Hi everyone, it’s Suzanne here and I am so excited to bring you this Saturday Special. One of my favorite things about digital scrapbooking is being able to manipulate the supplies to do what I want them to do. It gives me so many more options of what I can do with a kit. One of the easiest ways to do this is by changing the colors. Today I am going to show you how you can change the color of an element when the element has more than one color. I used CS3 to create this tutorial but I am told that the process works the same in most programs.

Here’s my page that I started with (using June’s daily download kit):

Here I red star buttons. Now the red buttons work fine, but I want them to be blue. Since the stars have a metal ring to them I can’t just simply go the HUE/SATURATION menu to change the color because it will tint the metal and this is what I would end up with:

So here’s what you do. First select your eye dropper tool and select the color you want to change your element too.
Next click on the black arrows above the color swatches and switch your colors so your new color is now the background color (the back square).  Then use the eye dropper to select the color on the element you want to replace. Leave that color as the foreground color. (The one that is on top.)

Make sure you have your element selected and go to IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS> REPLACE COLOR and this window should appear.

Click on the bottom color box and the color picker box will pop up. Now go over to your color swatches and choose the background color.  (The color you want the element to be.) And click okay. Now you can adjust the top Fuzziness slider to adjust how much of the color it replaces. You can also adjust the bottom sliders to tweak your color further. Once it is how you want it, click okay.

Now with my example it replaced the red mostly, but in the white parts there are still tints of red that I want to replace.

So I select my eye dropper tool and this time I click in those slightly off white areas. Then go back to IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>REPLACE COLOR and this time all I have to do is slide the saturation slider down to remove the red color. And now I have removed the red tint from the white.

And here is my finished page with my blue buttons. *Note I changed the color of one of the buttons first and then I copied my new blue button.

And here’s what kim did using Anna BV Designs Flower Power and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Denise Beatty Originals Circles of Love- the kit only had a blue button so she recolored it pink:

So here’s your challenge- I want you to pick at least one element and recolor it and then use it in a LO.  Post your layout in the gallery and in the forum and let us know which element you recolored. Remember you don’t have to use ScrapMatter products to participate but you ‘ll get an extra point if you use a SM new release (within 7 days of the products release). Everyone that posts a layout in both the forum AND the gallery will receive a point, and then I will pick one more to receive an extra point. Also there’s no double dipping.

Have fun!

Natasha (bcnatty) here bringing you this week’s Saturday Special. Today we are going to delve in to the wonderful, mysterious world of blending. Now, I am by no means an expert in this topic, but I have used this technique to save some pretty bad pictures.

I’m going to run you through the process by which I go through when I am blending. Please keep in mind that there are endless possibilities when using this technique and I challenge you to work your own magic!! Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, I am using PSCS3, and I’m not sure if all of this will translate to other programs.

So, without further ado…

Here is the picture I am trying to save…

In most cases this picture is SO not worthy of scrapping…it’s cute, but her face is really blurry. BUT I love the feel of this pic and how she is holding the ornament…so I’m going to try to save it…cross your fingers!!

First you want to open your picture in your program and place it on a new document. Please make sure that you are not working with your original picture!!

Now you choose your paper. In most cases when I am blending, I want the focus to be on the picture. So I usually choose a very simple textured solid paper (but you can certainly use any paper you’d like). For this example I choose a beautiful paper from Britt-ish Designs and De Crow Designs Very Merry Kit. Drag your paper on to the new document, then go to your layers palette and drag your paper layer so it’s under your photo. Here is what your document should look like now.

The next thing I usually do is make my picture lighter. I do this by right clicking the picture layer and choosing Duplicate Layer. On your layers palette, you should see a field that is defaulted to Normal. Click on the drop down menu and choose Screen. You should definitely see your picture brighten up a bit. If you are working with a darker picture, you could choose to perform this step again to lighten your picture even more. Since mine is already light to begin with, I am only doing this step once. Here’s what my document is looking like so far.

Next you want to merge the picture layers. You do this by clicking on the top picture layer, holding down the shift key and then clicking on the bottom layer. All your picture layers should be highlighted now. Right click anywhere on the highlighted area and choose Merge Layers.

