Hi, Andrea here. Our guest designers Minna, Mira Designs, and Amber, Stolen Moments Designs, have been delightful to get to know. It’s been really fun to see their fabulous designs in the shop and their designer galleries knowing that there are even more fantastic products and layouts to come. Every Friday this month, Minna and Amber will release at least one new piece of digital goodness. Summer is such a busy time for everyone, there is usually so much going on, that it almost seems like too much fun. Places to go, friends and family to visit, make it hard to squeeze extras in and yet Minna and Amber managed to fit us into their busy summer schedules. Thanks again girls.

Time passes really fast. I always heard that, but never really believed it until now. These past two years have flown by at warp speed. The SM 2nd birthday bash is coming next weekend and I can hardly believe it. The entire SM team has worked so hard to make it a celebration to remember. Treats include a huge Mega kit with purchase, another one of SM’s famous blog trains, hybrid goodies, a sale (of course) and just hangin’ with the wonderful girls that make up our big SM community. I don’t know everybody and it continually amazes me that ScrapMatters has grown so large the past two years that I don’t know everybody. But I would love to meet you. So please make sure you take time to introduce yourself in the welcome forum. I try really hard to welcome everyone back–and as part of our birthday celebration, you just really might want to make it a priority–hint, hint!

There is also a new birthday celebration kit, for you on your birthday, a little treat from us to you on your special day. You need to register in the SM forum and put your birthday–the day and month are just fine. Then watch your mail on your birthday for a no-calorie treat.

There are going to be TONS of speed scraps. I hope you all have pictures to scrap, if not go get busy! Take some everyday moment type pictures–what you do on a typical July day. Whether it’s your summer or your winter, you owe it to yourself to capture the seemingly unimportant events that make up your days, for they are what make up your life. I usually take tons of pictures, but don’t get them scrapped until I do a speed scrap, so I am looking for the multitude of speed scraps to make a small dent in my picture file.

Well I’m through rambling, hope to see you around SM, it’s a fabulous place to call your digi-home.

Aloha everyone–Andrea here. Well we started our party a little early, so scroll down to read all about the happenings at SM! We’re having a fabulous blog train around the world filled with the SM team members ideas of paradise. There are 35 stops along the way. Each stop you’ll receive either an 8×8 quick page or a 5×7 brag book-sized quick page created from Hawaiian Happy Hour, SM’s newest collab filled with tropical colors. It’s free this week with a $15 purchase in the SM shop and with everything* on sale today for 40% and 30% through Thursday night you’re bound to be able to find lots of products you want to earn this beauty.

I love our blog trains so much, it gives me a good reason to go visit everyone on the team’s blog all in one day!

So here’s the itinerary:

1. Andrea http://andilynn.wordpress.com
2. Britt http://brittishdesigns.blogspot.com
3. Heather L http://joyrevisited.blogspot.com
4. Denise http://www.denisebeattyoriginals.blogspot.com/
5. Tater http://taterscraps.blogspot.com/
6. Kimbytx http://kimbytx.blogspot.com/
7. Melanie http://melanie3boys.blogspot.com/
8. Kim http://geekydiva.wordpress.com
9. Emilee http://morelovemorejoy.blogspot.com
10.Chia http://keepingupwiththekunzs.blogspot.com/
11. Jaime http://jaimeward.blogspot.com
12. Krista http://sahlinstudio.blogspot.com/
13. Wendy http://wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/
14. Sya http://scrap-stuff.blogspot.com
15. Stacy H http://stacysbackdoor.blogspot.com/
16.Tracie http://traciescrapsofmylife.blogspot.com/
17. Michelle http://mickeybdesigns.blogspot.com
18. Christy http://thewerners.wordpress.com
19. Cyndi http://cyndi146.blogspot.com/
20. Natasha http://bcnatty.blogspot.com
21. Stefanie http://stefgonedigi.blogspot.com
22. Maria http://scrapmuss.blogspot.com/
23. Heather Nay http://haynay.blogspot.com
24. Mary http://plumdumplingdesigns.blogspot.com
25. Kari http://karistamps.blogspot.com
26. Dawn http://winkasheartscraps.blogspot.com
27. Heather B.http://heb1976.blogspot.com
28. Leslie http://ggdigitaldesigns.blogspot.com
29. Kelly http://insprink.blogspot.com/
30. Jeni http://www.jeniscraftyblog.blogspot.com
31. Anna http://annabvdesigns.blogspot.com/
32. Sharon http://www.digitalcreations.typepad.com
33. Kelly K http://kkklatt.blogspot.com/
34. Happy http://happyscrapgirldesigns.blogspot.com/
35. Rachelle http://www.chelles-creations.blogspot.com/

Have fun! Please report broken links in the comments here (hopefully there aren’t any, but you never know in this age of computers!)

