Hi all Andrea here.  All members of the SM team are having fun getting to know the design star contestants.  It’s not too late if you want to jump on board.  The entries aren’t due for more than 48 hours.  If you want more information go check out this link in the forum. We are amazed at the response to our contest.  There are so many talented designers in the digital community.  So many in fact that we needed a little bit of help in judging, we asked for some help from our friends in the scrapbooking community and no surprise they came through. Wait and see who we managed to get to come help on Tuesday.  We didn’t even really have to beg.

If you’re interested in seeing what people are up to go take a look at our forum.  The first round is blind, see who you think should win based on their design merits alone.  Go take a peek in our gallery, you need to be registered to see the entries, and download your favorites.  But remember to come back and check often, because there is still more than 48 hours for the design to come in.  Hope to see you around!

Hi everyone, Monique (monsu) here with this week’s Photography Friday!

Most scrappers love taking photos! We consider ourselves to be the family historians and want to make sure we always have plenty of material to scrap with! But most of us also love the safety and anonymity of being behind the camera! I must confess I do too, although on most trips I will ask my husband to take at least one photo of me, if only to proof that I was actually there too! As he is not the most talented or motivated photographer (and I am not too confident about any image of me, LOL), I seldom like the pictures he takes of me enough to scrap with them!

But, as Cyndi wrote a few weeks ago in this What Matters Monday Post, you ARE part of you family and your family history and you SHOULD include yourself in your layouts!

You could of course choose to have your portrait professionally done, but my solution is: TAKE SELF PORTRAITS! The good thing is, you can take as many as you like, until you have one you can be happy with! I do have a tripod and a self timer on my camera myself, but I’ve mainly used mirrors and windows to do these self portraits! You can even hide behind the camera if you feel you need to! Or you can focus on part of you, and leave the rest slightly blurry!

So this week my challenge for you is: Be brave, find a well lit mirror in your house, make sure you’re on your own and try to take some photos of yourself! You will not receive any points from me, but your family will love seeing pages about YOU in the family album!

Here are a few examples of self portraits I’ve taken in the past: (How brave am I, showing these to the world!)

Hope you’ll have some fun! Can’t wait to see your images in the Gallery!

Kari here to bring you another Designer’s Showcase.  Our gallery is really starting to see some amazing hybrid designs coming into it.  I love seeing so many of you branching out and taking a leap (or dipping a toe) into hybrid projects!  The hybrid gallery has recently been subdivided into easy to navigate sections where you can more readily find just the type of project you may be interested in.

Want even more inspiration to get you in the hybrid mood?  Look no further than GG Digital Designs!  Leslie’s shop is FULL of amazing hybrid projects   Whether you are looking for quick pages to add your photos and journaling to, complete albums in all shapes and sizes, treat & gift ideas, a special surprise for a loved one, or a facelift for your blog you can find it there.  Here are just a few examples of what you’ll see (all images are linked):

Doesn’t that make you wanna create something memorable?!  Of course all of these great hybrid projects are made using the fantastic kits that Leslie has created, which are also available in her shop in case you want to create something “from scratch”   I hope this has given you a little inspiration to look in the ScrapMatters shop for the MANY hybrid projects just waiting to be discovered – not only from Leslie but from the entire team of talented designers at SM!  You could easily complete a project from start to finish THIS weekend!!

Hi everyone, it’s Sharon (aka skyezak) here with a Grand Theft Challenge for you.  Today we’ll be lifting the extremely talented Christine (aka alamama)…..you can find her gallery HERE. Once you have chosen a LO to lift (she has so many to choose from!) and completed your own version, upload it to the gallery HERE. Then go to this thread and post links to your LO and the LO you lifted, so that we know you’re participating in this challenge. Please remember to include a link to Christine’s original LO in your LO credits when you post to the gallery.

Here are some LO’s the CT came up with to help inspire you…

First up, here’s the layout I lifted from Christine:

and this is what I created using AS TIME GOES BY from Simply Sweet Designs.

