Personal, Professional

I've been pondering about my web site; it may not even stay open. So at this time, I'd like to keep this blog open for my personal ramblings. RubyDragon.org will be pure business.

I read the most beautiful quote today!

"Let your dominant intent be to feel good which means be playful, have fun, laugh often, look for reasons to appreciate and practice the art of appreciation. And as you practice it, the Universe, who has been watching you practice, will give you constant opportunities to express it. So that your life just gets better and better and better."

--- Abraham

This is a nice reminder for me: play, have fun, be child-like and not childish - there's nothing so wrong with life that we have to keep ourselves beaten down emotionally.

Have a wonderful Christmas/Xmas/Hannakuh/etc break everyone!

New Web Site!

Hello all :) If you'd like to continue to follow my crazy antics and digital scrap book product updates, please join me at my new web site:

RubyDragon.org

Thanks for all your support! I hope to see you there :)

< title >What a Day

Blah, I'm bummed. HTML quiz didn't go over so well today. But my marks are doing ok as a whole, so that's not too bad...I'll tell myself that anyways. Studying up right now...er, when I'm not writing anyways.

Why am I still so bloody tired?!

Iron count is up, I've been getting enough sleep, eating like a pony...we'll pretend studying will help.
Ooh, getting some stellar ideas for my web site as well...thinking I'm going to redo the whole main page. Why? Because it looks like bird crap.
Ciaos.

Cat Flies By

Finally finished cleaning the apartment, sitting down now with supper. I've been looking forward to this for some time...as soon as I sit down, there's a kitty next to me, with the "auto shed" feature turned all the way to the max. I can see tumbleweeds of Pickles' fur, launching itself down onto my perfect casserole...Tumbling, getting stuck in the gooey goodness of the noodles and cheese. *sigh* He could have dipped his fuzzy little face in there and I would still love him ... and I still would have eaten this, damn!! What a fine casserole!!

Starting to get sleepy...I'd like to do some modeling before I head to bed. Oops, still have to make lunch for tomorrow...Oh whoops, short day...Guess I'm exempt from that.

Another Assignment Finished

Yes, it seems that the homework train hasn't crashed yet...this is great.

Pondering perogies, beet leaf buns and some random meat for supper. I need to sort out a few things around the apartment, then all my storage stuff will be done.

Looking for spectacular digital scrap booking kits and elements!? Click here to visit my web store for the hottest digital scrap book content on the net!! New product will be uploaded slow but steady as this year rolls on. I miss waking up in the morning and designing :) But school comes first!

Sign up for your free account today at Ruby Dragon Scraps, to receive a $5.00 gift voucher!

McHappy Thought for the Day

I absolutely love positive affirmations. And why not, right?! We're constantly being bombarded by the media: "People dead," "buildings are blowing up..." Maybe if we had more positive influence, there wouldn't be so much of that garbage blowing up around us.

Excerpt from Abraham-Hicks tour:

"Don't do anything that you don't really want to do. Keep yourself in a place of feeling good. Reach for the thought that feels better -- and watch what happens." --- Abraham

I concur. No good has ever come of doing something I didn't want to do. ...I mean, aside from eating chocolate ice cream for breakfast ~lol

Eyes..Burning...Need more...Coffeh...

That was a pretty good day. Much too long and not enough sleep last night, so I'm going to call it a night pretty soon. The sad part is, since I was a kidlet, no matter how tired I was, or how little sleep I got the night before, my brain comes alive in the wee hours of the morning. Anywhere between 10pm and 8am, I've learned - that's my creative peak.

...Which bites, as most office/creative job/buildings are open 9am-5pm. =Sucks to Be Me..=

Hehe, I haven't heard Prozzak in a doggie's age.

iSleepy XO

PS... We didn't get to present our "inspiring things" in Basics of Form today...I'm kind of glad about that...I'd like to get to the core of "what really inspires me," I'm glad I have a few more days to really think about it.

