Hey everyone–Andrea here.  I am so excited–sorry this post is late–I know it’s almost Friday.  But I don’t get to write for the team blog tomorrow and I really wanted to share this great news.  We weren’t going to share it until Friday, but it’s just about Friday…so here it is:

I am just so excited about our new look and our fantastic MEGA COLLAB KIT!  It is jam-packed with goodness from all of our designers!  Such a steal because it’s free with just a $15.00 purchase (excluding grab bags)  And with everything on sale–you might think that it would be difficult to spend $15.00, but we have new designers and plenty of new products debuting that day!  And did I mention that some of our designers put together some awesome grab bags?!  The grab bags won’t be on sale, but they are filled to the brim with goodness at a little price–so they are already practically on sale.  When does all this goodness start to happen you may be wondering?  We thought it very fitting that a site as friendly  and fabulous as ScrapMatters re-open on the very unique date of 08.08.08! Barring no technical difficulties our new site will be debuting next Friday morning–around 10 am Pacific Time.

Well I hope you’re as excited about all this as I am now.  Please forgive my babbling, gushing etc.  and just mark your calendar now for the festivities!

I don’t know about you guys, but I have the hardest time titling my pages (and even my kits now!). I can sit four hours fiddling with different titles, fonts and alphas or anything to put on my page. There have even been a few times that I just gave up and didn’t title a page (bad Daysh!). I even get lazy now and just call my sister up and make her come up with titles for me. So today (a little late….) I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about titling your pages and ideas for coming up with title ideas.

My first suggestion is to look at the theme of your page. Are there any individual words that come to mind? Any adjectives that seem to be perfect. There is this site that has a HUGE list of adjectives that are perfect for titles: http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/adjectives.htm They are even alphabetized to help you search through them if you are looking for a particular word that starts with an ‘a’ for example.
For example there is this page. We were at the wild animal park and the word “wild” just seemed very fitting.

or this one:

My next suggestion to you would be to do as Lina suggested in her last Words for Wednesday Challenge- find a song title or lyrics to a song that would work. Music is so powerful and so are the words (usually…

These lyrics ended up being so perfect for this page, and I was so excited how well they fit and how little efford I had to put into finding a title.

My last suggestion is to find a quote. This site www.thinkexist.com is the perfect place to find TONZ of quotes- any theme you could be looking for. You just type in a search word and it brings up loads of different quotes from different people! It’s so wonderful.

or this one:

Hopefully this has helped a little bit and will help you as you all try to title your pages.

The winner was Tuttle with this gorgeous LO

and the random winner was littlehiccup with this LO:

Congratulations girls, check your PM box for your gift certificates.  Thanks to everyone who played, it was such a hard choice this week!!

Hi all! Tami here with my very first template challenge! A HUGE thank you to our brilliant Brittney, of Britt-ish Designs, for this amazing template to tempt you with! Haha! Ok, now, down to business!

This week’s challenge is pretty simple. You must use this template. You must use a kit that you’ve NEVER USED before!! You can’t have even used a staple from it! It has to be BRAND NEW to you! Of course we LOVE to see the LO’s you create with ScrapMatters products, but it isn’t required. The second, and last, requirement is that you MUST use photos of yourself! What?! What’s this you say? ME?! But, but, but…. Yes, my dear scrappers, we are turning the focus on YOU! Isn’t it about time someone spotlighted what’s great about YOU!? Haha! This can really be ANYTHING about you and your life, be creative, but remember that YOU have to be in BOTH photos!

Ok, so that’s it:

(1) Use this template;

(2) Use a new kit (to you); and

(3) scrap photos of yourself. (Yes, there can be other people in the photos, but YOU have to be there too!) Easy enough!

Here is a close up of the original LO created by Brittney, from which the template was made. Is she not sooo creative!? I LOVE this! GORGEOUS!!

And just in case you need a little more inspiration, our CT has come up with some STUNNING interpretations for this challenge. Take a peek at these!!

