Hi Ladies! Bonnie here with this week’s GTL challenge! Are you ready to do some lifting? For this week, we’re going to lift one of our talented CT girls! Kat (ktanker) has so many fabulous layouts in her gallery, you’re bound to find something you love.

So go check out Kat’s Gallery & find some inspiration.

I loved Sweet Dreamer sooo much, I just HAD to lift it:

Here’s my lift:

((using Vintage Charm by Jennifer Barrette; More Than Just Curves Vol. 2 by Happy Scrap Girl; Hold It: P’s & Q’s by Stolen Moments; & EZ Date Tags by Erica Zane))

And here are some other lifts from our amazingly talented team:

Kendall (kendallt) lifted True Soulmates:

Here’s her lift:

((using Summer Girls by Jennifer Barrette))

Fiona (canadianmommy) lifted High School Friends:

Here’s her lift:

((using Learning Curve by Jennifer Barrette & Shawna Clingerman))

Heidi (scrappurple) lifted Moments With Hannah:

Here’s her lift:

((using Growth Spurt & Growth Spurt Add-On by Jennifer Barrette))

Amy (anrobe) lifted Our Wedding Vows:

Here’s her lift:

((using Take Me Away by Connie Prince & Trixie Scraps))

Carolyn (calliclaire) lifted iToddler:

Here’s her lift:

((using Tickle Me Happy by Erica Zane))

Enough fabulous inspiration to get those creative juices flowing? Go get ta scrappin!!
>>Don’t forget to post a comment on the page you’re lifting! I know Kat would love to hear from you & see your lifts!<<

Some Challenge Reminders:
>>You have until the end of September to post your layout. Be sure to post it to the Grand Theft Layout Gallery and link it back to the Forum Thread.
>>No double-dipping! 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. (It also must be unique & only used for this challenge to count as an extra point). Be sure to note the new product in your layout description and in your post in the forum!
>>At the end of the month, one layout will be chosen to receive a bonus point for their next month’s total.
>>You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we sure do love it when you do!

I can’t wait to see which layouts inspire you!
~Bonnie

Hi ladies! Heidi here filling in for Henriette KB for another month of photography!  This month I want us to focus on eyes. It is amazing to see a picture that the eyes pop off the photo.  It takes an everyday pic and makes it extraordinary. Some ways to make the eyes pop:

Place the central focusing point over one eye and depress the shutter lightly so it focuses on that eye and then, while keeping the shutter depressed, re-compose and shoot. This way, you get perfectly focused eyes and a nicely framed photograph. Again, it takes some practice, but when you get it right, you also get a lot more keepers! Note … sometimes you want both eyes in focus and if your aperture is wide (small # 5.6, 4.0. 2, etc.) one eye will be clear and the other blurry. If you do not want this, then put the focus point in the middle of the eyes on the bridge of the nose. That  way it is evenly focused.  Having a wider aperture helps make the background blurry and the eyes crisp and clear.

Also:

When taking a picture of someone, always work to get light into the eyes. Without light in the eyes, the eyes can seem dead and lifeless.  Photographers (and other artists) call the light reflected in the eyes catch-lights. Using a small fill flash can work (with the flash exposure set around  -2.0) wonders.  Play with the exposure on you flash to get the right look.  Or, place the person toward a window or sun.  You do not need direct light on your subject, just the reflection of the light to give life to the eyes.

Here is a pic I took of my dd:

Notice in picture #1, where is the focus?  Where is the focus in picture #2?  Which picture looks more natural? Hopefully you said #1 … :giggle:.  The focus in #1 is on the eye closest to the camera, Cassie’s left eye.  In pic #2, the focus is on her right eye, farthest from the camera. #2 just looks weird … not natural.  So where you put the focus is VERY important.  I used an F-Stop of 1.4 or f/1.4. This was to ensure that everything around her eye was a little blurry. Also, notice the catch-light in her eyes?  The sun was in back of the fence and Cassie was in the shade, BUT the light from the house reflected and gave her natural catch-lights.

Now you go try!  I bet you will be amazed at what you do!! Remember, practice, practice and practice again.  :loveshower:

Here is a lo I did with new products from WM[2] & Happy Scrapgirl!

Here is what some of our Creative Team did:
Cristina used f/4 on both pictures and natural lighting:

Cyndi captured this amazing pic with an f/stop of f/2.2 :

Let’s see what you can do to make the eyes of your loved ones pop!