Photo Shoot with Vaughn

It was a lovely evening. I'm exhausted...and I'm still unsure of what representational piece to bring with me to class tomorrow...I have too many ideas; I need to start thinking less seriously about this.

I highly doubt anyone's going to look back on this object in the next 30 years and say, "Yah, I remember Jen brought that..." Am I down-playing my own significance? I do want to do the best I can in class...In a way, I feel I couldn't just pick one, as there are so many things I'd love to show, of me and of what inspires me...My first instinct was to bring a cat O.o ..Yah, no one would appreciate a full day of "hissy, whiney, drama queen..." I could bring Spook, I suppose ... he'd sleep all day lol =3

For allergenic reasons, I've broken it down to about 3 different things...The first, is more than one photograph, so I will upload them tonight to my album instead. The 2nd...I should get my butt in gear and try to hunt it down...And I can't remember what the 3rd thing was, so I'm just going to go rummaging through my storage garb.....
.......
......
....
....
Check out Vaughn's photo shoot here!!!
Vaughn is a Japanese ball joint doll: a 60cm Dollzone Hong. He's quite loose at the moment; I need to restring him quite badly. Yet he stood beautifully for these poses.

CU Freebie & Inspiration

Finished one assignment this morning, other one's half finished. Still cruising around online, trying to find a perfectly rotten e-commerce web site, so I can write my review and finish this project.

So far, I've only become inspired. So much, that I've decided to suit up my little Dollie (no, literally, he is a doll), and we're going to take some shots outside today. It's such a lovely day out there too; light jackets, for the both of us. ...Remind me, when autumn strikes, we're going to have to indulge in the graphic scenery as much as possible.

Camera needs to charge. While that's happening, I'm going to continue working on these assignments...and just for fun, here's a commercial-use PNG you can feel free to use with all your digital scrap booking products!!

Download Shy Little Jelly Bean Here or Click Picture to Download!

Feels Like Sunday

It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon when the switch occurred in my brain: Sometimes, if I let my mind relax too deeply, my mind is left with a feeling, that's similar to "just woke up after a dream."

It's incredible, really: Can one really experience the illusion of two days in 24 hours...Is this possible? I don't take naps during the day, unless I'm being burdened with some blasted flu bug. Do people experience the same feeling after waking from a nap? Does your body just "know" that it's still within this technical "24 hour period??" ....And did you know that our bodies' internal time clocks run closer to a 25-hour time period?! Beside a few arguments we could toss around, all soft-ball like: "anything is possible" to "how can one argue what's happening in someone else's mind," there is only one thing I'm sure of at this time:

"I reject your reality and substitute it for my own." --Adam Savage

Slightly Low

Yes, I'm feeling a little low this morning, but that's okay. This is life, c'est la via, blah blah blah. Classes start at 9am this morning, that's a total consolation: That makes me super happy! 8am only 3 mornings out of the week - 10am and 9am starts the other 2 days...Yes, I'm the luckiest girl in the world. ...With kitty feet on the keyboard. Aaaw and Pickles is helping me nudge along my arm, while I do my make up. What a sweet kitty.

Keep an eye out for digital scrap booking freebies! I've got a few 3D graphics on the roster today, but classes as well, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get those in today. I will try.

Peace out XO

Spam and Bedtime

Aaaw, Blogger thinks the comments I post on my own posts are spam :) ...Wait, why the crap have I been commenting on my posts? Oh well :)

Learning the coolest things during my classes. I love HTML ... and today, I fell in love with CSS. Yes, it is a fun thing.

I'm going to be doing some designing on the side; I realize that E.I. will have a snit-fit if they find out but *shrugs* how will they know when stuff was made? :) Ahahahaha*coff*hack* Ok.

Random thought for the evening: If you're going to be as intestesting as a stick of gum that's lost it's taste and can't even be justified as a part of a theatre seat.....just keep on walking. Yes, that is all for the evening.