-syapotter-

-kissncontrol-

-ldrag2004-

-kateypie-

-mikelinz-

-ktkadoo-

-shutch-

And here is mine:

Ok, do we not have the best team or what!! You’ve got to be inspired by those A-MA-ZING pages! WOW! So get scrappin’ and make sure to have your layouts posted HERE (AND in the ScrapMatters Gallery so we can leave you some LUV!!) by next Monday, August 4th, at midnight MDT! We will have 2 winners of $5 gift certificates to the shop. One will be my fave and the other will be randomly selected. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with! Happy scrapping!!

Hi  HSG here. One of the things I think of when I think about “what matters to me” is being part of a community. We are all part of some community, your neighborhood community, church community or even a business community. It makes us feel good to be part of these groups – most likely these are places where you gain support and have common interests.

If you are reading this article then you are also part of the online digital scrapbooking community. I find it to be a very warm and supportive community. There are lots scrapbook forums that you can hang out at online. My absolute favorite place is ScrapMatters.com! I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of this community from its very start, and (without getting too mushy here…) definitely feel that it is my on-line home.

Here’s why:

1.) Praise Matters! Every LO I have ever posted in the gallery has gotten praise. While I don’t post for the comments, it does feel great when someone leaves you a little note about your work. We even have a brand new team that will make sure that every LO in the gallery gets lots of lovin!

2.) Exciting Challenges! ScrapMatters host lots of brand new challenges every week! They really get us thinking more creatively and teach us new techniques. Many of our challenges have *FREE* participation gifts and prizes. And everyone who participates gets lots of comments in their galleries – how cool is that??? Check out some of these challenges:

Tuesday Template Challenges, Saturday Special Challenges, Monthly Photo Challenge, Misc Challenges (Words for Wednesday, Mini Challenges, etc), and Community Members Challenges

3.) Speed Scrap! Okay this is really a challenge, but it’s so fun and so unique that I thought it deserved a category of it’s own! Have you tried the speed scraps yet? They are so fun – it really stretches your creativity and it gets you to complete a LO really quickly. We get lots of participants – it’s like a girls night out – lots of chatter & praise – and the best part is that you can do it in your jammies and NO ONE WILL EVEN KNOW!!! Check them out here – but be careful – it’s highly addicting!

4.) Freebies! Did someone say free??? Did you know that we have not one, not two, but three sections in our forum for you to snag freebies??? ScrapMatters Freebies are from our Design Team and Creative Teams, Scrapbook Freebies—Digital, Hybrid & Traditional are freebies from our ScrapMatters Community Members and the Daily Download is a kit from a featured designer given away a bit at a time.

5.) Quick Page Exchange! Got a project you need to complete fast? Here’s a great way to get a whole album of coordinated pages already scrapped for you. Just add your pictures and some journaling and you are done in a flash! The page are always beautiful and sometimes it’s nice to have someone help you catch up on your scrapping! Our whole community takes part and the featured kits are always amazing. Check it out here.

6.) Support & Inspiration! A big part of any community is the support you get from each other. Everyone at ScrapMatters is so nice and helpful. Can’t figure out something in your software? Just post your question in the Help is on the Way section. And, you can’t help but be inspired by the amazing LO’s in our Gallery… come on, take a peek… oh yeah, don’t forget to check out the shop – the designers have been busy making some gorgeous new goodies to scrap with!

And just for making it to the end of this post I’ve got a free template for you. I created it from a LO I made during the last Speed Scrap. Here’s the LO:

credits..

And here’s the template…

Download link: http://www.4shared.com/file/56799521/542d3497/hsg_bft1.html pw: happy

Enjoy the template – and be sure to show of your LO’s in our gallery!

Have a wonderful day,

Hello everyone! SassyPixie here to do this weeks Sunday Spotlight!!! This week we are spotlighting Wendy who is also known as kissncontrol. I was excited to get to know Wendy a little better. Here are the list of questions…

