Hi everyone and Happy Cyber Monday!  We hope you’re enjoying our super, extended Black Friday sale here at Scrap Matters!  Some of our designers have an extra special treat for you today, in honor of Cyber Monday – a coupon blog hop!!  If you visit each of the designer’s blogs listed below, you’ll find a coupon there you can use for EXTRA savings in their stores, TODAY ONLY!  At some of the stops, you might even find a small freebie, too!  And your first little freebie is found right here, courtesy of Denise Beatty Originals.  So, after picking up Denise’s great little freebie, make sure to visit each of the designers on the list to pick up your extra savings coupon and save some more on your purchases from the ScrapMatters shop today!

Here is the full list of blog hop stops – please remember, everyone is in different time zones.  We’ve done our best to coordinate our posting times, but if someone’s coupon is not up when you stop, please check back a little later on!  Have fun today and enjoy Cyber Monday!

1. Krisi  http://krisiskreations.blogspot.com/
2. Maria http://scrapmuss.blogspot.com/
3. Heather http://www.haynay.blogspot.com/
4. Amber http://stolenmomentsdesign.blogspot.com/
5. Wendy http://wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/
6. Tracy http://www.trixiescraps.com
7. Happy http://happyscrapgirl.blogspot.com/
8. Kim http://geekydiva.wordpress.com
9. Tater http://taterscraps.blogspot.com
10. Michelle http://mickeybdesigns.blogspot.com
11. Jenn www.jenniferbarrettedesigns.blogspot.com
12. Anna http://annabvdesigns.blogspot.com/
13. Sya http://scrap-stuff.blogspot.com
14. Jeni http://www.jeniscraftyblog.blogspot.com/
15. Chelle http://chelles-creations.blogspot.com/
16. Suzanne http://purpletulipdesigns.blogspot.com
17. Sharon http://www.digitalcreations.typepad.com
18. Christine http://www.pressedpetals.blogspot.com
19. Gwen http://gwenipooh.blogspot.com
20. Jill http://junosscrappingblog.blogspot.com

This was a tough week to choose. Lots of beautiful layouts in the gallery.  After much looking I choose Merry Christmas by 4noisyboys:

I love the layers, the cute word tags tucked into the cluster at the top, the sweet pictures in the hanging ornaments and the Christmas tree scene at the bottom. What a fun Christmas layout! Congrats 4noisyboys! Now get over to the forum or gallery and leave her some love!

-Amanda (Apatchetear)

I decided to interview one of our newest ScrapMatters Girls  members: Julie (scrapmommaof3)!  It was great getting to know her even better!
1. Your screen name? Your real name?      Julie Gropp aka scrapmommaof3
2. What is your main job/career?   SAHM
3. Are you married/children/pets?  I have been married for 10 years and have 3 young boys (8, 6, and 4)
4. Where is home for you?  I am a Texan by birth, but 4 years ago we moved to Cortez, CO (four corners area) for my husband’s job.
5. What are your 3 favorite foods?   pizza, bacon cheese burger and peanut butter m&ms
6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  cookies and cream
7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet?  sweet, unfortunately.
8. Beverage of choice?  Diet Dr Pepper, although I have been trying to cut down
9. What’s your least favorite food?  mushrooms
10. PC or Mac? What program do you use?  PC  I use PSE 6.0
11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started?  I was a paper scrapper for 7 years (since my oldest son was born) and then turned to digiscrap alittle over a year ago.
12. What was your 1st LO about?
This is the oldest one I could find online. 
13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?
I enjoy reading, gardening and photography.  As a family we do alot of outdoor activities like camping and hiking (three boys, you know).
14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you?
getting my ct responsibilities taken care of and still have time to get my own scrapbooks done (mostly 2 pagers).
15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking?
I would love to learn how to keep a house clean for more than a day and still enjoy other things (like scrapbooking).
16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?
I love CSI (Las Vegas) and Smallville.
17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?
In my recliner, with my laptop and a Diet DP.  Sometimes I watch television, but most of the time the kids have taken that over so I enjoy the “silence” by going in the other room.
18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be?
I love papers and alphas.  Do you consider those elements?  I really like fonts too.
19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?
I have a history degree from Texas A&M University (gig’em aggies).
20. Can you tell us a little about your scrappin’ style?
I am pretty traditional.  I don’t do much extraction because I like to see the background of the picture.  I also think journaling is very important.  My memory isn’t the greatest, so I want to have those experiences written down for the future.
21. Favorite LOs that you have done? It changes all the time.  Here is my favorite right now: 

22. What is your favorite part of being a member of the Scraps Matter Gang?
Getting to know the team.  Everyone has been really friendly and it is a great community here.

