Hello gals!  Wendy here with the last Tuesday Template of June.  It’s almost the 4th!! I can’t wait, BBQ, Fireworks, & Family!  But for now…I have a template for you!  There is no specific theme or set of rules for today’s template, just have fun!! Use the template as is, or switch it up…it’s all up to you!

The template:

Here’s *MY* LO:

Credits: It’s My Party:  Bundle by me, WM[squared] Designs

Here is some inspiration from the ScrapMatters CT/DT & Admin Teams:

Layout By: Courtney

Credits: So this is Love, Vintage Vogue, Something to Say – Alpha, A Story of Friendship all by Sahlin Studios

Layout By: Jan

Credits: Vintage Summer and Simply Dated v.4 by WM[squared]

Layout By: Heather

Credits: Yankee Doodle Doo Bundle by Designs by Tater and Keepscrappin Designs and
Simply Dated Volume 8 by WM[Squared] Designs

Layout By: Kendall

Credits: A Day at the Zoo by Lawteeda Designs

Layout By: Lori

Credits: It’s My Party – WM[squared]

Feel inspired? Good! Now go download the template –>> HERE and lemme see what ya got! I’ve included both the .psd and .png files for you!

The “Fine Print” aka the Matter of Scrap Challenge rules:

You have the rest of June *AND* all of July 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 – I will be doing a random draw!

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

Happy Scrapping!!

Wendy

Kelli here with your LOTW!  I selected American Girls from WenRob for LOTW. I was immediately drawn to this amazing page from Wendy. Her composition and use of the curved templates to create the American flag are just perfect. I love the cluster around her photo and that awesome title work too! Just the perfect patriotic page!!! Congrats Wendy!

Head on over to the forum or gallery and leave Wendy some love!!

-Kelli (Kellig)

This week I had the opportunity to interview Connie Prince- the powerhouse kit & template maker! Friday after Friday she releases some of the most creative and perfect kits for any and every occasion! I couldn’t wait to learn a little more about her!
 
1.Your screen name? Your real name? My usual screen name is conniep & my real name is Connie Prince.

2. What is your main job/career? Designing is my main career.

3. Are you married/children/pets? I am married to William & we have been married for 14 years.  We have one son, Hayden who is 12.  I’m also mama to our two dogs Widget & Mokka as well as a very fat kitty named Pringles.

4. Where is home for you? I have lived in Georgia my entire life, just outside of Atlanta.

5. What are your 3 favorite foods? tacos, nachos, & quesadillas (see a trend there?)

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Chocolate

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Typically I reach for salty, I love chips!

8. Beverage of choice? Caffeine Free Diet Coke

9. What’s your least favorite food? Anything fishy.

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use? PC, I design using Photoshop.

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started? 4+ years now.  I had been designing print material, logos, & web sites for others, so digital scrapping just made sense for me!

12. What was your 1st LO about?

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?  I enjoy reading and love to watch movies & television!

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Finding time to do it all is the most challenging thing for me!

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking? I’d love to improve my writing skills!

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows? I love reality tv, Big Brother & Survivor are my favorites!

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where? I do best if it’s quite, I usually have a Diet Coke while I’m working!

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be? Flowers & ribbon

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?  I am a neat freak, I’m also a bit afraid of anything that could be germy lol..I drive my family a bit bonkers with my constant wiping & disinfecting.  Not to mention moving things back to their rightful place before people are finished using them!  It’s a blessing & a curse I think!

20. When did you start designing? What is your favorite product that you’ve designed? I’ve been designing several years, my favorite product is usually my most recent!

21. How would you describe your design style? Happy, I love bright & happy kits the most.

22. Where do you get your inspiration/motivation?  I find inspiration in many places, colors are usually my spring board.

23. Which of your kits showcases you style the most? I think Growth Spurt is the most current one:

24. What is your favorite color scheme to design with? Primary, bright colors!

Thanks for sharing a little bit a personal life with us, Connie! Can’t wait to see many more of you future creations here at Scrap Matters!  Check out Connie’s store here!

