It’s Saturday and time to showcase the standout layouts that have been posted in this week’s GSO thread in the ScrapMatters forum. It is great to see what others find awesome enough to give a special shoutout!

Sometimes you see a layout and think that the kit and photos are a perfect match, and that was my first thought when I saw this beautiful layout by Amanda!  Debby chose this layout and said, “I love this big photo layout by Amanda. The patterned papers she used are just perfect and those photos are fabulous!”

This next layout might remind you of the one above…that’s because both were created for the same Tuesday Template challenge.  I love how each made it their own!  Lisa (kelseyll) picked this layout by Sharon (sharjen) and said, “I love the large photo, bold colors and the clustering on this!!  Beautiful job!”

“Awesome combo of kits. The page comes life!” said Michelle (msbrad) when she nominated this spectacular layout by fanlk…it’s so cool!  The word art is so perfect here!

This next layout by filandstef is so sweet…just look how she’s kissing the phone after seeing the photo!  Denise said, “This caught my eye in the gallery. Love the use of whitespace on this (or kraft space?) So pretty with that patterned paper, light use of elements, and the pics…”

Here is another choice by Michelle…she’s got a great eye for finding fabulous layouts, and liked the super photo crop and placement of the elements.  Check out the bright colors and great use of the word art strips used by meggersjm to create such a fun layout!

Last, but so not least, is this fabulous layout by mommy2boyz!  Manda Lane said, “Check out that amazing title work! Totally going to have to add this to my scraplifting list!” when she treated us to this adorable layout!

Remember that the GSO thread in the forum is for everyone, members and the SM team to post their choices for gallery standouts.  We love to see lots of layouts posted there. All the layouts above are linked to the gallery so be sure to stop in to check for credits and leave some love for these beauties!

~Dolores

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Our SMG member that made this selection couldn’t have picked a layout with a better topic to feature on this day of LOVE! =)  She didn’t see a qualifying Project of the Week, but here is what she said about the Layout of the Week selection:

What a beautiful page this is!  I love the terrific photos, clustering, and journaling! Congrats to jennschultz for being this week’s winner.

To leave her some love, you can click the image. =)

She used several   Shabby Love packs from LDrag Designs.  These are in the February MAK collection.

Selective Coloring

By Michelle Bradshaw

Have you ever been in awe of those colorful pages where the kit is so outstanding yet you do not feel your photos work? Have you ever been intrigued to see just a pop of color and wonder how it happened? Yes, as always many ways to get creative with Adobe products.

Here is a favorite [and easy ] method of mine. All screen shots in Photoshop elements.

Step 1- duplicate the photo layer with ctrl/cmd [on mac] + j

Step 2- click on the adjustment layer icon [black/white circle] in the layers palette. When the pop up box opens, select Hue/ Saturation or chose Black and White .

Step 3- Move the Saturation indicator all the way to the left.

If selecting black and white instead, the individual colors may be adjusted with personal choice. See screen shot 3a.

Step 4- Clip to the layer below. From the menu: Layer >group with previous, or create clipping mask. The keyboard shortcuts are ctrl/cmd +g for Photoshop Elements or Ctrl/cmd+ alt/opt+g on a mac. One other option is to hover the mouse in the layers palette between the 2 layers holding down the alt/option key and click the divide between the layers. The clipping mask will then only effect the layer it is clipped to.

Step 5- With the mask box active and the color picker at the default black and white, click the brush tool and simply brush over the part where you wish to have the color show through from the layer below. The black on the foreground color picker, hides the brushing. If you brush away more than you wish, simply switch the color picker and have white as the foreground color [keyboard shortcut 'x' or click the middle of the double arrow]. If white is the foreground color, the brush will replace what was there before.

And here is the finished product.

I like this method instead of using the eraser as it is move mistake friendly.

Happy Scrapping

Michelle

Monday ONLY!! Select items are 50% off!! Visit the ScrapMatters Shop for more details!!
*Sale runs 12am-11:59pm ET. HURRY! What are you waiting for!?! *

Ok – putting everything on the table here.. Being a brave girl and letting it all go.

My baby will be 11 months old next week, and I’m still wearing maternity pants (and some of them are a bit on the small side).  We had family photos last August, and seeing myself in them was kind of disconcerting – you know, the whole “I knew I had some weight to lose, but I didn’t realize it was that much!”  I know I’m not alone here, and I’m also fully aware that in the large scope of things, my weight’s not that awful – I’ve just barely tipped to the “overweight” portion of the BMI scale, and it’s not hard to find cute clothes in my actual size – as opposed to the size I’m still trying to squeeze into 11 months later.

I know weight and dress size is a largely personal issue for many people, and that we all have our own standards of what’s acceptable for us individually, as well as what our ideal is.  Growing up, I was always the leggy blonde people always thought should model, the one who people joked that if I turned sideways you couldn’t see me (didn’t help that I’ve never had much of a chest).  But even then, I was never happy – scratch that – by the time I was in high school and first started paying attention to those things, I never made the choice to be happy with my figure – ironically, I’d give anything to have that body back!  LOL..