Monique (aka monsu) created this layout using FORGIVE ME MINI and TEXTURED GRUNGE VOL.1 by Dirty Feet Designs, alpha from BACKYARD BUDDIES by Erica Zane, DATE STAMPED VOL.2 by Britt-ish Designs, WATERCOLOUR PAINT STROKE and DOODLE BRUSHES by Happy Scrap Girl .

lifting this layout

And Kim (aka kimbytx) created this layout using LOVE BYTES and the new BLACK AND WHITE BASIC both from Britt-ish Designs.

Kim lifted this layout

Christy (aka thewerners) created this layout using HAPPY PLACE by Golden Girls Digital Designs

and lifted this layout

Brenda (aka Brenda Smith Designs) created this with her new TROUBLE WITH TWINS kit

and lifted this

And here’s a couple of layouts that Sya (aka syaspotter) created

lifting this

and this one

lifting this

Emilee (aka emileem) created this layout using Andilynn Designs WINTER WHITES and ABUNDANTLY BLESSED ALPHA.

and here is the layout Emilee lifted

Here’s one from Cyndi (aka cyndi146) using Erica Zane’s EGGPLANT ENVY and Britt-ish Design’s EDGE TO EDGE WORDART.

Cyndi lifted this layout:

Phew, that’s a lot of help and inspiration from our fabulous CT!

On to the rules:  You get one point for participating in this challenge, plus an extra point for using a new product released within the week. Be sure to list the new product you used in both your credits and in the challenge forum.  I will pick my favorite LO at the end of the month and that person will get an additional point. Remember there is no double dipping – this LO needs to be an original LO and not used for another challenge. You have can use your point towards February or March seeing we’re near the end of the month.

Hello fellow scrapper friends, Kelly (kkklatt) here with today’s tuesday template challenge.  This is my first attempt at making a template, so I hope you like it!!!

***CLICK ON ABOVE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD****

Here is the link with JUST the PNG FILE:

http://www.4shared.com/file/88486624/eac5b85/kkklatt_PNG.html

I won’t be doing a theme today, just have fun putting your own ‘spin’ on these squishy box shapes!

Here’s my layout:

I used ‘Love, Life, Nature’ By Sya’s Blueprints and Dirty Feet Designs and the stitches and cream colored alpha are from ‘uptown’ by Creashens.

Here are some more layouts done by the super fab CT’s…

From Alamama

using GG’s ‘where the heart grows’ (this is the new kit that came in the Feb newsletter)

Here’s one from Monsu

using  the new kit by WMsquared  ‘honey dew’

Here’s a layout from Stefanie

using ‘Justin’ by Dirty Feet Designs, Britt’s ‘hang in there 2′ and Britt’s ‘Edge to Edge’ Word Art

One from Sharon Dale

she used Erica Zane’s ‘eggplant envy’

Here’s one from Brenda Smith Designs

used ‘Love, Life, Nature’ by Dirty Feet Designs and Sya’s Blueprints
cloud from her Romance and Blues

Here’s one from Kimbytx

GG Digital Designs ‘The Happy Place’ and Britt-ish Designs ‘Just Enough Flair’

Here’s one from Christy (the werners)

using ‘I’m a Dreamer’ by Britt-ish Designs

And last but not least one from Sahlink

using Andilynn’s ‘Way to Be’ and Britt’s ‘Label Tape’ Alpha

Well ladies, I hope that’s enough inspiration to get you going!  Oh, and don’t forget to post in the forum to get your point!

Gosh guys, I’m so sorry – life has been busy and I got sidetracked and forgot to post the winners from last Monday!  I used an online random number generator and the winners are:

Picklejuice – comment #12

Panders77 – comment #17

There was a LOT of love in all of the comments, I wish you all could have won!

Congratulations guys, will be PMing you shortly!

Here you go…

First email me a letter of intent to participate in the contest–andilynn at scrapmatters dot com.   For the subject line in all communications about this week please use: Design Star Week One.  Please do this as soon as you decide to enter and before you have started your mini-kit. Also please sign up in the SM forum thread for week one.  These rules are a little bit different than Britt originally put in the forum, so please read carefully, these new rules apply to the contest.