-Whit (Whitneyt)

Hi everyone!! I’m here to bring you another Saturday Special challenge! Have you ever bought a kit that you just adored, but it didn’t come with an alpha? Or maybe the alpha, didn’t quite match the "feel" of your page? Today I’m going to show you how to make your own perfectly matched title using your text tool and a paper from the kit you are using!

First, select your text tool.

Choose a chunky font that will show the design of your paper well. Type your title in the font size you’d like and position it where you’d like on your page.

Now choose the paper you’d like to use. Drag and drop it onto your page so that it is directly above your typed title in the layers palette.

Place your cursor over the line between your text layer and paper layer and hold down the Alt key. Your cursor should change to a linked rings symbol. When you see this change, left-click on your mouse. Your paper should now be "clipped" to your text.

Now click on your paper layer and move it around until you like how it looks with the text. Once you have it where you’d like it, click on your text layer. Shadow your text layer, however you’d normally shadow an alpha!

Voila! You now have a title that perfectly matches your page!

Your challenge is to create a layout with a title you made using this technique.

Here is my finished page:

and some inspiration from the CT:

from cursivesmile

from TanyaH666

from azrood

from Abhall76

from kendallt

Aren’t they awesome? Since it’s the end of the month, you have until the end of July to submit your page. Upload it to the Saturday Special Gallery and put a link back here in this thread.  You will receive 1 point for completing the layout. If you use a new ScrapMatters product (released within the past 7 days) you will earn an extra point, just make sure you tell me in your post that you used a new product. And if your layout is chosen as winner of the challenge, you will win an additional point!

I can’t wait to see all your pages!!

For all you SBC+ Users, Quilty Mom made up a little tutorial for you!

How to do this technique in Storybook Creator Plus 3.0

1. On your layout, open a new text box. Type in your title, using the font of your choice.
2. Once you have the title the way you like it, flatten the text box.
3. Select the title. Go to your content tab and select the paper of your choice. Right click on it and choose <Fill selected shape.
4. Remember that SBC+ will fill the element starting at the top left hand corner of the paper. If your paper has a design and you wish for it to be smaller, enlarge your text before filling, then resize to the original shape.

Hiya ladies!! Melissa here for our next It’s in the Cards Challenge! So, let’s get crafty!

Remember the rules of the challenge are:

To earn your Matter of Scrap point for the month you need to photograph and upload your card to the Hybrid Challenge gallery by the end of July – yep, you get more time since it’s just about the end of June. Then come back here and post it in this thread as well. Make sure to let me know if you use a new product within a week of it’s release – if you do, you get an extra point! One random winner will be chosen to receive an extra point as well!

Here’s our template:

You can download the template HERE

And here is my card using My Hero by WM[squared]:

And here is what our fantastic hybrid ladies did with this template:

From Dalis, using Originality by Simply J Studio:

From Krisi (Krisi616 aka Krisi’s Kreations), using Berry-licious Sweet Deal from Happy Scrap Girl:

This template is simple and has limitless possibilities, so I can’t wait to see what you create!!!

With a newborn in the house, it’s tough for me to find the energy, let alone the inspiration, to scrap. But when I need somewhere to start, I head to my favorite go-to challenge: GTL!! I’m so excited to be back hosting my fave challenge and have chosen Scrapmonster as our muse. Her fresh take on composition caught my eye during the QOS competition. Check out her gallery here: Scrapmonster.

I chose this fun, circle-y layout. I just love the textures, shapes, and contrast between the colors.

Here’s what I came up with:

Here’s what our amazing CT came up with:

Kat picked this one:

and created this:

Kendall chose this one:

and created this:

Abcmomof4 chose this one:

and created this:

Lori chose this one:

and created this:

Melissa (profiler_mar) chose this one:

and created this:

Bonnie (cursivesmile) chose this:

and created this:

Kathleen (kv2av) chose this:

and created this:

Now’s the fun part! Choose your inspiration from Scrapmonster’s gallery, post to our gallery and link it up in this forum thread. You’ll receive one point for completing this challenge and can earn an additional point for using newly released SM products. I’ll choose a random winner at the end of the month when this challenge ends. See ya in the gallery!