Batman Begins:
"Bruce, why do we fall?
So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again."

Just a Few More Sketches...

I finished 1 assignment tonight; how gratifying. I'm trying to work up the energy to sketch a few assignments. This is quite fun...but at 9pm, I'm starting to get sleepy and want to go to bed. Tomorrow, class ends at 3pm I do believe. 3 classes tomorrow and it'll be much more satisfying if I sketch for a short while tonight. My new Harvest Moon game came in tonight, I'm very excited about this. ...I would like to play it, if even for 10 seconds so I'm going to finish 1 sketch so I can relax for the evening.

Became hugely inspired the other night, viewing [one of my instructor's] taste in toys on his blog...from this, birthed some adorably hilarious sketches that will (once I find where I misplaced my energy), become a clay/painted/baked/and super fun project.

...Until then, I sleep...I mean work, darn it, back to work...*le sigh*

Dragon Out XO

End of a Long and Winding...Weekend?

Very nice weekend - Mom's wedding was fantastic! I didn't know this body could hold that much liquor - it was wonderful to see all her get married :) I had an absolute blast. I got home late last night; I arrived around 11:30pm. I nearly fell asleep at the wheel a few times, but it feels so very nice to be home. I'm going to start making supper right away, pack a lunch for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to more schooling assignments!
Bizarre news on the digital scrapbook front: Since I'm going to be sponsored by E.I. to go to school, I'm sorry to say, I'm not allowed to design while I'm in school O.o; (I know, that's what I said!!)
I may try to, none the less. If I can incorporate it into my lessons, that might just do the trick!! ;-)
Peace out XO

I've Entered the Scrapbook Studio Contest!

It's that time again! Along with having started college this month, I'm also participating in the Scrapbook Studio's September Birthday Bash Contest! There are 90 designers, competing for a chance to win a guest spot on their creative team! I've just started my classes and it's been so much fun! I'm also going to give it my all through out September, to keep my chance alive to become a designer on their fab web site!

Voting for the first challenge starts at midnight, September 4th! I would love and appreciate your support to help me make this dream of mine come true!

All that I ask is: Can you please sign up for a member account here at the Studio and I will post the link to where the voting will commence!!

Thanks so much everyone! Looks like it's time for me to go back to classes today :) Thanks, everyone! Lots of love!

3 More Sleeps...Until College!!

And I'm quite excited about it, too!! It feels like it's been years since I've let myself be involved in the things that I love doing - and I can't wait to get to school!! XD

Today, I've been tinkering around in my fave 3D program: Poser :) It's a delicious little animation program, that isn't that expensive for the average joe...which is good, because I'm quite the "joe" in the financial department right now. lol

Some pretty cool renders came out of working with these 3D anime figures today :) I'm quite pleased with how they're rigged! Here's an image from today's excitement!!

Autumn is Coming!!

It's true, summer is coming to an end, but it's all right! Autumn is one of the most peaceful, serene and relaxing seasons of the year! Well, in my opinion, anyways!! Autumn is my favorite season!

You'll have lots of time to scrap your favorite summer memories, while cozying up indoors around a fireplace and a cup of hot chocolate...and maybe one of these happy kits? :)

Click the images below to view the products!

Outdoorsy Girl show cases a delicate beauty, paired with the rustic, outdoor style of roughing it! I know, some of my favorite childhood memories are from going camping with my folks! The Outdoorsy Girl line is available in full kit form as well as in a paper pack - because if you enjoy crafting as much as I do, you can never have enough paper - in digital or printed out!

=NEW!= Neptune Rising Kit

What a glorious Wednesday morning! I woke up around 6:30am...very unlikely for me <:) but that's fabulous! To start, how do you think saskatoons would taste in lemon cupcakes? All right, all right, on to the glory news!!

