Hi Everyone! Krista (sahlink) here with this week’s Tuesday Template Challenge.

No rules… Just have fun with the template and make it your own.

Download here.

Here’s my LO using this template:

And here is some serious inspiration from our fantastic CT…
from kateypie

Sahlin Studio Loverly Design Star freebie

kkklatt

using Juno’s ‘Signs of Spring’ & other bits by Britt-ish Designs

Stefanie

Britt’s Sunshine in my Soul

kimbytx

Britt-ish Designs and Suzy Q Scraps Tale as Old as Time

And, here’s a reminder to the Matter of Scrap Challenge rules:

You have all month to complete this layout.   Please upload your LO to the Tuesday Template Challenge gallery and link it here. in this thread to get your point. You can also earn an additional point if you use a ScrapMatters product released in the past 7 days. Just make sure you mention that when you post your page. At the end of the challenge, one lucky winner will receive one more point at the end of the month for creating my favorite layout

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.  Have fun. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Good morning everyone!

Kim here with your what matters Monday bit.  I have been thinking about this post all month.  If you will excuse me I’d like to go off on a personal note for a moment.  Many of you know that I have retired from designing.  In fact, this will be my last post for the ScrapMatters blog and tomorrow my shop here closes.  It was a hard decision and yet I go knowing I made the best one for me and my family.  So, with this knowledge and as I thought about what little bit I wanted to share with you, it would just be to say thank you!

We are all busy.  We all have our trials in life.  With the economy right now too, I know there is added stress in providing for our family and others.  There is always so much to do every day.  I know that often I get so rushed through what I am doing, where I am going and well. . . life in general.  I forget to stop and really look for the blessings in my life and especially to take the time to say thank you: to those who help me, to my friends and family, even to God.  If we just stop to take the time, we can find much to say thank you for.

I am thankful for you.  For this wonderful online home and for the friends we make here as we share bits of our lives with one another through our layouts and projects, photos and beloved recipes.  I hope we stop and take a moment to realize how blessed we truly are.  If you are part of this wonderful community here at ScrapMatters you will agree with me that it is a great place to be.  I have made so many friends, met so many amazingly talented people and have shared with you pieces of  life and the laughs and tears in between.  I love it here.  I hope you feel the same.

There is so much more I could say…I hope I haven’t been too personal or all over the place.  I guess quite simply I just want to say thank you.  Thank you for being who you are and for being part of what makes ScrapMatters a great place to express our creativity and make new friends.   Continue to count your blessings and be thankful for all that you have.   When you visit the gallery, say thank you to those who inspire you.  Thank your favorite designer or those who keep ScrapMatters up and running.  Be thankful, be happy – ENJOY LIFE!

Hey all, Michelle of MickeyB Designs here to bring you the next Saturday Special!

For my tutorial, I would like to show you how you can make a custom brush to use in your layout.  It’s really easy and can add a fun and unique touch to your layouts.

First you will probably want to start out with designing the majority of your layout so you know where you have space to place your brush/brushes.  Once you are ready to place your brush, figure out what you would like to make a brush of.  In my example, I decided to make a brush out of my son’s face since my layout was about the silly face he made in the picture.

You will want to make a selection of whatever you want your brush to be.  I used the rectangle marquee and made a rectangle around part of my son’s face.  Go to Edit – Define Brush Preset – name your brush.  If you want to save your brush you would want to do this now.  If you only intend on using it for this project, then I wouldn’t worry about it.  If you want to save it you will need to go into your Preset Manager (also under the edit menu) and save this brush.

Next step is to deselect (ctrl-D) and make a new layer.
Go to your brush selections and the last one should be your custom brush.
On your new layer test out your brush and play around with your placement till you are happy with it.
In my example, I enlarged the brush to fit on one of my background papers.

That’s it!  You can make a brush out of anything you can put a selection around.  Extracted elements are easy if you don’t want any background.

Here is my finished layout:
Credits to MickeyB Designs kit Baby Jackson to be released April 3rd!

Here is some inspiration from the SM CT!