Using the above color palette create a mini-kit. No you may not add any colors except small amounts of black. Yes you can use all of the colors or just two or three of them.  We really want you to use your creativity and have fun with this.

Your mini-kit must include exactly three papers and three elements. All of your papers and elements must be created at 300 dpi. The only file types accepted are. jpg and .png.

You may only use 2 (two) commercial use/designer resource products in the creation of your mini-kit.  The brushes/tubes etc that came in your original photo-editing software do not count as commercial use. You  may use more than one photo-editing/vector program to create your kit.  Anything that you purchased in addition to your original photo editing/vector software does count as commercial use.  Commercial use/designer resource products include: [but are not limited to] filters, masks, layer styles, actions, texture plates, tubes, overlays, brushes etc.  If you have any questions please email me at andilynn at scrapmatters dot com.

Any brush/element/texture that you create yourself does not count as commercial use–this is where we want to see your creativity shine through.  You may scan, photograph and extract any item which you are in physical possession of or which you are sure that you have the right to use for this project.  Usually ok–concrete, sand, wood textures etc.  Usually not ok–your toys/your kids toys, images from books & magazines etc. Please do not break any copyright laws in this competition–you will be disqualified if you do.

You must state all of the software programs you used in your terms of use.  You must also state what commercial products you used in your terms of use.

Now for the part I’ve been debating on for the past few days.  Computer viruses on 4shared seem to be a really hot topic around the digi world.  And I’m still not really sure about this.  Upload your finished product along with your terms of use to a free file sharing service–you can use 4shared, box, pando or whatever.  I have a paid 4shared account that is ad free and so I don’t have to worrry about getting viruses that way.  However ScrapMatters won’t be held liable if you upload to 4shared and get a virus.  I just heard from a helpful person that if you use Firefox–you can download a free program called AdBlock Plus that will stop ads and prevent the viruses that way.  Thanks.

Email me a 600×600 300 dpi preview and the link…do not post any part of your kit, I will do all posting for you.  The absolute latest that the link to your kit can be emailed to me is Monday night, March 2, 2009 at 11:59 pm [PST or GMT-8].  That means that you have a few hours more than one week to create, upload your kit and send me the link.

Also just in case you aren’t sure–ScrapMatters is spelled all one word with the M capitalized.  I tried really hard to make these rules as clear and easy to understand as possible and to think of everything.  However you may still have questions so please feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer your questions.  Please make sure that I have a valid email address to contact you.

Now read on for today’s What Matter’s Monday post…It’s the Thought that “Matters”

I love homemade and personalized gifts!! It’s the thought that “Matters,” right?

Now I am by no means a “hybrid” girl! But when I look at all of the fun cards and notebooks at the store, I often think ” I CAN do that!!” You already have the digital scrapping down, so all you really need to be able to do after that is print and cut!

I made some personalized mini notebooks to throw into my purse so I could jot down ideas/lists/inspiration, etc…All you have to do is choose the size notebook you’d like, design your layout, print, cut paper to fit inside, fold in half and staple in the middle. NO GLUE INVOLVED!! How easy is that! I have it saved on my computer, so if I need a quick and easy gift for someone all I have to do is open it up and replace the alpha to personalize it for them!

I used this chic “twice as nice collab” Retro Spring by WM [squared] and Digi Keepsakes and I love how it turned out.

So, why don’t you give it a try! Surprise your friends and family with an easy, fun and personalized gift that Matters!

Hi everyone, it’s Sharon (aka skyezak) here with a little tip on creating a great sepia colored photograph.  I am using Photoshop CS4 but I’m sure this should work in Photoshop Elements, albiet with slightly different menu options.

Firstly you need to edit your photo (ie: red-eye, brightness, contrast, etc) and once you’re ready, desaturate it (in Photoshop, go to IMAGE, ADJUSTMENTS and DESATURATE).  This will make your photograph black and white.

Now create a new layer above your photo layer and make sure that the new layer is selected in your Layers Pallet.