New Kit in Store!! Neptune Rising - It is a full kit and includes:

• 8 12x12" papers
• 1 triple frame
• 1 flower embellished twine frame
• 1 sparkle frame
• 3 buttons
• 3 jewel brads
• 2 paper flowers
• 3 glitter flowers
• 1 jewel border
• 1 bow
• 2 ribbons
• 1 twine bow
• 2 paper tags
• 1 sparkle splatter
• 1 jewel embellished twine string

All in 300dpi for high print quality. Shadows not included.

Photography

This past weekend, my buddy's band was playing at the Red River Rampage 2010 show - I took a schwack-load of pictures for them. I wouldn't say that I'm the greatest photographer in the world - in fact, I don't even think I'm that great - but I'm really happy with how the imagery turned out.

So happy in fact, I'm in a giving mood :) Who wants a Photoshop Action freebie?!

When I'm done creating an element, I spend far too much time trying to crop my elements individually. When saving element product files, it's important that much of the unnecessary space is trimmed away from the file. If too much negative space is left around individual elements, your packaged product can appear more bloated in size than it should be.

Introducing the Dragon Trimmer! This handy little Photoshop Action will trim any one of your graphics with a 10 pixel border. This product is for Personal and Commercial Use - and no credit is required when in use! It's just a simple, handy tool to have on the side of your drawing board, to eliminate those unnecessary time consuming clicks! Just be sure, before use, that you merge ALL layers that are to be a part of the image you want cropped.

Click on the image or here to download.
Requires Adobe Photoshop CS2.0 or versions higher!

Beautiful Thursday!

What a lovely day today :) It's such a nice day, I'd like to give you something that'll make your heart SWIM!! Pardon the pun!! It's still great beach weather and we're going to have tons of beautiful summer memories to scrap about come autumn, so please enjoy these free Commercial-Use brushes and graphics!!

What's for Breakfast? 40% OFF ALL KITS!!

It's been quite awhile, since I had to ponder "what am I going to eat for breakfast?!" Haha - I've been trying to save all my money for school, and it seems like I'm taking the biggest hit in the grocery department! So what to eat, what to eat.

I'm following my sister's recipe blog right now, it's super fantastic! I'd like to try some of those recipes...but not so much for breakfast :) Granted, I'd eat a stir fry first thing in the morning, no problem!

I've been trying to create an advertisement this morning and so far, Photoshop has crashed on me 3 times. Count it, THREE times. What's up with that, Mr. Adobe? (Or would it be a Mrs. causing so many issues?... If that's the case, it must be a Mr. ;-) I'm just joking! :D

Let's try this again, while I continue pondering breakfast items.

Oh, it's an exciting deal, all right! All kits are on sale for 40% off through out the month of August 2010! In celebration of summer, of course :) Because summer rocks!

...Maybe I need to run an update for Adobe?! O.o; I'm about as computer savvy as a pet rock.

There, Adobe's working quite happily now :) That makes me happy....Breakfast is next on the chopping block!!

Click the image to be directed to the store to check out this great offer! Aloha, fellow scrappers!

Great Coupons for Store Launch!

If you missed any of the coupons that were given out as we counted down the days until my store launched, you can collect them ALL HERE!!

Cats, Coffee and Computers...

Yes, this is generally how my mornings start off :) Lots of coffee and wow, the boys have been so super snuggly this morning, it's adorable. Spook's taken a liking to sleeping by my feet, under the computer desk - so I get sit here, drink coffee, design and foot-snuggle with kitties...What could seriously be better than that?!

I may become spoiled...once I'm in college, I may have to get special permissions to allow Spook to come with me, to sit under my desk to cuddle. =3

I've got a few kits on the roster, right now. This week, I'm going to be concentrating on getting my butt in gear for school and taking a trip back to Dauphin for a spell. I'm not sure when I'll be doing that, but I'd like to get back there for a bit - sort out some stuff at Mom's, and more importantly, VISIT WITH MY LOVIES!!!! I've been missing everyone for so blasted long - friends, family - I (heart) you guys!! lol

This week's going to be my "pay tuition, buy books and get all crap in order" week!! W00t! I'm so super looking forward to college - designing and college is all that's on my mind right now! lol - I think, at this point in my life, if the "right guy" were to show up, I'd be all, "Listen, I've been waiting 27 years for this moment, and I'M EXTREMELY BUSY RIGHT NOW!!!" ...And if he's perfect, ;) he'll understand Hahahaha!

