I’m super excited to bring you today’s Sunday Spotlight. Today we are getting to know one of our scrappers here at ScrapMatters, Navaja77.

1. Hi, I love your screen name, how did you come about choosing it? Whats your real name?
My screen name, Navaja77, is based on 2 things. First, I’m Navajo and part of a Native American tribe located in Arizona. I used Navaja so it sounded more feminine. 77 is my birth year. My real name is Ophelia.

2. What is your main job/career?
I work full-time as a civil engineer for the U.S. Forest Service. I’ve been with them for the past 10 years.

3. Are you married/children/pets?
I’m married to my best friend, Jason, for almost 8 years. We’ve been together over 12 years since we first met in college. We have two kids – our 5 year old son, Memphis and 7 month old daughter, Olesya. We also have an 8 year old cat – Callie.

4. Where is home for you?
I live in Prescott Valley, AZ. I also considered Kaibeto, AZ as my hometown on the Navajo Nation.

5. What are your 3 favorite foods?
I love frybread, roast mutton and thai beef jerky. Roast mutton and frybread is traditional Navajo food.

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
New York Blueberry Cheesecake

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet?
Depends on my mood…I can snack on red vines or goldfish crackers

8. Beverage of choice?
Definitely Starbucks Black Iced Tea – I brew it myself at home or grab one from Starbucks.

9. What’s your least favorite food?
I cannot stand lima beans! Yuck!

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use?
I don’t use either. I have Ubuntu 8.04 (Gutsy Gibbon) installed on my Dell laptop. It’s a Linux operating system. I use GIMP for my digi scrapping.

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started?
I started dappling in digi scrapping back in February 2009. I really got into it a year ago. I came across it while looking for scrap sketches online. I had started paper scrapping first but didn’t really get into it. Once I found digi scrapping, I left paper scrapping behind and never looked back.

12. What was your 1st LO about? My first LO was about my son and his cousins (my niece & nephew) as we were waiting for my sister to get out of a store. We were hanging out in her truck. I took pictures of the kids to past the time.

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?
I try to read as often as I can. I love reading about the Tudor/Elizabethan era. My favorite author is Phillippa Gregory. I also have started sewing again. I’m making little stuff such as baby legs for my daughter, curtains, pillows and simple blankets. 

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking?
I would love to learn how to play the guitar or the piano. Of everything I’ve learned, I never had much musical exposure throughout my life.

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?
Bones, The Ghost Whisperer and Law and Order (both SVU and the original series) are my favorite TV shows. My favorite movie is The Orphanage. I’m a horror movie fan. Of all the horror/suspense movies I’ve seen, The Orphanage still amazes me because of how well the movie was made. They did a remake of the film here in the US but I recommend watching the original which is a foreign film.

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?
I scrap on my laptop in the living room. The TV is usually on. I may be watching it but most of the time, it’s my brother or my son watching TV. I usually have my tea (iced or hot) and maybe a snack but not all the time. I’ll almost always have my daughter in my lap or playing right beside me. My layouts are usually sitting unfinished for a couple of hours before I finally complete it after the kids are asleep.

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be?
String and ricrac/ribbon.

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?
A little known fact that most people don’t know about me is that I can talk ALOT! I tend to be quiet and observant but given the right moment or place, I can say a lot. My mom says over the years, I’ve learned to talk too much! It’s a cultural thing in my tribe to listen, be observant, talk when its your turn, be polite, don’t interrupt. Most conversations are not “quick” and have frequent long pauses. You have to allow time for the other to finish what they have to say. The longer I am married to my husband (who by the way is loud and talkative himself) and living off the reservation, I find myself becoming more talkative and social.

20. Can you tell us a little about your scrappin’ style?
I like to layer and cluster. I tend to fill up my layouts and fill in all the spaces. Its a stretch for me to do a white space layout. I like to focus on the pics. My pics tend to be medium-large. Rarely do I have a layout with small pics. I’ve been told I scrap paper style even though I never really got into paper scrapping.

