What Matters Monday – Community
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:
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,
July 28th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Thank you HSG! I love SM for all of the same reasons. When I found SM I wa so new at all of this and you and others really helped me along! This is really a great place!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Great blog Happy. I love how you linked everything to give it easy access. We are a great place aren’t we?
July 28th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Great post Happy! ScrapMatters is truly a great place to be!!!
July 28th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Love your post HSG, it made me smile! And thanks so much for the fun template!
July 28th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
They are requesting a password!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Thank you
Your new freebie was just listed at Twisted Challenges Freebie Listing
July 28th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
The password is in the post – happy
July 29th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Thanks, I’m really going to enjoy using this template.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Thanks, and I’m going to check out all those great links!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I love this template. Thank you so much for sharing!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:01 am
[...] last time we had a What Matters Monday post (here), Happy Scrap Girl talked about being part of an online community and how wonderful it to receive [...]