ScrapMatters has so many terrific things planned for [inter]National Scrapbook Day (NSD) that I don’t know where to start. First off we are having a sale—40% off all personal use digital scrapbook products, except grab bags and clearance, on Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd. The sale continues at 30% off throughout Thursday, May 7th. Commercial use products will also be on sale for various discounts.

Did you notice the phrase, “except grab bags” in the above paragraph? Many of our designers have put together fabulous grab bags for you! We also have a new mega-collab kit called Hawaiian Happy Hour FREE with a $15 purchase in the shop. It is just fabulous—see for yourself:

Hawaiian Happy Hour Mega Kit

We are having a blog train featuring quick pages made by our CT/DT using Hawaiian Happy Hour as well. It will start on Saturday, May 2nd at 7am Pacific time on my blog: http://andilynn.wordpress.com. You might find some other little goodies as you hop on and off the blog train as well. ;D

We are having lots of speed scraps, challenges and games throughout the week as well. We had so much fun last year during NSD that I can hardly wait for the good times ahead starting this weekend.

We are announcing the winners of the Design Star Contest on Friday, May 1st. We are so excited with the talented new batch of apprentices that we have. It was such a great contest with so many good applications that it was really hard to choose who to take onto our team.

May 1st is also the start of the Queen of Scrap Competition (QOS).

Throughout the contest there will be chances for everyone to win free template sets, free kits and more. Natural Wonders, the mega kit pictured below, is one of the amazing participation prizes.

Denise Beatty, our reigning Queen, and Happy Scrap Girl are in charge of this year’s QOS competition and I know that they have lots more fun things planned. Look for additional details to be revealed soon!

The best part of NSD and QOS is getting to know and spend time with you! Hopefully you will take time to drop by, make some new friends and enjoy the fun.

Hi all, Andrea here. Thanks to our fabulous tech team at webSeitler our blog now looks like the rest of the site and is so much easier to navigate. So tell us what you think about our blogs new look. Do you like it? Did you even notice? I will draw one lucky winner from all of the comments on this post on Sunday night, April 19th and award one lucky winner a $5.00 gift code to the shop and two winner will each receive my latest kit for free. So three chances to win just for leaving a comment!

Also a heads up that we will be moving to a bigger, faster server starting around April 21st. We hope we won’t be down for long, but it could take a few days until we are all the way up and running. We will post the exact date and time on the blog as it gets closer. I am so stoked about getting a server that will speed things up during high volume times. This should also make downloads of products and freebies from the site less prone to errors.

Mark your calendars for our [inter]National Scrapbook Day extravaganza. We are starting our celebration on Friday, May 1st and the party will continue for a week. We’re having a free with purchase kit, a sale (gotta have a sale), a blog train, speed scraps, grab bags, challenges, games and more fun. Stayed tuned for more information.

The Queen of Scrap competition is coming soon too! We had a blast last year and are planning even more fun this year.

The SM newsletter was delivered yesterday to all of our subscribers. A special thanks to Jeni Hopewell and the newsletter team for working hard to get you another fabulous issue. If you didn’t receive yours in your email (check your spam) please sign up again here on this blog, your subscription will start with the next issue. You can also hop over to my blog and get links for the current issue.

The Design Star contest is coming to a close shortly, make sure that you go check out the freebies while they are still available. If you haven’t registered for the forum/gallery yet, now would be a fantastic time to do so, because that’s the only way you can see the freebies. Remember you have to be logged into the forum first, then click on the gallery tab. And once they’re gone you might not see them again! The 10 Design Star finalists have come up with some fabulous challenges with terrific participation prizes too.

Hopefully by now I’ve written enough for you to have something to comment on. I love hearing how you are inspired by each other and by our CT and DT. You are what makes the SM community so special! Thanks so much for being our inspiration.

Keep reading for Photography Phriday and What’s New at ScrapMatters!

Hi Andrea here and welcome to our Black Friday Extravaganza.

There is indeed a huge blog train getting ready to roll, just look at the list below!  Along the ride you’ll find quick pages, Christmas photo cards, tags and easy gift ideas.  First stop is at my blog here.

Here is a list of all of the stops on the train just in case you get lost or sidetracked along the way.  All of these goodies will be available through the weekend, so snatch them up while you can.