What is your main job/career? I am currently a housewife in between careers.  I’ve been studying for the Pharmacy Tech exam, after being in the health insurance industry for 14 years.
Are you married/kids/pets? I have been married for almost 9 years to a wonderfully supportive man!  No kids yet, but we do have 2 crazy cats!
Where do you call home? The wonderfully beautiful San Francisco Bay Area – California
What are your three favorite foods? Tex-Mex (Man I miss it!!), Italian, Seafood
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Vanilla Bean
Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks? Both!
What is your favorite beverage? Dr. Pepper
What is your least favorite food? Greek food.  Maybe i’ve just not tried the right stuff
PC or Mac? PC, Mac’s confuse me!
How long have you been digi-scrapping/How did you get into it? For about 8 months.  I got into digi-scrapping by seeing all the freebies out there.  I figured with the free elements & paper out there i’d give it a go.  I was already pretty good with Photoshop.  After a couple of LO’s I was hooked!  The best compliment a Digi LO of mine can get is “WOW, I didn’t even realize it was digital until I read it!”
What are your hobbies besides digi-scrapping? I love to paper scrap, although I havent done that in a long while.  I also love to take drives on the weekend.  Being in such a beautiful place (NorCal), there is Ocean to see, Grapevines, Mountains…it’s so different from one direction to the next, that I never get sick of seeing the scenery!
What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Getting ideas and inspiration to do layouts.  When I lose my scrappy mojo – it’s hard for me to think creatively.
What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking ? I would love to be able to buy an old ’60′s SS Camaro and learn to fix it up (with my hubby)!
What are your favorite movies/TV shows? I love love love Sex & The City (The movie, and the series!!)   For TV Shows I love CSI,
Describe your “scrapping” environment.  Music?  TV in the background?  Drinks? Snacks?  Back room, in the middle of your house? 

I always have something on in the background.  It’s usually my “Friends” DVD’s   I am lucky enough to have a scrap-room.  It has all my paper supplies (which is A LOT!) and the computer.  I love my office/scrappy room!  As far as drinks or snacks – I usually have at least something to drink, and a handful of pretzels or sunflower seeds!
How would you describe your scrap style? I have a very simple scrap style.  When I scrap, I like clean lines,  and usually only one photo or at max two.  I love it when I see LO’s with  loads of embellies and tons of pictures, it’s just when I try to do that  I feel like its  too much One of these days I’m gonna scrap-lift a wonderfully detailed LO!  One day.

I’ve wanted for the longest time to do a “tribute” page to my Grandmother.  We were so close, and Ellie’s kit seem perfect for it!

I love my girls so much!  This is one of the few pictures I have of all of us together.  That coupled with Britt’s fun kit, makes this LO a fav of mine!

Looking through Wendy’s gallery I found a few favorites of my own…

I love the white background with the splash of pink. They look like they are having so much fun!!!

I love the circles and the circle stitching. I love the story behind it also!!!

Thank you Wendy for letting us get to know you better!

Everyone have a fabulous Sunday!

When I was trying to think of something for this challenge I finally realized that this weekend is a special milestone for me and my family. It is hard to believe but this weekend is our one year anniversary in Australia. Times flies….

So for this challenge I want you to scrap an anniversary, birthday, or special family tradition. That’s it! Easy as can be! You have until Friday, August 1st at midnight MST to complete you LO. Then I will pick my favorite and a random drawing will choose the other winner who will both receive a $5 GC to the shop!!

Here’s what I came up with. This is a picture from our first day in Sydney. We flew in early in the morning and wanted to keep our kids up all day long to counter act jet lag. We walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens and had our first of many views of the Opera House. Although this picture is not perfect I love it!

Here is what our lovely CT came up with as well,

Erica:

Brittney:

ldrag:

kissncontrol:

Hello all! Sorry for the late post!! A big thank you to Andrea who reminded me it was Friday! OOOPS! Does that ever happen to you… losing track of what day it is!? Yikes! My DH says I have an excuse (mostly I think he’s just being nice…), cause we’ve had not one, but TWO separate floods (smaller ones, but still), yes TWO in the last two weeks! So I’m all messed up! Ok, enough of that…

It has taken me a while to get used to the fact that I don’t have to settle for raw photos. What is a raw photo you ask? I virgin photo, if you will, exactly as your camera takes it. After seeing what can be done in Photoshop (or other similar program) I decided to try playing around with the settings on my photos before I used them in LOs. (If any of you want gorgeous examples of this, check out Britt’s photo blog here. She’s fantastic!!)

So I decided to play around with the VERY few settings I know (I use PSE 3), and amp up my photos. It really takes very little effort to make a HUGE difference! I use 2 or 3 separate tools to alter my photos, depending on what it takes to get the desired effect:

1. First, my very best friend, Brightness/Contrast. I use this ALL the time! If you have a washed out photo or one that isn’t as vibrant as you want, adjust the contrast! It makes all the difference!

