Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Blog

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2008-03-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Newer, better, prettier... We've moved to a WordPress blog. Enjoy!

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Mini Layouts

2008-01-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

I did it again. This time, as I was thinking about the kinds of photos I wanted to get, I remembered that my trusty doggy of 15 years, Norman, always greets me when I am arriving home.

At 15, he does it a bit more slowly, but he always seems pleased to see me.

I took a little different kind of approach on the photo. I wanted to decorate it a bit, but not put in tons of time. I like this idea of decorating just a bit. I can use my supplies, but not spend a huge chunk of time.

I think soon, I'll try just decorating the photo only. Keeping it even smaller. The beauty there is that if I want to, I can decorate photos and then add them to pages later if I want to.

So here is my little greeter. I used the following products to create my mini layout: Grunge Guru Collection Mini (http://store.scrapgirls.com/product.php?id=11568), and College Days Embs (http://store.scrapgirls.com/product.php?id=7913)

Take a photo of something from your Day

2008-01-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

I've been looking around online and finding some amazing photography is happening in 2008. And I want to be part of it. I've seen a variety of 30 day challenges for photography, and while I'm not sure if I'll keep up with it each and every day, I like the concept.

So for the last couple of days, I've been taking random shots of the things that I see in my daily life. The first one, the fire hydrant, was seen on my way to church last night. The sun, peeping through the rain clouds was breathtaking and so I had to save it for future viewing.

I have to admit this is a real challenge for me since I typically photograph people. But there are some amazing non-people photo ops out there and I'm trying to stretch myself.

I've been especially excited about the unique persectives I've been seeing people using in their photography and so I tried here to duplicate that. I liked the randomness of this hydrant out in the middle of the desert juxtaposed with an amazing sky. I hope you're inspired to try something new and different with your camera.

Free Scrap Girls Eternal Love Collection Available Now At CK

2007-12-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Creating Keepsakes is featuring some Scrap Girls products in an article by
Jessica Sprague in February's magazine. You can go here to get this awesome Scrap Girls Eternal Love Collection for free.

Don't Miss the Biggest Digital Scrapbooking Sale of the Year at Scrap Girls

2007-12-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Gifts #3

2007-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

You'll want to check out the holiday collection Scrap Girls is giving away this week. All you have to do is make a $10 or more purchase and you'll get this collection included in your downloads for FREE.

I made this Countdown to Christmas box using this collection and the Stamped Dates Brush Set.

To do this, I used a box from the Michael's $1 bin. I sanded it and painted it white and then I printed out patterned paper to cover the sides of the box. I used Gel Medium as my glue and painted it on with a paint brush. The top of the box was created in Photoshop and then printed out as one piece.

I added some glitter paint to the star for some extra sparkle, and then roughed up the edges a bit with sand paper. I love how real the digital ribbon looks on the top of this box.

Here are all three boxes that I made with the collections that have been available at Scrap Girls this Holiday Season. You can see how well they coordinate. If you missed one of the collections, you can still purchase them in the Scrap Girls Boutique for only $3.99. And, all the proceeds go to Food For the Poor!

Christmas Gifts #2

2007-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Scrap Girls has another free Holiday Collection for you this week if you place an order of $10 or more.

With this FREE Collection I made a box using a tutorial I found here on Etsy. For this tutorial you really only need a paper that is patterned on one-side, but I chose to tweak the tutorial by printing out two-sided paper and folding up the inside edges of the box to show the green on the inside. I used a full 12x12 sheet of light-weight cardstock and printed out the paper on my borderless, large format printer.

The box can be used to wrap Christmas gifts.

Or as a candy dish in your home over the holidays.

Or to display home decor.

If you get this holiday collection and make something with it, post a comment here with a link so we can see what you've created.

ScrapSimple Holiday Cards

2007-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

I've created a video for today's ScrapSimple tip. The PC shortcut for masking which I refer to in the video is Ctrl + G. If you are interested in checking out more ScrapSimple Card Templates click here.

Here is my finished Holiday Photo Card.

And here are the ScrapGirls supplies I used:

ScrapSimple Card Templates: 4x6 Photo Cards 2

December Scrap Girls Club

A Collaged Holiday Embellishment Biggie

Paint Stroke Brush Set

Christmas Gifts

2007-12-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

Scrap Girls has some great gifts for you this Christmas season. Look at this free Holiday Collection you get this week if you place an order of $10 or more.

With this FREE collection I created a Countdown to Christmas box. I can put candy in it so that my kids pull out one piece a day up until the day of Christmas.

I used a box that I found in the $1 bin at Michaels.

I sanded it and painted it white.

I covered the 4 sides of the box with 4 squares of the Christmas tree paper. (I used Gel Medium as my glue).

For the top of the box I created it all digitally in Photoshop using the FREE collection and the Stamped Dates Brush Set. Then I printed out the square and trimmed it and glued it to the lid of my box (again using gel medium).

I added a piece of Merry Christmas ribbon from Making Memories and secured it with a glue dot.

Oh yeah AND I put candy in it. Of course.

What will you make with your FREE Holiday Collection available this week at Scrap Girls?

How do I resize my digital scrapbooking layouts for web-galleries and print purposes?

2007-12-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

As a standard to go by, I always set-up my digital scrapbooking layout canvases at 12x12 inches size and 300 dpi. Though I rarely print them out at this 12x12 size, it's best to have my layouts the biggest size I think I'll ever need them. The reason being, I can always scale down, but I can't scale up without losing quality.

So when I'm starting a digital scrapbooking layout I set up my canvas like this.

When I complete my digital scrapbooking layout, I always save a few versions. First, I save a PSD version of the file. The PSD version, which is the native Photoshop file, keeps all of the layers intact. It is important to save a version like this in case you ever need to go back and edit your digital scrapbooking layout.

Next, let's say I want a version of my digital scrapbooking layout to share with other Scrap Girls Members in the gallery. In order to upload my layout to web-based galleries, I need to make it a smaller file size. First I will compress all of my layers into one flattened image.

To do this I go to the drop-down menu on my Layers Palette and choose Flatten Image.

This is what my Layers Palette looks like after flattening my layout.

Then I want to make the file size significantly smaller for uploading to the web.

I go to Image>Image Size...

First, I change the resolution to 72. Then I change the width and height to 600 pixels. And then I click OK and save it as a jpg. I personally like to add "600" to my file name, so I know that this is the smaller, web version of my layout.

Now, let's say I want to print my layout, but I either don't want the 12x12 size or I don't have a printer that prints that big. Easy. I just scale my layout down to 8x8 size and print it. Here's how I scale it down, working from my original PSD file.

I'll follow the above steps to flatten the layers of the image via the Layers Palette.

Then I'll choose Image>Image Size...

I'll leave the resolution at 300, which is perfect for printing, but I'll change the Document Size to 8 inches square.

Now I can either save it as a jpg first (if I think I'll need it this size in the future), or just print it out. An 8x8 is perfect for framing or sticking in an 8x8 scrapbook album.

Here are the Scrap Girls supplies I used in this layout:

A Collaged Holiday Collection Biggie

Military Wife Finds Digital Scrapbooking Peaceful While Her Husband Is At War

2007-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

One military wife has found that digital scrapbooking helps her deal with the stresses of separation while her husband is serving his country.

Marnie Adams’ husband, Michael, is stationed in Iraq, outside of Baghdad. He left for training in the mainland on December 31, 2006. His family has only seen him once since he was deployed.

The time Marnie spends digitally scrapbooking has increased since her husband’s departure. “It’s a lovely way to keep my mind and hands busy,” Marnie reports. She finds herself occasionally scrapbooking layouts about being a military wife, processing the hard but fulfilling life her family lives. “I made one [layout] that deals with all of the places we have lived and the concept of blooming where you are planted.”

The Adams Family is fortunate that Michael does, in fact, have Internet access. Their family stays in contact via email, instant messages and phone calls. And, every week, Marnie sends her husband digital scrapbooking layouts to remind him of his family life.

“Michael is very supportive and does love seeing the layouts. After I sent him several layouts with him as the main subject, he told me that I needed to quit creating layouts that make him cry. I know he enjoys seeing what I’m doing, but more importantly, he enjoys seeing layouts about some of the things we’ve done together. He said he has shown them to some of his friends over there. It’s a way to show his buddies what it’s like for him at home – like showing off snapshots.”

In the digital scrapbooking world, Marnie has made Scrap Girls her home and she finds support and encouragement through the message board community. She says, “While I haven’t made best friends with any other military members or wives on the Scrap Girls message board, occasionally there will be a thread where we share about military life. I get asked quite often about Michael and told that he is in their thoughts and prayers, as well as getting supportive comments for me.”

Michael joined the Navy in 1990. He served as an enlisted member until he was commissioned (made an officer) on his 14th anniversay. The Adams have been stationed all across the United States, in Puerto Rico, Europe, and now Hawaii. This fall, Michael will celebrate his 17th year in the Navy.

Marnie writes educational and inspirational digital scrapbooking eBooks for Scrap Girls. ScrapGirls.com specializes in digital scrapbooking supplies, educational movie tutorials and eBooks, and commercially licensed graphic design products.

How to use Watercolor Styles

2007-11-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

I have had a few people on the message boards ask for some tips on how to use the ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Watercolor 4901. I thought I would throw together a mini tutorial about a few techniques that will make these styles work easier for you.

This tutorial was created using CS2 on a PC / Windows XP.

These styles were created as a complimentary tool to the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy - Watercolors 1. They both create completely different looks, and are used in completely different ways. You will not get the look with the styles as you will with the templates. Each is a seperate tool which works the best for specific techniques.

The styles were created mainly for Lettering and Embellishments to accent or coordinate with anything created with the Watercolor paper set. They do not give you very many options and will create only one various look. You can create more looks with the paper templates because you have the control of the settings and blending modes, and overlaying various templates on top of each other.

I'm going to show you how to use them with lettering and also one trick for using them on a photo.

1. Create some type in a new document which is fairly large. I created two versions of my type. One with solid color and one with a gradient on top of the lettering. If you use gradients you will get the more realistic blended look of watercolors. Or if you use a grunge brush and brush various colors onto one layer that will also create a more realistic watercolor effect.

2. Apply the style to your lettering. Here I applied the same style to both so you could see the difference of using a gradient or solid color. These styles are created with the blending mode on color burn. If you use PSE you can not change this option. If you have PS, you could go in and change the overlay of the pattern to another setting to create even more effects.

Since it is on color burn, your style will always make your picture, embellishment or lettering look darker and brighter. If you do not like how dark it is or how bright it is, you can make some adjustments.

3. Select the layer you would like to lighten up. You are now going to adjust the levels of the lettering. For PS users. Go to Image > Adjustments> Levels. For PSE users go to Enhance> Adjust Lighting> Levels. (PSE 3.0). This will bring up the levels box. You can then slide the black, grey or white slider back and forth to lighten or darken your image. First grab the top middle grey slider and slide it over to the left side towards the black slider. You will begin to see your lettering lighten up. You can then slide the black slider over to the right and brighten the word up just a touch.
4. Do the same thing to the top lettering. They are both now lighter and bit brighter than they were when you first applied to the style.
5. You can then add additional styles to create chipboard lettering or to give it depth and dimension.

Now on to Photos.

This seems to be the thing that most people try to apply the style to and do not get results they like. The paper templates work the best for photos, because you have a lot more control on the settings with the photos. There are a few basic tricks though that you can use to get a pretty decent result using the styles.

When the style is created it is created from a 3 in x 3 in pattern. It works bests on embellishments, photos and word art that are no larger than 6 inches. It can be used, but you will begin to see more of a repeating pattern and it will look less realistic. If you have PS you can adjust the size of the pattern overlay, but you do not have this option in PSE.

1. Here is an example were I just opened up a picture that was left in the dimensions I downloaded it in. It is right now 26 inches wide at 72 dpi. See how you see the repeating pattern over and over on the photo. It looks terrible.

2. For the best result on a photo re-adjust your photo to 300 dpi, and around 4 x 6 in size. This size seems to work the best with styles.

3. Now when you apply the watercolor effect it looks a lot more random and realistic. Now since it will make your photo darker and brighter you will need to make some adjustments. If your photo is a really dark photo, it most likely will not work the best. The best photos are ones that are in a medium range of lighting, or are a bit lighter.

4. Once again open the levels box, as we did in step 3 of our lettering. Adjust the grey slider to the left towards the black slider. You will begin to see photo lightening up. Adjust the sliders until you get the look you would like.

5. Another fun thing is to add 2 or three different watercolor styles to the same photo. Once I applied my first style and adjusted the lightness, I created a new layer and merged it with the photo layer. This makes the style permanent.

