little sad so best try meditation to just "be" and see if that helps a little. Don't laugh, I am a desperate woman. I am off to ommmmm!

Help me and I will help you!

Awww, it's always a bit sad when designer's mojo takes an untimely hiatus and sometimes a vacation is simply the best way to reframe and reinvigorate the passion. Snowmoon's Designs (a regular freebie queen) is doing just that but not before she leaves on a high note by giving us an awesome 4 part kit via 4shared.
http://snowsmoon-myworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/woo-hoo-vacation-starts-tomorrow-and.html For the rest of the best freebies - http://www.suzee-q-stuff.blogspot.com/
Check out what Suzie found - she does pictures like a good blogger rofl! Today I am going to allocate my blog time towards talking about how to make 4shared and freebie hunting in general a less tedious and time consuming task. This means you can spend more time actually using the bloody things! I am still unzipping like a mad woman, I am starting to get a bit down actually, as I have been sorting and unzipping for about a month solid (10 hours a day) and I still have about 8000 files to go. I'm really proud of my filing system (my stepdaughter just went WOW!)
as I have everything tagged and sorted into themes or materials made of (elements) and papers are by colour, pattern, and style. It's an almighty file network of over 467 folders and so far, about 120 Gig. Is this considered large? I also have discs (about five) so that is another 20 gig. I also have to keep them in a way that I don't repeat any downloads ever, and this means folders within folders within folders. But it does work, I rarely double up.
The worst part is that I don't have any space to back this house of cards up, so if anything happens I will lose, oh, six months of solid sorting. I plan to be a designer, so that is why I am being so meticulous and it includes getting all those tools as well. Plus tutorial links and books - I really have the most diabolical bookmarks folder system too - over 1000 digi related links. Le sigh. I am hoping some other freebie hunters will eventually read my blog and maybe commiserate with me or tell me I am doing it all wrong! LOL I need a designer mentor.
I think I keep sorting and sorting cos I am afraid I won't have all the tools, but I should be scrapping me thinks? I think I obsess about order and having the best collection, because I don't like making amateur layouts. But... it's the only way forward.
So, get onto me soon ok, make sure I post a layout. If you don't make me, it probably won't happen hee hee! And I so want it too! Besides, if I did layouts - I could get posting bonuses lol, and more freebies!!!

It's an illness, I think!
Ok enough about me... back to the post.

Remember after every 4shared download(when the timer starts) clear your cookies. This way you never wait (and like I say to my regulars if you use Chrome browser then you only need to press ctrl +shift +delete) and the cookie cleaner dialogue box pops up.  Select clear all and press OK.  That's it! You are all done.
No more long wait times - ever.  Plus, you can use Rapidshare, Hotfile and those other awful sites a lot more than once, because the cookie they use to limit you has been removed by your sneaky self.  Good huh?

The chrome browser add on that is also my saviour, but you can use for free on any browser - Lastpass.  

Lastpass (link at end of post) is a built in password manager AND form filler. You only need to fill out your profile details ONCE and save it as a profile (ie: Renee's Deets) and you can record all your usual form information - date of birth, address, time, phone - you can even choose to have the form filler remember your credit card information or bank details.  I have used this extension for a year solid (would seriously die without it) and I am happy to recommend it for being totally encrypted, safe and reliable.

I personally do not leave credit card details on there, but more because if someone stole my computer they could have some serious fun.  Still, I have all my logins and passwords stored safely and it's online which means you can access all your usual sites and logins on whatever computer you need to.  I have mine running on Mr Mr laptop because he just hates logging in and Last pass does it all automatically.  You can tailor it to do whatever kind of login you want.  The freebies that are attached to forums and shops are no dramas with Last Pass. It actually makes you much more willing to participate in the community.
The essential reason I think you need to get both is because everytime you clear your cookies or temp files, you will notice any exsisting logins to any site (so be careful if banking)
will log you out. If you have lastpass, it's no worries, as it signs you back in - automagic!