No, I wouldn't tell him to get lost...He'll brain storm with me, on the first date - we'll be all, "What do you think about this design," then he'll be all, "I blah blah blah.."

...Ok I'll admit, I started writing this like 3 hours ago, my submarine of thought has capsized into a pool of coffee goo.

Back to designing!

2 More Sleeps Until Store Launch!!

Hellooooooooo, Friday!! I hope everyone's looking forward to the weekend ahead of us?!

I'd love it if you would join me August 1st, 2010 for the grand opening of my new online store!! Click on the image below to be routed to my personal blog, where you can collect great coupons, freebies and updates!

We're 3 days into the mega-countdown!! Yesterday, a $5.00 OFF coupon to get the party started! Today, to celebrate 2 MORE SLEEPS until the web store opens, please accept this 40% OFF coupon for today only!! Plus JUST for signing up to the store, you'll receive a $5.00 OFF coupon to use with any store purchase!! If it makes you smile, we're doin' it!

Oops!! :) That coupon is no longer available :D You need to snatch up these great coupon offers as the days go by...After the countdown days, they'll no longer be available!!

*Please see August 2nd, 2010 post for a full list of coupons! :)

Web store site link to be announced soon!!! Thanks everyone!!

I hope to see you all there for some good times and great savings!

Hello again, happy scrappers! How's everyone doing today?

My name is Jen, I'm a 27 year old Canadian gal and I love designing! I've been into digital scrapbooking since my good friend Arti-Bytes (Colleen) got me involved about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm proud to say that I've taken my scrapping to a new level and I've been designing these past few years as well!

I'd love it if you would join me August 1st, 2010 for the grand opening of my new online store!! Keep checking [this] personal blog, where you can collect great coupons, freebies and updates!

Oops!! :) That coupon is no longer available :D You need to snatch up these great coupon offers as the days go by...After the countdown days, they'll no longer be available!!

These coupons are only good for one day, so be sure to get them while you can!

Web store site link to be announced soon!!! Thanks everyone!!

I hope to see you all there for some good times and great savings!

4 More Sleeps!

4 more sleeps! Are you as excited as I am?! Launch date, on schedule August 1st, 2010!

To make you smile :) Here's a free coupon for you to use within my store...Once it's open of course LOL!! :D

Upon check out, please enter the coupon code that appears on the cute l'il coupon below before you check out...to receive 25% OFF YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE!! Hooaah! What great savings!!

Oops!! :) That coupon is no longer available :D You need to snatch up these great coupon offers as the days go by...After the countdown days, they'll no longer be available!!

Thanks for stopping by! And keep on smiling!!

Store Launch - 6 More Sleeps!!

Yes, it is a fun thing - Designing, drawing, sketching, drinking coffee - It's one of those days that I wish it would go on forever!! :)

The store server is apparently experiencing some technical difficulties, so I've rerouted all you little angels over to this blog for now! Do feel free to catch up on grabbing up the free goodies and do indulge in my rambles if you'd like!

I'll see ya at the Dragon's den, August 1st!!

Web Store Launch Date Changes to August 1, 2010!

I've decided that with having so much spare time this summer, I can afford to work with this designing dream of mine, full time! Thus, the the online web store will be open August 1st, 2010.

Mrs. Bright Side

At least when I look back on moments like this, when I'm 95 years old and my sunshine's running a little dim, I will at least get a chuckle out of this whole scenerio.

Why would I want to talk to a man who's basically made a fool out of me?
No, no, I can't think like that: the only one human being who can make me feel like a fool, is ME...and I certainly don't feel like one :) There, I feel much better, haha.