6. I then apply a new and different style than the one that I applied first.

7. Once again I adjusted the levels until I got the look I wanted.
Here is my finished watercolor photo. Here are also two other examples using these exact same steps. If you do have PS, experiment with adjusting the blending mode of the pattern overlay in your styles option bar. This will give you a lot more variation in the looks you can create with the styles.

If the photo colors seem too bright for you, you can always lower the saturation when your finished so it's not quite as bold. Go experiment and have some fun playing!

This photo was a blurry photo and I would never have used it by itself on a layout, but blurry photos work great for watercolor pictures because it can give it a softer artsy feel.

7 Myths that Keep You From Digital Scrapbooking

2007-11-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

1. I have to create digital scrapbooking layouts like what I see in magazines or in the Scrap Girls Newsletter or in online galleries. Sometimes the best thing you can do is put away the inspiration and just go make something. It's easy to get caught up in looking at other people's beautiful creations. But when you're getting paralyzed by comparing your scrapbooking to theirs, that's when it is doing more harm than good.

3. My life must be as exciting as a blockbuster movie in order to be worth scrapbooking digitally. Your life is just as exciting as it needs to be. There are stories in your life worthy of being told. If you want to digitally scrapbook, just start with your everyday life. What makes up your daily routine? Who are the people you love? What's something your learning in your life right now? It's not that you don't have stories to tell, it's that you haven't trained yourself to recognize the stories of your life. Once you start recognizing them you'll find you have an endless amount of content for digital scrapbooking.

6. I have to digitally scrapbook every single photo I have starting in chronological order, and I'm so behind. It is not necessary that you scrapbook your photos in order. It is also not necessary that you scrapbook all of your photos or every single event in your life. Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves that it takes the fun out of digital scrapbooking all together. Just take it story by story. What story is important to you today? Start there.

7. I have to be a computer genius to scrapbook digitally. No. You don't. It's just like anything you're passionate about doing. It will take some time, some patience, some experimenting and playing. But if you want to do digital scrapbooking you can. Scrap Girls is setting you up to succeed by offering a newsletter and University with tutorials, a Message Board where your questions will get answered, and classes and eBooks to teach you even more.

Struggles and Attitude

2007-11-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

For all who are struggling...
There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"
So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up,looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said,"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up,looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.
Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly.......Leave the rest to God
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

My computer is in the shop...

2007-11-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

So I don't have a ScrapSimple post for you today. Sorry. Hope to be back up and running by next Thursday. Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Take Time to Pick the Pumpkins

2007-10-30T19:21:00.001-07:00

One of the disadvantages to living on a large piece of land is the lack of neighbors. You know, the kind that come over to borrow a cup of sugar, who spot you over the fence working in the garden and offer a glass of iced tea, or the kind that bring a group of trick or treaters to the front door on Halloween. We live on such a piece of land. It has always been due to the lack of the latter that I have refrained from decking the halls with Halloween decor. After all, we have never even had a trick or treater ring the bell…actually; we don’t even have a bell. We do, however, have a lot of land. In fact, in the past we’ve mused that it might be fun to take an acre of it and plant nothing but pumpkins, then sell them on the street corner. One year in our 50 sq ft garden we amassed over 70 pumpkins. There were so many that the vines traveled over the fence and into the surrounding woods. We had plenty of pumpkins that year. So many that we were able to provide each child in Abbie and Jenna’s kindergarten class with their very own pumpkin. So, for the first six years of my daughters’ lives, I have been able to bypass the typical Halloween activities. But this year, I happened upon a dilemma.

The girls came home with a math assignment from school in which they had to guesstimate the width and weight of their pumpkin. Pumpkin? We have no pumpkin. Not one. Our own private harvest was a bust this year. My husband blames it on the lack of rain. I, of course, blame it on him. But that is another blog entry.

So, what is a mom to do? Rather, what is a scrapbooking mom to do?

“Take them to the grocery store and get a pumpkin,” my husband says.

The grocery store? The grocery store? What fun is that? What kind of a mother would I be if I took my children to a grocery store to buy a pumpkin? It didn’t seem right.

“Let’s go to the pumpkin patch!” I say enthusiastically.
“Pumpkin patch? What is a pumpkin patch?” Asks Abbie.
“A place where they grow pumpkins.” I reply.
“Just pumpkins?” Jenna adds questioningly.
“Yep, just pumpkins.” I say.
“But mom, the pumpkins will be gone already. Wednesday is Halloween.” Jenna adds.
“I don’t think so, Jenna.” I reply.

I then explained to my girls that a real pumpkin patch is nothing like our backyard garden where we used to get our pumpkins. There are literally hundreds of pumpkins…maybe even thousands at a real pumpkin patch. It dawned on me that they had never been to such a place. They are almost 8 and I haven’t even brought my children to a pumpkin patch.

It also dawned on me, at that particular moment, that there are events and moments in the lives of your children that should not be missed and which time a camera must be handy. You could easily make a list of them yourself. Here is mine:

The moment you first set eyes on them.
The moment their grandparents first set eyes on them.
Their first steps.
The 1st bite of birthday cake.
The first time they open a gift.
Sitting on Santa’s knee.
Crying on Santa’s knee.
Their first haircut.
Losing their first tooth.
The first day of Kindergarten (1st grade, 2nd grade, etc.)
Their first best friend.
Posing with the family pet.
Their first ball game, sporting event, dance recital, et. al.
Their prom night.
Their graduation day.
Their wedding day.

…And their first trip to a pumpkin patch.

Oh well, better now than never.

Credits: Autumn Gold Collection Mini. Vista Linda Collection, ScrapGirls Bountiful Collection, Stitches Embellishments, Curls Embellishments, Army Brush, all from ScrapGirls.com.

How Can I Digitally Scrapbook My Photos That I Took Before I Had a Digital Camera?

2007-10-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

I've been having computer issues, so I'm sorry I did not get this post up for you on Monday. So, a day late, here you go...

I've heard this question a lot from people who are first trying to figure out what digital scrapbooking is all about. Digital Scrapbooking does not have to be done ONLY with photos taken on a digital camera. If you have boxes of photos you took on film and had printed, you are not alone. Most of us do. And you can scrap those digitally too.

All you need is a good scanner.

I personally have an Epson Perfection v100 Photo Scanner. It cost me less than $100 and it even came packaged with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (a great computer program to use for digital scrapbooking.)

So here's how you do it.

Put your photos on the bed of the scanner.

In Photoshop choose File>Import and your scanner's name.

Scan the photos in at a minimum of 300 dpi. This will assure that they are full size and high resolution photos for you to work with.

When your photos come into your program, they are now in digital format!

You can then edit them as needed, crop them out, and drag them into your digital scrapbooking layout. You can also save them as .jpgs for future use.

Here is the digital scrapbooking layout I created with my scanned photos.

Layout by Mandy Steward

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Urban Gazette Collection

1960's Collection Mini

Photo Transfer Frames Embellishments

Altered State Collection

Altered State Embellishment Mini: Doodads

Sweetheart Collection

Henna Photo Corners Brush Set

Henna Borders Brush Set

Paint Strokes Brush Set

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Journal Strips

Dear Diary Embellishments

Using ScrapSimple Layer Your Own Brushes for Multiple Looks

2007-10-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for some playtime in Photoshop and want to create some customized embellishments, Layer Your Own Brushes are a fun tool to play around with. You can easily create thousands of looks with this one tool. Layer Your Own brushes remind me of the two-step or three-step stamping techniques often used in rubber stamping. The idea is that you have a base shape and pieces that layer on top of this shape to create varying looks. While the shape remains the same, you have the freedom to choose colors and styles and blending modes. These are great tools to just sit down and play with, because experimenting can bring about some great results.

I decided to play with Thao's ScrapSimple Layer Your Own: Artsy Ampersand Brush Set today. This is available in the ScrapSimple Club for October. I loaded the brushes into Photoshop, created a new 8.5x11 document and started to play. The key is to put each brush on it's own layer. This gives you more freedom to add layer styles and blending modes layer by layer.

I want to show you three different looks I came up with and how I achieved each look. Notice on all three ampersands I used only one color. Each layer was brushed on with this same basic blue color shown here.

Choosing different blending modes is how I achieved the color variants.

For this ampersand I used these settings:
basic fill brush; normal blending mode; no layer style
epoxy fill brush; color burn blending mode; slight bevel and emboss and drop shadow style
stripes fill brush; color burn blending mode; drop shadow style
basic edge brush; normal blending mode; drop shadow and outer glow layer style

For this ampersand I used these settings:
basic fill brush; normal blending mode; no layer style
epoxy fill brush; color burn blending mode; slight bevel and emboss and drop shadow style
paint fill brush; overlay blending mode; no layer style
basic edge brush; normal blending mode; inner shadow, drop shadow, inner glow and bevel and emboss with contour layer style
For this ampersand I used these settings:
basic fill brush; normal blending mode; no layer style
epoxy fill brush; color burn blending mode; slight bevel and emboss and drop shadow style
grunge fill brush; color burn blending mode; no layer style
basic edge brush; normal blending mode; drop shadow layer style

If you haven't tried out a Layer Your Own Brush Set yet, it might be just the fun new tool in digital scrapbooking that you're missing. And if you work in a program other than Photoshop, PNG files of each layer are included in the product download, so don't worry, you can play too!

Creating Paper Crafts with Digital Scrapbooking Products

2007-10-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

A lot of newbies to digital scrapbooking come from a paper scrapbooking or paper crafting background. I myself was a paper card maker before I even heard of digital scrapbooking. One of my favorite things about digital scrapbooking, is that you can use the materials to do traditional paper crafting. All you have to do is print the materials out. And because you own the files, you can print them out again and again and again.

To make these Halloween treat boxes I used:

5 Chipboard Coasters from Chilli's (see above with holes already punched)
Hole Punch
Ribbon
Mod Podge
Black Paint
Glue Stick
Black Electrical Tape or Glue

Bump in the Night Collection from Scrap Girls.

I printed out the cat, the pumpkin and the Happy Halloween embellishments. I also printed out the orange and black and green and black diamond papers. 1 12x12 sheet per box is plenty. If you don't have a large-format printer you could just print out the paper 8.5x11 size. You'll probably need 2, 8.5x11 sheets per box.

To make one box, I painted one side of four of the coasters black, this will make the inside of the box. And I painted one coaster black on both sides, this will be for the bottom of the box. Next I painted Mod Podge on the non-painted sides of the coasters and I pressed them down on the back side of the diamond paper. Then I trimmed around each coaster. This gives me 4 coasters with black on one side and diamond patterned paper on the other side.

I punched six holes in each of the four coasters, making sure the holes lined up horizontally. Once you've punched holes in one coaster, you can use it as a template for the others. Then I tied ribbons through the holes, connecting each side of the box.

Next I attached the bottom. You can do this with glue, or I used black electrical tape on the inside of the box. Since the box's inside were black and the tape was black the tape was well hidden.

Lastly, I cut out and attached my embellishments using a glue stick. I put the cat with the Happy Halloween sign over top of him on one side, and then the pumpkin guy on the opposite side. Then I filled it with chocolates, of course. It's a perfect candy dish for your own home or to give away as a gift.

See, you can use digital scrapbooking products. No problem!

We interrupt your regulary scheduled ScrapSimple program...

2007-10-18T15:41:00.001-07:00

...Because there is a SCRAP sale going on at Scrap Girls that you SIMPLY have to know about. It's our anniversary, and the events going on this weekend at Scrap Girls are off the charts. So many talented and creative people providing a ton of fun, learning and inspiration. I thought you'd want to know.

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: Scrap Girls Club

2007-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

If you’re looking to get started in digital scrapbooking and have a hard time making decisions on what products to buy, you should look into our monthly clubs. As a beginner our regular club comes highly suggested from our customers. It’s packed with new product from a different designer each month, and it’s more affordable than buying the individual products. The club gives you a monthly influx of product to spur your creativity.

Here’s the current club (October) we have going on at Scrap Girls and a layout I created with it.

ScrapSimple: Using Embellishment Template Frames On Your Blog or In a Layout

2007-10-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy posting photos on your blog and want to add something a little extra to them, try using ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Aged Frames and ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Vintage Photo Frames.

Since they are templates, you can easily add color or patterns to the frames to match the feel of your photos. Crop your photos to fit behind the frames, and a drop shadow and post your photos to your blog just like you usually would. Of course if you don't have a blog, you can also throw these framed photos onto a digital scrapbooking layout or greeting card as well.