Howdy scrappers!  Chelle here with another edition of Tuesday Template Challenge.  This week I have a two pager for you, no other rules.

Look what the CT did:

From Whitney using LawTeeDa’s A Day at the Zoo

From Scrappycath using Exit #3 by Stolen Moments

From Kathleen using On the Trail by Chelle’s Creations

From Kendall using Fly by Butterfly by the Design Girl

And from Christine using Sahlin Studios Make a Wish, Birthday Word Art, Innovation, Enjoy the Moment and Focus by Page Frocks.

You can upload your LO as one or cut apart the sides and upload it as two layouts, however the points for this challenge will still be awarded as if it were one layout.

And for the fine print:

* Post your layouts to the Tuesday Template gallery, then link us up here so we can leave you lots of love
* You will earn one point by participating in this challenge. You can receive an EXTRA point for using a product that has been released in the seven days prior to your post – be sure to make a note of this is your post so you receive proper credit
* Your layout must be unique to this challenge – no double dipping..
* You have until the end of the month to complete the challenge
* At the end of the month, I’ll choose one random winner to receive an EXTRA point

Thanks so much for playing along!! I can’t wait to see the incredible layouts that you create!

Hi, it’s LeeAndra with your What Matters Monday post this week. I’ve been thinking over a lot in the past couple weeks and this song, one of my favorites, struck me again as something I should keep in mind as I live my day to day life.

“I don’t mind if you’ve got something nice to say about me
and I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
of all who’s who and so ‘n’ so’s that used to be the best
at such ‘n’ such … it wouldn’t matter much

I won’t lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an ‘Atta boy’ or ‘Atta girl’
but in the end I’d like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don’t have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy
It’s an accumulating trinket and treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such, will soon enough destroy

Not well traveled, not well read,
not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead
‘Well done, good and faithful one…’”

Nichole Nordeman, ‘Legacy’

I realize it’s a Christian song and there are many of you who are not Christians, but I think you can ignore the overly religious parts (or add in your own religious beliefs) and still get a lot from the theme of the song. There’s that old saying, ‘He who dies with the most toys… dies.’ or ‘You can’t take it with you when you go.’ I think we as scrapbookers already understand this, and it’s part of the reason why we scrapbook, but it’s always nice to have a reminder. No matter how much we or our family or our kids have, it won’t matter one day. What will matter is the legacy we leave behind, the memories our family members and friends have of us, the photos and scrapbooks that capture our amazing ordinary lives.

I chose this layout, Soar, by andrea4376 for LOTW! It just really stood out to me, I love the picture and how the foam alpha just flows right with the journaling. Such a gorgeous LO! Congrats girl!

Head on over to the gallery or the forum and leave her some love!

-Whit (Whitneyt)

Happy Father’s Day everyone!  This week we are going to spotlight two community members!  We got behind in our interviews way back when during QOS when the site was being wonky so we are catching up on some interviews we missed! 

First up..

1. Your screen name? Your real name? Screen name is Breeze80 my real name is Breanna but I go by Bree usually {unless I’m in trouble}

2. What is your main job/career?  I am a domestic engineer and circus leader of two beautiful children!

3. Are you married/children/pets? Married to the love of my life, Dave. We have 5 yo girl and a 2 yo boy. And man is our house getting more lively the older they get!!! We have no dog *yet*. we are waiting to buy a house. Breed is TBD

4. Where is home for you?  Home is in the Salt Lake Valley. It’s amazingly beautiful here!

5. What are your 3 favorite foods? Tiramisu, almost anything chicken and food I don’t have to make

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? I have to pick ONE!? I really really really like Farr’s Lime Ricky. It’s fantastic! If you’re ever in Ogden, Utah stop into their shop. It’s fab!