What I really adore though, is the way you can use shortcuts to form fill with ease.
You just set a shortcut to press and it fills out the form.  My shortcut is CTRL+ALT+F (for form filling)
It is great, because it gets very tiresome filling out all the forms and you will find you can use it for newsletters, questionnaires - it really will become a favorite application.   It works with Chrome but also for Firefox and IE.
But I really think the Chrome combination with cookie clearing and Last pass is speedy and amazingly automatic. To be honest, I can be in and out of a shoppe with a freebie much quicker than 4shared, using this combo. Pretty cool huh! The good thing too is that you make your master form completely correct, with proper address and emails and you can update it at anytime.
This means you always join up to anything properly with no annoying errors - trust me it is so helpful just to press my shortcut, when the whole thing is in russian and I have no idea how to fill it out - Last pass does it all for me. It just knows what to do, and you just have to make sure you set it up for each site, to remember it, and I always make sure I check the details it saves to make sure it picked up the right username and password and I label that entry as you may have two entries for the one site (grrr, don't you hate having to have one login for the shop, one for the forum and one even for the gallery!) Well, this makes it all painless.
I should really get paid for this endorsement, ha ha. I just really dig it, because my memory is very poor due to some extensive medications, and I would be lost without it.


Here are the links to the secret tools for ultimate freebie hunting.  Feel free to share my link and get people to come and I can teach you many things about computer shortcuts for freebie getting and even collecting all kinds of freebies and resources.


http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/landing_chrome.html?hl=en   THE CHROME BROWSER

https://lastpass.com/       THE ULTIMATE FREE FORM FILLER AND PASSWORD MANAGER

Holey Moley - Get over to The Studio NOW and get these freebs

Oh my sweet freebie heaven.  I mean, serious bandwith comprimisation here - this aint for the weak hearted or slow witted (tick tock - this is a limited scoop) Wow, thank you so much to all the designers, I am simply in awe of the talent - I thought DSA apprentice was overwhelming with it's amazing talent, well I am just as floored with these beautiful designers too. Oh and can we just wonder in amazement at the pure digi awesomeness of Lali Designs. How has she managed to participate (and do some serious damage/winning) in BOTH of these amazing competitions - when do you sleep girlfriend? I mean you blow me away! I am going to have to interview her I think, a crazy story must be there - but I think she may just need a rest first - talk about power designer!  Unfortunately we cannot vote anymore but we can comment and worship designers - they worked so hard - you can just tell! Ok, to get this out in time, I snipped it from the sites newsletter - I hope they don't mind. Enjoy these beauties, most of the downloads are 4 shared but there are a few mediafire  relief points as well.  Just get there now, whaddaya still here for???   *giggles* "We are on the FINAL round of our Next Designer Contest!  There are already six amazing, spectacular, gorgeous kits gracing our gallery.  I have absolutely no idea how I'm only going to choose 3 from all 10 of our finalist.  None." Please note three very, very important things.  1) Leave a little love for these guys, they have worked incredibly hard this month! 2) Voting will be done only by our Admin/Designer team.  3) These kits are free to download for a very short, limited time In Living Color Fall For Friends Grammie's Happy Kitche... Antique Boutique the treasures of atlantis Softly Spoken by LaLi ... http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=66329&title=with-love&cat=1179    <----- even more AWESOME entries since this was posted -- ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO  then if you still have any hard drive space (seriously these kits should be your priority and there are quite a few!!) http://digiscrapaddicts.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1081  <<< go there and well just do your best and comment too, especially on Project B Designs (soft spot for her and she hasn't been feeling very chipper of late, as we do) and I love Jen Yurko way too much for someone I have never met - I just love her cute designs, her sense of flair and innate knowledge of colour palettes - this is one tough competition and I just want them all to win - does anyone else feel that way??  I just think they have all done so well. I hate the fact there has to be so many "losers".... so I hope we follow these designers after the competition ends and support the blog and the designers themselves.  Even comments can support the mojo of a designer, which from I read is a delicate force of nature.  After such a heavy haul of freebies, I really think it is the least we can do.  Pop into their actual blog home and say hello - they will be incredibly chuffed - just try it! Before I head off to get the rest of the DSA entrants, such hard work!  Hee Hee! I am aware how ugly this post is - but a true freebie hunter has to share her catch while it is fresh so I had no time to make it work and it kept going over into my sidebar. I even changed the blog layout to accomodate this post, so soon my fantastic freebie hunter hot list will be up and running again. I just really want you to get these kits, remember 4 shared means clearing cookies after 3 downloads at the very least.  I am going to post how I do it on a page soon, but for now - just keep clearing out those cookies.  I also want you to get the Chrome Browser - it's a key tool in my arsenal as it is the only browser that allows you to clear specific cookies with a keyboard shortcut - nifty eh? That means no knowing about menus and folders you just hit CTRL + SHIFT + DELETE and it pops up and you check the clear everything box and presto! You are totally clean and 4shared has no idea of the wait time it had planned and gives you a delicious 20 seconds or 90 seconds maximum. It's so good - and it has many other benefits (chrome) that I can teach you. You're welcome.

