Alamama, here with the latest GTL!!  For this Grand Theft Layout, I am really excited to be lifting Mary of Plum Dumpling Designs (aka littlehiccup)! She not only has an awesome gallery, she also has some great hybrids too! Her style is very fun!

Here’s the LO I choice to lift:

Mine:

From our AWESOME CT: (I only put the first few, due to space.  You can see the rest in the forum.)

Mary’s:

Jillyfish’s:

Mary’s:

Cindy’s:

Okay,now the important information.

- You will have until the end of October to complete this challenge. Please upload it to the GTL gallery and leave your LO image and Mary’s LO image (both linked) here in the GTL 9/30/09 thread.

- You will receive one point for completing the challenge. You can earn an additional point for using a NEW product from the SM store! (Please indicate that you used something new with your LO/link in the forum.)

- I will choose one lucky winner who will receive an ADDITIONAL point!

- You don’t have to use SM products in this challenge, but we LOVE it when you do!

- Remember no double dipping…your layout must be UNIQUE to this challenge!

Thank you so much in advance!

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

Hi everyone- it’s me Suzanne and I am so happy to be able to host one of my favorite challenges- the template challenge!! There are some really beautiful 1-picture layouts out there- but sometimes I just need to get lots of photos on a page, so I am always on the lookout for a good multi-photo layout. Hopefully this template will help you out with that. Of course, you can always get creative and make it whatever you want.

So here’s the template:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

And here’s what the wonderful CT ladies have done with it:

(jillyfish) using “Where The Heart Blooms” by Erica Zane and “Alphabetical” by Britt-ish Designs.

(panders77)

(bcnatty)

A quick reminder of the rules:

- You will receive one point for completing this challenge and posting your layout in both the gallery AND the forum thread. You will receive 1 extra point if you use a new release product within the week it was released. You must make note of this in your post in the forum to get the point.

-Because this is posting the last week of the month you have until the end of OCTOBER to complete the challenge. You will receive your point based on the month you post your layout in the forum.

- No double-dipping, your layout must be unique to this challenge only.

- FYI: you don’t have to use ScrapMatters products to complete this challenge- we just like it when you do!

That’s it- go download and have fun!!

Hey everyone!  Jen W. here (aka abcmomof4) with my first Scrap Matters blog post!!! I am so excited to share with you something that matters to me…the details. We take pictures to capture moments in our lives and scrap to tell those stories. Sometimes, when photographing that moment or event there are little things that might go unnoticed; something small that is a really great part of the story or memory. Today, I wanted to write about those details and capturing photos of them.

Here are a few examples of what I mean by capturing the details in your photos:

On our trip to the beach last spring, my daughter had a blast collecting sea shells and rocks. Not only did I photograph her from afar collecting those seashells and rocks, I captured the detail of the rocks, the shells, and the grains of sand on her hands.

Olivia wanted a princess pony party for her third birthday. I wanted a picture of her blowing out her candles, but I also wanted to remember the decorations on her cake.

At Christmas time, I love taking pictures of decorations. I take pictures of our house lit up, the tree with it’s twinkling lights, and those special Christmas tree ornaments. To me, these details of Christmas are so important to the mood and spirit we feel and I want to remember that.

So with our favorite fall and winter holidays approaching, I thought I would leave you with a few ideas of details you could capture with your camera in telling your story:

*For Halloween, photograph pumpkin guts as you carve those jack-o-lanterns, the candy bucket your child Trick-or-Treats with, or your child’s hands covered with melted chocolate from the candy they just devoured.
*On Thanksgiving, capture the table settings, your family’s favorite dish, or the stack of dirty dishes.
*At Christmas, take pictures of keepsakes, cookies left for Santa, or the pile of wrapping paper that was left behind on Christmas Morning.  

Photographing those details is also a great opportunity to explore macro mode on your point and shoot or use a really low aperture on your dslr to get a fantastic depth of field.

Happy Scrapping!