21. Favorite LOs that you have done? I have two favorite LOs right now. The first is of my daughter. It’s a simple layout that borders on white space (hard to do for me). The main focus is the photo I took of her. It is one of my favorite photos of her.

The 2nd one is of my son. This one was difficult to scrap because it was a memory that makes me sad (even now). My son has his tooth extracted earlier this year. First, I couldn’t find a kit to match. When Stolen Moments and Plum Dumpling Designs came out with their collab Black & Blue, I grabbed it. It went perfectly with the pictures. It was still hard to scrap but I wanted to keep a memory of this experience.

22. How long have you been a member at ScrapMatters?
I joined Nov 2009 so about 11 months now.

23. Do you have any suggestions for kits you’d like to see in the SM store?
I’d love to see someone make a martial arts kit. I have pics of my son in his jujitsu class but it hasn’t been scrapped because it just doesn’t go well with anything in my digi stash.

24. What is your favorite part of being a part of  ScrapMatters?
I love all the challenges! They are interesting and keep my scrapping mojo going. The group is great! I love browsing the gallery because I get so much inspiration or ideas. I learned a lot every day based on what I read or see in the forum, the blog and the gallery.

25. What is your favorite childhood memory and have you scrapped it?
My favorite childhood memory is all the fun places my parents took us such as trekking down the canyon near my dad’s childhood home, rounding up cattle, feeding the ranch animals, wood-cutting, etc. It was hard work but now when I look back, it was definitely rewarding to experience all that. I try to do as much of that for my kids so at least they can experience it, say they did it and had fun. I haven’t scrapped any because at first I didn’t have any pictures of those moments in my possession. Recently, I got a few from my mom that I have to scan in. When I go back to visit my parents, I’ll make some time to dig through her shoe boxes of photos to find more. The only recent one I have scrapped is of a road trip with my dad when I was a toddler.

Thanks Ophelia for letting us get to know you a little better. Be sure to check out Ophelia’s entire gallery here.

-Terin (Scrappyfrog)

Hi everyone!

This is my first time EVER hosting a challenge here at ScrapMatters which is both fun – and a bit nervous…!

Here´s the preview:

My card:

…and here´s the link:

It´s In the Cards

And here´s some fabulous work by all the talented ladies at ScrapMatters:

By Cathy using My Magical Place by Haynay:
]

By Rebecca using This Woman’s Work by Wimpychompers Designs and Trixie Scraps and Write It Out: Individual Brackets by Krisi’s Kreations

By Quiet Angel using [wm] squared Cupcake Love

By Tanya using Delicious by JennCK Designs

By LuAnn using Connie Prince’s Celebrate Her! Kit and Celebrate Her! Word Art
]

By Sarah

And last- but not least – this one from Amanda (she made THREE wonderful cards – go and have a look in the gallery) using One More Sleep by Graham like the Cracker and Stolen Moments Designs.
]

Wow! How´s that for inspiration???

Remember: the rules of the challenge are:
*To earn your Matter of Scrap point you need to photograph and upload your card to the Hybrid Challenge Gallery by the end of  November – then come back here and post it in this thread as well. Make sure to let your hostess 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!*
And since in October we are celebrating the anniversary of the Matter of Scrap challenges, you can earn TWO points for your cards instead of one if you post it before the end of October!

Now go on and have FUN with this template! Can´t wait to see what you make of it!

Cheers/Carina

Halloween begins the fun season for decorating, lots of treats and lots of family times!

I love the fact that anyone can receive this little box filled with goodies and really enjoy it! It’s so cute, looking like a little wrapped candy!! I can see the same project for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other special day! Congrats to bydelstorp for her “Candy Box”

Talk about a fun hybrid project! Be sure to stop by the gallery and forum and leave Karen some love!

-Terin (Scrappyfrog)

We have the most amazing scrappers here at ScrapMatters. Unbelievable talent and it gets harder and harder to choose. This week I chose “Gratitude Everyday” by Patti!! Her use of the mask, the colors, the word art, the photo treatment, the journaling…all work together so well to make this absolutely awesome page!!

