September Set: "Black-Eyed Susans"

The first of 2 September Book Arts posts...

...before I go on a bit of a health hiatus for a while here at the Studio.

The colors that the end of summer brings can be bright and promising. This set has been inspired by the flower known as the "black-eyed Susan." I love that pleasant blend of golden yellow with a deeper orange, don't you? Some "Susans" come in a variety of colors, but I prefer this orange-y yellow the best.

Please respect my copyrights and follow the red letter Guidelines listed at the foot of this post. Thank you.

The set requires 2 circle punches, one in the 1 inch size, the other in the 1/2 inch size. For some examples of how I like to suggest that people might use my sets, please follow this link HERE and look for the Display.

Happy September Creativity!

PPS™Book Arts Set: September "Black-Eyed Susans"

Download HERE

(No ideas display this time, as no time. 

Please see post above. Thank you)

Plain Display:

You are free to:

use any of the above items

shown here in artwork and/or crafting

that is to be either kept or given away freely.

You are not free to:

sell these designs 

for any reason whatsoever,

even if you alter them first.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Backgrounds for the Rainy Day Set

As promised, here they both are!

One Pink, one Blue - it's your choice! The Blue has already been seen here in the Display of the first post for this Set, but you can see the entire matching Set by following this link HERE.

Please respect my copyrights as well as those of the digital brush artist to whom I give credit (below the display versions). And, as always, please also follow the red letter Guidelines located at the foot of nearly every post at this blog, including this one. Thank you.

Happy Rainy Day Creativity!

PPS™Rainy Day Spring Set Backgrounds

Download Pink HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Blue HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Digital Brush Credits for this design:

www.melsbrushes.co.uk

You are free to:

use the above 2 Backgrounds

in projects that are 

to be given and not sold.

You are not free to:

ever sell either for any reason,

even if you use altering techniques first.

Thank you

for helping me to 

keep free things free!

#ATCAD 2017 ATC Freebies Week Day 5

Today's Set has 2 downloads, one for just the ATC backgrounds (set of 6) the other for the matching 2 Envelope Set with Accessories.

My design inspiration this time is Antique textiles (fabrics). The one is red damask (a jacquard woven-in patterned fabric in all one color), while the second is a quiet and neutral toned embroidered net lace.

Please observe all copyrights by following the red letter Guidelines located at the foot of this post, just below Digital Brush Credits. Thank you.

As before, both Envelopes are accompanied by custom made button fasteners and labels. It was fun for me to design this set to be half bold and half quiet in color. The matching ATC Backgrounds are ready to be embellished however you choose.

All buttons for this week's collection are 1 inch in diameter. I recommend that card stock be your paper of choice for both downloads.

Happy Artist Trading Card Creativity!

PPS™ATC Accessories Set

Antique Textiles

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

PPS™ATC  Sixpack: Antique Textiles

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Digital Brush Credits:

www.obsidiandawn.com

expactacularmix

at www.brusheezy.com

You are free to: 

make art that is to be either 

given freely and/or traded.

Please Credit my work along with 

that of both Digital Brush artists.

You are not free to:

Ever sell anything in this post

for any reason,

even if it is altered first.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

#ATCAD 2017 ATC Freebies Week: Day 4

Still more to come for ATC freebies Week here at PPS.

This time, I've taken my inspiration from 2 antique wallpapers. One has the "distressed" and shabby look, while the other one looks as lively as the day when it first came off the roll.

Please observe all Credits and copyrights shown below and do follow the red letter Guidelines listed just below those credits near the foot of this post. Thank you.

As with Wednesday's post, I've included matching labels and fastener buttons. All buttons are designed to fit either 1" circle paper punches or the 1" setting on an adjustable circle cutter.

What a fun assignment I gave myself recently! Once I'd made the ATC Backgrounds Set (shown second, below), I knew that I'd want to play some more with the two papers I'd chosen. That was actually what got me started on making new ATC Envelopes to match for this week long project in the first place.

Happy ATC Creativity!

PPS™ATC Sixpack: Antique Wallpapers

Envelopes + Accessories

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

PPS™ATC Sixpack: Antique Wallpapers

ATC Backgrounds Set

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Digital Brush Credits:

www.ObsidianDawn.com

 Din Pattern Grunge 01 at www.brusheezy.com

by MyScrapNook.com

Mask by hilla29

(also at Brusheezy)

You are free to:

Give away or trade anything which you 

may make using any of the items

shown in this post.