Please read the posting rules too, especially about posting in the right gallery, thank you!!
Upload your photo (and LO if you have one) to the appropriate gallery, then please link it back to the challenge in the forum
Just one entry per person will be eligible for a point, one extra point can be earned for doing a LO with the picture, one additional point if you use a new product from that week and if you win the challenge you also gain one extra point
The pictures must be especially made for this months challenge
No double dipping with other challenges please

Before we get to our regular post I wanted to remind everyone that the Scrapmatters Girls Call is still running!! It ends on September 10th so hurry and get in your application!  This is an awesome team to be a part of!!

-Amanda (panders77)

This week was pretty easy to choose a winner for LOTW.. I had to pick Ophelia by Strange.bird that Wendy found and nominated for GSO. Seriously I’ve never seen anything like it; so much time, effort, and pure technique was put into it.. I think its one of a kind and definitely deserving!

Congrats Strange.bird!! Head on over to the forum or the gallery and leave her some love!

-Whitney (Whit)

I had the chance to interview a designer with possibly one of the coolest store names in the digital scrapbooking community- LawTeeDa Designs! Her kits are always full of inspiration, unique elements, and tons of personality- they are perfect for so many occasions! Now is the time to find out a little more about Christa:

1. Your screen name? Your real name? My screen name is LawTeeDa Designs (clever, I know, LOL)… my real name is Christa

2. What is your main job/career? I work full time in the business office of an outpatient surgery center.  I’ve only been there for about 3 months now.
3. Are you married/children/pets? I’ve been married to my hubby, Derek, for 7 years now!  We have one little boy, Cade Lucas, who is a huge inspiration in my designs… he’s 2 and a half and an absolute doll baby!  My boys are my life!

4. Where is home for you? Home is where ever my family is!  For the past few months, we’ve been in the process of making a HUGE move, across the state of KY.  So we’ve basically been living in 3 different cities and living apart most of the time.  It didn’t take me long to realize how much I missed my family… the house or city doesn’t matter, as long as my family is together, I’m happy.

5. What are your 3 favorite foods? Homemade pizza, homemade vegetable soup & anything Mexican.

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Anything chocolate….

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Salty… unless chocolate is an option, LOL

8. Beverage of choice? Coffee is usually my beverage of choice!

9. What’s your least favorite food? I haven’t met many foods I didn’t like…

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use? I have a desktop PC that is a dinosaur but I do most of my designing on my laptop and I use Photoshop Elements.

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started? I’ve been digi scrapping since my son was born, so over 2 years.

12. What was your 1st LO about? Unfortunately I don’t have any of my 1st layouts posted in galleries.  I believe that once I started designing, I hid my early stuff, LOL, but everyone starts somewhere!  Pretty sure my first digital layouts were of my son, probably around the time he was born.
13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)? Oh yes, I LOOOOVE photography!  My dream is to be a professional photographer!

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Getting started… usually once I get something in my head, it flows quickly and easily.  But putting down that first paper or element or picture is the hardest!

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking? Photography.  Anything related to photography.  You will rarely see me without my camera hanging around my neck.
16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows? I love anything funny!  Right now we are HUGE Dexter fans!  I also love The Office, and of course Friends, Seinfeld, Family Guy & the King of Queens…
17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where? Usually sitting in the floor with my laptop, in front of the TV.  Usually with Cade driving his cars around me and throwing balls past my head.

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be? I love ribbons and I love buttons & brads…. I think with the right pictures, I could make a layout work with those elements!
19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…? I work a full time day job, I have a transcription business that I do at home, and then I’m a digital designer, wife and mommy.  I wear a lot of hats, LOL!
20. When did you start designing? What is your favorite product that you’ve designed? I started designing about a year ago.  My favorite product is probably “Faith”… I loved the kit, loved the color palette, but more than that, a LOT of the layouts that came from my own CT and from the site CT were so incredibly touching.  I felt like the kit helped people scrap things that were difficult or things that were just hard to get out.  So that kit is definitely special to me!

21. How would you describe your design style? Fun & bright… I like for pages to look like they’ve been paper scrapped, so I try to include a lot of elements that just look like something you’d find on an actual scrapped page.
22. Where do you get your inspiration/motivation?
I get my inspiration from everything around me… my son, my family, my spiritual life…
23. Which of your kits showcases your style the most? I think “Faith” is a good example of my style.
24. What is your favorite color scheme to design with? I like neutral colors, like in “Faith”, I always love to include solid kraft papers in every kit because I love a lot of white space in layouts and I appreciate a good solid!  I have designed a lot of fun colorful kits though!  I’m really not partial to one color scheme.

Thanks so much Christa for letting us get to know you better!! Check out all of Lawteeda Designs in her store here!