By Chia:
Credits to:  Brenda Smith Design’s Romance and Blues {revisited}
Designs by Tater’s White Vellum Alpha
Britt-ish Design’s Hang in There

By Monsu:

Credits to: Little Lovebirds by Andilynn Designs

By Alamama:
Credits to: Erica Zane’s  Heritage Happy

Have fun!

Scrap a layout using this technique and post it the Saturday Special Gallery.
Make sure to post a link to your layout in the Saturday Special forum thread for the Saturday Special 3/28
You have until the end of April to post your layout, and it has to be unique to this challenge.
You will receive one point for your completed layout
You can earn an extra point by using a newly released design from the shop.  Make sure to mention this with your post!
At the end of the challenge, I will pick my favorite layout and the winner will receive an additional point!

Hi, it’s Sharon (aka skyezak) here with this week’s Photography Phriday post

I’m by no means a pro at this photography stuff, but I like to play and having a fab camera (Canon EOS 400D) helps me take the most stunning pics without even really trying.  I’m yet to master all of it’s capabilities, but I’ve loved some of the shots I’ve managed to snap during the few years I’ve owned it.  Today I thought I’d share the photos I took outside in our garage for a Christmas shoot in 2007.  Yes, it was quite a while back and I’ve been wanting to do another shoot of the kids again but just haven’t gotten around to doing it.  So I thought I’d show you what I took back then and give you some tips on how I achieved it.

Let’s have a look at what I took first.  Now remember, it was just me and the kids out in our garage.  I popped the camera onto a tripod, hung up a black sheet from the roof and set the counter to snap us!  No fancy lighting or anything – I was relying on the sunlight that was filtered through from our pergola.  The first shot in each set is the original straight out of the camera and then I’ve shown the Photoshopped version.

Some of them came out a little glary, but with some help from Photoshop to boost the contrast and reduce the brightness, I was ready to use these in our annual Christmas cards that year.  You don’t have to take the most fabulous shots ever but with a little bit of effort, you can achieve some fun shots like I did.  Have a few props at the ready and the kids are ready to pose all day!

Hi, everyone!  I’m so excited to kick off our Dazzling Decor challenge today!  I love decorating my home, and I often love to make my own decorations that fit my style and put a bit of “me” into my home.  When I am creating decor items, I LOVE hybrid, because I can just print what I need.  So, if I only need 6″ of paper, I only print 6″ of paper without having a lot of extra scraps lying around.

Today I decided to focus on personalizing YOUR space.  Where do you scrapbook?  Do you have your own room, maybe just a corner of a room?  Wherever it is, create something that makes you happy and put it in the room where you work.  I am lucky enough to have a room dedicated to my hobby, so I made a couple of things to go in there.  If you don’t have a certain space dedicated to scrapbooking, just pick a place in your home that needs a little something, and create an item for that space . 

I first saw the idea for this butterfly project on Ali Edwards’ blog, and ever since I saw it I have wanted to make one.  It was great to do this project hybrid, because for each butterfly I only needed about 1 square inch of paper.  So, I just printed one sheet with lots of 1-1.5″ squares on it, then punched the butterflies.  The papers come from a variety of kits from Simply Sweet Designs, Scrapmuss Designs, and Sya’s Blueprints.  I love the way it turned out.

The second project I made is this initial hanging.  I got the frame at Target, and the opening is 4″x4″.  I used a paper from Jeni Hopewell, and decreased it’s size to 4.25″ before printing it, because I wanted the whole sunburst pattern as my background.  I then glued black paper (also from Jeni Hopewell) to my chipboard J and distressed it a little to give it a worn look.  I added some bling and I was done.  This one was really quick to make . . . it only took me about 20 minutes.

Andrea (Chia) created this super cute robot art for her son’s room using Megan Turnbridge’s i.BOT.  I think it is so perfect for  little boys’ room!

So, now it’s your turn!  Go create something that makes you happy and display it in your home!

Here are the guidelines for the challenges at Scrap Matters:

- entries must be posted in the appropriate challenge gallery, and in the corresponding thread in the forum
- entries must be posted before the end of the month (March 31st) to be counted toward that month’s point total
- you’ll get 1 point for completing the project and posting it.  Plus, I’ll select one entry at random for a bonus challenge point.