If you publish anything made with these items,

please be sure to credit me and

the artists whose brushes I've chosen.

Please also alert me with to any published work

with a comment here. Thank you.

You are not free to:

ever sell anything that you see here,

even if has been altered or added to by you.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Free Spring ATC Set No. 4: Fuchsia!

Still more choices to come!

Very shortly, I'll be ready to offer at least 2 new different styles of free ATC Backgrounds. Hopefully, there will be a little something for everyone.

Please honor all copyrights here by following the red letter Guidelines offered at the foot of this post. Thank you.

Today's 2 posts continue with yesterday's theme, that of the colors of Spring. This particular set includes 6 different ways to use some of spring's sweet pink Fuchsia tones for art fun. I do hope visitors will enjoy using this new set. For more ATC fun here at PPS, you may follow the link to my entire free ATC Backgrounds collection HERE.

Happy Artist Trading Card Creativity!

PPS™ATC Backgrounds Set: Fabulous Fuchsia

Download HERE

Display version
(lower quality than the download)

Digital Brush Credit:

(swirls flanking the download's title)

www.obsidiandawn.com

You are free to:

make art with, display and Trade

my Artist Trading Cards Backgrounds.

You are not free to:

ever sell them in any way,

even if you alter my design.

Please protect my copyrights.

Thank you

for helping me to 

keep free things free!

Spring ATC Freebies Week Continues

The more choices, the merrier!

At least, I see it that way this week. Very shortly, I'll be ready to offer some different styles of free ATC Backgrounds. Hopefully, there just might be something for everyone.

Please honor all copyrights here by following the red letter Guidelines offered at the foot of this post. Thank you.

Today's 2 posts continue with yesterday's theme, that of the colors of Spring. The set includes 6 different ways to use spring's Lilac tones for art fun. I do hope visitors will enjoy using this new set. For more ATC fun here at PPS, you may follow the link to my entire ATC Backgrounds collection HERE.

Happy Artist Trading Card Creativity!

PPS™ATC Backgrounds Set: Luscious Lilac

Download HERE

Display version
(lower quality than the download)

Digital Brush Credit:

(swirls flanking the download's title)

www.obsidiandawn.com

You are free to:

make art with, display and Trade

my Artist Trading Cards Backgrounds.

You are not free to:

ever sell them in any way,

even if you alter my design.

Please protect my copyrights.

Thank you

for helping me to 

keep free things free!

Autumn Checkers - Canadian Style!

This fun game was invented a long time ago, yet it is still enjoyed by millions today!

This new board and game piece set is specially designed to be a part of the Autumn Garden Collection, begun last week here at PPS.

Please observe and respect all copyrights and red letter Guidelines here, especially for this particular copyrighted design of mine. Thank you.

"The most popular forms are English draughts, also called American checkers, played on an 8×8 checkerboard; Russian draughts, also played on an 8×8; and international draughts, played on a 10×10 board. There are many other variants played on an 8×8, and Canadian checkers is played on a 12×12 board." 
This is from Wikipedia's article about the game of "Draughts" or "Checkers" as we call it here in the States.

"Checkers dates back to the 12th century, in France.[2][1] There are two main types of checkers played: the Anglo-American version (which originally came from France) and the Polish or continental version. The Anglo-American version is played on an 8x8 checkerboard with 12 pieces. The continental version (so-called because it is played on the continent of Europe) is played on a 10x10 board with 20 pieces each. There are also a number of variations in various countries."
The writer of that article skipped the Canadian version, didn't they?
:)

For my own game board, I've chosen to use the same size that our Canadian friends like to play on, which is 12 squares by 12 squares in size. 18" x 18" is what my big board will be, once completed. This will allow for each square to be slightly larger than one inch on all four sides.

Some online sources left me puzzling about the varying size discrepancies for both boards and squares. For example, one source said that each space on the board should be 1.5" by 1.5" square. But this made no sense in terms of math for some board sizes. I was quite frankly puzzled at first! After all, 12 squares border all sides of the Checkerboards used in Canadian style draughts (pronounced "drafts.") or checkers. 12 squares x 1.5" = 18".

Other sources later claimed that every square should be exactly one inch square. Some even claimed that the board must be 8" x 8" (such as the article above), yet that would make the board smaller than an average sheet of printer paper, wouldn't it?

Anyway, as soon as I saw all of the varying sizes, etc., I decided to decide for myself instead of following all of that varying advice. In fact, I went with the Canadian style (probably because of an old movie I was watching at about the same time which took place in Canada).