Here are some photos I took for friends at a recent wedding. (Besides the Embellishment Templates mentioned above, I also used News Papers):

Using Digital Scrapbooking Embellishments for Hybrid Scrapping

2007-10-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

If you're a traditional scrapbooker and you're trying to break into digital scrapbooking slowly, this is a great place to start. Search through the embellishments section and look for embellishments that suit your style or your project and that are easy to trim around with scissors. This is key.

Now you have two choices, you can print the embellishment sheet out as is, or you can open the individual .png files and drag them into a blank 8.5x11 document to create your own customized embellishment sheet, containing just the embellishments you plan on using. Doing it this customized way also allows you to change the sizes of each embellishment if you need them smaller then originally designed.

Print, cut and scrap.

For baby cards and gifts, I turn to the Precious Boy and Precious Girl Embellishments a lot.

Here is a card I made for a recent baby shower where I cut out the bottle embellishment and layered it over the photo on the card. I drew an outline with pencil around the bottle to make it stand out. I also mimicked the look of the flowered pattern on the bottle by painting similar looking flowers on my card.

ScrapSimple: Make A Grocery List

2007-10-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing I really dislike doing, it's grocery shopping. I dislike it about as much as I dislike cooking. I'm just not great at either one. Today, as I was trying to get organized and motivated to plan out some meals and put together a grocery list, I decided to try and have some fun with it. Using the ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: 2-sided Journaling, I created a custom list to write my groceries down on.

When I was finished customizing the look of my list, I pulled two onto an 8.5x11 page and printed them out. Then I had some fun filling in the blanks by hand with the groceries I needed. If only ScrapSimple tools could help me cook better too!

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

SS Emb Template: 2 Sided Journaling

ScrapSimple Layer Your Own: Recipe Card 1 Brush Set

Cooking Collection

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: Basic Papers

2007-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Just like in paper scrapbooking, there are digital scrapbooking supplies you will find yourself turning to time and time again. These basic products are a great purchase because you’ll use them on almost every layout you ever create.

It could be argued that the most generic and useful products for beginners in our store are our basic paper selections.

Here are a couple worth checking in to that our customers suggested:

Basic Brights Paper Biggie

Textured Cardstock Paper Biggie: Brights

And here is a layout I did using them. Notice how simple this layout is: two pieces of paper, a strip of stitching to connect them, a piece of word art and my picture. Then I just added a bit of journaling. Try creating a layout like this one, and leave a link to your simple layout in your comment to this post. If you've been sitting on the digital scrapbooking fence, consider this your invitation to jump in and make your first layout!

Layout by Mandy Steward
Other Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Doodlelicious Embellishments

A Joyful Season Embellishments

Use ScrapSimple Tools - Styles To Create Coordinating Accents for Your Digital Scrapbooking Layout or Card

2007-09-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Card Designed by Mandy Steward

A quick and easy way to create coordinating accents on your digital scrapbooking layout or card is to use ScrapSimple Tools - Styles. For this card I used Shalae's ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: News 4901 on three different page accents. I used it on the strips of paper that are under the red brads. I used it on the matte under my flower photo. I also used it on the frames on the back of my card. *Hybrid Tip: You can add a personal sentiment to the back of your card by hand after you print the card out.

If I had been doing this the harder way, I would have had to cut out my three different shapes from another background paper.With the ScrapSimple Tools - Styles, I can get the same effect with one click of my mouse for each layer. In honor of ScrapSimple Thursday, I used a bunch of ScrapSimple products on this card. You can see my supply list below.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

ScrapSimple Crafts: Greeting Card Gift Set

ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: News 4901

ScrapSimple Word Art: Simply Sentimental

Cherish Collection

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy Watercolor 1

ScrapSimple Tools - Custom Shapes: Frames 2102

Assemble Your Own: Collage Art

ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Metal 1801

Watercolor Technique #2

2007-09-26T19:14:00.001-07:00

Here is another technique on how to use the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy - Watercolor 1. This technique is shown here in PSE 3.0, Windows / PC.

Open up the watercolor paper template that you would like to color.

Create a new layer that is directly above your watercolor template.

While the new layer is selected in your layers palette change the blending mode from normal to color burn.

Select a brush from your brush menu. I chose to use Lori Cook's Grunge Brush Set. To be honest this is my favorite set. I use one of these brushes for literally everything - masking, erasing, brushing, etc. I could not live with out this brush.

Once your brush is selected at the top of your program on the options bar you will see the option to change the opacity of your brush. Drop it down to at least 56%. This way you can slowly build up your color by having lighter and darker areas.

Select the color you would like to paint your watercolor paper, and start brushing away on your new layer with the color. Here I chose a green color.

If you want to add a new color you could brush it on the same layer. This creates a problem though if you would like to erase one of the colors. It is best to create a new layer with the blending mode on color burn, so that you can easily erase a layer of a specific color if you decide you do not like it.

When you start overlapping them you start creating the blending effects that would actually happen when you use different hues of watercolor.

Tips: If it seems to have a lot of dark black areas and you don't want that, you can lower the intensity of your color you are brushing on.

You could also change the blending mode of the layer to something other than color burn.

If you want you could paint the whole paper leaving it dark and then at the very end, merge all the layers and adjust the levels to brighten or lighten it up after you are completely finished.

Here I've created a paper with various colors by simply brushing onto the layer.

Note: You will notice that I brushed all these colors on one layer. That is not the best idea. It works better to have each color on it's own layer. Plus you could have all the layers on different blending modes to create some really interesting effects. Have fun painting!

Supplies Used:

Grunge Brush Set

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy-Watercolor

Watercolor Technique #1

2007-09-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

There have been a few inquiries as to how to create a realistic watercolor effect with the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy - Watercolor 1.

Over the next two days I'll show you 2 different methods on how you can use them, as well as how to use the watercolor styles. This tutorial was created using PSE 3.0 on a Windows / PC.

Open up your water color paper template. For this tutorial I used STI_SS_Paper_Artsy_Watercolor1_lines.

Create a new layer on top of your watercolor paper.

Select the gradient tool option. This can be found by right clicking on the paint bucket in your tools palette.

When the gradient tool is selected it will take the color in your foreground color box and blend it with the color in your background color box. Make sure you have the two colors in your color box you would like to apply to the paper.

You will see this blending in the top of your options bar. If you double click on the colored gradient another drop down list will appear to show you other various gradient options.

Double click on the gradient created from your colors in the very first box.

This will pull up the the Gradient editor where you can make specific changes to your gradient. you can add more colors or adjust how much of one color is shown in the gradient.

We want to add one more color to the middle of our gradient. To do this double click right below the gradient bar at the bottom. You will see a little prompt come up that says click here to add a stop.

It will then create a new little box with a color inside. To change the color simply double click on the new stop and it will pull up the color picker for you to select your new color. You now should see a gradient with 3 colors in it.

Make sure the new layer is selected in your layers palette.

To add the gradient to your new layer you simply drag your mouse in the direction you want the gradient to go across your layer while holding the mouse button down. You will see it draw a line showing you the direction the gradient will be placed.

You can also choose radial gradients, and other gradient options at the top of your screen.

Select the gradient layer in your layers palette and change the blending mode. This is found right below the layers tab in the drop down menu. I selected color burn. This is the option that I use the most with these watercolor templates. Look through all the options though and see what effects can be created.

Merge the two layers together.

Sometimes the option color burn leaves the watercolor looking really dark. To adjust this simply change the levels of your watercolor layer. To get to the levels go to enhance>adjust lighting> levels (for PSE users.) For Photoshop users go to Layer > Adjustments > Levels.

You now have a finished watercolor paper ready for you to scrap on.

Here is a layout I created using the watercolor paper.

There will be a specific tutorial in the ScrapGirls newsletter on Friday the 28th of Sept. that will teach you how to apply the watercolor papers to photos. You sign up for the newsletter here.

Supplies Used:

Live Merry Collection

Grunge Brush Set

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Edgy - Thin

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Artsy - Watercolor 1

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: Digital Layout Templates

2007-09-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you are someone who owns a lot of digital scrapbooking papers, embellishments and alphabets, but you are having trouble actually getting started doing something with those supplies. You need to check out the Scrap Girls ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates.

Read what Laurel has to say:

“I personally use the ScrapSimple Digital Layout templates a bunch. They really help when I'm having a creative block or I just want to get some pages done quickly. You just drag your papers onto the different layer, do a clipping mask (cmd+g on a Mac) and then add your own embellishments or journaling and a title.”

And Rebecca says this about digital layout templates:

“They'll give you a great boost to starting some pages quickly.”

The great thing about digital layout templates is that you can get a lot of use out of the same templates. Just by adding different papers, embellishments or by turning the layout template in 90 degree increments, you can come up with totally different looks. For example, check out these two layouts I did with the exact same digital layout template.

Layout by Mandy Steward

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Notepaper

Janet Collection

Carnvial Ride Papers

Fireside Papers

Afterglow Embellishments

Slumberella Collection

Altered State Papers

ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Epoxy 1801

Intuition Paper

Layout by Mandy Steward

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Notepaper

Live Merry Collection

Cherish Collection

Digital Stickers: Summery

Doodlelicious Embellishments

Stamped Dates Brush Set

ScrapSimple: An Easy Way to Use Brushes for a Hybrid Project

2007-09-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Inside of Card by Mandy Steward

Here’s one way you can use the ScrapSimple Brushes for a Hybrid Project. Just print them out. Seriously, that’s all there is to it. To create the inside of this birthday card I opened one of the .PNG files in the Journaling Labels Brush Set, and I made it smaller so it would fit on my card.

To make a .PNG file smaller you just go to Image>Image Size in Photoshop or Image>Resize>Image Size in Photoshop Elements and change the inches to the size you need. In my case, I made the brush about 2.5 inches tall.

Then I printed it out (along with some other embellishments and paper from Alphabet Soup Girl Collection) and just trimmed around the edges and adhered it to the base of my my card. Once I put my card together, I wrote “Love, The Stewards” on the bottom of the journaling block.

Front of Card by Mandy Steward

By the way, I made this card out of 2 chipboard coasters from Chilli's and just hooked them together with ribbon and covered them with digital scrapbooking paper I printed out. Makes for an easy, cheap and unique card.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Journaling Labels Brush Set

Alphabet Soup Girl Collection

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed

2007-09-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

If you’re new to your software that you purchased in order to do digital scrapbooking, Scrap Girls can help train you to learn all the helpful tips and secrets. In fact, Scrap Girls CEO, Ro, will train you herself, through her Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed Training Movies. These are available for the most widely used digital scrapbooking software applications, including Paint Shop Pro (PSP), Photoshop Elements (PSE) and Photoshop (PS).

LizzyJ, from the Scrap Girls Message Board says, “…A must have for me was the Scrapbook Secrets Revealed, and then the More Scrapbook Secrets Revealed by Ro (in the boutique). If you've already got supplies then you can start right away and work along with Ro in the videos. It was a jump start for me to work on LO's.”

Personally I love that Ro gets you familiar with your software program at the same time she’s teaching you how to scrapbook digitally. It's a much more fun way to learn.

I created this humorous layout about my lack of cooking skills using a couple of the techniques Ro teaches in her video, including creating a curved paper edge and cropping a photo into a unique shape.

Layout by Mandy Steward
Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Inked Collection Mini

Pink Ink Collection Mini

Cooking Collection Mini

Sale Going On

2007-09-16T08:32:00.001-07:00

Adding Color By Hand to Digital Scrapbooking Brushes

2007-09-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

By accident I stumbled across a fun and easy way to add color to ScrapSimple brushes. I was creating this postcard for my mom to thank her for a kind thing she used to say to me and my sister when we were little. I designed the entire postcard, printed it out and then decided the crayon brushes looked a little bare.

Always looking for a way to combine mediums, I got out my colored pencils and added some color, by hand to the pencil doodle brushes in the left-hand corner.

The color layered nicely over the blue background, and I think the scribbled coloring fits nicely with an elementary-themed card. For this technique you can use the brushes like coloring book lines and fill in color with crayon, colored pencil or paint. You can always trace back over the brush in black pen/marker if you cover it up too much. A neat way to add a bit of hybridness (is that a word?) to your otherwise digital creation.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

School Time Collection

School Time Doodle Brush Set

Art Journal Collection

ScrapSimple Card Templates: Remember Postcards

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: One Good, Solid Collection

2007-09-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

If you're new to digital scrapbooking, Carla, a customer at Scrap Girls, suggests Erica Hite’s Bookworm Collection.

At Scrap Girls, a Collection (sometimes referred to as "kit") includes digital scrapbooking papers sized to 12x12 inches, some sheets of embellishments and some sheets of alphabets and/or word art. In order to begin digital scrapbooking, buying a collection is the perfect way to get a little bit of everything in one purchase. Bookworm is a solid, beautiful and versatile collection that can be used in many different ways, and Carla says she "always turns to it." In other words, you’ll use it time and time again.