Thanks so much Julie! Check out her gallery here! Be sure to stop by and leave her some love!

-Amanda (apatchtear)

Jen W. (aka abcmomof4) here with your Saturday Special. I’ve got an easy peasy challenge for you today. I thought I’d share with you how to make your own brush. To keep it simple, we’ll make a brush using text. Let’s use the word “moments” to make into a brush. I am using CS3 ,but am sure this can easily translate into PSE or any other Photoshop programs. Open a new document 4 inches by 2.5 inches, Resolution at 300 PPI, background set to white.

Choose a font and a large font size. Type the word “moments”. Now go to edit, define brush preset, and name your brush.

Select the brush tool

and choose your newly created brush. Use your mouse to position the brush and left click to stamp.

What is great about making and using your own brushes is you can create your own word art or title work unique to your layout. There are so many endless possibilities in making your own brushes. It doesn’t have to be just text. You can make shapes/designs, textures, or create a watermark to copyright your creations. I love my logo that I made into a brush to watermark my creations with (see lower right corner of next image).

If you are new to the world of brushes, think of them like a stamp. When using one on your layout, be sure to create a new layer before stamping so that if you make a mistake, you can delete the layer and try again.

So for this challenge, make a brush and use it in a layout.

Here is what I made:

Here is a super cute example by Cristina:

Remember:
* You will receive one point for your entry.
* You will receive one extra point for using a new product within the first week of release. Please note this in your post. Link us up to your layout in the gallery so we can leave you some love.
* You have until the end of November to complete your layout.
* No double dipping please. Your layout must be unique to this challenge.

EZ Black Friday Grab Bag by Erica Zane

Jack’s Track by Erica Zane

Jack’s Track Add-on by Erica Zane

Black Friday Grab Bag by GG Digital Designs

Pinecones and Holly Berries by GG Digital Designs

Pinecones and Holly Berries Blogwear by GG Digital Designs

Pinecones and Holly Berries Christmas Countdown by GG Digital Designs

“Believe” Blocks by GG Digital Designs

Believe in the Magic Plaque by GG Digital Designs

Pinecones and Holly Berries Home Decor Collection

 
  Candy Gift Collection by GG Digital Designs

Black Friday Grab Bag by Haynay Designs and Simply J Studio

It’s your Big Day by AnnaBV Designs

It’s your Big Day Alphabet by AnnaBV Designs

Black Friday Grab Bag by AnnaBV Designs

Black Friday CU Grab Bag by AnnaBV Designs

Black Friday Grab Bag by WM[squared] Designs:

Black Friday *CU* Grab Bag by WM[squared] Designs:

Woodland Winter by Jennifer Barrette

Black Friday Collab Grab Bag by Connie Prince and Jennifer Barrette

i heart me collection by Jennifer Barrette

i heart me kit by Jennifer Barrette

i heart me alpha by Jennifer Barrette

i heart me journaling prompts by Jennifer Barrette

2009 Black Friday Grab Bag by Trixie Scraps Designs

Yuletide Bonus Alpha Pack by Trixie Scraps Designs

Yuletide Glitter Styles by Trixie Scraps Designs

Santa’s Workshop {Blogwear Set} by Trixie Scraps Designs

Snow Day {Blogwear Set} by Trixie Scraps Designs

Custom Blogwear Installation Service by Trixie Scraps Designs

“‘Tis the Season” by Man In The Moon Designs

“Customizable Christmas Charms” by Man In The Moon Designs

Tell Me More Journaling Class by Chelle’s Creations

O Come Let Us Adore Him by Chelle’s Creations

O Come Let Us Adore Him Felt Nativity by Chelle’s Creations

Gift Card Wrappers from Krisi’s Kreations

Matchbox: Candy Boxes from Krisi’s Kreations

Tagged It from Krisi’s Kreations

Write it Out: Holiday Sentiments from Krisi’s Kreations

Tagged It: Freebie from Krisi’s Kreations

Black Friday Grab Bag by Sya’s Blueprints

Black Friday Grab Bag : CU Version by Sya’s Blueprints

Christmas In Paradise by WM[squared] Designs & Haynay Designs:

Christmas In Paradise – Add On by WM[squared] Designs:

“Color Wonder” by Britt-ish Designs

Doodley Alpha Tiles by Jeni Hopewell

One More Sleep by Stolen Moments & Graham Like the Cracker

One More Sleep: The Accent Labels by Stolen Moments & Graham Like the Cracker

One More Sleep: The Bundle by Stolen Moments & Graham Like the Cracker

Black Friday ‘09 Grab Bag by Happy Scrap Girl Designs

CU Edge Set 2 by MickeyB Designs

Hybrid Paper Bag Album Templates by Geeky Diva Designs

These Moments – Reloaded by Juno Designs

Greatest Time of Year

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Christmas is approaching, and I’ll spend part of the weekend decorating my house for the season, so I thought it would be the right occasion to show you a way to create personalized hybrid Christmas ornaments.

First of all, I picked a couple of template packs by Geeky Diva Designs:

Next, I created 4 ornaments, of different shapes, all using Britt-ish Design’s kit Happiest Season of All:

and I used this great wordart templates by Plum Dumpling Designs as well:

Creating the ornaments was fun, and I followed the instructions that came with the ornament templates to put them together.
I printed out my ornaments on Epson Matte Presentation Paper, cut them out and scored them (I didn’t have any scoring tools but using a simple plastic ruler worked well for me!), added some ribbon to hang them, and used a tape runner to glue them together.
I also plan to seal them with Mod Podge for durability, but I haven’t done that yet.

So, here are my creations:

I’m so happy with how they turned out!

Here are some more examples from out wonderful CT. By Kim (tgmousechick):

The cube shapes would work great for creating photocubes too – a great gifts for grandparents!

This is also a printable product in the store, and it makes a wonderful Advent calendar indeed!

Finally, here’s another gorgeous ornament by Debra (dbrprc)

I hope you’ll give this a try! And since the sale planned for tomorrow is just incredible, I think it’s the perfect chance to stock up on some products to create your own Christmas ornaments!
Do share your creations in the hybrid gallery, and if you have any hybrid question, the Hybrid is Hot section of the forum is the right place to ask!

Hi All!
This is Anna, with this week’s Grand Theft Layout. In this challenge we will be lifting Jen (jendavey)! I admire her style, and I’m totally blown away by her dynamic and super creative pages.
Check out her gallery, and you’ll see what I mean.

I chose to lift her LO The Good Guys

Here’s my LO (credits: Girls are Trouble by Jennifer Barrette):

And now let’s see some inspiring pages created by our CT.

alamama lifted this LO by Jen:

ANd made this page, (using Erica’s Black Friday Grab Bag):

Jennamy lifted Autumn Days:

And made this stunning LO (Credits: Happiest Season of All by Britt-ish Designs):

Alansrock lifted The Force:

And made this cool boys’ LO (using Technotronic by Jennifer Barrette):

A quick summary of challenge guidelines:

- Since there’s so little left of November you will have until the end of December to complete this challenge. Please upload it to the GTL gallery and post your LO and Jen’s LO (both linked) in the Grand Theft Layout 11/25/09 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!

I can’t wait to see what you create!

Anna

Hey!!  This is Jemenifer22 and it’s my very first blog post as a Member of the ScrapMatters Creative Team, and well – squeee – I’m just bursting with excitement!  Today’s template is brought to you by the very talented ScrapMuss Designs!  There are no specific rules to today’s challenge, just scrap a great page and have fun while you’re doing it!  That’s it!  So, let’s check out this great template:

Download HERE!!

Check out some fabulous layouts using this fantastic template:

Layout by:  Haynay, using *Life’s Bazaar, Life’s Bazaar Alpha* by Haynay Designs

Layout by:  Trixie Scraps, using *The First Feast” by Trixie Scraps Designs

Layout by:  Muss, using *My Pink Caprice mini* by ScrapMuss Designs

Layout by:  Stefanie, using *Touch of Blue* by AnnaBV Designs

Layout by: Jennamy82, using *A Story of Friendship & Circle Stitches* by Sahlin Studio

Layout by Juno, using *One of a Kind* by Juno Designs

and a Layout by:  snowdrop, using *’Carousel Ride by Man in the Moon Designs, ‘Border Dates’ by Erica Zane, ‘Glitzy Paper Dot Alpha’ by Britt-ish Designs, and ‘A Story of Friendship’ by Sahlin Studio*

Thank you so much ladies for some seriously rockin’ inspiration!!