1. Andrea  http://andilynn.wordpress.com
2. Britt  http://brittishdesigns.blogspot.com/
3. Heather  www.joyrevisited.blogspot.com
4. Sharon  http://www.digitalcreations.typepad.com
5. Jaime  http://jaimeward.blogspot.com
6. Wendy  http://wendys-craftycreations.blogspot.com/
7. Dacia  www.fluffybunnyfeet.blogspot.com
8. Erica  http://zane-escraps.blogspot.com/
9. Mary  http://plumdumplingdesigns.blogspot.com
10. Natasha  http://bcnatty.blogspot.com
11. Dawn  http://winkasheartscraps.blogspot.com
12. Kim  http://kimbytx.blogspot.com/
13. Bree http://scrapitbybreeza.blogspot.com
14. Tater  http://taterscraps.blogspot.com
15. Kari  http://karistamps.blogspot.com
16. Cyndi  http://cyndi146.blogspot.com
17. Maria  http://scrapmuss.blogspot.com/
18. Haynay www.haynay.blogspot.com
19. Sya http://scrap-stuff.blogspot.com
20. Scrappy Kate http://scrappykate.blogspot.com/
21. Denise  www.neeceebeedesigns.blogspot.com
22. Jeni http://www.jeniscraftyblog.blogspot.com
23. Michelle http://mickeybdesigns.blogspot.com
24. Lina http://ldragdesigns.blogspot.com/
25. Kim http://www.simplysweetdesigns.blogspot.com/
26. Leslie http://ggdigitaldesigns.blogspot.com
27. Fliffy http://funwithfliffy.blogspot.com
28. Monica  http://digikeepsakesbymonica.blogspot.com
29. Melanie http://melanie3boys.blogspot.com
30. Christy http://thewerners.wordpress.com/
31. Kim S.  http://geekydiva.wordpress.com
32. Alma http://almadesigns.blogspot.com/
33. Jenn http://www.jenlindesigns.wordpress.com

ScrapMatters is having a sale to celebrate Digital Scrapbook Day.  On November 1-2, 2008 receive 30% off everything in the shop except Commercial Use and Bella Scraps Magazine.  We sure hope you will join us.  Also we’re partnering with DigiScrap 101, so if you’re new to digital scrapbooking head over to digiscrap101.com and check out their wide array of FREE video tutorials and maybe win a prize or two.

Happy birthday to us–we’re turning one and we’re having a party to celebrate.  Thanks for stopping by and joining us.  Here’s the plan:

Everything except Bella Scraps Magazine, Commercial Use, Grab Bags and Clearance is on sale for at least 30% off.

If you spend $10 in the store you will receive our fabulous birthday collab called “You Say It’s Your Birthday.”  No need to do a thing, it will automatically be added to your cart when your cart has $10 worth of goodies in it.

Take a look at this fabulous kit:

We also have a blog train, a birthday daily download starting today as well as a chat with a freebie on Saturday.  So stay tuned for more info.  And thanks for celebrating with us.

A great big thank you to everyone that participated in July’s Quick Page Exchange. We ended up with so many beautiful pages. I can’t wait to put my book together using them.

This month we are using the absolutely gorgeous, versatile, colorful “Stella” kit by SuzieBelle Designs, aka Kristie.  Kristie has such an eye for color and design. She really has a talent for designing some of the most gorgeous kits.  The full “Stella” kit is in the shop at ScrapMatters and will be on sale for 30%  off the entire month of August.  There is a darling mini kit that Kristie has, as a freebie, on her blog. You can use the freebie too but we request that 80% of your quick page be designed with the full “Stella” kit.

You can find the complete kit here.

The mini-kit can be picked up here.

Remember, everyone that participates receives the entire set of pages at the end of the month. “Stella” is going to make a stunning collection. I can’t wait to see what you all create.

Hey everyone–Andrea here.  I am so excited–sorry this post is late–I know it’s almost Friday.  But I don’t get to write for the team blog tomorrow and I really wanted to share this great news.  We weren’t going to share it until Friday, but it’s just about Friday…so here it is:

I am just so excited about our new look and our fantastic MEGA COLLAB KIT!  It is jam-packed with goodness from all of our designers!  Such a steal because it’s free with just a $15.00 purchase (excluding grab bags)  And with everything on sale–you might think that it would be difficult to spend $15.00, but we have new designers and plenty of new products debuting that day!  And did I mention that some of our designers put together some awesome grab bags?!  The grab bags won’t be on sale, but they are filled to the brim with goodness at a little price–so they are already practically on sale.  When does all this goodness start to happen you may be wondering?  We thought it very fitting that a site as friendly  and fabulous as ScrapMatters re-open on the very unique date of 08.08.08! Barring no technical difficulties our new site will be debuting next Friday morning–around 10 am Pacific Time.

Well I hope you’re as excited about all this as I am now.  Please forgive my babbling, gushing etc.  and just mark your calendar now for the festivities!

You didn’t think we forgot the 4th of July holiday did you? I hemmed and hawed about it a little bit, we have such an international audience, it seems sort of unfair to only celebrate the USA’s Independence Day. But then I realized that everyone in every country probably loves any excuse for a sale! I know I do!

So without further ado, here’s the ad:

July 3rd-6th PDT enjoy 25% off everything in the store except clearance items, commercial use and Bella Scraps Magazine.
I hope everyone forgives me the late notice about the sale!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a fabulous birthday earlier today. Since I had 25 comments on my earlier post I will go into the store and refund every 25th order 25%–just my surprise way of thanking you for commenting on our blog!