So this past month, I decided to change all that – in several ways.  I started actually doing something to lose the weight.  I’m a stress eater, as well as an “I’m bored, so I’m going to have a snack even though I’m not hungry” eater.  But I didn’t realize this until I started paying attention to what I was eating.  I’m using My Fitness Pal to help track my calories, and I’m participating in a couple games on DietBet for a little extra motivation – I’m competitive that way..   I’ve lost 4-7 lbs in the last three weeks, depending on when I weigh myself (and how naughty I was the day before), and I’m really proud of that.  I know I could do better – I’m still trying to fit exercise into my daily schedule, which I’m hoping will speed things up a bit.  We’ve also got a great forum here at SM to help members cheer each other on.  It’s a private forum so we all feel “safe” posting about these personal issues, so if you’d like access, please just email or PM me (user name: sm_amber) and I’ll get you in. 

In addition to the lifestyle changes I’m making, I working on making a psychological change, too – which is the most important part.  Every time I’ve planned on losing weight, I’ve been one of those girls who always put off buying new clothes “until I’m skinny again.”  Suffice it to say, I’ve been living in over-sized t-shirts, sweatshirts, pajama pants and that one pair of maternity jeans that still fits for quite some time.  Back before I quit my job in December, I’d keep my coat on at work to hide the muffin top or the button on the pants that wasn’t fastened because none of my professional clothes fit.  This time, though, I’ve put things into perspective.  I’ve got almost 50 pounds to lose, and let’s be real – it’s not coming off tomorrow.  It will be well into summer before I’m at my goal weight at the rate I’m going, and I refuse to live another six months as a prisoner to my own insecurities.  So what if I’m used to being a size 6 or a size 8?  I’m not anymore, and I need to own that 10 or 12 size tag.  I spent some of my Christmas money on a new size large cardigan, and you know what?  Wearing clothes that actually fit makes you look a whole lot better – no matter what size you are!  Our clothing budget isn’t huge, but I’ve decided it’s okay for me to spend some of that money to look good – because when you look good, you feel good.  So what did I do?  This past week I went out and bought two pairs (buy one get one half off!) of size 11/12 non-name-brand jeans.  They’re not the best quality or the height of fashion, but they’re better than what I was wearing, and hopefully I won’t be wearing them too terribly long anyway..

In the meantime, I’m going to work on embracing and loving the body that I do have.  It may not be what I want it to be, but it’s what I’ve made of it, and I have the power to change it.  Right here, though, right now – this is ME.  And I love me!  (or at least I’m trying…)

Hi!  I love Saturdays!  Not only do I not have to go to work, but I also get to share some awesome layouts with you all!

First up is an eye catcher by Lindsay_KS, a new member to ScrapMatters, but one I hope to see a lot more of in the gallery!  Amanda said, “Love the patterns and that flower is great!” when she nominated Flower Power.  The paper choices for the petals and stitched background are so perfect!

This next layout by christypooh402 was also nominated by Amanda.  She said, “This one really popped out at me in the gallery. How can anyone resist this darling smile and that patterned paper in the background really makes this LO pop.”

Browsing the gallery we usually find layouts about happy moments and events, but sometimes we need to scrap about the not so happy times.  And that’s exactly what my4boys did!  She found the perfect kit to scrap Bad Day!

Next is another not so happy layout, but it made me smile anyway!  Li nominated this layout by lingovise and said, “Oh goodness, look at that face! I really love your composition here and the addition of “hmph” at the top. lol Great clustering!!”

“Awesome layering of the papers and fabulous photo treatment. Your clustering rocks and wonderful attention to detail with the element placement. The soft touches of color show beautifully with the monochromatic theme.” is what Michelle had to say about this beauty by Ajva.

We’ll end this week’s visit with this fun layout by scrappingirl.  Jessica said, “Love your vertical composition! Great how you stitched the papers and all those bubbles is awesome!” when she treated us to this awesome layout!

Thanks for spending part of your Saturday admiring these gallery standouts!  Each layout is clickable to leave love and check for credits.

~Dolores

This layout by Christypooh402 caught my eye in the gallery and I had to get a closer look! I love the way she used the word arts and the different sized blockings for the photos! The kit seems to be made for her photos! Love it!

To leave her some love, you can click the image. =)

She used Galactic Geek by Clever Monkey Graphics!

It is time once again to showcase who our SMG team voted for to be the LOTM and POTM winners.  Each week they watch the gallery carefully for layouts that just stand out.  We post those here each week on Thursdays.  At the end of the month we review all those chosen and select ONE in each category to receive a GC to the ScrapMatters store!  Pretty sweet deal and EVERYONE is entered every time you upload a layout using products from our designers whether it was free or purchased!  We’d love to see more hybrid projects!!  Sometimes we don’t even have a weekly winner!

OK…drumroll please!

Our JanuaryLayout of the Month goes to manda_lane  for “Achieve” made with several products from the January Mix A Kit collection!

And, our January Project of the Month winner is snickels  for this adorable Christmas Card Album made with Memory Clips’ Scrap Your Story: December.

Congratulations ladies!  Be watching your PMs for a little gift code to spend in our store!!