Below, the first thing to be shown is a Display model of the completed board with a pretend game in its first steps. Directly following that Display will be a list of the 4 downloads, each one labeled as per usual.

For complete instructions on how to put together the 18" x 18" board, I'd like to suggest the Instructions and Hints at one of my Paper Doll Room posts HERE. The techniques for both projects should be very much the same. 

This game does have pieces or tokens. I'd like to suggest the use of small wooden discs, such as craft and hobby stores often carry for these. The size should be no smaller than 1.25" or one inch plus one quarter across. That is the exact size of each of the circular pieces I've created for the set. Another option might be for chip board circles of the same size, 1.25". I imagine there are various tabletop die cutters that might be useful for such a project, as would a 1.25" circle crafting punch. Cork or felt padding  on the underside of every piece will help to ensure the life of the board.

Each free printable download comes with 6 game pieces, 3 pieces per design, so that once all 4 sections have been printed, so will all 12 game tokens have been.

As most home printers have ink which runs when wet, some wide enough clear packing tape could be very useful for putting together your tokens (or checkers). Glue stick is an old favorite of mine for paper projects, however, perhaps double sided tape (the strong kind often used by crafters today) would work best, as it is applied without dampening anything and is sturdy. 

Remember that you can always save the 4 downloads as files and reprint them if you need to.

Below the Downloads and the Guidelines, I will offer a video of the game's basics for beginning players.

Happy Autumn Playtime!

PPSGames™: Autumn Checkers (or Draughts)

Canadian Style!

Display model:

Download Upper Left HERE

Download Upper Right HERE

Download Lower Right HERE

Download Lower Left HERE

You are free to:

play with this game

and/or the tokens.

You are not free to:

ever sell any part of this game set

for any reason.

Thank you

for helping me to 

keep free things free!

Checkers basics:

The next one shows a little more skill.

Victoria's Very First Costume Ball !

A special charity event, all in costumes of bygone eras!

This will be a night for our Victoria to recall for many years to come. She and her cousin, Mercy had both admired the very same costume in the same London shop, and so it was decided that Victoria would wear a pink one while Mercy would wear the one in blue.

Please honor my copyrights and do follow the red letter Guidelines located at the foot of each post. Thank you.

©RHMcGuinn as are all of the rest of the Paper Dolls, outfits, rooms, Scenes and Accessories, including standards. Thanks for the courtesy.

Tom is looking very dapper and dandy in his brand new evening suit, isn't he? I always have liked the look of most top hats, so this was a special treat for me to work on. Please notice how his outfit has its own background. [NOTE: Please never cut away any of his backgrounds - these are necessary to ensure a proper look and fit.]

The Benefit Ball is just starting. All of the guests are continuing to filter in from their carriages outside. The first to arrive had been a gathering of members of The Crinoline Guild, with their partners. They cut a dash on the dance floor in their old fashioned outfits and hair styles, don't they? Some are twirling with their partners quite daringly, for the first dance is now playing the very first waltz of the evening. I will post a very lively Waltz Music video below. The album's links are listed at the home page of the video.

Victoria is very pleased to have been asked to join the partygoers of the Crinoline guild, two of whom are good friends of Tom and Mercy's. This was a very spur of the moment invitation, and so they all had to make haste in order to be ready on time. - And the three had only been home a week! 

The Benefit Ball is intended to raise money for a very worthy charitable cause, that of the education of orphans as well as the support of widowed mothers. While tickets were very costly, and even somewhat scarce by the time that the three latecomers had returned from their travels abroad, every effort was made to secure them a place at the supper table where a banquet is to be served directly following the dancing.

Other guests are wearing clothing styles that are even older than the ones which Mercy and Victoria are wearing for this event. There is a lady dressed as a shepherdess, carrying a slender crook and wearing a fetching straw hat. Near to her is a fellow who is dressed in medieval fashion, as a troubadour or musician, all in red velvet. Just beyond them there is a charming couple wearing costumes from the early 1600's. I especially like the lady's satin gown, don't you? Opposite them and at the back of this gigantic room (of which we may see only a fraction) is yet another couple, this one dressed in early Regency, a time when some 18th century influences still could be found in certain clothing items for men.

Shown below first, of course, is the Scene, with 4 separate downloads, as per usual. (Complete instructions and hopefully helpful hints may be found at the first Room or Scene post, HERE.) 

Following that set of downloads are the two pretty gowns, and lastly, Tom's new evening attire.