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Usually sweet, but I’ll never pass up popcorn with some chocolate

8. Beverage of choice? Water, ice tea or wine

9. What’s your least favorite food?  any thing that stinks funny

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use? I love my PC. {hubby is a mac guy} and I use PSE 7

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started? I’ve been digi-scrapping for 2 years now. I was a “tagger” and then realized that digi was so much more efficient than paper and I started experimenting.

12. What was your 1st LO about? Oh geeze. I did a layout for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. I made the bowling ball. I didn’t want to have to buy anything…little did I know *facepalm*

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)? I really enjoy cooking and being outdoors. Right now I’m trying my hand at container gardening, with so so results.  And sometimes I read
 
14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Trying to get past the perfectionist in me!

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking? I want to learn how to build cars. My dream is to build my own 1959 Corvette

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows? I’m a total Glee junkie right now. Movies? I love a lot. I saw Sex 
Well, I’m set up on my desk in the “playroom” area of the house. My desk is a disaster, and I listen to the kids usually, but sometimes I’ll jam out to some iTunes or Pandora

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be? STITCHES and real foliage

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…? I have a double uterus and one kidney.

20. Can you tell us a little about your scrappin’ style? I don’t really know. I’m always changing things. I’m kindof in this whitespace area right now. I didn’t think I could do whitespace, and so I worked on it, and that’s where I’ve been for probably 9 months. I really LOVE it. lol

21. Favorite LOs that you have done?

Thanks Bree for letting us get you know you a little better! Check out all her great LOs here!

-Apachetear (Amanda)

Okay and now for our “bonus” inverview for the day!!  I think it is kind of fun playing catch up!  There are more fun things to read!!

Good morning SM! This week I chose to interview Becky (hoo-rah), a member of our SM Creative Team. I am a huge fan of her scrapping style and new that she would be super fun to interview!

1. Your screen name? Your real name? My screen name is hoo-rah (a combination of my last name and full initials), but my real name is Becky (short for Rebecca). I also answer to momma, muther, babe, chicken, smeck, hun, Becks….etc.

2. What is your main job/career?  I am currently a SAHM, but I’ve been taking online classes for the past 4 years and feel like I’ve made a career out of going to college.

3. Are you married/children/pets?
Yup – I\’ve been married to a wonderful husband (Doug) for 6 1/2 years and am the proud mama of 4 1/2 year old twin girls (Aiden and Reilly)

4. Where is home for you?  Southern California…the land of sun, sand, surf…and smog.

5. What are your 3 favorite foods? Anything Mexican (especially carne asada burritos, fresh guac and salsa, loaded nachos, or a spicy chicken bowl w/rice and black beans….YUM!), gooey brownies, and strawberries.

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? I’m actually more of a popsicle/otter pop gal, but if I had to choose a favorite ice cream flavor it would be Chocolate Malted Crunch from RiteAid/Thrifty or Half-Baked by Ben & Jerry’s

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Both

8. Beverage of choice? Dr. Pepper…or ice cold water

9. What’s your least favorite food? Ummmm…sauerkraut or liver?! I don’t know…I’m pretty easy going and will try just about anything when it comes to food.

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use? Sony Vaio laptop with Corel Paint Shop Pro X2
 

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started? I’ve been scrapping since the end of 2008/beginning of 2009. I used to paper scrap and make cards, but we moved around a LOT and my stuff kept getting put into boxes and never getting unpacked. Once my girls started crawling and getting into everything, I didn’t have the time or space to devote to “my craft.” I overheard some people talking about digital scrapbooking and decided to check it out….I lurked in the galleries and forums for a while, completely amazed by all the talent, but finally got the courage to join in the fun!! I’ve been hooked ever since!

12. What was your 1st LO about?
My first LO was made for a color challenge at another site….it took 3 days to make (yikes!) and I was so discouraged afterward that I didn’t try to make another page for about 3 months after!!

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?
I love to read, hunt for bargains, hang out with family and friends, wander aimlessly around Target and Ikea, and go to the beach. I used to run 3 miles a day, but am slowly working to get back into shape. It’s a great stress relief…but just so dang hard to do after having the girls!