Get Yourself A Google Account - Set your browser cookies to remember

 One of my most favorite parts of freebie hunting is leaving comments, or as I like to refer to them, "warm fuzzies".  The benefits of taking a few extra minutes to leave a thank you are two fold; not only do you get to make someone feel really proud and warm inside about themselves as designers but it also invigorates the giving process - I cannot think of any person living who enjoys being taken for granted or isn't let down if their efforts aren't appreciated, designers are just the same as us. A little thank you goes a long way to securing our fun with freebies lasts for a long time also, we want to reward them for rewarding us, so the benefit of giving freebies remain and outweigh the cost, time and trouble that is part and parcel of the "freebie" process.
Are you doing your part as a freebie hunter to make the gift worthwhile?

The quickest way to log in and leave comments is to get yourself a Google Account.
This only takes about four minutes, you can even use your existing email address as your login.
Choose a password you can easily remember and type in should your cookies be erased.
Most blogs now issue a word verification request in order to prevent spam. Yes, it is annoying
but yes, we all have to endure this few seconds of annoyance - so I just deal with it.

 I think of my comments as my online version of "throwing a few coins" into the hat of a designer of which I enjoy and most times than not, get to leave with a sample of their talent for my own designs. Therefore it kinda feels like cheating or stealing if I enjoy the benefits and walk past the sad little empty hat, even though I have delighted in the freebie all the same.  Sometimes there are already comments, but that doesn't sway me either - in fact, leaving comments and conversation is an excellent way to get to meet other designers and digital scrappers like yourself.  I like to comment on all different mediums, sometimes forums are easier if there is a shop blogtrain freebie or in a gallery post directly underneath, of the competitions being ran by popular forums.

Freebies I have nabbed today that are a sample of what I love 
http://melslightbulbmoments.blogspot.com/2010/09/so-sweet-honey-bear.html   <<<< page topper
Mel gives excellent freebies and I thought this cute page border with doodled honey bears was a great freeb.
http://kimbsdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/09/recovered.html    <<<<  template
Kim B is offering a gorgeous template freebie (4shared) that has my latest obsession covered - cut out holes that reveal paper underneath! I just love a layout that has the hole punched look, which can be jazzed up with a gorgeous patterned paper or even a word art layer - love the possibilities that templates provide.
http://www.creationsbyrachaelb.com/wordpress/?p=657  >>>> cluster frame direct download
Gorgeous cluster frame with a get well soon theme, complete with date slider and unique elements!
http://cocoscrapbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/template-calendrier-fevrier.html
http://dinphy.blogspot.com/2010/09/little-bit-for-faith.html
http://cocoscrapbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/template-calendrier-fevrier.html
http://scrappymomma33.blogspot.com/search/label/freebie
http://www.juliafialho.com/blog/?p=484

Oooooh pretty - Honey Designs at DigiScrap, this is such a swoon worthy freebie - but it's limited!
CLICK ME TO GO TO MISS HONEY STORE

Little Birdy Post - Live.Capture.Create by Amy Stoffel

Little birdy posts are juicy tip offs to delightful freebie finds that are simply too good to keep to myself.
I am not going to post direct links or have the time to do an image capture - you are just going to have
to trust me and this little description I snipped from the blog itself -

"Hello ladies and HAPPY THURSDAY!!! This month Amy's scrappin chickpeas have taken 8 of Amy's age-old kits and create some awesome frame clusters for you to use...and if you don't have all these amazing kits, now is the time to grab them!!"
Click here to visit Amy and leave her some warm fuzzies please!


Don't forget your manners - this is a wonderful gift that is easily a valuable little find - say thanks
Amy is a lovely designer and her amazingly talented CT Team give great freebies.
Now.. I want to mention that  4 Shared is managing these multiple downloads (eight)


Click here to visit Amy and leave her some warm fuzzies please!

Happy Hunting
Miss Renee