It’s “just another Manic Monday” at ScrapMatters.com!!!  Monday ONLY!! Select items for $2 or 50% off!!  Visit the ScrapMatters Shop for more details!!
*Manic Monday sales go into the shop early Monday morning and will “disappear” around midnight! HURRY!  What are you waiting for!?! *[/center]

Shabby Chic by WM[squared] Designs:

Where the Heart Grows by GG Digital Designs

The Cool Dad by Jeni Hopewell

Pure Perfection by Stolen Moments

Pink Grunge mini-kit by Scrapmuss Designs

Kamping Rocks by Haynay Designs

Woodsy Whimsy by Jennifer Barrette Designs

“Used and Abused Paper Pack vol.1″ by Britt-ish Designs

Revived Set 1 by Sya’s Blueprints

Autumn Sojourn by Andilynn Designs

Diamond Life Hybrid Card Templates by Geeky Diva Designs

This week’s LOTW is Longing for fall by jessica31876. I love the journaling, the photo, the colors and the cute tree element and scattered leaves!  With fall approaching, this one just jumped out at me! Way to go jessica31876! Make sure you leave her some love in the forum.

-Dawn (aussiegirl)

And now…

1. Your screen name? Your real name?
Bethanny / Beth

2. What is your main job/career?
Stay-at-home-mom

3. Are you married/children/pets?
Blissfully married for seven years; two sons, ages four and two

4. Where is home for you?
Colorado

5. What are your 3 favorite books?
I love to read, so this is a tough one! I’ll pick:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Fire by Night by Lynn Austin
Letters by Marjorie Pay Hinckley

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Cookies N Cream … or maybe chocolate … or maybe vanilla … or maybe fudge ripple … don’t make me choose!

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet?
Mostly salty … except when it comes to ice cream!

8. Beverage of choice?
Water

9. What’s your least favorite food?
I don’t think of myself as too picky, but there are a lot of gummy and hard candies I don’t care for.

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use?
Mac, Photoshop CS2

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started?
I’ve been dabbling in it since maybe 2005. I did a few little 4×6 collages in 2007 and then did my first official layout in January 2008.
In the beginning, I just saw friends on forums or wherever with their custom-made signatures or blog headers and tried my best to duplicate it (without realizing that this was called “digital scrapbooking” – I’d never been a paper scrapper.)

12. What was your 1st LO about?
My very first project was my older son’s birth announcement, before I knew that digital scrapbooking existed – and I did it in Microsoft Word! Crazy!!
My first actual 12×12 layout was just an afternoon photo shoot of my cute boys:

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?
I love to read and I like blogging (and reading friends’ blogs).

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you?
Element placement is something that doesn’t come naturally to me, though I’ve felt myself improving after applying some tips from ScrapMatters’ Saturday Specials! I use the “visual triangle” in almost every layout I do these days!

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking?
Decorating

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?
I’m not too big on movies or TV (which is why I figure it’s okay to be on the computer so much!) I do love the movies National Treasure and Groundhog Day, and I try to convince my boys to watch the cartoon Arthur on PBS (yeah, I’m kind of a dork).

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?
Silence (or, if necessary, the sounds of my kids playing nearby); no snacks or drinks – I’m too focused on my scrapping to eat! I scrap at my desktop which is currently in the basement.

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be?
Ribbons and buttons? I don’t feel too attached to any elements in particular.

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?
Most of the ScrapMatters “family” knows I’m working on this album for my sister-in-law, who’s on a mission for our church. She gets home in less than two months and there’s no way I’ll be finished (I’m not quite halfway done with her book yet!) This album is going to be a complete surprise for her, which makes it fun. It’s a labor of love, yes, but in more ways than one — because I’ve loved getting to know her better by scrapping these photos. I almost feel like I was there with her.

20. Can you tell us a little about your scrappin’ style?
Lots of pictures (or at least something where the pictures are the central focus), easy on the elements. Journaling is almost always a MUST. I usually go more of a paper-scrapping style but I sometimes feel myself gravitating toward clean and graphic, too.

21. Favorite LOs that you have done?
Okay, it’s hard to pick favorites!! Here are a few.

Thanks Bethany for letting us get to know you better. You can check out her gallery HERE!

