The countdown to the holidays is really in full swing… It seems like everywhere you turn there are lights and beautiful colors to highlight the many winter holiday celebrations. The weather is definitely frosty, freezing, frigid here up North. Snow hangs in the air in many parts of the world. If you are one of the lucky people enjoying balmy, warm weather right now I’m sure many of our readers would love to trade places with you!  So where are you on the map?  Do you live in the Northern or Southern, Eastern or Western Hemispheres?  When you look at the SM community on a map you realize how diverse our community is and yet how we are all connected.  We would love to have you introduce yourself and put your location on the SM map, click here for more information.

Have you checked out the daily download at ScrapMatters? Several of the SM designers got together and created a fabulous kit called A Christmas to Remember.  A little traditional, a little retro with a bit of kitsch thrown in it will work for a wide variety of layouts and it’s yours free with new pieces everyday–directly downloaded from the SM server. Below are just the two latest days.  If you’ve yet to check it out, here’s the link.

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ScrapMatters Bingo is a hit. Many of our community members are “scrapping by the numbers.”  Our new challenge system is a fun and visual way to get those important memories scrapped while stretching your skills at the same time. You can jump in anytime during the month. Want to know more?  Just click here to start having some challenging fun.

We have a new designer at ScrapMatters this week–Memory Clips by Ramona . Love her templates!  And we’re happy to announce that Lina of LDrag Designs is back at ScrapMatters. It’s wonderful to have her fantastic designs in the shop.

Now onto the new products:

Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s Saturday Special. Have you ever had a picture that you wished was black & white? Maybe you have the perfect kit for your picture but the colors just don’t seem to work together. Or maybe you are looking for the elegant look that black & white pictures give. There are many ways that you can convert your color picture to black & white. One of the most common ways to convert it is to change the color mode to grayscale under the image menu. This tends to leave your picture fairly bland though. Today I’m going to show you a way to convert your picture without losing the contrast and making you picture look flat. (The screenshots and directions are in Photoshop Elements 5.0.) First open up the picture that you want to convert to black & white. Duplicate the picture by right clicking on the thumbnail in the Photo Bin and selecting Duplicate. This is so you are not working on the original and accidently save over top of it. Press D to set your foreground and background to the default black and white. Make sure that the black is in the top box. If it isn’t press X to switch them. Now go to the top of the Layers Palette and choose Levels from the Adjustment Layers menu. When the box pops up don’t change anything on it right now, just click ok. This will add a layer to your Layers palette named Levels 1. Go back to the Layers Adjustment menu and this time chose Gradient Map. Check to make sure the Gradient map is set on black to white. If it is not click on the arrow next to the gradient map and choose the correct gradient from the popup menu. Click ok. This will give you a layer in the Layers Palette named Gradient Map 1. Just going this far will already give you a better black & white picture, but we are not done yet. In the Layers palette, double-click on the Levels thumbnail in the Levels 1 layer. This will popup the Levels box. From here we are going to edit the individual colors, starting with red. So go ahead and choose the Red channel from the drop down menu. Grab the black (shadow) arrow under the Input Levels and slide it right. This will increase the shadows in the red channel. [IMG]http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm313/p_a_sandbulte/red.jpg[/IMG] When you think you are satisfied with this edit, go back up to the drop down menu and choose the Green channel. On this one we are going to slide the white (highlights) arrow to the left. Again when you are satisfied with this edit, go back up to the drop down menu. This time we are going to work in the Blue channel. Go ahead and move the highlights arrow to the quite a bit to the left. Move the shadows arrow just a little bit to the right. Not every picture you convert will have the same settings, play around with the sliders a bit until you get the effect you are looking for. When you are happy with how your picture looks go ahead and click OK. One last step and then we are done. Go to the Layers palette, click on More. From that menu choose Flatten Image. This will flatten the adjustment layers into your picture. You can also use ctrl+Shift+E to do this. Check out the pictures side by side. The one on the left I just used the grayscale mode to convert the picture. Look how much of a difference there is in the one on the right. Here is my page with my new black & white picture using LDrag’s Blessings of Life and Stolen Moments & Rosy Posy’s Here and Now. Check out these great pages by the ScrapMatters’ CT. Kayla made this cute page using WM Squared’s Inspired by Fran templates and Full of Joy and Add-on by Band Geek Designs. Here is a sweet one by Chel. This one by Ophelia uses Jennifer Labre’s Full of Life and True Blue Studio’s Summer Garden Templates. Here is one from Tamara using Amy Stoffel’s Make a Move. Challenge reminders: -For the month of September you will receive two points for posting in this thread & in the Saturday Special gallery. You can receive an additional two points for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points! -You have until the end of September to complete this challenge for September MOS points or wait to post in October for October MOS points! -Remember no double dipping… layout must be unique to this challenge. -You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but remember your SM gallery must contain at least 50% SM product beginning July 8, 2011.