To show you this I’ve completed three very different projects using this collection:

FOR BABY: I created a baby gift using a paper I printed out from Bookworm for the matting of my painting. I also used embellishments from Bookworm as accents. I left the label blank so the mommy could fill in the time and date and other important info from her baby’s birth.

Picture by Mandy Steward

FOR BIRTHDAY (MALE AND FEMALE): I created birthday cards for my mom (left) and my dad (right). The purplish-pink paper gave a nice feminine touch to the card for my mom and the marbled blue and brown paper was great for a more masculine card.

Cards by Mandy Steward

FOR A BOOK-THEMED LAYOUT: I created a 12x12 digital scrapbooking page about my daughter and some schoolbooks she got for her birthday. The title of the layout is “Learn” and Bookworm was the perfect themed collection for a layout about books and learning.

Layout by Mandy Steward
Scrap Girls Products Used:

Bookworm Collection Biggie

ScrapSimple: How to color a digital scrapbooking embellishment template with color and pattern.

2007-09-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

*Check out the Scrap Girls Blog on Thursdays for tips, how-tos and inspiration on using ScrapSimple Products.

(Screenshots from PSE4 on a Mac)

First I open my ScrapSimple Embellishment Template: Curled Edges Shapely, and I’m using number 4.

To add color to a grayscale template: The easiest way to do this is by adding a new color fill layer.
Once you have this layer above the template make sure it is the active layer in your Layers Palette and then do cntrl g (command g on a mac). This will mask the 2 layers, now play around with the mode for that layer. Some good ones to try is "screen" or "multiply." I’ve used overlay here.

Notice the difference in my curled embellishment. The top image is before the color fill mask was added and the bottom image is after it was added.

Now to add a pattern:

I opened up the ScrapSimple Paper Template: Diamonds and pulled it over top of my embellishment template.

I pulled in a background paper and hit control g ( command g on a mac) to mask it to the diamond shapes.

Then I right clicked on the paper layer and chose Merge Down.

Then I made the colored diamonds my active layer and hit control g (command g on a mac) to mask it over the curled template.

I changed the diamond layer to a Blend Mode of Color Burn and this is the resulting curled embellishment.

Here is a layout I created using it:

Layout by Mandy Steward uses the following Scrap Girls Products:

ScrapSimple Layer Your Own Garden Stone Brush Set

ScrapSimpleEmbellishment Template: Curled Edges Shapely

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Diamonds

Boysenberry Embellishments

Mixed Media Collection

Journey Embellishments

What Products Do I Need In Order to Get Going as a Digital Scrapbooker: Free eBooklet

2007-09-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

FYI - On Mondays on the Scrap Girls Blog we're going to focus on beginners. If you're new to digital scrapbooking you'll want to check out our blog every Monday for tips, how-tos and inspiration.

Recently this question was posed on the Scrap Girls Message Board. It is a question that I see often from people new to digital scrapbooking. If you’re new to the hobby, it’s hard to know how exactly to jump in first. What should be your first digital scrapbooking purchase? Over the next few Mondays, I’m going to share with you answers to this question, along with a sample of what you can do with the products. These solutions all come from Scrap Girls customers.

Probably our number one suggested product for beginners is a FREE eBook available at Scrap Girls called 15 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Digital Scrapbooker.

In this eBook, Ro, the CEO of Scrap Girls, answers the top 15 questions that are asked again and again by newcomers to digital scrapbooking. It is also packed full of inspirational layout samples as well as showing you a broad selection of the various types of products we offer at Scrap Girls. If you are totally new and are still scratching your head at the term digital scrapbooking this is the perfect way to get a lot of your questions answered.

Here is one of my favorite layouts featured in the eBook. You'll find within its pages many more layouts equally as inspiring.

Layout By Shalae Tippetts
Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Aged Frames Embellishments

A Mom 2 Be Collection

Faithful Collection

Art Journal Collection

Curled Edges Embellishment

Love Always Collection

SS Paper Templates: Edgy-THIN

SS Embellishment Templates: Extra - Ribbon Toppers

Where do you get your inspiration?

2007-08-27T09:54:00.001-07:00

Lately my mind has just been going crazy thanks to some other incredible artists out there that I have ran across lately. I've seen techniques that I'm just too excited to try. After a long time, many years actually, I've been dying to get down to the actual hands on mediums - paints, pencils, watercolors and paper again.

I have also been thinking a lot about the fine art direction I would like to start going again, that is not specifically scrapbook design related. I have put it on the back burner for a while, but I'm feeling the need to do more of it again. How do I combine all that I've learned? What is my style or how do I develop a style? How can I combine the opportunity I have to make money on scrapbook designs and things, as well as start doing some of my own hands on - get messy type of art? These are the questions running through my mind all the time.

Well it came while I was washing dishes. It always seems to come while I'm washing dishes. Ideas, tons of ideas, ways that I can incorporate the two, how to enjoy both worlds and combine efforts so I'm not even more scattered than I already am.

I think it's funny that I get these ideas and inspiration while washing dishes. Ironically about 5 months ago, I had my husband get rid of the dish washer. Our kitchen is really small, and it was taking up most of the room in there because it was a portable one. If all the dirty dishes didn't fit in the dishwasher at the time, I would rationalize that there was a whole other load that could be done later... well that rarely happened, and I had dirty dishes in my sink more often then not. So I had him get rid of it, and started doing them by hand again. (Even though I said I would never do this in a million years, especially with 3 kids.) Well now all the dishes have to get done, and now there is something about my hands in that hot soapy water that lets the ideas, thoughts and inspiration start to seep out. I need to learn to just keep a sketchbook or journal next to the sink. It would probably end up pretty waterlogged.

Yet I think there is something about mundane tasks that lets your brain take a break. They let you slow down and relax because you have to and that lets the creativity happen again. So are you short for some ideas? Have you been procrastinating doing some monotonous cleaning because it is just not as fun? Go do it, you might find the same thing I do when my hands are in hot soapy water.

Photo by: Lauren Lank

Mint Tin Mania!

2007-08-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

If you haven't yet seen Amanda Sok's SS Craft Templates: Mint Tin, I highly encourage you to check it out! It's the cutest little template set that you can use to transform a regular Altoid tin into a cute little mini-album. I have been having so much fun with these templates, that I've made one for my mom, my hubby, and his parents as well. The templates are easy to use and the result is just adorable. It's a great gift idea for anybody!

For this mini-album, I used Erica Hite's amazing new Skin Deep collection. You've got to see the colors and embellishments in this one, they're so cool!

Creating Keepsakes 2008 Readers' Choice Awards

2007-08-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Scrap Girls is participating as a company in CK's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards. We would love to have you fill out a ballot and vote for Scrap Girls.

Here is the link to vote for your favorites.

I believe the contest runs through the middle of October and that you have to be in the US or Canada to vote.

If you've ever wanted to spread the word about how much you love Scrap Girls, here is a great way to do it. You vote. Have your friends vote. Get your kids to vote and your dog and your cat. Post it on your blog for people to go vote for Scrap Girls.

We are specifically listed alphabetically under these categories:

Best New Product
Idea Books
Innovative Products
Internet Retailers
Internet Sites
Scrapbook Clubs
Stickers
Templates

And you can add us under "Other" for other categories that apply.

Thanks so much!

Are you a perfectionist?

2007-08-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

My children are perfectionists. Sound crazy? You would think that most children find it silly to make mistakes. They are so busy having fun and making a game out of life that even the largest of imperfections wouldn’t get them down. But not my girls. Everything needs to be perfect. From school work, to music lessons, to their own art work. One little mistake and it is water works. And not just a trickle, but a gush...

“But it is NOT right, mom!” Jenna sobs.
“It’s beautiful!” I say in reply.
“But it is not, mom. It is all wrong! I shouldn’t have drawn this here.” She retorts.
“But, honey, I don’t see your mistake. I just see your beautiful work.” I say, assuring her.

But she doesn’t believe me.

I try to offer suggestions. I offer to fix it to her liking. I suggest she start over.

“I'll start over.” She says, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

Perfectionist.

Where did it come from? I think, not me. It must be their father. But then I think about digital scrapbooking and why it became my medium of choice. I couldn’t stand the mistakes. Peeling glued pieces of paper from another piece, tearing photos that were stuck on other mediums, removing stickers that were 1/2” too close to the edge, cursing quietly (and not so quietly) when I ruined yet another page. And what did I do when I made mistakes? Why, I’d start over, of course.

But digital scrapbooking? What freedom! What choice! What perfection.

I was a bit unsure signing them up for this after school art class. I wouldn’t be there to “fix” the mistakes. Would they be able to handle it? Would they handle the pressure? I mean, after all, they are 7 years old. They are under extreme pressure…to get it right.

“Mom! The art show is coming up. You have GOT to see my flamingo! It is the best flamingo in the whole world, ever!” Jenna tells me.
“I can’t wait.” I reply.

And there they were, two little girls, so proud of the items that had produced in 8 short classes.

“They are all lovely”, I say. “Jenna, it is the best flamingo ever!” I add.

“Yeah”, Jenna says “but I should have drawn him more in the middle.”

Perfectionist.

Doodleicious Collection; Beach House Alpha and Embellishments; Assemblage Embellishments; Carnival Ride Embellishments; Lifted Photo Templates; Curled Edges Embellishments; A Princess stitch and staples.

Fun things to do with photos and layouts!

2007-08-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this great site while I was on my flickr acct. It's called Moo (gotta love that right off the bat!) they offer several great products using your photos or your layouts! How fun to have mini stickers of our layouts or photos! Or mini calling cards even! Check it out!

http://www.moo.com/

Digitally Scrapbooking REAL Life?

2007-07-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

Do you digitally scrapbook REAL life? Really?

When I was recently in Chicago for CHA I took this photo. Right before I snapped it Valerie said to me, "Do you want me to take that piece of duct tape off for you?" (You can see it in the photo, right above the letter "C" in "SERVICE." It didn't even occur to me to remove that piece of duct tape because it was a part of reality. Valerie on the other hand was sizing up the grate with an Art Director's eye, and she noticed the flaw in the photo.

This got me thinking...

I recently heard it argued that digital scrapbookers will have a harder time then paper scrapbookers documenting REAL life. The reason? We have a lot more tools handy to alter reality. Using photo editing software we can brighten up a person's teeth, take people out of a photo, add people into a photo, get rid of blemishes, and the list goes on and on. There is no denying that editing our photos digitally can twist reality a bit. But I'm pretty confident that paper scrapbookers can alter reality just as much.

For me, the real issue is not in the tools we use as scrapbookers, it's in the actual stories we are telling...or "conveniently" forgetting to tell. It's sometimes our tendency as artists to want to clean up life and make it pretty and flawless before we tell the story. Pretty stories, pretty pictures, make pretty scrapbook pages. But life is not always pretty and perfect and put together. At least mine isn't.

I try to give thought to the un-pretty stories in my life as well, for a lot of times, it's in these stories that I truly have grown and developed as a person. And I want people to know that my life was not perfect, that sometimes it was in fact a struggle, and all the pretty and un-pretty stories of my life make me who I am today.

Think twice before you remove your duct tape. Every now and then it might be beneficial to let it be.

Idea - Use your digital scrapbooking layouts on cards

2007-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

My Layout

My Layout on a Card

Inside of card reads:
I'd give all wealth that years have piled, to be once more a little child,
for one bright summer-day. - Lewis Carroll

I want to show you something cool my mom has been doing lately. She pulls layouts I've completed from my Scrap Girls gallery, prints them out, and incorporates them into her greeting cards. It's cool for me to see my layouts serve another purpose, and it's cool for her to have my layouts to work with. Sometimes her cards show up in my mailbox, and it's always fun to see my layout printed out in miniature and used on a pretty card.

My layout uses the following Scrap Girls products:
Digital Stickers: Summery, Water Papers, Textured Cardstock Mega Pack 1, Faithful Embellishments, SS Tools - Styles: Inked Edges 1801, Embed 1801, SS Card Templates: Curvy

Digital Scrapbooking Magazine with hotlinks

2007-07-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

When we were at CHA we heard about the plan for Digital Scrapbooking Magazine to release their magazine in digital format with tons of hotlinks throughout. Just today I came across this blog where she gave a link to Digital Scrapbooking magazines archive of the first three issues. I think their plan in the future will be to include this archive for a fee and/or include it with a subscription to the magazine. I enjoyed flipping through the magazine digitally to find our Scrap Girls ad. And yes, ScrapGirls.com is hotlinked. I checked. :) This would change the way you shop for digital supplies though, as the layouts featured in the magazine would have supply lists that link you right up to an online store.