From this day forward, I will take these things as learning experiences, and will no longer worry about these annoying feelings I have...No matter how "real" they appear to be.

Just to brighten your day, here's another free digital scrapbooking download, to start you weekend off in the most exciting way.....FREELY!!! ^__^

Click the title to start download!
High Ball Roller Element Pack

Freebie

Thanks for stopping by :) Enjoy this mini kit for free!
Click the title to start download!
Happy Heart Healthy Mind Mini Kit

Web Store & General Lonliness...

I just love this blog and I've been debating whether or not I need two sites. I've been working on my web site for some time and it's going to host the new web store for Ruby Dragon Graphics! The new web store launches on September 1st, 2010!

I'm going to keep this blog for all my personal and inspirational ramblings.

To start, I'd like to point out just how career oriented it seems my life is...I really love doing what I do; designing, making video games, setting up web sites, making 3D models...I love art in general, but I'm so lonely! lol It sounds so totally lame to say, but it's true...It appears that everything is running so smoothly, in terms of getting an education, I'm continuously growing as an artist, and I feel so content when I'm doing something creative.

At the end of the day, I'm lonely. L-O-N-E-L-Y. Lonely. (Worst spelling bee moment in history). I have my friends, they're the most wonderful people in the universe: I'm ready to meet the man who's going to continue to inspire me and light my heart on fire for the rest of my life.

...Unfortunatly, I realize that I may only be able to go down one road at a time. (There's a part of me that's hoping I've got handsome young instructors at the college XD LOL)

I'm at a point in my life where:
- I like who I am
- My goals are solidly in place
- I stand fiercely behind my morals
- I know what I want
- Even when I do not know the path, I have confidence in my ability to get there, no matter what
- I'm tired of feeling incomplete

...Then again, I know that I'm the only person in the world who will ever be able to help me feel completion...My heart is with me, for sure - I really care about me and I'm genuinely ready to give all that I have to that special someone.

...Instead of just cats, for a change.

~Dragon out XO

Life Events

Yes, life is hilarious...or it can be, if you make it :) So far, I've been toiling away (outside of my regular day job), creating more digital scrapbooking products and setting up new online stores!

Keep checking back for digital scrapbook freebies and announcements as time goes by.

Ruby Dragon Graphics Store Launch Date: September 1st, 2010!

.:Self Discovery:.

It's incredible that we can go through life "enjoying" what we're doing, not really thinking anything more of it. Last night, I was on the laptop for a short while, getting excited about my newest creative project: making an RPG game. Well it's been fun learning with the program, but I just can't help but think that - as much fun as it is making games with RPG Maker VX - in the end, all the games look the same!

I went forth and started playing around with one storyline that's kept my attention over the past 5 or 6 years. The original game I created was more map-based - where you're playing as the "main character," and you're constantly navigating through [the star ship you work for], solving puzzles, learning gossip & new information and solving situations...not to mention, winning the affections of one of the eligible bachelors within the crew!

As I continued playing around in RPG Maker VX, it occured to me: Even though this game generator was designed to make and to play games that look like the old sprite based types...why not add my own spin to things?! Why not reconfigure the look and feel of an RPG Maker VX game?! Yes, I've become incredibly inspired. Today, I will put this masterful plan into action!

I've always been big on creating things and I've always had a soft spot for inventions - for creating tools and new innovative ways to recreate something that's all ready beautiful, into becoming something even more wonderous! Today, I will change the look of RPG Maker VX games forever. :)

*Disclaimer*
I am in no way, shape or form, flaming the old style sprite video games. Some of my very favorite games are in this style, including:
- Chrono Trigger
- Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
- Secret of Mana
- any Super Mario Bros. game, from 1, 2 & 3 to Super Mario World
I am only trying to get across this one simple thought, by my post: I enjoy revamping ideas - taking beautiful ideas and turning them into new beautiful ideas!

~Dragon, out XO