Now comes the fun blending part, we now have one picture layer that we are going to blend with the paper layer behind it. You can play around with the blending modes and see which one works best for your picture. In this case, the Overlay mode created the feeling I wanted. And to create a visual impact I chose to enlarge my picture. You can do this by going to your menu bar, clicking Edit, then Transform, then Scale. Make sure the you hold down the Shift key when you drag to enlarge your picture, that way it will keep the proportions right. Here is what my document looks like now.

Now, I liked the blend and the size of the picture, but the colour was just a little too yellow-ish for me. So I played around with the Levels. I did this by making sure the picture layer was highlighted, then went up to my menu bar and chose Image, then Adjustments, then Levels. You can play around with the sliders until you achieve the look you want. I added just a little more blue to even out the colours. Then all you have to do is add the elements and/or word art you like and Voila! You’ve created a beautiful blended masterpiece!! Here is my final result…

And here are a few other LOs I’ve created using a blending technique.

And here are some beautiful examples from our wonderful CT to inspire you!!

Can’t wait to see all the wonderful blends in the gallery!! Happy Scrapping:)

Hey there! Rhonda here to present all you lovelies with this week’s Tuesday Template Challenge. Ok, here it goes! I LOVE to use templates and always seem to be drawn to the ones that are sweetly simple. So, for this week, I would like to see you use only two of the photo squares(I don’t care which two) and fill the other two squares with a coordinating paper or maybe a neat little frame with some cute embellishments inside of it. But I would like to see at least six embellishments throughout your layout as well. I’m such a mean ‘ol thing! LOL! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with! And don’t forget to make the template your own!

Download the template HERE!

Here are some examples:

by me…

Credits: I used Brittney of Britt-ish Designs’ Got a Date Strips and her new kit Mermaid Lagoon

by Jeni

by kateypie

by kissncontrol

by henriette

by Brittney

and last but not least this one is by sassypixie

Hey guys, it’s Sya here, with another challenge to get you going this week. Are you ready? Well, here goes nothing!

For a while now, a lot of people (especially my family members) had been saying that I’m multi-talented. Not to blow my own trumpet here but I am very good with words, scrapping, taking photographs. Needless to say, I am a very creative person. I thrive on being creative and letting all the juices flow, if you know what I mean. For this week, I would love to know what are your talent(s)? Maybe it’s something usual like what I had mentioned before and maybe it’s something quirky like you can touch your nose with your tongue. If you’re really stump for ideas, just scrap about your talent in scrapping. Whatever it is, scrap about it. Remember, scrap about YOUR talent and not someone else’s.

Here’s what our creative team had come up with..
Katie’s

She used: Stormy Weather Paper Pack, Distressed Frames, Wrinkled Blue Alpha (recolored), Painter’s Tape (recolored), and the staple and stitches are from the PS I love you Kit (everything by Dirty Feet Designs)

Krista’s

She used: I’m A Dreamer by Britt-ish Designs, Triple Threat Set One Template Pack, Word UP : Talent & Word UP : Hearts by Sya’s Blueprints

Lina’s

She used: Sprite by Britt-ish Designs & Erica Zane, alpha from Just Married by Britt-ish Designs, Hang Them High templates by Britt-ish Designs

Melanie’s

She used: Dulcet by Ellie Lash

And here’s mine

I used: Satisfaction In Me by Digi Keepsakes, Chalky Square Alpha & Distressed Frames by Dirty Feet Designs and Word Up : Talent by me.

As usual, we’ll have 2 winners this week. One random winner will get a $5 gift certificate good for anything at ScrapMatters’ store (except for commercial use and Bella’s Scrap magazines), and my favorite layout will win a template pack of their choice from my store.

Once you’ve done your LO, don’t forget to post it at the challenge thread by Friday midnight July 18th. Winners will be announced on July 19th!