A Different View

2007-07-20T00:24:00.001-07:00

LOL! I can't help but crack up everytime I look at this cartoon! When I first saw it ( after picking myself up off the floor having fallen off from laughing hysterically!) I realized how much I can relate. As a child I learned early on that I would never have the fancy toys or clothes that so many of my friends had. I learned instead to view ordinary things in a different light. My best friend received a metal fridge, sink and stove for Christmas one year. Of course I shared her delight as we played house but in my heart I could not help but wish for my own. But as luck would have it we had some big cardboard boxes out in the storage room that with scissors, paint and glue easily became my own stove and fridge. And do you know what? My best friend and I ended up playing with those cardboard versions more than we ever did with her slick, shiny store bought ones. Until of course the rain came and turned them to a soggy mess out in the back yard! lol! As an artist I now see everything in a different light, a different view, a circle can become a sun or moon, the cheeks on a felt doll or a balloon. We like to play a game in my house, it has no name but we try to list as many things as we can that are a certain shape or maybe a certain color. There are no rules and it can get crazy sometimes, crazy fun!
How many times have you seen something at a flea market or thrift store that you thought could be made into something else? Maybe a lamp base that can become a vase or an old door that can become a trellis or just a great piece of art leaned up against a wall? Let's all open our eyes to a different view!

CHA and a Male Interview

2007-07-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ro, Valerie and myself are flying out in the morning to meet in Chicago for CHA. Looking forward to walking the floor, getting ideas, meeting up with friends (old and new) and just talking more about Scrap Girls and where it's headed.

Have to tell you, the Guest Interview in tomorrow's Scrap Girls newsletter is a good one. And I'm so excited because he...yes, the interview is with our first male, came through for me even though his laptop crashed. Gotta appreciate that.

I'll try to catch Ro and V in some fun photos to share here, but for now, off to bed. I have to leave for the airport at 6:30 in the morning. I didn't even know there was a 6:30 on that end of the clock!

Oh yeah, and I ordered a couple Scrap Girls shirts to wear over the weekend. If you haven't heard about them yet, you can check them out here. I am happy with mine. V did a good job with the designs.

Rule of Thirds

2007-07-16T23:53:00.000-07:00

I recently taught a series of classes about digital photography for the women in my church. One of the ideas that I shared with them is about using the Rule of Thirds in your photography. The easiest way to explain it is to picture your photograph (or potential photograph) with a tic-tac-toe grid on it, separating the photograph into three rows and also three columns.

The most effective spots for your photograph's point of interest will almost always be on one of the four crosspoints of this grid.

In the example below, the focus is my son's face. The first picture is okay. It shows him right in the center, but it doesn't feel very complete.

The second picture has the main focus of my son's face in the top-right crosspoint, and thusbecomes a much more dynamic photograph.

Some digital cameras actually come with a grid that you can display on your LCD screen, so that you can see where your crosspoints are. If your camera doesn't have this feature, you just need to practice being able to locate those crosspoints yourself.

And this technique doesn't apply only to photography, you can use it in your scrapbooking as well. Next time, try placing gridlines on your layout and putting your main focus on one of the crosspoints. You'll come up with a visually appealing layout. Now go try it out!

Layout uses:
Persian Breeze Embellishment Biggie by Brandy Hackman
Blossoms and Blooms Embellishment: Winter by Brandy Hackman
Fireside Embellishments by Melissa Renfro
A Waltz to Remember Brush set 1 by Syndee Nuckles
Mulberry Wine Brush set by Amanda Sok
SS Paper Templates: Not So Solid by Amanda Sok
SS Paper Templates: Fairy Dust by Amanda Sok
SS Paper Templates: Yesterday by Angie Briggs

Collage Meets Digital Scrapbooking

2007-07-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

I was messing around today doing a piece of artwork of my sister. She's a college student and was just here visiting with me for a week, so she's on my mind. I've been wanting to try Claudine Hellmuth's take on collage pieces. While it is seriously fun, it is more difficult then she makes it look. Isn't that always how it is with good artists?

I used scraps of Love Always paper that I had left over. I also used acrylic paints, watercolor paints, black marker, watercolor paper and gel medium (as my glue).

All in all I was pleased with my first quick attempt, and had fun finding one more use for Scrap Girls' digital scrapbooking supplies.

Invest in a good lens for your DSLR!

2007-07-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

My birthday was approaching fast. My husband is always insistent on getting something for me that I don't really need but is extravagent, nevertheless.

Last October, I bought myself a new camera. It was a Sony Alpha A-100. I did a lot of research on this purchase and really felt it was the right camera for me. But I didn't research the lenses, and the salesman sold me something that I realized wasn't quite what I was looking for.

So, in re-researching lenses, I found the one of my dreams. It would cost just about as much money as the camera! Oh my! But I mentioned it to my husband anyway, and was surprised when he told me I should have it. (As luck would have it, it was an item in his American Express Rewards Catalog so we got it for free!)

Today as I sat pondering how I would spend my morning, a Balitmore Oriole, whom we have been coaxing for several weeks, finally made an appearance on the feeder. Out came my camera and lens (A SP AF 200-500 Tamaron), and with no tripod and through a glass window, I came up with some spectacular shots!

So do yourself a favor, research your purchases well. You really do get what you pay for!

Layout Credits: Ro Paxman-The Secret, Keri Schueller-Alive, Durin Eberhart-Beach House, Kerry Veale-Brocadelicious and Afternoon Tea, Thao Cosgrove-Bella Brushes, Tonya Doughty- Stitches

Generic Card Photos

2007-07-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

After reading Mandy's great ideas for making photo cards I had to go take some of my own generic photos. Of course they are of kids as that seems to be the most readily available subject. :) But here are some of my baby boy that I tried to make generic enough to be used for baby, kids, toddlers or summer cards. It was so much fun, and I'm enjoying building up my own collection of stock photos to use when I need it.

Getting more use out of your photos - Part 3

2007-07-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Today's Example: Places and Things

I've heard it said before that a graphic designer should maintain his/her own stock photography collection of photos he/she has taken. The thinking behind this is that if you can take the photo yourself then you have rights to it and can use it when and how you want. As scrapbookers we often think about taking photos of friends and family and other people, but how often do we take photos of places and things? Perhaps just when we're on vacation? But having your own stock photos can be very useful.

Consider taking photos at a school of desks, lockers, water fountains, stadium bleachers, ball fields, etc. These can be used for teacher cards, graduation cards, sports related cards, etc.

Consider taking photos of nature: flowers, beaches, forests, paths, sunsets, etc. These can be great photos for inspirational card, sympathy cards and encouragement cards.

Consider taking photos of balloons, presents, party hats, cakes, and other party type decor for birthday and celebration type cards.

*I took a photo of a Starbucks sign which I've used for a thank you card. This goes to show even the most obscure photos can be used on cards with a little creativity.

**The other photo is not a photo of my own house. It was just a cool shot I got when I was walking by some houses on the coast. I liked the look of the address on the gate in front and the bikes in the background. When I was looking to make a Welcome Home card I pulled out this photo. You just never know what you'll find useful on a card at some point.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Love Always Collection
Nessa Alphas Nessa Embellishments Dear Diary Embellishments

Getting more use out of your photos - Part 2

2007-07-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today's Example: People Photos (non-generic)

Sometimes our cards don't need to have generic people photos like I talked about yesterday.

Sometimes it works to include a photo of the actual person you are sending the card. Of course this means you have to have a photo of that person.

Tip #1: Search through old snapshots and see if you can find a photo of that person. It doesn't have to be a perfectly posed portrait. Use it collaged on your card somewhere.

Tip #2: Take lots photos of family and friends. When you're hanging out with the people you love, take photos of them. Get close ups of individual people. You never know when you'll need to send them a card, and then you'll have photos of them to personalize it.

Tip #3: Recognize that the very photos you scrapbook could have a double use on cards.

Sometimes it's okay to include photos of yourself or your kids on a card to others. Grandparents love to receive cards with their grandkids photos on them. Also, thank you cards can be a great use of these types of photos because you can display a person enjoying whatever item it was that they were gifted. For instance, if you were given new earrings by a friend, take a picture of yourself wearing the earrings and use it on the front of your thank you card.

*My sample card has a photo that was from a tea-party trip I took with some friends of mine. This photo was just snapped randomly as we were walking through some gardens. Weeks later I was thinking back on this fun time and decided to send my friend a card about how much I enjoyed that day. It was neat to find a photo of her to use on the card when I looked back through the shots I had taken that day.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Charisma Papers

Nessa EmbellishmentsHip Chick Bitty Words Embellishments

Getting more use out of your photos - Part 1

2007-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

When you look at greeting cards in the store you'll see many that have photos on them. So how do we mimic that in our personal card making? It's as simple as taking some photos you might not normally think of taking and using photos you might not normally think of using. Over the next three days I want to show you some examples of how to do just that.

Today's Example: Generic People Photos

It is possible to use photos of your own family and friends and make them generic enough to use on any card. Try taking pictures of feet or hands. If you have a baby to photograph, these types of shots make great baby cards. Or take a close-up of you and your significant other holding hands and use it on anniversary or wedding cards.

Try setting your camera on a low aperture. This will give you a shallow depth of field to select one thing in your photo to be in focus and the other things in the photo to be softened and out of focus. (if you don't know what this means, you might want to check out Dinny's eBook.) This is a great way to blur out a face in a photo so that the specific person is not the focus of the photo or your card. I used this on the baby photo on my card, focusing on my son's foot and blurring out his face. Now this photo works for girl baby cards as well as boy baby cards. I used depth of field again here in this photo. This one could be used for a birthday card, as the focus is on the messy cake and not on my son's face.

Scrap Girls Supplies Used:

Charisma Paper

Dear Diary Embellishments Nessa Alphas Love Always Embellishments Nessa Embellishments

Clever Clips

2007-06-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the luxury of sitting in a big comfy chair and leafing through a magazine. These moments have been few and far between in the past few months and I have realized how relaxing and rejuvenating something like this can be. I have made a mental note to make the time to do this more often! As I was perusing the pages of the latest Good Housekeeping magazine (at least I think it's the latest issue! lol) I came upon this clever use for those office clips we all seem to have laying around. We may even have both the 3-D version - usually hanging out in a junk drawer & the virtual kind - gracing a digital layout or two. Now you can bet I will be digging out my clips in all sizes and colors and I even thought I might attach some small magnets to the back so I can put these on the fridge. And there has to be a way to duplicate this look on our digi layouts! lol! Oh, how us digi people view the world now! Not through rose colored glasses but camera lenses and monitors! Happy scrappin' Scrap Girls!

A Million Words

2007-06-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

“A picture’s worth a thousand words.” I’ve certainly heard that before, and when I first began digital scrapbooking I took that phrase to heart. Most of my layouts featured images with very little text beyond the title and the date.

But, I began to notice, that taken out of context, those pictures could mean different things to different people. Take the photos of my daughters for instance. At first glance, you might be able to guess that they are sisters or related somehow just by the way they interact – you can almost see the history between them. You might be able to tell that it’s a beautiful day out, but might not guess the heavily wooded area sits just beyond our house in Hawaii.

And that is just the beginning of the story.

There is no way you would know, without those precious words, that these photos were taken the day before Ashley and I left for the mainland so she could start her first year at college – a truly life altering moment for our family.

You can’t see in the images all the places we have lived following my husband’s career in the Navy. You don’t know about everything we’ve shared in our tight little group, all the times we’ve laughed and fought, all the happiness and certainly not the tears.

It is not obvious that more than half the time over the past dozen years or so, it’s just been just us three girls, making our way through the trials and tribulations of our lives as Michael has been required elsewhere for his duties. You can’t know how close that has made us, how bonded we are, how affected we are by the others’ troubles and triumphs. Not unless I tell you.

Without the words, it would be our little secret that just after I took these photos, Michael ran outside to “help” and ended up wrestling the girls to the ground with the lot of them laughing like loons. The faces in the photos look to innocent for that.

The photos I took are a wonderful way to visualize the story, but they don’t carry the heart of it – the journaling does.

So if it is true, a picture really is worth a thousand words, then a scrapbook layout -lovingly crafted, decorated with embellishments and thoughtfully written journaling - that must certainly be worth a million.

For complete supply list, visit the gallery posting: the day before

Top 7 Things To Tell Yourself To Get You Scrapbooking Today

2007-06-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

1. I scrapbook because it's fun. I'll stop being stressed about it and just make it fun.

2. My scrapbook layouts will not look like anyone else's scrapbook layouts. I will stop comparing myself.

3. There will never be enough time. There will always be one more person that needs me. One more chore to do. One more errand to run. If I really want to do this I'm going to have to make time.