I do hope that this new set will offer many hours of playtime fun for young and old alike.

Happy 3/4 time waltzing fun!
:)

PPSPlaytime™: Benefit Costume Ball Scene

Display version:

Download UL section HERE

Download UR section HERE

Download LR section HERE

Download LL section HERE

Waltz Music by both Strauss and Tchaikovsky!

(my personal favorites are the ones that are by Strauss)

[LINKS to use for the purchasing of any of this album's 

tracks may be found at the home page for this video.]

PPSPlaytime™: Victoria's Pink Costume

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

PPSPlaytime™: Mercy's Blue Costume

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

PPSPlaytime™: Tom's New Evening Attire

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

You are free to:

play with or give or trade 

the outfits or scene shown in this post.

You are not free to:

ever sell any of the items shown here

for any purpose.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Late Summer Garden Set + Background

The summer is winding down again. This can be a wistful time of year, for we know that it is sure to linger but a little while more.

Today's post is about enjoying the summer days remaining for this year. The collage set below, along with its matching lacy background, is ready to be downloaded and then used. 

Note: Background Photoshop lace Pattern is by babypink (name is a link) over at Brusheezy. The copyright for the Lace pattern (entitled, "Spetts") is as follows: "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon this work even for commercial reasons, as long as you credit this artist by linking back."

Please read and follow the copyrights and red letter Guidelines listed here at this blog. There is a special set of rules for this particular post. Thank you so much for this courtesy. My goal is to show you what is legal and what is not legal. I always try for the fairest use that fits within International Copyright Law, for I would hate to create any confusion as to what is correct and what is not for you, my guests.

This project took me many hours of work before it was, at long last, ready to be posted here. This little labor of love began quite some time ago, when I found the images I've used to make it, in particular the image of the lovely young woman dressed all in pink.
From the bouquet of flowers that she is enjoying to the handkerchief under her other hand, to her crinolined skirts, she would have looked right at home in many a fine Victorian setting. I have removed her from her prior setting, however, in favor of surrounding her with flowers in a new background, prior to cutting this pocket.

The arching pocket itself is about 4 inches by 5 inches in size, although a copy center or your home computer might allow you to shrink it in size a bit, should you wish to change that size. I would not recommend enlarging it any at all, however, due to a few resolution problems I encountered while completing this project.

Guests who are new to this blog will notice the tabs on both pockets. Once folded under and then glued to your chosen surface, these tabs (or foldable flaps) will remain hidden. I've created a Display image to show a few ideas as to how this new set of mine could get used.

There are other creative sets like it here at PPS. The Spring Garden Collection, in particular, comes to mind. But this one is all about the changing seasons or else an appreciation of the beauties of each day. After all, each day may be considered a flower in the larger bouquet of human experience, can't it?

Note:
For best print copy quality of this particular set, it is a good idea to change your printer settings to the smallest margin size allowed, or else choose the option to print without any margins at all.

Happy Late Summer Creativity!

PPSGarden™ Set: Late Summer 1

Display with ideas

(lower quality than the downloads)

Download the Set HERE

Display of Set alone

(lower quality than the download)

Download Lace Background HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

SPECIAL GUIDELINES FOR THIS POST

You are free to:

either give or trade 

or make projects with

the items that are included

in this Set.

You are not free, however:

to ever sell any of the Collage items 

for any reason.

The Background has copyrights

that stipulate that you must attribute whenever

it is to be either displayed and/or sold.

Attribute Background lace Pattern to

the artist mentioned at the top of this post.

The Collage items had to be altered

greatly by me personally.

They now have copyrights in this blog's name

as a result of that time and work.

Thank you for abiding by

each rule I've given.

and

Thank you 

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Free Bible Verse Garden Labels

A newer version of a previous set.

I won't be available for a while yet, but thought that I would offer this free new set. The original set may be found at the following link HERE. 
Happy Creativity!

PPS™ Bible Verse Garden Label Set

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

You are free to:

use the labels in either of the 2 sets here

in artwork or crafting

that is either for fun or for profit.

Please be kind and attribute.

You are not free to:

ever repackage anything in either set

for the purposes of selling any or all of them.

To do otherwise would be a form of a theft.

Thank you so much

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Spring Set: Rose Borders and Butterflies

Let's celebrate Spring some more using rose blossom borders and matching accessories!

I love to garden. It never ceases to amaze me just how much I do love to watch green, growing things blooming. I can recall falling in love with a sweet neighbor's pansy patch when I was a very small child, so this is a life long passion of mine.