-Whitney (Whit)

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Happy Saturday Everyone!  I hope everyone has something exciting (or relaxing) planned for this Memorial Day Weekend!  Since summer is drawing to a close, I thought it might be fun to go “back to school” just like our kids and scrap a page using 3-4 techniques from past Saturday Specials.  I personally find myself going back to tons of the techniques I learned and when I am in the Saturday Special thread I notice a few I forgot I learned!  So it’s test time everyone!  Let’s see what we learned this year!

To help you remember all the awesome tuts we have had on Saturdays, here are two of my ultimate favorites.  I refer to them every time I want to do these techniques!  They are making a sepia tone photo and shadowing on transparent elements.

I decided for this LO I would use techniques that I haven’t used in a while (along with a few of my favorites that I use on EVERY layout!)  I used EZ Blocking, Shadowing 102, using the grid, stroking, layering via cut (I know that is my tut..but I use it ALL the time!), and adjusting curves/hue/saturation.

Credits: Woodland Fairy and Backyard Friends by Erica Zane

Here are some examples from our awesome CT!

Jen used:
Black & White Photos
Using Patterned Papers
Shadows with Guassian Blur
White Space

Credits: Jenn Barrette’s Vintage Charm

Christina used
Clipping Masks
White Space
Intertwining

Credits:
Land of Fantasy by Britt-ish Designs and Sahlin Studio
Font: Pea Olson

Aren’t these great!! I love to see the Saturday Specials in action!

Okay, now for the rules…
This challenge will run through the end of September (9/30).  Please post your entry in the Saturday Special Gallery and here in this forum post (be sure to link your LO). No double dipping, your LO must be unique to this challenge. One MOfS point will be awarded for participating, one point will be awarded for using a new product (within one week of it’s release),and one lucky winner will get an extra point at the end of the month!  If you are using a new product be sure to mention it in your forum post!

Okay, head on back to school and show me how smart you are!!

-Amanda (panders77)

Welcome to the September Getting Hybrid Challenge! This month let’s look at Jars & Containers, and spice them up! The jars/containers you use could be anything, baby food, coffee drink bottles, baby bottles, pickle jars, mayo jars… really anything you want to clean out and UpCycle!

I have a couple examples from the CT to show you here and then head to the forum to see a few more examples as well.

From Rebecca using The Design Girl’s Movie Night Digital Kit and a Crystal Light container

From Melissa using Sew Crafty from Chelle’s Creations and Erica Zane

A little recap of the ScrapMatters guidelines:
- Entries must be posted in the appropriate challenge gallery, and link us up in the challenge thread
- You will have until the end of the month (September) to complete your project
- You’ll get 1 point for designing, printing and putting together your project, and then posting the photo of it in the gallery. If you want some pointers about photographing your hybrid projects, see this thread here. You will get a bonus point if you used a new release within one week of it’s release to complete your project but you have to let me know. Plus, I’ll select one entry at random for a bonus challenge point.

Can’t wait to see what you have created!

-Krisi

What’s up ladies!! Jen (jendavey) here to bring you this weeks Grand Theft Layout Challenge! I have chosen the fabulous gallery of my scrap soul sister profiler_mar (Melissa) for us to lift! Her gallery is full of tons of amazing layouts…I am sure you will be inspired!

I’m lifting Baby Bugga:

and created a Bestie page using WM[squared] Designs Vintage Spring and Vintage Spring Bonus Alpha

The SM Creative Team girls had so much fun browsing Melissa’s gallery…and here is what they came up with

Sara (misfitinmn) lifted Explore Discover Fish and created Backyard Adventure using using Backyard Adventurer by Bella Gypsy; Weave me, Weave me: Paper Weaving Templates by Graham Like the Cracker

Jami (alansrock) lifted Such A Beach Dude and knocked out this fun layout using Man’s Best Friend kit by Man in the Moon Designs

Kat (ktanker) lifted Cat-ti-tude and created a little cat attitude of here own using the same kit:

Whit (whitneyt) was drawn to this adorable boy layout My Boy and created an equally adorable boy layout of her own using The Design Girl – boys will be boys kit

Bethie also was drawn in by My Boy and created a stunner of her own using Plum Dumpling Designs Funny Face kit

Carly lifted This is Me and created a knock out of a layout using Melt Away By Ldrag and Erica Zane, Melt Away Add On By Erica Zane, Tropical Paradise WA Extras, Simply Dated 11 By WM Squared

Fran (Fran98765) loved the water in Ride The Wave and created her own water play page:

Tronesia (Diamndprincz) lifted Explore Dream and created his precious moment:

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 profiler_mar’s LO image (both linked) in this GTL 09.01.10 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 inspired you!