4. I bought a lot of fun stuff from Scrap Girls, and I haven't even played with some of it yet. I will play with something today I haven't played with yet. Afterall, I bought it; it's time to use it.

5. I will ask myself why it is that I haven't made a scrapbook page lately (especially since I love to do it so much), and I will make a page about that.

6. I will stop thinking about all the memories I haven't captured in pages. Instead I will think about a memory I would like to capture. I will start there.

7. I will pick out something I love....it may be a photo or some pretty paper or a memorable story. I will scrap for no other reason then enjoyment. (If I'm on a Design Team, I will scrap something for myself, not for work.)

Something I made just for me today. My favorite book is The Little Prince and this is an excerpt from one of my favorite passages in the book. I've been wanting to use this photo as well. Spent some time doing photo editing on it, which I love and don't ever seem to let myself spend much time on.

I used the following Scrap Girls products:

Bitsy Bold Brush Set
Janet Collection Biggie
Photo Transfer Frames Embellishments

Us Digi People Can Get Messy Too

2007-06-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I spent the past weekend at CKU in Anaheim. I have to say, it's very strange to be a digital scrapbooker first and a paper scrapbooker second. I kind of felt like a spy, listening to women say things about scrapbooking that I didn't even understand. Part of that is because I do things digitally, and part of that is because I'm not "schooled" in scrapbooking. It brought me a lot of good laughs throughout the weekend.
I did really enjoy myself. I walked away with an appreciation of my own definition of scrapbooking, a beautiful freedom for an artist to find. I also refreshed a love for playing with paper, with my hands, instead of always pushing pixels on a computer. And I realized for the first time, thanks to a connection my friend helped me make, that women like to get together and scrap for the same reason women used to get together and quilt...it's community! And there is something special about that. Sometimes I got very little create because I spent so much time talking. Ha! Me, the introvert. But I love hearing about people's stories...the stories they choose to scrap and even those they don't.
So yesterday I reorganized my "art studio," as I affectionately call our dining room, and I made a lot more of my paper scrapping supplies accessible. Last nite I decided on what project I wanted to work on and printed out Scrap Girls papers and embellishments (you didn't think I would use any other papers when I have Scrap Girls' gorgeous designs at my fingertips, did you?) Today I worked on creating a little mini-book for friends of ours. I always enjoy making stuff more if I know it has a purpose. My fingers got sticky and inky, my table overflowed with scraps and stamps and other fun stuff, and my kids even jumped in on some of the fun. It was a good morning.
I need to get pictures of the book, but until then, enjoy the picture of my mess.

A great challenge...

2007-06-20T11:58:00.001-07:00

I saw this challenge that Marnie posted, and I just had to highlight it here. This is such a great idea. Digging a little deeper to tell a little more of the story. I love the idea of that.

Father's Day 2007

2007-06-17T17:11:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how fast the years roll by and here we have landed on Father's Day 2007. My Dad will turn 71 next month and I have to say that when I think about it I can hardly breathe. But at 70 my Dad is more vibrant than ever. He is retired and enjoying what he loves best... taking photographs and being recognized for it. The Lesson I have learned is that you are never too old to realize a dream and that you should never stop reaching for them.
One of the things I love most about digital scrapbooking is the instant gratification factor! I can design a layout ON Father's Day, right smack in the middle of my sentimental journey back in time and then email it off to my Dad to let him know how much he means to me on this special day and everyday. Here's to all the Father's in our lives!
Some great quotes:
I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me - I WAS A FATHER. - Nat King Cole

A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. - Anonymous

A father carries pictures where his money used to be. -Anonymous

The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother. -Theodore M. Hesburgh

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. -Charles Wadsworth

It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for a father who takes his daughter shopping. -John Sinor

There's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder. -Richard L. Evans.

Flip Books

2007-06-11T12:48:00.001-07:00

I was reading a thread on our message board lately about flip books. I shared an idea I used a couple years ago to make a prayer flip book as a gift for my husband. We had been given a prayer guide at our church to help us pray for our children. I thought it had a lot of neat prayer suggestions on it, but didn't care much for the xeroxed piece of paper hanging on my fridge. So I took the prayer prompts and made my own flip book, incorporating pictures of our children.

I was asked to share some photos, so thought I'd put them on our blog.

A couple notes though, my husband found the ribbons annoying when trying to flip the pages. So what is pretty is not always functional. :) Also I think I needed to use some stronger cardstock for the base because it tipped easily when all the pages were flipped to the back. Another suggestion might be to put some sort of weighted object on the base.

I used these Scrap Girls products:

Everyday Events

2007-06-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

I love being able to chronicle the changes in my life through scrapbooking. It doesn't always have to be a major, life-changing event to make a worthwhile layout. A lot of the times, it's the ordinary moments that I want to record even more, because those are the ones that I'm afraid I'll forget when I'm old and gray.

So by scrapping my ordinary life events, I am trying to keep those memories alive. Not necessarily for anyone else, but for me. It's important to me.

So here's one of those ordinary events. My new glasses.

Layout uses Erica Hite's Cherish Collection Biggie, Daydream Collection Biggie, Amanda McGee's Doodleicious Collection Biggie, Doodle Dandy Embellishment Biggie, Valerie Randall's Beachy Collection Biggie, Amanda Sok's Charisma Alpha Biggie, Syndee Nuckles' Dad Alpha, Kerry Veale's Brocadelicious Alpha, and Lettering Delights Scrap Casual font.

I am not their mother...but I wish I were.

2007-06-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am a mom to five. I did not give birth to all of them. Only two are genetically mine. The other three I acquired through marraige. I have known these children for 10 years now. And I have watched them grow and develop, probably at the most crucial times in their lives. They mean the world to me, and although I know I'll never be their "mother", just being able to say that "I'm here" can be the next best thing.

My step children have at times brought me grief, tears, and sleepless nights, but the majority of the time, they bring me smiles, laughter, pride and love. They occupy a certain corner of my heart that no one else does. I burst at the seams knowing that somehow I had a hand in the way they turned out. They are my children.

Recently, my oldest, Stephanie, admitted to me that she would love to have a scrapbook of her childhood. I felt an awful feeling inside...like how could I possibly be the one to make that scrapbook? I can't fill in the first 14 years. I did not know her. And this dreaded feeling rushed over me. I am NOT their mother. I am really not their mother. It has tortured me for weeks.

But then it hit me, like a lightning bolt. I'm married to their father! What was I thinking? Dad surely can help me fill in the blanks. It may not be my own words, or my own memories, but with his help, I should be able to put together a little something for my step-children. Something that they can take with them into adulthood. A little momento from two people who love them very much.

This layout is for that album. It is Stephanie with her sister Kelly. Ingredients: Assemblage, Pretty Primavera, Beach House, Photo Folds 1 and Sweet Words.

Theresa Kavouras

Is is Digital Scrapbooking genetic?

2007-06-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's genetic or not, but I've already passed along the interest of digital scrapbooking to my 6 year old daughter Maddy. She said to me today, "Do you think I could be a junior Scrap Girl?" That just made me smile. I'm glad that she is interested too!

The other day, she asked if she could make a "real" Scrap Girls paper. I opened up one of my Doodlelicious Paper Templates in PSCS2 and made a separate layer for her to color. I showed her how to pick colors and use the paint brush tool, and let her do her own thing. I think she made some really fun & bright color choices. So, of course, I had to take some photos of her at work and then this morning we made a layout. I showed her how to layer the flower embellishments, and she took to it very easily. She also did all the typing. I think she did a fine job on her first digital scrapbook layout.

Ahhhh, another convert! Digital Scrapbooking is taking over the McGee house, or at least the female members.

For The Love of Stuff...

2007-06-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

I love stuff or as some call it 'schtuff'. Sometimes I feel guilty because I have so much stuff. I try to talk myself into giving it away, I really do. But it doesn't work. Do I use all this stuff I have accumulated? Rarely, but I think maybe I might need it tomorrow or the next day. It is something that I have let 'worry' me and then the other day it hit me. My stuff is in a way part of who I am. I collect things, pretty things, bright things. I LOVE to be surrounded by beautiful things. It makes me feel creative, inspired, happy and strong. Sometimes it even makes ME feel pretty or 'cool' surrounded by all these colorful papers, ribbons and buttons. So I guess for now I will hang on to all this stuff without guilt because it makes me happy.

Layout way created with All Wrapped Up Collection Mini, Buttons Brush Set Mini, ScrapSimple Tools-Styles: Buttons 6301, Dear Diary Alpha, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Journal Strips & Labeled Love Embellishments.

Remember Running...

2007-06-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

I've been making postcards to send out to family and friends when memories of them pop into my mind. These are totally random postcards, and I just create them as I have time and as the memories occur to me. I feel like it's a good way to remind people every now and then that I'm thinking of them.

This is my newest addition in the remember postcards. This one is for my father-in-law.

Love the flies and the addition of the stained templates gives my postcard that nasty, sweaty, just got done running look. LOL.

Here are all the Scrap Girls supplies I used.

Does the medium matter?

2007-06-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Recently, a paper company contacted me about doing some work with them. I felt flattered that I peaked their interest, but for some reason I didn't feel as excited as I thought I should be at the prospect of designing paper products. I actually have designed paper scrapbooking products in the past, and while I was doing that, I wondered to myself about digital scrapbooking. I thought about how neat it would be and how it makes so much sense for the industry to go that way. Little did I know that digital scrapbooking was already underway. I did some surfing and found some sites. Scrap Girls popped up to me while searching, and I was so impressed with how professional the site looked and the quality of product that was being produced. On a whim, I thought I'd go ahead and submit some pieces to get onto the Scrap Girls Product Design Team, and Ro wrote me back the very next day! I've been jumping up and down and pinching myself ever since. Now that I've been designing digital products for Scrap Girls for over 1 1/2 years, it's hard for me to imagine going back to paper. But why is it that there is some discussion out there that designers who design digital scrapbooking supplies are not as talented as paper product designers? Can a digital designer only feel like they've "made it" if they have designed paper? Should that be a defining moment to measure success? I think a designer should be judged by the quality of their work, not by the medium they use. I believe that with time, more and more paper designers will come on over to the "dark side" and they'll see the many things they've been missing out on. Because really, designing for paper products begins with digital files. All digital scrapbooking products are are files that have not been sent to press. And for customers who like working with paper, all they need to do is simply print their files out. The beautiful thing about designing digital is that I don't have to wait a few months before I see the finished product. I can design a kit and get it out there now. I can design a layout with a kit and print it out now. What can be better than that? People might think I'm nuts for turning down an opportunity, but my heart is here at Scrap Girls. And so will be my scrapbooking products. Call me crazy, or call me happy. =)

My Hero

2007-05-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jan Hicks’ created a wonderful “Hero” word art for her quote challenge. Immediately, I knew what my layout would be about.

My husband Michael is in the Navy and is currently serving a 14 months tour in Iraq. Before he left for the desert, some of my family and my college age daughter Ashley were able to see him in South Carolina at training. During their visit, my dad took a lovely picture of Ashley and Michael together which was perfect for my page.

Because the layout was featuring Ashley, I asked her to write the journaling about her dad being her hero. What she wrote was amazing, and brought me to tears.

"Dad,
It took me forever to fully understand why you wanted to go. I was being greedy when I told you I didn't want you to go, not thinking about the other soldier's sons and daughters whose parents went to war as well. I didn't want to lose you and I still don't, but now I am able to cope with you being over there. I now see why you felt it was your time, why serving your country was so important to you. Dad, you are my hero, the person I look up to, and the one who shows me the importance of serving others. You knew the danger that would lie ahead and the obstacles you would be forced to overcome. You knew when you left, it may have been the last time to see us, but you still put others in front of you. You knew it would be scary, and yet you still went. You knew it was time, even though we did not. Thank you for being there for me even when you are gone. My only wish is that someday I will be like you, loved by my kids the way I love you!

I love you Dad, and don't you forget that.
Ashley"

Last night, I sent the completed scrapbook page to Michael. He was greatly moved by what Ashley shared. “I am sitting here reading this and writing back to you having to keep wiping tears from my eyes. Very touching. I don’t know what to say. Thanks (I guess, though I don’t think thanks are appropriate)…I love you so much…I am speechless.

I know you tell me you love me all the time, but I never knew this.

I love you
Dad “

This whole experience was a reminder to me about the importance of scrapbooking our lives - not only capturing the memories, but recording the emotions of the moment.

My layout isn’t spectacular, and it doesn’t have to be. The words – Ashley’s words – have given Michael a remarkable gift and have been saved for us to treasure forever.