Please observe the red letter Guidelines at the bottom of this post. Thank you.

This little set began as a sample page from an antique book of late Victorian home decor designs. It has required much time, work and trial and error failure. Each attempt brought a new lesson as to how to make older, less attractive things look nicer and neater. In fact, it was a little bit like improving a garden patch!

I'm offering two sizes of the same rosy border, along with the butterfly badges, plus the garden bench (this time in a soft springlike green) along with some other accessories. The garden bench is a genuine favorite of mine. I do admire pretty rustic wood garden furnishings!

This will be the one day that I can find enough time for posting anything different here at PPS for a while. Too many responsibilities keep drawing me away from doing art of all sorts. There is one project that is on hold, and that one is at the second blog, Rose's Art Garden, where I can simply relax, make messes, and play. However, at the first blog (this one) I have too little time to keep up properly with everything today. Perhaps by the time next month comes around, it will become a little easier for me to continue on as before.

Thank you for stopping by! I do hope you are enjoying every bright spring day with your ~
Happy Creativity!

PPS™ Spring Garden: Rose Borders and Butterflies

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

You are free to:

use the set shown here

in art or craft projects that may be

either given, traded or sold.

You are not free to:

ever sell items from this set in any set 

that you make for sale online or elsewhere.

This is my work. Please protect it.

Thank you 

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Daisy Chain Spring Garden Set + Backgrounds

An antique Victorian embroidery pattern is the basis for this new set.

This blog post's entire contents have copyrights. Please respect the rights of every artist whose work has made this project possible. Guidelines are located at the foot of the post. Thank you.

Did I mention before how much I love to garden? Or that I enjoy almost every color of green that nature shows me? Or that I also like a good, deep, earthy chocolate brown color as well? (I know that most of you would already know how very much I like antiques!)

I've combined all of those fun things into one set. This time, the pocket (or pouch) has a whole new shape for guests to play with. I chose not to make any of the basis for it look too perfect, as I really like that old fashioned appeal as well. Despite its Victorian charm, I confess that I have added just a touch of Art Deco appeal for the fun of it, as you will see in the first image (Example display) below.

Please observe the red letter Guidelines to this post, found underneath the last image shown in the post. Thank you.

This took a lot of work. The initial image had a few quality issues, and needed to be remade entirely before it would fit the idea I kept having.

For the background pattern, as well as for the main trim, I used a copyrighted digital brush set by MelsBrushes (to find the site, guests can follow the link HERE). 

The new pouch shape comes in 2 parts, with one base and one top. Both have flaps. (I guess we could even say that even my pocket flap has its own flap! LOL) These will naturally need to be folded under prior to gluing to the chosen surface. The buckle was added to the opening cover or top bit in order to simplify the construction process for you, but I have also included the same buckle separately with accessories. 

July 2017 Update: My thanks to All Free paper Crafts (just click on their badge, upper left of this blog to see what else they feature) for promoting this set of downloads. 
:)

The Backgrounds come 4 ways this time. The chocolate brown one comes with either white or green daisies and the green one comes with either brown or white daisies. All of it is meant to follow the same theme and to mix and match or contrast. 

I could easily see one of the 4 Backgrounds being used for a lining to the new Pouch style Pocket. Also, I could see this set used with other sets from elsewhere.

Actually, I could even see a tiny hand bag being sewn using both pouch parts, but printed onto an iron on fusible material of some sort. The reverse side of such a little bag could be one of the backgrounds below. It might look really cute! If anyone chooses to try such an idea, I do hope that they will let me all know about it so that I can add their pictures here. That would be a lot of fun for me!
:)

Happy Spring and Thank You for stopping by with your~
Happy Creativity!

PPS™ Spring Garden Collection: Daisy Chain

Example:

Download pouch or Pocket Top HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download pouch or Pocket Base HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Accessory Set HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Background 1 HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Background 2 HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Background 3 HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Download Background 4 HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

This set is copyrighted 2 ways.
You are free to: use the items shown here in
this Daisy Chain Set in art or craft projects
which may be either given or sold.
If you sell any finished project that includes
any of the items in this set,
copyright law dictates that credit must be given to both www.plushpossumstudio.blogspot.com
and
www.melsbrushes.co.uk 
You are not free to: ever sell any of the items shown here
for any reason, either as is or in any sets
(digital or already printed) made by you,
even if you build on any of my designs.
Thank you for helping me to keep free things free!