Good luck, I can’t wait to see all the new entries to our hybrid gallery!

ETA:  I just wanted to clarify that since this challenge is in the last week of the month, you can count it toward your April points if you want.  Just wait until April to post if you are going to do that, and you have until April 23 to finish the challenge.  I know some people were worried about not having enough time to complete the challenge.  I hope this helps!

Hey guys!!

Wow, it had been a long, long time since I last hosted a challenge here. There are so many of us that it’s so hard to sign up to host challenges. I have to wrestle my way in just to host one of my favourite challenges. Nah, I’m just joking… Well, about the wrestling part, not the favourite challenge part..

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we? For this week, I’ve chosen yet another scrapper’s gallery for us to peruse. It’s none other than Kate aka kateypie. Around SM, of course she’s known as the Blog Editor! I’ve always loved her style and had always wanted to lift her LOs and if you’re like me, you would love to give it a chance too. Here’s her gallery and here’s what I and some other CT members had done:

Here’s the one that I lifted

Here’s the one that Stacy lifted

Her version

Jeni lifted this one

Christine chose to lift “Bella’s Butterfly”

… and came out with this version, using Erica Zane’s Tickle Me Happy:

This challenge will run until the end of April. You will receive 1 point for completing the challenge and my favorite layout will receive an additional point. If you want your point to count towards your April points instead of March, please post your LO after April 1st. Also, don’t forget that if you use a new kit during it’s first week of release you can earn another point (just let me know when you post in the forum). And oh yeah, don’t forget to link up your LO in this thread!!

Hope you will enjoy being inspired by Kate!

~ Sya

Boy, has this month and YEAR just flown by!!! I can’t believe it’s almost April!! At any rate, Wendy here with a new Tuesday Template!

There is no specific theme or set of rules for today’s template, just have fun!!

Download the template –> HERE! I’ve included both the .psd and .png files for you!

Here are a couple of LO’s from the ScrapMatters CT:

And a recap of the Matter of Scrap Challenge rules:

You have all month to complete the layout. Upload it to the gallery, and leave BOTH the image and a link in the challenge forum–> here.

You will receive one point for completing the challenge. You can earn an additional point for using a new product from the ScrapMatters store (PLEASE indicate you have used something new when you leave us the link in the forum), and one lucky winner will receive one more point at the end of the month for creating my favorite layout.

Remember, no double dipping…your layout must be unique to this challenge.

Enjoy!!

Hi All! Christy here with another installment of “What Matters Monday.” Today I wanted to spend a few minutes talking with everyone about creating layouts using lots of pictures that capture the energy and flow of an event. When I look through my albums, the layouts I get most excited about tend to be the ones that have many pictures on them that help me really “relive” and “feel” the event or subject matter about which I scrapped. I think multi picture layouts tend to be a little bit more challenging and tricky in terms of design, photo placement and color choices, but the end result is usually well worth the effort!  Here are some things I think about when I am trying to get lots of pics on a page:

1.) I typically like to vary the size and/or shapes of my pictures. I almost always like a multi photo layout best when the pictures are various shapes and/or sizes… this adds interest to the page and draws the eye around the layout.

2.) I like to include pictures from various angles and distances. A good multi photo layout usually has a variety of photo types… I love having both close ups as well as photos taken from a distance. Creative cropping (e.g. cropping close up on a body part or object) also adds interest to the page. Also, you may want to pay attention to the orientation of your photos… sometimes it makes a huge difference to the flow of the layout if you flip a photo or two horizontally (i.e. swap left and right).

3.) I usually like to group my photos together.  I think a multi photo layout usually looks best if the photos are generally kept together rather than scattered all around the page.   You can use clustering/overlapping of the photos or blocking.  You can try clustering the photos in 2 groups and placing them in opposite corners of the LO, etc.

4.) I pay attention to my shadows.  I find that if I really spend some extra time on my shadows in my muli photo layouts, it really pays off.  If your photos are clustered and overlapping, try to overlap them in such a way that the shadows are defined on the visible edges.  This helps distinguish each photo and makes the grouping look cleaner and more realistic.