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Not having the time…or the money…to scrap with all the wonderful goodies out there!!

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking?
I would love to learn to surf…I’ve gone water skiing, boogie boarding, snorkeling, and am scuba certified…but I’ve never tried to surf.

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?
We don’t have cable, but are able to catch most of our favorite shows online. That being said, I’m a crime show junkie and LOVE all the Law & Order shows, CSI shows, Cold Case, Mentalist, Chuck, Modern Family, The Office, Glee, Gordon Ramsey’s shows, and HGTV.

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?
On the couch in our front room, usually with a movie going on to distract the kiddos. If it’s late at night once everyone has gone to bed, I’ll either put a movie in for background noise or listen to music on the computer. Dr. Pepper is a must, snacks are optional.

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be? Something doodled and some stitching.

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…? I am terrified of heights…can’t ride the ferris wheel without having a mild panic attack.

20. Can you tell us a little about your scrappin’ style?
I guess I would describe myself as a little eclectic?! I love to mix and match and try new things, but I ultimately try and make my pages look like were paper-scrapped. I love doodles and stitching and textures and ink/paint smears…and I LOVE to try out new fonts.

21. Favorite LOs that you have done?
Of Aiden (Twin A):

Of Reilly (Twin B):

Of Doug:

Of Me:

Thanks Becky!  Check out all of Becky’s awesome work in her gallery here!

-Amber (jeffsamber)

Happy Saturday Everyone!! I hope you are having a great summer!  For today’s Saturday Special I am going to talk about something I use all the time to alter elements without changing their size.  We are going to use the layer via cut feature.  I am demonstrating on a frame but I use it for all sorts of things.  Cutting out Alpha from a sheet, altering word art, changing part of an element like a scatter or string.. the possibilities are endless! 

Let’s get started! 

In this LO, I want to use this frame but the picture is a different size.  If I free transform it to size it the screws and sides will be out of proportion!  So I select the part of the frame using the rectangular marquee tool.  Then I right click.  I select the layer via cut.  I don’t want to delete this part in case I need it as filler later!  When you select layer via cut the selection goes into another layer.

Now select the original layer and turn off the visibility of the cut layer.  Now we need to move the side of the frame over.

Select it using the rectangular marquee tool and then right click and select layer via cut again.

Finally move over your new layer.  For something you want to stay lined up be sure to click on the border and move it using the arrow keys.  This way you won’t get anything out of line.

And to finish it off merge the two layers together and shadow it!  All finished!

Here is my final LO using Brittish Designs All for One Templates and Fish are Friends:

This is one of the more complicated ways to use layer via cut.  If you are changing the way wordart looks or just changing the way a scatter “scatters” you don’t need to worry about moving via arrows and merging the layer together! 

Here are some more examples from our awesome CT:

Kendalt used this technique to cut the alpha out of the sheet for this adorable birthday LO using WM Squared’s new “It’s My Party” Bundle” and “Simply Dated – V.10.”

Scrappurple cut her frame for this fun summer LO!

Becca1976 created this energetic LO using 2 Green Thumbs by Erica Zane and LDrag Designs:

Becca372 cut the wordart in this stunning LO using Jennifer Barrette’s New Let Your Light Shine:

And finally Snowdrop (Newsletter Layout Editor) created this fun two pager using WM Squared’s New It’s My Party Bundle and Simply Dated 10.

I think the CT liked this trick!!

Here are the offical rules:
The deadline for this challenge is June 30th, 2010.

You will earn 1 point for your LO and a bonus point if you use a new release (within 7 days of release – be sure to mention this in the forum and in your credits).

No double dipping, your LO must be unique to this challenge.

At the end I will pick my favorite LO as the winner to receive an extra bonus point to go toward their July total.

So head on over to the forum to post your LO!!  I can’t wait to see all you work that use the layer via cut!! I love it and use it constantly and I know you will too!!

-Amanda (panders77)