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

-Terin (Scrappyfrog)

Hello Scrappers! I hope this fine Saturday finds you all well and ready to have some fun digiscrapping!

Today’s Saturday Special is all about getting more use out of your themed kits. For example, is it possible to use Halloween kits more than once a year? Can we use themed kits to make non-themed layouts! And my answer to you today is “absolutely!”. So hop on and let’s get started.

We all know that themed kits can have lots of themed doodles that are, well, related to the theme of that specific kit. So one thing to keep in mind is to not use the themed doodles/elements (like a witch for example) but pay close attention to the “other” elements that basically dress up the kit and that overall dress up layouts in general. What you are looking for:

-flowers/stars
-strings
-buttons
-trims
-frames
-ribbons
-leaves
-plain tags
-plain journaling blocks
-bead clusters/sequin/glitter
-any other non-themed elements
-solid papers
-papers with general patterns (no themed doodles)

If a themed kit has colors and textures that you absolutely adore or that go really well with specific pictures, then please by all means go ahead and give it a go! And if a kit has a LOT of themed elements, then use the non-themed elements several times on your layout. You’ll be surprised at how happy you will be with your layout.

By getting more use out of your kits, your get more bang for your buck. We all love that!

Now let me show you how I used my newest Halloween kit {which is quite themed!) by just working with the non-themed elements:

Your challenge is to make a non-themed layout using a Halloween or other really themed kit. The theme of the kit you use must be unrelated to the type of layout you make. Upload your layout to the Saturday Special Gallery & link us up here so we can admire your work. Be sure to tell us how you made it “your own theme”.

Here’s a few examples from the CT:

From Melissa using Be Inspired-Amy templates; Let Them Eat Cake; and Simply Dated Vol 10 from WM[squared]:

From Fiona using Bits and Bots by Stolen Moments and Nikki Beaudreau. She used a robot kit to scrap her son’s silver medal race:

From Kendall using “It’s Gonna Be a Happy New Year” by WM [squared] and Jenn Barrette as well as “Be Inspired – Amy” templates from WM [squared]:

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

A few rules to remember…

-Post your pages in the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post.

-You have until Nov. 5th, the day before DSD to play along, then I’ll choose my favorite to receive an extra point.

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

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but we love it when you do!

Can’t wait to see what you scrap!

Yari {Jady Day Studio}

Hey there fellow scrappers – LuAnn here with your next round of Grand Theft Layout!

This week we’ll be lifting from the fabulous gallery of snaggle7575 (aka Carly)!

Carly’s layouts always have the most gorgeous clusters, realistic shadows and photo treatments – and her composition is always spot on, too!  I’d also like to challenge you to do something special to your photo(s), the same way Carly does – creatively crop the photo, run an action, anything that speaks to you and helps enhance the page.

Check out Carly’s gallery.

To complete this challenge, you’ll need to browse through Carly’s gallery and take inspiration from one of her pages – her use of color, composition or title work – and create a page of your own.  Remember, it doesn’t need to be an exact copy – that’s why it’s called a lift.

Oh, and good luck picking just one layout!!!

Once you’ve completed your LO, upload it to the Grand Theft Layout Gallery, and be sure to link us up here in the forum (along with a link to Carly’s layout that you lifted) so we can leave you LOTS of love.

I chose to lift this page:

Here is my page using Stolen Moments and Melissa Bennett’s collab Sweet as Sugar:

And check out the inspiration from our fabulous team:

Jami lifted this layout of Carly’s:

Jami’s layout using  Autumn Falling collab kit by Kristin Aagard & Stolen Moments Designs and Watercolor Print Alpha by Faith True:

Cara lifted this layout of Carly’s:

Here’s Cara’s layout created using Little PowWow by WimpyChompers:

Both LeeAndra and jeffsamber lifted this layout of Carly’s:

Here’s what LeeAndra came up with:

and jeffsamber came up with this layout:

Melissa played along and lifted this layout of Carly’s:

Here’s what Melissa came up with using If You Give A Girl A Castle by Erica Zane:

How’s THAT for some inspiration???
A few reminders:
* You will receive one point for your entry
* You will receive one extra point for using a NEW product within the first week of its release – PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF THIS IN YOUR POST
* One lucky winner will also receive an additional point at the end of the challenge
* You have until the end of NOVEMBER to complete your layout.  (Layouts posted in Oct. will count toward your Oct. points.  Layouts posted Nov. 1st through the end of Nov. will count toward your Nov. points.)
* No double dipping – please keep your layouts unique to each challenge
* HAVE FUN!