That’s really all there is to it!  As with everything in digiscrapland, there are no real “rules”… but sometimes it helps to have a little guidance… I am hosting the Roadmap to Scrap Matter of Scrap Challenge this week, and my instructions included using lots of pictures… So, if you would like to try a multi photo layout and earn some points for it, check out this thread.

And here is some inspiration from our gallery to get your digi-scrapping blood pumping….

A couple of my multi photo layouts:

Simple Pleasures

Balloon Animals

By Britt:

Little E

By Little Muffin:

Gilroy Gardens

Happy Scrapping!!!

One of the techniques I noticed in the gallery early on in my scrapbooking was scattered elements. I just loved the pages with flowers, stars, or sequins scattered across them. Of course I had to give it a try. I would open an element, change the size and plop it all over my page but it looked a mess! I could never get the arrangement quite right. All my buttons would look equally spaced or piled on top of each other and they never looked very natural. So of course I gave up on the technique.

You can imagine my panic when ‘scattering’ elements was one of the steps in the next speed scrap! Not only did I need to figure this out, but fast! After failing yet again to arrange my flowers in a realistic pattern, I had a brilliant idea: scatter something in real life and copy it exactly! I rushed to my cupboard and found a box of crispy rice cereal. It was perfect! The individual cereal pieces vary in size, much like any natural item. They didn’t roll like Cheerios when I dropped them, and they were the perfect size to drop on my computer table. I picked out five or six and dropped them onto my table a few times to get the right scattered look.

Then I copied them EXACTLY. I changed the size and angle of my elements to perfectly match the design. When I was happy with it, I linked the scattered elements so I could move the group around. Once I had everything set to my liking, I merged the scattered layer. That way I could duplicate my design and flip it upside down or layer it behind my picture if needed. This technique was a lifesaver for me! I loved the natural look of my scatters and it made it so easy.

So you want to try it? Here’s how I made my latest ‘scatter’ layout. First, I got the basic design of the page done and decided where and what I wanted to scatter. Now for the exciting part!!! Scatter your Rice Krispies on the table!  I liked this arrangement.

So here are my leaves arranged just like the Rice Krispies (the group is highlighted and runs down the side of the big picture). Don’t they look awesome?! Like my kids shook the tree right onto my page! I’ve linked them together in my layers palette to make it easier to move the group around.

Now that I like the group, I can merge them and play around with my LO. I ended up duplicating the scattered group and changing the location. And here’s my final LO.

Here’s one from Emilee using Sya’s new kit, Berry Zing:

Your challenge is to scatter something in real life and copy it on your page. Even if you’re an old pro at ‘the scatter’, try this technique and you might be surprised at the results! Be sure to match the angle and size of your element to your real-life scatter, and let me know if you find anything better than Rice Krispies!

Post your LO to the Saturday Special Gallery and then post the link here to receive your point. If you use a newly released product, let me know in your post here and I’ll make sure you get your extra point! And my favorite LO will get an additional point. You have until the end of the month to complete your LO and don’t forget, no double-dipping.

Kate here with a few thoughts about photographs. I know there are quite a few people out there participating in Project 365 – taking a photo a day for a year, and scrapping it. Personally I am doing a double page LO a week, and I am really enjoying how it is turning out. I’m loving all the little memories we are capturing, and all the times I am getting the camera out when I wouldn’t normally have bothered. It’s so much fun snapping little parts of our day. One thing that I’ve noticed is that I am trying not to crop my photos too much – I’m trying to get little random details in the background. It’s not necessarily a ‘technically’ good technique, but I’ll tell you why.

Ever look through your parent’s photo albums from your childhood and find yourself exclaiming over things you can see in the photo? Like “Oh, remember those sheets? They were cool!” – I do it all the time. Anything from the hilarious retro material on the couch seat, to the wallpaper, to toys we remember, or even a pair of shoes. At the time, those details would have been insignificant and boring, but now they are absolutely priceless! Sometimes it’s those tiny details that trigger more memories than the subject of the photos themselves.

So my aim for Project 365, and my scrapping in general is to start to deliberately document random details, just for the fun of it – to capture the little memories to have alongside the big things. There are a lot of challenges around ScrapMatters that will help you with this.

Have a great weekend!