I bought something...

2007-05-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

You may find it interesting that we as designers like to use each others products. If a designer has mastered a certain tool, it makes it easier to just use their product then to reinvent the wheel. Thank goodness for commercial licenses.

I just got done purchasing Erica Hite's Frayed Edges Brush Set. I wanted to implement the look of threads in some product I'm designing, and what a timesaver this little tool of Erica's turned out to be for me.

To risk sounding like the old Rogain commercials, I'm not only a Scrap Girls designer, I'm also a customer.

Building on a photo

2007-05-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

A lot of times in digital scrapbooking I feel locked into that 12x12 background paper size, and always build my layouts on top of this foundation. To change things up a bit, try building a digital scrapbooking layout on an actual photo. You can crop your photo to 8x10, 5x7 or 4x6 before you start. Then you can easily have the layout printed out and/or framed when your done.

Layer text, embellishments, brushes, etc on top of your photo. Get as elaborate or stay as simple as you like. This may feel awkward at first, but after you play around with it, you'll find this new way of doing layouts can be just as fun. I enjoy the challenge of it.

And if you're really desperate to stick to that 12x12 size, you could always take your completed photo and slap it onto a layout. Hey it's digital...you can do whatever you want and then change your mind tomorrow.

For this simple photo layout I used Paint Stroke Brush Set, Framed Charcoal Brush Set, ScrapSimpleTools - Actions: Photos That Pop B&W 1801.

American Idol gets scrappy

2007-05-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

In honor of the American Idol finals tonight (which my husband is lucky enough to get to be at), I thought I'd share a funny layout I remembered from last year's Scrap Girls Anniversary Party. Scrap Girls members participated in a friendly game of "whacking" Ro. And here she is, live on the Idol stage...

*Digital scrapbooking can be so fun.

Illustrated Embellishments

2007-05-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

There is some great conversation on the Scrap Girls Message Board about drawing embellishments. A lot of designers have jumped into the conversation as well as Scrap Girls Members. If you're into that sort of thing, you might want to read it here.

Not Just For Scrapbooking

2007-05-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

I went home to spend some time with my mom for a few days. While we were there I was looking at some of her latest quilts. She is a die hard quilter and always has a couple in the works. She does amazing work and we are never short on quilts in our house. We were discussing the lack of cute baby patterns out there for quilters and suddenly got this idea of using ScrapSimple Layer Your Own brushes and Embellishment Templates for appliqué on quilts and clothing. Of course we had to try it out. We used Erica's ScrapSimple Layer Your Own: Baby Rattle, ScrapSimple Layer Your Own: Baby Buggy, and ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Precious Two. We didn't think it turned out too bad for our very first attempt. The picture isn't the greatest here but you can get a good idea how we used them. So think outside the box. A lot of these products don't have to be used for only scrapbooking. I know there are a few more really cute ones that I'm dying to try on some shirts for my girls.

Grandma's Scrapbook

2007-05-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love books for children. I could make a list a mile long of my favorites. So, one day, many years ago, when our family received a signed copy of the book, Grandma's Scrapbook, by Josephine Nobisso, I was thrilled. Not only was it a heartwarming story with the most beautiful watercolor illustrations, it was about my passion: scrapbooking. Grandma's Scrapbook is a picture book, for children, and it tells the tale of a girl who remembers special times with her grandma through the pages of her scrapbook. I read this book several times -- to myself and to my children -- when we first received it.

I somehow forgot the book over the years. But the other day I was rummaging through a box of books we had packed up and I came upon Grandma's Scrapbook once again. I realized that I need to share it with all of you. Check for it at your library, bookstore, or on Amazon. It's a great book to give to a child -- particularly if you love scrapbooking.

2007-05-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

It was easy to overlook. Just a bunch of weeds and a wild sweet pea growing behind a park bench on a busy trail. Trash was strewn about and people hurried by jogging and biking. But for one still moment, a ray of sunshine blasted down upon the vegetation, illuminating these common plants and proclaiming them a thing of pure beauty. I got down low and captured this moment in time. It got me thinking: What in my own life can I focus on? Where can I beam light and what beauty might I find in previously ignored dark corners? I love digital scrapbooking: sometimes a blast of light and a very simple page like this is all I need to do to capture my thoughts.

Cool Mini-Album Tutorial

2007-05-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it already, you gotta check out Amanda Sok's tutorial in the Scrap Girls Newsletter today (scroll down towards bottom of newsletter to see it). So cool where the container came from for this beautiful mini-book. Everything is fair game when it comes to altering and scrapping. You can also read more on what people are saying about it here.

Ever have one of those days...

2007-05-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Why oh why did I not go totally digital?

Focus on Focusing

2007-05-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking is the thing that got me into photography. Before scrapping, I took snapshoots. Now I record images. There's a difference, I'm sure you are aware. Did you know that it's possible to become a better photographer without taking long classes with big words and learning how to work a light meter? I'm doing it professionally now, so I've had to learn some of that stuff. But I learned how to capture moments in time with my camera before anyone started paying me.

I guess that's one of the things I love most about scrapping. It has caused me to grow as an artists in a wide variety of arenas. I see the work of so many gifted scrappers and I'm spurred on to try my hand at it too. Thanks to all you innovative scappers out there who put yourselves and your work out there. I am inspired by you.

Here's a couple of images that I'm proud of from my last few days trying to improve my (big word coming) exposure in Manual mode. Hope they inspire you to try!

The Way of the Moss

2007-05-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

What can an English Bulldog named Moss teach me about life? To wade in and drink the waters. To observe and admire where I'm at. To breathe deeply and relax. To enjoy nature. And to carry my digital camera to capture moments like this. This photograph reminds me of an Oprah moment. You know, the magazine page spread that takes your breath away, where you breathe deeply and imagine peace? This is the way of the Moss: Inspiration.

Why do you scrapbook?

2007-05-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'm realizing something about myself. I don't really think of myself as a scrapbooker. I know, that's probably the stupidest thing I could say since I work for a digital scrapbooking company, but it's true. At least I don't think I scrapbook for all the reasons I think I'm supposed to.

I don't scrapbook to capture all of the memories I have with my kids. I don't scrapbook to document all the details of my life. I don't even scrapbook so that I can pass my books on to my children some day. I mean if that was the case I would do a much better job of actually printing my digital scrapbook pages out and putting them into books.

The reason that I find myself attracted to scrapbooking is because it's a way to process life creatively. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure in the future I'll love to look back on my pages and that will be a nice by-product of scrapbooking. But really, I enjoy it because I am wired in such a way that art is how I do life. In grade school I drew cartoons of people. In high school I drew and doodled in my class notes. In college I made collaged letters to send to my fiance and I kept a scrapped journal. I just can't imagine life without art.

Creating a scrapbooking page helps me appreciate a happy moment with my kids. Creating a scrapbooking page helps me process a difficult lesson I'm learning in my life. Creating a scrapbooking page helps me "stop and smell the roses" in my own life. It's like a deep breath. It means something to me right now.

So I'm not it in for the documented memories all organized properly on a shelf. I try to fight the pressure of needing to have every single photo incorporated into a scrapbooking layout. I honestly don't do it for my kids. I do it because I need art in my everyday life. I do it because God made me this way, and very much like that man in Chariot's of Fire, I feel God's pleasure everytime I use the gifts He's given me.

Why do you scrapbook?

Mother's Day Gift

2007-05-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I recently took a mini-vacation to Cambria, California for my birthday weekend. My in-laws watched our son for us so that we could go, and it was so good for us! It was the first time we had been away from the little one since he had been born. It was really nice.

So as a thank-you and as a nice Mother's Day present, we're going to give our moms a framed print of one of the pictures I took there. It was really easy to make and so I wanted to share it with you all. I first created a new document in Photoshop in the size that I wanted my finished print to be. (In this case, 11x14.) I then opened my picture, dragged it onto the new document, and centered it in the middle, leaving some room at the bottom for the location name.

Then I simply typed the label right on the document, added a black stroke to the picture so it stood out, flattened and saved. And to print it, since I don't have a wide-format printer, I'm just going to send it to Costco.com to print and pick it up in an hour.

You could do this with any type of picture that you really want to highlight or display, in any size you want. Happy Mother's Day!

My husband uses digital scrapbooking products

2007-05-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, well kind of. In a very indirect way. In fact he probably doesn't even know it. See, he got into taking photos on a recent trip to San Francisco and we thought it would be fun to hang some of our photography up on the wall. So we picked 3 of his photos and 3 of mine. But I have a hard time using a photo as is anymore. So I used my Photos that Pop Actions and spruced them up a bit. And he said, wow, I really took some good photos. So see, he needs Scrap Girls, and he doesn't even know it. HA! Acutally I was quite impressed by his photographer's eye and really hope he'll use it more often.

My Mom's Day Card

2007-05-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of fun memories with my mom. I tried to put together some of those in the inside of this card for her. Hopefully she gets it in the mail before she sees it on the Scrap Girls blog. Mom, do you even know Scrap Girls has a blog?

The card and envelope are made completely digitally. I just printed it out. I designed the inside of the card separately as a 3.5" square, then cut it out and pasted it to the inside of the card.

Card uses Bookworm Collection, Bookworm Embellishment Mini, Serenity Papers, Paint Stroke Brush Set, Journal Prompts Brush Set, Blossoms and Blooms Winter Embellishments, Paper Journal Frames Embellishment Mini, ScrapSimple Card Templates: Square

*Edited - I just read the inside of my card and realized I typed the same thing twice. Dang it! Thank goodness for moms that love us despite our mistakes.

Need Some Color Help?

2007-05-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

For a while now I've been searching for a quick color tool I can use while designing. The other day I found another free one from adobe. You can find it here at Kuler. This is exactly what I had been searching for all along. You have to have an Adobe ID to be able to save your own swatches or publish ones that you make. It's free to get an Adobe ID - just click on register and it will guide you through the process.
This screen shot shows you one of the many functions it has. If you click on the tab 'create' found on the left, you can create your own color palettes for your digital scrapbooking or designing. It has some already basic color theory settings which you can choose from such as monochromatic, analogous, etc. Here I've selected analogous. It will then show in the little color wheel the selection of analogous colors. You can then move the little circles around or inward on the circle to create various color palettes. You can also adjust the value of your colors so they become more lighter and darker as well. Once you've created a palette that you want to use, you can use the numbers below to plug into your program's color tool, or you can export a swatch that can be imported right into Photoshop. How cool is that?
They also have a section where you can see and use color swatches already created from other users. This is a quick fast way to find a color swatch if you are a bit nervous about your own eye for color.

I know this can really be a powerful tool in choosing the right color choices to make visually appealing layouts. Color is something that does not always come easy for everyone, but here they have made it easy for you to come up with some great color combinations. I can't wait to start using for some new palettes for upcoming collections.

Printing photos

2007-05-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

I just read that Target and Shutterfly have teamed up so that you can order your digital prints online and pick them up at your local Target. So if you're one of those that still prints photos out (good for you!) to frame or to hybrid scrapbook maybe this is for you. Not sure how the prices compare since I usually just print my photos at home. I also think before you get photos printed it would be cool to try adding this brush technique to a few photos.

2007-05-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

So I was at MAC today! Have you been there? It is the makeup counter to die for. (If you like make-up, that is!) I happen to love makeup, and having discovered MAC, I don't think I'll ever go back to (no offense if this is your thing but.....)Mary Kay. I like Mary Kay stuff, I like their foundation and Mascara and I love the Eye Makeup remover. But have you seen the lucsious color at MAC. Here is a sample. I'm so excited because tomorrow I'm going to go to a special event at MAC, there'll be models wearing all sorts of wild, ridiculous make-up and I am gonna love it! I can't wait, I know that I'll be inspired by the richness of the new summer collections. Look for pictures and layouts coming soon, (I hope they let me snap some photos! If not, you may have to suffer with shots of me only. Hmmm, maybe I'll makeover my daughter)

Bored!

2007-05-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when you have no internet?

This was the question I had to ask myself one morning last week, as I found that a huge storm had taken out our internet connection the previous night. I tried everything I could to get it back, but it was a problem with the provider, so there was nothing I could do. No email, no message boards, no galleries.

This was going to be a long day.

At first I sat, literally twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my computer to work again. But that got old. Fast.

So I decided to pack up the little one and head for the park. After all, it was a beautiful post-rain day and everything was green and lush. I took some fun pictures of my guy while we walked along this cool old bridge. We played on the slide and in the sand and on the grass. It was wonderful to get out of the house and really take in some fresh air.

So maybe being without my computer for a while is a good thing.