We’re going to fill our layer with a nice chocolate brown shade and then play with the opacity and blend mode to make it a nice sepia color.  So next go to EDIT, FILL and a pop-up window will appear.  In the CONTENTS area, select COLOR from the drop-down arrow and then you will be asked to choose a color.  I like to choose something in the medium-dark chocolate brown shades.  My RGB codes are R63, G48 and B14 if you’d like to start with the same shade.  Click OK to close the Choose Color window and then click OK to close the FILL window.  On Layer 1, you’ll now see it is the shade of brown you chose.

The next step is to change the blend mode of the fill layer so you can see your photo underneath it.  Depending on your photograph, I’d start with either Overlay or Soft Light.  Once you are happy with the effect of the blend mode on your photograph, then adjust the opacity of the Fill Layer (Layer 1).  If you slide the opacity slider right down to zero, you’ll see your original desaturated black and white photo.  If you slide the opacity slider back up to 100%, you’ll see the fill layer at the blend mode you selected.  I tend to go somewhere around 60% with my fill layer opacity, but again, it will depend on the brightness of your photograph.  I tend to not go for a really rich sepia tone, but something that takes away from the dreary greyscales of the desaturated shot.  For my photo today, I’ve used an opacity of 52%.  The higher I go, the darker my photo was becoming.  But when you compare it to the desaturated shot, it’s certainly much nicer.

Here’s a layout I did using my sepia shot.  I have used the gorgeous SMITTEN kit from Golden Girl Digital Designs and also OLD BRUSHES by Vinnie Pearce.

So there you go!  Nice and easy and great to use on those old vintage photos.

And here’s a few layouts from some of our fabulous Scrap Matters CT using my tutorial.

Christy (aka TheWerners) using Erica Zane’s EGGPLANT ENVY kit

One from Christine (aka alamama) Haynay’s WIDE RULED, Collab kit OWL LUV U by Tater & Digi Keepsakes, PAPER SHAPERS by Britt-ish Designs, Tape by Britt-ish Designs from VERY MERRY, Staples from PEACE & QUIET Collab by Andilynn & Britt-ish Designs and mask by Erica Zane.

and one from Natasha (aka bcnatty)

Have a go and you can submit a layout using this technique to earn yourself a point for the month.  I will choose my favorite layout at the end of February and you will receive an additional point!  I have started a thread up in the Saturday Special section of the Forum where you can link us back to your layouts in the Saturday Special Gallery.  You can also earn an additional point if you use a Scrap Matters product released in the past 7 days. Just make sure you mention that when you post your page.

You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products to participate in this challenge, but we love it when you do! Remember, no double dipping. Each LO must be created for one challenge only. Can’t wait to see your pages!

Hey all! It’s Heather (haynay) with this week’s Grand Theft Layout Challenge! I went straight to my favorites and found someone who was there over and again! This week we are going to lift justjess.  Once you have chosen a LO to lift and completed your own version, upload it to the gallery HERE. Then go to this thread in the forum and post links to your LO and the LO you lifted, so that we know you’re participating in this challenge. Please remember to include a link to Krista’s original LO in your LO credits when you post to the gallery.

Let’s get down to business! Here are some LOs the CT came up with to help inspire you:

Jaime:

Credits: GG Digital Designs; Happy Scrap Girl (Fairy Princess); DigiKeepsakes by Monica (Girls on Wheels); WM[Squared] (Retro Spring); SM Birthday Collab; Font (Pea Stacy’s Doodle)

She lifted:

Christy:

Credits: Britt-ish Designs’ Toy Sheriff

She lifted:

And, here is mine!

I used the DD from last month: Girls Rock!

I lifted:

Now for the rules:  You get one point for participating in this challenge, plus an extra point for using a new product released within the week. Be sure to list the new product you used in both your credits and in the challenge forum.  I will pick my favorite LO at the end of the month and that person will get an additional point. Remember there is no double dipping – this LO needs to be an original LO and not used for another challenge. You have until February 28th to complete this challenge.

Have fun lifting JustJess!