So now the Tuesday Template General Rules:

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

- Upload it to the Tuesday Template 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.  **YOU MUST indicate that you have used something new when you leave us the link in the forum;

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

- It’s not required to use ScrapMatters products, but we love it when you do!

So get to downloading and having some fun!!!

Hi,  Kate here with a few words about what comes to mind at the moment when I think about ‘What Matters’ in terms of scrapbooking.

So, what matters?

Printing!

There are so many options out there for printing your pages, and who you choose will depend on your location, the price, the services offered etc.  I recently got my first book printed, and I was thrilled with how it turned out.  Except for one thing.. some of the edges got cut off.  I know there are lots of tricks out there for making sure your edges don’t get cut off, but one thing that I really noticed after the book was printed, is that the pages that have most of my LO in the middle look far better!  They are so much easier to see and your eye is drawn to the middle of the page easily.

I think it is so important to get pages printed so they can be seen by your family and friends.  For those of us with kids, is there anything sweeter then seeing them exclaim and giggle over the pages we have worked so hard to create?  I love it!

So my advice for everyone is to get some pages printed.  Try different sizes, try them in a book, and then go through and see which ones of yours you think look best.  It really helps to develop your own style and ensure your pages are gorgeous when they are printed!

Having scrapbooking I can hold in my hands, and my children’s hands, is what matters to me at the moment.  What are your experiences with printing?

I chose I am so thankful by lacidock – I love the different shapes and sizes of the blocks and the non-traditional fall colors of the page. It’s a great layout for this time of year! Be sure to stop by the gallery or the forum and leave her some love for this fab LO!!

 -Melanie (scrapymelly)

I choose to interview Tater of Designs by Tater. I had so much fun getting to know a little bit more about the person behind all those fabulous designs!

1. Your screen name? Your real name?    Tater
2. What is your main job/career?    SAHM

3. Are you married/children/pets?     I’ve been married for 11 years. I have a 17 year old step-son and a 6 year old son. We just got my son a hampster who he named J.J. It’s a test to see if he can handle a dog. So far he is failing…LOL!
4. Where is home for you?   Illinois
5. What are your 3 favorite foods?   french fries, mashed potatoes, baked potato soup
6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?   Birthday Cake Remix from Cold Stone…Yummy!!!
7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet?    Salty

8. Beverage of choice?     water
9. What’s your least favorite food?    hot cereal….like oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat…yuckie!!!
10. PC or Mac? What program do you use?   PC
11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started?    Almost 3 years. I was on Cafe Mom and saw a Digital Scrapbooking Group…I joined and that’s when my addiction was born.
12. What was your 1st LO about?     I no longer have it cause my computer crashed since then…but it was a a Halloween LO that I had done of my son in his costume.
13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?   No…my hubby won’t let me get addicted to anything else!! LOL!
14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you?      Photo placement..

 15. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?       When I get a chance to watch tv…I enjoy watching Lost, The Young and the Restless…and I’m so ashamed to say this but…I have recently been watching the Housewives on Bravo…you know…OC, NJ, NY and ATL…shhhh…don’t tell anyone that.
16. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?  I have a laptop so I scrap just about everywhere….I tend to move around. Whatever room I move to though it has to be CLEAN! Sometimes I have music going sometimes the tv is on…just depends on my mood.
17. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be?      A tag and some string!

18. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?         I’m extremely clumsy!!!

19. When did you start designing? What is your favorite product that you’ve designed?   I started making my own elements and posting freebies about 2 years ago. My favorite product to make is Alpha’s….I love a good Alpha!!

20. How would you describe your design style?           All over the place.

21. Where do you get your inspiration/motivation?       Clothing, magazines…pretty much anything and everything.
22. What is your favorite color scheme to design with?
I enjoy working with Fall colors because they are so pretty and it is my most favorite time of the year.

23. Favorite kit you’ve designed?
Dapper and Debonair because it was totally inspired by my sharply dressed hubby and my sons.

-Melanie (Scrappymelly)