2. Hue/Saturation. Hue is great if you want to change the shade of a color in your photo. I don’t use it a lot, but if I need it, it’s great!

3. Hue/Saturation. Saturation also helps to make your entire photo more vibrant. Sometimes you will also need to play with the Lightness/Darkness when using saturation, just to keep a “real” feel to the photo. These are just a FEW of the things that you can do to make a photo POP! Don’t be afraid! Just play around with those settings, and any others you find that are amazing, to make your photo unique and exactly what you want them to be!

Here are a couple of my recent photos that I’ve enhanced to be more to my liking:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So remember, next time you’re disappointed that your photo didn’t turn out exactly how you thought, play around with the photo effects and see if you can make it exactly how you pictured! You aren’t going to ruin it (just be sure to save it under a different name before you make any changes permanent) and you just make come up with the perfect picture! Have fun and enjoy your weekend!!

Hi everyone, Andrea here. The end of the month is approaching, man the days are just flying by! The quick page kit of the month for this month is “My Independence,” by SHARIng Creations.  It is on sale for $3.85. You still have time to create a quick page and get in on the exchange.  For more information on the quick page exchange please check out this thread in the forum.

Today’s little lesson is going to teach you how to turn the below layout into a quick page.  It is so easy, you might want to create two quick pages for the exchange!

I did the following tutorial in PSE6 but the concept should work in almost any image editing software.

Start with your layered, completed layout.  Rename it to “layout name quick-page.”

Copy your background layer because you will not be able to erase it, since it is locked.

First hide your pictures (click on the little eye)

Using your magic wand, select the first area to erase. I selected the inside of the small frame. Then using a large eraser start erasing the first layer. Do not deselect the inside area of your frame.

Make sure you hide/uncheck  your background layer (turn off the little eye) or you won’t be able to tell which areas you have erased.

Continue erasing each layer of your layout until you are left with a transparent opening–you can tell it is transparent because of the checkerboard pattern.

Continue selecting frames and then erasing all layers for all of your picture spots.

Once all of your picture frames are erased you need to decide which of your elements and that you want to keep intact on your quick page.

Remember that quick pages shouldn’t have any text on them at all, so that they can be customized by the recipient. Hide the layers that you don’t want to show up in your completed quick page (turn off the little eye).  This is why I think it is easier to use a layered file for a quick page.  You can also use a print quality flattened layout for a quick page, but it can’t have any words on it when you start out, because you can’t erase them as easily as you can just hide them.

Eventually you will have your layered quick page how you want it to be for the exchange. I chose to leave the flowers and the blue circle on for the quick page I am giving to you today. Now you need to save it twice—once as a layered file (I usually save as tiff/psd files) and as a flattened, transparent png file. The png is what you upload/send to Shari for the quick page exchange. You will also need to save it for web to place in the SM gallery so that everyone can see your terrific quick page.

You can download my completed quick page from 4shared here or from the store here–Sorry links expired.

Hope this was helpful to all of you.  Let me know if you have questions.

Kate here with the Tuesday Template Challenge for this week.

This week our template is from our talented designer Sya, isn’t it cool?

Click here to download.

And here’s my layout with it (I changed it around a fair bit to suit my photos)

This week I’m challenging you to scrap using one of your favourite quotes from a book or a movie. ‘Harold and Maude’ is one of my favourite movies.. I love the message it delivers about living and loving, it’s great. Also I LOVE the soundtrack by Cat Stevens, and I’ve been wanting to scrap this song for ages, so this is the perfect opportunity!

Let us know your favourite quote.. it’s fine if you don’t explain your quote on your layout, just make sure you tell us about it when you post your layout in the gallery!

And here are some gorgeous layouts from our lovely CT:

from neeceebee:

from norton94:

From ezane:

From henriette:

From Britt:

From shutch:

From Sya:

Don’t we just have a fab CT? I love all of these layouts!

I will pick my favourite layout as the winner and one random winner to win a gift certificate from the shop. Post your layouts in the gallery and then link them up in the forum thread so we can see them!

Can’t wait to see what you create!