For a while, that is. ::wink::

PS: To create these brushed images in Photoshop CS2, I opened my photo, created 2 new layers and placed them underneath the photo layer. Then I filled one with black and one with white. Then I used Erica Hite's Paint Stroke Brush Set and Dinny's Bridal Stroke Brush Set and erased different parts of the photo, which revealed the black layer underneath, and the black layer, which revealed the white layer under that. There are endless ways to use this technique!

Music

2007-05-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here working on designing a future club for Scrap Girls. I've kind of psyched myself out for this project because I want to live up to the Scrap Girls quality. Month after month I see gorgeous club products released by my fellow design team members, and I wonder if I can ever keep up.

Sometimes I can get so focused on what others are doing that I completely lose my own voice.

For some reason, today, the thing that is helping me break out of my "artist's block" is music. There is something about music that connects with me on another whole level. It's the level of my soul I suppose. And it's the same level where my art comes from.

Here's who is helping me get creative today: Dave Matthews Band, Sixpence None the Richer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blues Traveler, Sarah McLachlan, The Corrs, Dixie Chicks, Third Eye Blind, Earth, Wind and Fire, Indigo Girls, Over the Rhine, Rich Mullins.

Bet this club will be interesting. :)

May Flowers

2007-04-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

With May right around the corner I'm feeling the need for flowers. I remembered this picture I had taken a few weeks ago when visiting the Paper Source.

They have some other pictures of these paper flowers on their site.

So I decided to quickly, and I do mean quickly, see if I could throw one together. This is what I came up with for my front door. Papers: Love Always Papers , Vintage Nursery Papers and Affection Papers. I actually used scraps that I had already printed out from an earlier project, so that worked out well.

More Trouble

2007-04-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

My son Max is trouble. And more trouble! In an amusing sort of way, and I love documenting his troublesome messy ways in my digital scrapbook layouts.

Recently, my mother-in-law bought Max a t-shirt that said "TROUBLE" on it, and we all think it "fits" him well. (My husband even gave him the nickname of "little t" for little troublemaker, when he first started to crawl. He was getting into trouble at an early age, putting anything into his mouth that was within his reach! Needless to say, now that he's in his terrible two's it's escalated a bit!) So, being the addicted digital scrapbooker that I am, of course I had to make a layout of Max in his trouble shirt.

For this layout, I used Angie's ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates - Layered: Frame It! Edgy 2, just rotated it 90 degrees, and her Commotion Paper Biggie (I circled the number two on one of the papers to help document his age). The license plate embellishment was created with my ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: License Plate-3D Biggie. I also used a blue paper from Valerie's Altered State Paper Biggie, the orange clip and stripe paper from Brandy's Tints and Tatters Collection Biggie, the orange circle paper and the name tag is from my Mod Mosaic Collection Biggie, and I also used Lettering Delights Personality font. I just love the bright colors and the complementary color scheme of blue and orange.

He liked the layout and that shirt so much that I figured I could make an iron-on t-shirt from the digital license plate embellishment.

This is a little bit of art-imitating-life-imitating-art, don't you think?

It was so easy to make, I just copied the merged license plate embellishment into a separate letter size document, added a little bit of a drop shadow and changed the year and date stickers to say his name and age. After those adjustments were made, I printed it on ink jet iron-on transfer paper by using the mirror image selection in my printer software. Then I printed it out, trimmed around the edges, and then ironed it onto his t-shirt. Of course I put the shirt on him, asked him what his shirt says and his reply was "trouble shirt!" You know what that means.... lots of photos and another layout!

For this layout I used my ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates - Layered: Jumbo Arrows, the orange paper and some of the alphas are from Angie's Commotion Collection Biggie, the grey collaged background paper is from Valerie's Altered State Paper Biggie, alphas from Brandy's Tints and Tatters Collection, alphas and journal block from Mandy's Urban Gazette, arrow clip from Mod Mosaic Collection Biggie, tape from Partytime, and fonts are Sketchy Solid and Sketchy Outlines. Again, I'm diggin' the orange!

Well, I'm sure I'm in for more trouble with this guy! Keep your eyes out for "even more trouble!"

:) Amanda M.

Gift for my Sister

2007-04-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have been very much into tea lately. I discovered the world of tea a few months ago and I am enjoying the peaceful ritual of brewing tea. I can just feel myself relax for a few moments, as I appreciate it's sweet fragrance and even though I usually don't get the whole cup down in one sitting, at least it is just as good cold. I sent a gift to my sister this week and wanted to share my most favorite tea. It is a green tea called Kyoto Cherry Rose, and it is almost as pretty to look at as it is indulgent to drink. I wanted to put it in a special little package so I took one of these silk, wedding favor bags and put the tea in it, then I used my paper punch to punch out the circle and flower shape from my Cherry Blossom Papers in the boutique. I love being able to print out pretty papers any time I need a little gift.

Simple Pleasures

2007-04-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm on a simple kick. Not a lot of embellishments or doodads. A simple photo, lots of white space. Elegant. For this thank you card I'm sending to my sister, I wrote the journaling on curved paths as steam rising from the coffee. For punctuation, I added a black border to stop the eye at the edge. I created the background paper from photos of sand and used a glass filter to soften it so that the photo and charcoal frame provided the texture. It's just a simple little way to let my sister know how special she is to me. She'll love that I used the photo I took of my coffee. This page will bring back that day in her mind. I better go print it out and mail it to her for the family album.

Whirring Thoughts

2007-04-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

I was driving down the road today and thinking about what the contents of my thoughts would look like if someone could see.

The only visual I could come up would be the pages of a book turning rapidly, each page filled with lots and lots of graphics, words, ideas and art. Even that is truly insufficient. Sometimes it feels like my mind will explode if any more thoughts come into it.

Quite often, that thought pattern refers to my artistic bent, though not always. I want so much to get all the thought and emotion out in some tangible way, but it often seems to stay locked inside, I guess waiting for a later date to make it's appearance.

Hmmm, maybe my thoughts are kind of like a fashion diva who wants to make a fashionably late entrance?

So, I'm grasping at straws to try and show someone what the film inside my brain looks like. I tried to take a photograph of one of my graphic design books, it's pages flipping by in a blur. Not so sure I achieved the effect I was going for.

So here it is, my whirring thoughts, or at least the best illustration I can offer. Hmm, another thought, maybe that is just what digital scrapbooking is for?

Design a Pepsi Can!

2007-04-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

While checking my email this morning, there was an advertisement from Pepsi about creating new artwork for their cans. If you are selected you would get $10,000! WOW! You can use their online tools or you can download a template and create it in one of your own design programs. Wouldn't that be the coolest to have a SG win this this???

http://www.designourpepsican.com/

Deadline for submitting is May 10, 2007

Playing Tourist

2007-04-21T01:45:00.000-07:00

I’m one of the lucky ones: I actually live in Paradise. Following my husband’s career in the Navy, we currently call Oahu, Hawaii - land of rainbows and sunshine, beaches and mountains – our home.

And when the groups of visitors come marching through, I get to play tourist all over again. We hike up Diamond Head, snorkel in Hanauma Bay, and eat shave ice at Matsumoto’s. There are emotional trips to the Arizona Memorial, and entertaining ones to the Macadamia Nut Farm.

But on a recent visit from my mom and college age daughter, I was reminded to look at our country community from a fresh perspective.

On the short drive to the beach, I pass through lovely farmland and a coffee plantation. Going to buy groceries leads to an awesome view of nearby mountain tops. Even returning from Honolulu to go back “mauka” (or towards the mountain), takes us past inspiring, untouched land. How amazing is that!

So now I make it a habit to carry on my everyday life with my digital camera in hand. The beautiful, small photographic moments are just too wonderful to miss!

Date Night

2007-04-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

Friday nights are my favorite. It's date night with my husband every other week, and tonight it was his night to come up with the date. He did very well! For once I remembered to bring along my camera and found all kinds of inspiration.

1- Nature: I always find so much inspiration by being out in nature. There is nothing greater than being inspired by the greatest creator.

2- Sculpted Bushes: On our bike ride we rode past this house and I had to have my husband stop so I could take some pictures. They had 4 or 5 bushes that were sculpted. I loved them! He told me I could only have sculpted bushes at our house someday if I kept them up... looks like I'll have to enjoy theirs instead.

3. Our Tandem Bike: Have you ever tried taking a picture of yourself on a bike, let alone a bike made for two? Here we are in one of the shots I got from holding my arm out. I need to do this more often. It's amazing the creative shots you end up with.

4. Carnival Rides: We grabbed our girls and ran down to the local carnival so they could experience cotton candy and the rides. I couldn't stop taking pictures. That place is loaded with inspiriation. I can not wait to start designing all the ideas I got out of this one place.

5. Candied Apples: These were at the carnival but they just looked so good through the window. How often do we take pictures of those ordinary objects around our homes and lives that are so much a part of us that we just pass them by. Go find one. Take a picture and tell us the story.

2007-04-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I am so amazed at the variety of artwork out there. I will get a little stuck in my designing and then I'll go wander through my bookshelf or browse the internet and I am just floored.
This is good, for the most part, because I come away with so many great ideas. But on the other hand, sometimes I just get overwhelmed and sort of frozen in the 'what do I do next' phase.
I don't mind really, it's just a chance to be amazed at what people are.
So today, I think I've made enough pretties and now it is time to step away and play with my kiddos, or read a book, or just sit on the porch and watch the wind blow. And I just gotta say thanks to all the girls who live at Scrap Girls. I am constantly impressed by what you do.

A Digital Scrapbooker's Art Journal Tool Box

2007-04-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been so into art journals and collaging lately. I recently bought a couple great books that have totally inspired me.

I've enjoyed messing around with "digital" art journaling. In creating pages I found myself constantly pulling from the same sorts of supplies. Afterall, if you're doing an art journal with "real" (not digital) supplies, you'd have certain staples, right? You'd have on hand things like paint, pencils, adhesive, etc. So I decided to create my own little digital art journal tool box. In it I have folders for:
Tape
Stains
Paint
Pencil/Charcoal
Torn Edges
Watercolor
Basic Papers
String

My intention with these folders is not to include highly specialized embellishments or papers. Instead, these are very generic supplies that I could see myself using on every layout. It saves me time because I found myself looking for a lot of the same supplies when building these pages. Now they are all in one place. I look forward to playing with digital art journaling a lot more now!

Layout includes the following supplies:
Spirit Collection
Urban Gazette Embellishments
Chelsea Claire Embellishments
Stamped Dates Brush Set
Framed Charcoal Brush Set
Memoirs Antique Paper Mats
Freestyle Stitches Embellishments
Cookbook Stains Brush Set
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Watercolor
Paint Stroke Brush Set

Coupons

2007-04-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

When I was younger my mom used to help me come up with creative gifts I could give that didn't cost money. One of them that I used time and time again, and still use to this day, is the gift of coupons. I remember creating a little coupon book for my dad where I included coupons that would be good for "1 free car wash" or "1 mowed lawn." Even though these coupons didn't cost me money, I could still use them to love on my dad in a very real way.

I think it would be fun to design a bunch of coupons with digital scrapbooking products. You could make some pretty fun looking coupons. I've made one here for you. So go ahead, on me, enjoy 30 minutes of digital scrapbooking time for yourself...absolutely free! I wanna see what you make in your 30 minutes!

Coupon designed with the following supplies:
A Mom to Be Collection Mini
Stitches Embellishments
A Day to Day Life Embellishments
Free Collection
Altered State Embellishments
Say It Brads

2007-04-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Saw a cute kids craft in Family Fun Magazine this month. Basically they've created license plates for their bikes with names and numbers. I think this would be a really cool way to use Amanda McGee's ScrapSimple License Plate Templates.

Print those Digital Scrapbooking Layouts

2007-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a magazine ad for HP. The tag line was "Don't let your babies grow up to be jpegs." Now that is certainly telling of how much our culture has embraced digital technology. When I first started in the graphic design field I know that the average person did not even know what a jpeg was. Now HP can reference it in an ad like this (in a magazine that was not even about technology) and be assured that most people will know what they're talking about.
But besides all of that, the message rang through to me loud and clear. As a digital scrapbooker I've made a bunch of pretty digital scrapbooking layouts, but what about getting them off my computer and into books or frames so my family and friends can benefit from them too? I've got three framed 8x8s in my living room that can be switched out with new layouts. It's been December since I've changed them. ACK! My challenge to you is print out one of your digital scrapbooking layouts you've made. Frame it, tuck it in a scrapbook, mail it to someone. Trust me, it's fun to see your layouts in print!

Layouts with supplies used can be seen here:
Layout One
Layout Two
Layout Three