-Amanda (APATCHETEAR)

Hi everyone–it’s Melissa (yzerbear19) with this week’s Saturday Special.  This week is going to focus on journaling. One of the aspects I get complimented on a lot is my journaling. The journaling on a layout is just as important as the photos. The layouts we create serve as a reminder to us and future generations of who we were and what we did, so it is important to include the story. One of the things I often do with my journaling is use information I gathered from an additional source. This information can enhance the story and provide additional interest. There are a lot of different types of additional sources to use.

Books – Books are an obvious and great source of information for poems, quotes, factual information, etc. There are millions and millions of books out there. For my Civil War books I often use books for factual information and quotes. I often will look for books that I can use for my scrapbooking layouts.

By a comrade’s grave – This is one of the Civil War layouts I’ve done where I used a book for the information and then paraphrased it in my own words.

When lilacs last bloom’d - The journaling for this one is actually a poem that I found in a book of poetry. Though it can also be found on the web.

The Internet – one of the easiest places to obtain information is the internet. There is tons of information on the web, but you should be careful because not all sites provide reputable and factual information. When working on a layout one of the first sites I look at is the official website. In this day in age almost every business, museum, amusement park, restaurant, etc has an official site and can often be a good source of information. If I still need information I will do a search on the web. A great item to include on a layout is a quote or poem. There are lots of sites on the web dedicated to quotes.

Cinderella Castle - For this layout I used information I found on a Disney site about Cinderella Castle. Both images are linked.

Sunflower - For this one I did a search for the quote which also doubles as the title. I found the quote on a site dedicated to quotes.

Capturing U-505 – I got the information for this layout from the official website of the Museum of Science and Industry. They have an entire site with information abotu the U-505. I used the information on the pages and condensed it in my own words for the journaling. Both images are linked.

Brochures or postcards – One of the things I always look for when I go somewhere that I want to scrap later is to look for a brochure or postcard. These can often be a great source of information to include on layout as well a great item to include on the layout. Postcards are also a great way to get photos for those places that don’t allow photography. Many postcards also include information on the back, which can be used.

Antietam National Battlefield – For this one I did use the information from the official park brochure and made sure to credit the source on the layout. I also scanned the brochure to use on the layout. Both images are linked.

United - For this layout I also incorporated information from the brochure into the journaling. The title is the slogan from the brochure.

These are just three ways to obtain information to include in your journaling. And you can of course combine different types. The most important thing to remember is that after you have gathered your information to put it into your own words or to paraphrase. You will want to avoid plagiarism.

Amanda (panders77) did this really beautiful layout by looking up lyrics from Cinderella

Your challenge is to use some of the tips I provided and create a layout using information you obtain from a secondary source. This can be a poem, quote, or facts. When posting your layout, be sure to include where you got your information. There are lots of ways to include different sources into your journaling.

Some important reminders:
-When posting your layout, be sure to let me know where you found your information
-You have until the end of October to post your entry. Be sure to post it to the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum. If you post it by the end of September, you will get your point for September.
-No double-dipping! This challenge CANNOT be combined with any other ScrapMatters challenge or Speed Scrap. Your layout must be unique to this challenge.
-You can earn an extra point for using any new ScrapMatters product during the first week of its release. Be sure to note the new product in your layout description and your post in the thread on the forum. In order to get your bonus point, it does need to be noted on your forum post.
-At the end of October I will select my favorite layout and the scrapper will get a bonus point for their next month’s total.
-You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we like it when you do.

Good luck!

Terrible Twos by Plum Dumpling Designs

Metal Photo Holders by Sahlin Studio:

Doodley Borders ‘n’ Frames Vol 1. by Sahlin Studio:

Wire-Rimmed Alpha by Sahlin Studio:

Circle Stitches-Black & White by Sahlin Studio:

Always Back-Up Bundle by Sahlin Studio:

Ornamental Overlays V.2 by WM[squared] Designs:

Helping Hands by Stolen Moments

A Most Magical Alpha by Happy Scrap Girl Designs

Little Pixie Alpha by Happy Scrap Girl Designs

Magical Little Pixie Combo by Happy Scrap Girl Designs

Worn Neutrals Paper Pack by Happy Scrap Girl Designs

Charming Halloween by AnnaBV Designs

Pop Dot Alpha: Primary by Haynay Designs

Great Pleasures Mini by MickeyB Designs

Ticket to Ride by Chelle’s Creations

All That Glitters by Chelle’s Creations

JH_Kari Font by Jeni Hopewell

2010 Wall Calendar by GG Digital Designs

2010 Calendar Grids by GG Digital Designs

2010 CD Case Calendar by GG Digital Designs

2010 Small Calendar Grids by GG Digital Designs

Just the Facts Alpha by Denise Beatty Originals

Ever After Collection

Ever After Kit

Ever After Alpha

Ever After Princess Party Add-on

Feeling Fall by WM[squared] Designs:[/b]

Feeling Fall – Add On by WM[squared] Designs:

This is How I Roll by Hafen Creations:

Behind the Scenes

“Stacked Templates” by Britt-ish Designs

Lil’ Tabbed Alpha by DeCrow Designs

Hello everyone, I’m here to bring you a tutorial on how to make a hybrid mini album from scratch!

I started making albums a few months ago, and since I couldn’t find the chipboard albums in the stores I started making them myself out of cereal boxes. (of course, now you can find many great albums here at ScrapMatters, but if there’s a shape you cannot find, or if you just want to give hybrid a try and you don’t want to risk wasting a chipboard album for your first try, you can always cut an album out of cereal boxes too!).

Don’t get overwhelmed by the length of this tutorial: I get verbose when I describe my projects and wanted to cover all the basics, but it really isn’t as daunting as it seems and you ought to give it a try!

1. Designing the digital pages
First off, there’s the digital part of the process. Pick the products you want to use and your pictures. I chose the gorgeous Gretchen mini kit, the Date Stamped elements and the Minnie Alpha by Britt-ish Designs. At this point you also need to choose the format of the pages for your album.
In August my husband and I celebrated our 10th dating anniversary and I decided to create a little album, with one photo for every year together. I picked a basic square shape, with rounded corners, and created all the pages quite small, so that they would all fit on a single sheet of paper when I printed them out.
You need to prepare an even number of pages (including cover/back cover).

2. Printing out the pages
You have mainly 2 options here: printing at home, or outsourcing. Personally, I print my projects at home – I find it much simpler and faster. (if you’re outsourcing, check what sizes you can print before you start designing your pages)
I printed out this project, as most of my hybrid projects, on Epson matte presentation paper. It does make a big difference and the colors are much brighter compared to normal paper. I personally do not use glossy paper much because I hate the fingerprint marks on glossy paper – but really, it’s up to your taste what paper you want to use.
I also recommend you learn how to make your printer print borderless (I always try to make the most of my paper, and print many things on one sheet of paper!).
Once your pages are printed, you can gather your supplies, because it’s time to put the album together:

3. Creating the template and the pages
I used the chipboard of a frozen pizza box for my album – I’m sure you all have something at home that would work. Cereal boxes are sometimes thinner, but they can work too. I usually peel the printed part off of the chipboard so I can glue my pages to a rougher surface and don’t have to worry about the printed cereal box showing through. 
Once your pages are printed out, cut them and use one as a template to draw the pages out of cereal boxes, by simply tracing the border with a pencil.

Cut all the pages out and check that they match the printed pages before you glue them – you’ll probably need to cut a bit more than the markings you made with the pencil but you’ll get the hang of it pretty fast.
You need half the number of digital pages you created (since you’re gluing 2 printed pages to every chipboard page).

*optional*: you can paint the chipboard at this point, if you want a color to show at the edge of the pages, instead of chipboard. I’m fine with the chipboard showing so I skipped this step.

4. Gluing
My adhesive of choice is Mod Podge, so that’s what I used to stick the printed pages to my album. I know of hybrid scrappers who use double sided tape instead; I simply used Mod Podge for my first project and then I kept using it because it works well for me, but you can use whatever you feel more comfortable with.
Applying Mod Podge is pretty straightforward if you’re used to it, but it’s not easy if you’ve never done it before – so if it’s your first time using it, I recommend you try with some scrap paper and chipboard first.
My main advice is to use Mod Podge sparingly: a thin coat of it really goes a long way. I use a foam brush to apply it.
I don’t have pictures because my hands were busy , but this is how I do it. I line up the paper with the chipboard. I lift up one side of the paper to expose the chipboard beneath, holding the rest of the paper firmly down on the chipboard, and I start brushing some Mod Podge on the chipboard. I adhere the page to that part (so now the page is fixed and won’t move anymore, and I know it’s nicely lined up because I positioned it carefully), and can now move to brush the rest of the chipboard and finish adhering the page.
Pay special attention to cover the edges properly, so the page will adhere properly without air gaps.