And don’t forget to leave Carly some love as you’re browsing – I’m sure she’ll really appreciate it!

Hello gals!!  Wendy here with the last Tuesday Template of October!  November is knockin’ on the door, which seems just unreal!!  As always, 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: B.F.F. by WM[squared] Designs

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

Layout By: Cinna

Credits: Early Bird by Erica Zane

Layout By: Fran

Credits: Coastal Getaway Collab by SM Designers

Layout By: Jill

Credits: Family Matters Collab by WM[squared] & Graham Like The Cracker

Layout By: Jen D.

Credits: Early Bird by Erica Zane

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 October *AND* all of November 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 two points for completing the challenge (In October only – November you’ll get 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

On New Year’s Eve 2009 my Aunt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Since then she has undergone chemo and radiation treaments. As of last week her cancer markers are down to 8!! She will continue to go in for CTs and bloodwork every 3-months. She is finally gaining weight and feeling like a “person” again! Her 50th Birthday was this past June and with the help from some girls on the CT I was able to make a photobook for her using the ScrapMatters Hawaiian Happy Hour kit and LDrag’s Tropical Sunshine kit .



Memories and moments with loved ones are precious so make sure you seize the day and capture those moments! My Aunt was thrilled with the book, I am sure it’s something she’ll always treasure! I love you Auntie Bea!

Jami (alansrock)

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

And now for the PROJECT of the week!!
I love this purse from knlchevys! The plaid paper is perfect for a purse! Any girl would love it!!

Congrats Kate!! Head on over to the gallery or the forum and leave her some love!-Chel (Chel)

Hi Scrappers!

Our Saturday Special today is about Titles…specifically playing with your alphas to make your titles more fun!

If you need inspiration for what to use as a title, Jen made some suggestions here, but this is my favorite place for titles.

Ok, now that you’ve decided on a title, picked out an alpha, and loaded the letters onto your layout, let’s play! You can always use multiple alphas, but here are some tricks for when you are only using ONE alpha:

Here’s my layout ready to go:

#1 While you CAN line up all the letters, sometimes it’s fun not too. Randomly shift your letters up and down.

Like this:

#2 And you can space them out…nice and even, but they are even more fun when they are overlapping. I like to add a shadow to all the letters at this stage to make it easier to see the final product.
Here’s mine:

As you are “snugging” up the letters, watch out for a couple of things…don’t snug thin letters like i or l too much. You can move them close…but because they are so thin, they look funny when overlapped too much. I usually overlap them on one side, but not the other. And…don’t cover up something important…adjust the order of your alpha layers so that it is still easy to read. in my example, the o in doing seemed burried. I moved the “o” layer up ’til the left side was on top of the d. Same for the “r” in corn…I moved the “n” layer down ’til the right edge of the r was on top.

#3 Change the size. Already your title is looking GREAT, but we have one more trick up our sleeves…resize some of the letters…make some larger and/or some smaller.

Here’s my finished layout:

Your challenge is to use AT LEAST TWO of the three tricks on your title. Upload your layout to the Saturday Special Gallery & link us up here so we can admire your work. Be sure to tell us which tricks you used.

Here’s a few examples from the CT:

From Rebecca:

From Tanya:

From Jan:

From Melissa:

From Fran:

A few rules to remember…

-Post your pages in the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post.

-You have until the end of October to play along, then I’ll choose my favorite to receive an extra point.

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

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but we love it when you do!

Can’t wait to see what you scrap!

–Chelle