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

Hello Ladies! Wendy here again, this time with the Saturday Special Challenge! I’ve been wanting to do a layout of how my astrological sign describes me for a while now, and figured that this would be the perfect time! Now, I don’t know about you all, but when I read up on what a Gemini is…it usually describes me to a “T”! Do I follow my horoscope? No. But it’s fun to see all the Gemini traits, the good and bad.

There is a wikipedia page –> here, that lists all the astrological signs, if you scroll down, you can find your sign and click on that to learn more about it.

Now the rules of the challenge:

*You must include a picture of yourself.

*I’d also like to see a couple of descriptions about your sign and what you think about how your sign describes you.

Here is *my* LO!

I am including the 12 Zodiac signs as “rub-on” freebies.

The freebie can be downloaded –> HERE!

Here are a few LO’s the wonderful CT made:

There will be two $5.00 gift certificates given away, one to my favorite LO and one will be a random drawing.

I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with! You have until midnight MST Thursday, June 26th, to complete your LO. Please post your LO in the gallery and link it to the forum!

Hi everyone! Sya here, hosting my first ever Saturday Special challenge. For this week, I have a music & lyrics challenge for you. We also have a participation prize in the form of a kit designed by our very own Britt of Britt-ish Designs. Check out the kit!

Anyway, let’s get started!

Have you ever listened to songs and said to yourself, “Hey, I can totally scrap about this!” I listened to a wide variety of songs from pop to rock to even a little bit of country, so I was constantly aware that I am inspired by the titles, the lyrics or the story behind the songs. The thing is, eventhough I was inspired by them but I never scrapped what I was inspired by. So today, I am challenging you to pay attention to what you’re listening to and make it as an inspiration for your page.

Here are some pointers to make this easier for you. You might want to . . .
1. Use the title of the song as the title of your page.
2. Use the lyrics as your journaling. Sometimes it’s hard to put your emotion to what you’re writing and it helps to use other people’s words for that purpose.
3. Tell us what you love about the song. Maybe there’s a special memory about it that you wanted to share. e.g It’s the first song that you and DH danced to as a couple, your child singing the song for the first time, etc..

But you can interpret your “musical inspiration” any way you’d like.

Here are some inspiration from the ScrapMatters CT

Mine

Brittney

Katie

Kate

Jeni

Linz

Krista

Melanie F

Melanie N

Upload your layout and post the link in this forum thread by midnight 23rd May (PST) . Everyone who enters will receive the “Music & Lyrics” mini kit, AND I’ll choose a random winner to award $5 GC to the shop. So guys, what are you waiting for? Crank up the volume of your stereo (or IPod or whatever) and get scrapping! Most importantly, have fun!!

Hello and Happy NSD! Krista here with a quote challenge.

Mother’s Day is around the corner, which got me thinking about being a mother. Personally, I always have love to spill over for my kids. But honestly, whether you want to celebrate your love for a special child, or you want to pay tribute to a special woman in your life who loved you until it hurt…I have a quote for you!

I kiss you, and kiss you, With arms round my own, Ah, how shall I miss you, When, dear, you have grown. ~ W. B. YEATS

Your challenge is to use the quote in a layout or hybrid project. You can arrange it yourself, or use the free word art I made to help you get started. Everyone gets the wordart, and one participant will receive a $5 gift certificate to the ScrapMatters shop! Deadline to be considered for the gift certificate is Friday, May 9th at midnight CST. See the Saturday Challenge in the forum to post your link.

I have made several wordart arrangements in black using the same fonts and quote… 12″ border, square (also in white and colored as below), left justify, and right justify. You get all six types in .png format. Feel free to recolor them for your layout! Download here

Fonts used:
Sue Ellen Francisco (in 2 sizes) by Kimberly Geswein
“miss you” – Marcelle Script
“dear” – MA Sexy by Margarete Antonio
“grown” – AppleScruffs

Some inspiration from the ScrapMatters CT~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mine -

Credits – Template – britt-ish designs – “Happy Template” from ScrapMatters Tuesday Template Challenge 4/29/08; All backgrounds, elements, and Alpha – from Wake Up! by Scrappy Blue Stones, at ScrapMatters; Word art – mine, as above; Title Font – Marcelle Script, Zone Erogene

Katie’s -

Jeni’s -

Hi Andrea here to report on the winners from our very first The Saturday Special challenge on opposites. It was so hard to pick just one winner so I’m glad we got to pick two favorite LOs this first time.  Leah, our newest CT member, chose “Best of Both Worlds Tour” by caitsmama as her favorite LO and my favorite was “Jumping with Daddy” by carsmom53. They each will be getting $5 gift codes to the store.