5. Punching holes
Now that the pages are ready, you need to put the album together. I decided to use a ring to hold the pages so I needed to punch holes in the pages.
I now own a Crop-a-dile that makes punching very easy; but if you don’t own any fancy scrapbooking tool to punch holes, you can use what I used for my first project: a school page puncher will work just as well (even though it’s more tricky to make the holes aligned).

6. Adding eyelets
If you punch a hole, you have to use eyelets. They make the page look so much better! I used my Crop-a-dile to put the eyelets on.

Now that’s it, the album is ready!

7. Embellishments
It’s always fun to embellish the album with some ribbon.

I hope I’ve inspired you to go out and try a hybrid album, if you’ve never dared before. It doesn’t have to turn out perfect, but you’ll love having something made by you for a special memory.  If you have any question, head over to this thread in the Hybrid is Hot section of the forum!
I also created a matching card to accompany the album:

Hi everyone! Courtney (cnscrap) here to host this weeks Grand Theft Layout challenge. I’m super excited to say this is my FIRST time hosting a SM challenge! Whoo hooo!

So let’s get started! I have chosen  Fiona’s (canadianmommy) gallery to lift…another new SM Creative Team member! You can check out her gallery here…there are PLENTY of fabulous layouts to choose from!

I was inspired by her layout “Imagine”. I love her photo treatments and the yellow background paper she chose. It really makes her layout pop!

Here’s her layout:

And mine:

And now some amazing layouts done by our CT Team!

Christine (alamama) picked Fiona’s First Pumpkin:

And she created Tape King:

Jami (alansrock) picked Fiona’s Learning to Read:

And she created this FAB LO:

Li (Lil14) picked Fiona’s Love this Face:

And she created this CUTE LO:

Stefanie picked Fiona’s Fairy Godmother:

And she created this FUN LO:

A few quick SM guidelines:

- You will have until the end of September to complete this challenge. Please upload it to the GTL gallery and leave your LO image and Fiona’s LO image (both linked) here in the GTL 9/23/09 thread.

- You will receive one point for completing the challenge. You can earn an additional point for using a NEW product from the SM store! (Please indicate that you used something new with your LO/link in the forum.)

- I will choose one lucky winner (random) who will receive an ADDITIONAL point!

- You don’t have to use SM products in this challenge, but we LOVE it when you do!

- Remember no double dipping…your layout must be UNIQUE to this challenge!

Looking forward to seeing which layout by Fiona inspired you!

Hello all! Jenn here thrilled to be hosting (for my first time! yay!) this weeks Tuesday Template Challenge for Sept 22.

There are no specific requirements this week, do what you wish. Flip it, rotate it, modify it, make it your own!!

Here is the template.

DOWNLOAD HERE!
(Includes PSD, PNG and TIFF Files)

Here is a layout I made with my template using GG Digital Designs kit Daydream Believer.

Ready for some fabulous CT Inspiration!!

From Maria (Muss)

From NeeNee (neetdesigner)

From Jen W. (abcmomof4)

And from Krisi616
A cute hybrid project

And a few little reminders:

-You have until the end of September to post your entry. Be sure to post it to the “Tuesday Template” gallery and link it back to this thread in the forum.
-No double-dipping! This challenge CANNOT be combined with any other Scrap Matters challenge or Speed Scrap. Your layout must be unique to this challenge.
-You can earn an extra point for using any new Scrap Matters product during the first week of its release. Be sure to note the new product in your layout description and your post in the thread on the forum.
-At the end of the month I will randomly select a layout and the winning scrapper will receive a bonus point for their next month’s total.
-You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we sure like it when you do.

I cannot wait to see what you all create, happy scrapping!!