Our random winners were suzyqscraps and inspirecj they each will receive a kit of their choice from Andilynn Designs.  Everyone who participated will receive the black-and-white freebie Britt & I put together.  Enjoy and thanks for playing along.

Hi Scrappers—Andrea here.

We’re starting something new on our Something Special Saturdays—new weekly challenges. Tuesdays will now be devoted to template challenges. The Saturday challenges will be something fun, something quirky, something as special as Saturday itself. The Saturday Special is rolling out today and it will be even more fantastic if you come play along.

This Saturday’s Special will be a themed challenge about opposites. Opposites attract, opposites repel; everywhere you go in this world you are surrounded by good and evil, joy and sorrow, big and little, day and night, dark and light. Opposites usually have some significance in everyone’s life, and I want you to share and scrap any opposite that you have encountered in your life lately—be it people, places, things or what have you.

The rules if you choose to play along:

1. Photograph two opposites, they can be in the same photograph.

2. Use both black and white somewhere in your layout—B&W photos don’t count.

3. Use whatever other colors you want to complete your layout.

4. Use as many embellishments as you want

5. Include two different alphas that could be considered opposites ie black & white, big & little, round & square, grungy & pristine, serif & sans serif

6. Bonus points if you can also use two different fonts that could be considered opposites.

7. This can be a one or two-page layout—but if you do a two-pager both pages must flow together well.

8. Entries must be posted to the gallery by Friday night April 25^th at midnight PDT. They must also be posted to this thread in the forum. Winners will be announced on Tuesday April 29^th.

Two winners will be chosen at random and two lucky winners will be picked as our personal faves (I know that’s not following the theme, but you don’t want us to pick the best and the worst do you?). One will be picked by me and one will be picked by our newest CT member Leah. We are so excited to have Leah on our CT—check out her fabulous gallery here.

Each of the random winners will receive a kit from Andilynn Designs from the shop—their choice, up to $7.50 value. The personal favorites will receive $5 gift codes from the shop!

Each participant will receive the cute word art that Britt made and the glitter swirls that I made. They’re not packaged up yet, but are modeled in my LO below.

Look at some of the terrific examples our CT/DT came up with:

Leah came up with this fantatic example–

Melanie (Sassy Pixie)created this fab LO depicting big and small–it is so sweet–look at that fantastic blending.

Katie (ktkadoo) came up with this LOL LO!

Stacy (Tater) did this one about her relationship with her sweetheart–

Linz made this LO–love the lighting on that photo–

Zakirah’s is so bright and colorful and the photo just pops on that black background–

And this is the fabulous layout that Brittney did–it is full of opposites–black and white frames, opposite colors on the color wheel. While she was scrapping this she was humming the song Night & Day and was inspired to make the fantastic word art that was the perfect touch for my LO.

As you can see opposites are perfect for coming up with interesting scrapbook layouts. I am excited to see how you interpret this challenge. Have fun and make this Saturday special!

Hi Everyone—Andrea here. I just got back from a whirlwind tour of northern Europe—I visited The Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg, France and Belgium in 12 days. I had a great time and was wowed by both the historical and modern sites that I saw. I was wowed by the colors and textures of Europe. So I have a new freebie called “Timeless Textures” to share with you this Saturday. It includes 4 texture plates for personal use. These will only be available for a few days as a freebie—so grab it while you can. You can download it from the store by clicking on the picture.

I get asked a lot how to design papers—so I want to share one of the easiest ways I know and that is using texture plates. Here is just a screen shot of how easy it is…

Well that’s it for now—hope you have a super Saturday. I would love to see anything you make with these. Post your layouts in the gallery you make with these and you just may be surprised with a little something special!