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s Grand Theft Layout Challenge!
Today’s choice is Sasha. Her gallery is kinda new to me but I was really amazed by her work and I really want to do some thiev.. ehm lifting, of her pages!
So your challenge this week (and the whole month you know) is to browse Sasha’s gallery, find a layout you like and come back here with both the page you picked and the page you scrapped! I really hope you’ll like my pick

This is the page I lifted:

And this is the result:

Credits: A Walk in the Woods by Plum Dumpling Designs

And more from the uber talented CT ladies:

Wendy (Neverland Scraps) lifted:

And she threw up this super cute page:

Credits: Cherry Tree Lane by Graham Like the Cracker and WimpyChomper Designs

Melissa (prettypeaches) picked:

And did her own:

Credits: A Girl’s Perfect Birthday By Jady Day Studio; Basic Bits By Inspirations from Day; School Memories Add On Alpha By Jady Day Studio; Sweet Spring Templates: Set 6 By True Blue Studio

Tronesia choose:

And made:

Credits: Serenity by Andilynn Designs

Chel was inspired by:

And created:

Credits: September Mix-A-Kit pieces by KimB

———–

-You will receive TWO points for posting in this thread & in the Grand Theft Layout Challenge gallery. And you can receive TWO additional points for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points!

-You have until the end of September to complete this challenge to earn MOS points.

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

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but remember your SM gallery must contain at least 50% SM product beginning July 8, 2011.

Download here.

Here is my layout with this template using Andilynn Designs A Boy’s Treasures and Words Matter: A Boy’s Treasures.

And here are pages created by the wonderful CT.

Amy used Love This Boy by Amy Stoffel.

Here is one from Chel using Jady Day Studio’s Hitting the Waves, Band Geek Designs’ Under the Apple Tree Alpha & Dream Big Designs’ Cabin Critters – Graffiti.

Cami used First Flight by Dream Big Designs.

Carina used Country Time by Forever Joy.

Tamara used Imagine If by Erica Zane.

Challenge reminders:

-You will receive one point for posting in this thread & in the Tuesday Template gallery. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points!
-You have until the end of August to complete this challenge for August MOS points or wait to post in September for September MOS points!
-Remember no double dipping…your layout must be unique to this challenge.
-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but remember your SM gallery must contain at least 50% SM product.

Happy Saturday to you all! Becca, aka becca372 here. Whew, I’ve been busy this week with all my back-to-school prep (I teach Kindergarten)! I know many of you have had children go back to school recently, and we’re almost ready to go back here in Michigan. Today, though, I have a lesson just for you!

I love to blend papers for backgrounds, because I L.O.V.E. patterned papers, but sometimes they can overwhelm a page, so I like to subtle them up…and then the reverse can be true-sometimes I love a solid background, but it just needs a little more texture to work for my layout…so, there are a couple of ways to do it-and a step-by-step with screen shots will follow, but the basic process is to layer your papers, and then change the blending mode and/or opacity, OR use a layer mask (if you’ve got them) or an eraser to create the effect you want.

So, here’s how to do it! Here I’ve selected a yellow paper from Jady Day and Kay Miller’s new collab, A Girl’s Life. There is a GREAT yellow paper with white polka dots in the kit, but I didn’t want quite that much yellow for my background. I opened this solid yellow… 

and then I layered this great polka dot paper over it (I’ve moved it over, here, so you can see my layers)

And now I’m going to play with my blending modes….click the little tab above your layers palette that usually reads “normal” and you get lots of other choices to play with. I tried several but settled on Overlay. I then changed the opacity to 72%…just play with yours until you like it! You can also create multiple layers, at multiple blending modes, to create a look you like…

Now, at this point you can either be done and move on with your layout from here, OR you can do a bit more… In the PSCS versions of photoshop, and in PSE9, you can apply a layer mask to your paper layers-put one over your top layer (click the icon under your layers palette that looks like a rectangle with a circle inside), and then select a brush (I used a large, soft brush, and also reduced the opacity of my brush so that the edges of my masking were soft and subtle), and make sure your color selector thingy is set to white (the trick with layer masks is this–white erases, black brings it back–I always remember “white out” and “back in black”, LOL). Anyway, then just erase away what you want. If you DON’T have layer masks as an option, you can TOTALLY do this with your eraser tool (you can reduce the opacity on it, too!), it’s just a little harder to fix if you do something you don’t like!

So, yeah, on my papers, I’ve used that large, soft brush to erase some of the top paper, letting more yellow bleed through. This space is where I will be putting my photo and elements, just giving another layer of oomph to my page.

And here’s my final layout, using Jady Day Studio’s new collab with Kay Miller, It’s A Girl’s Life

If you are really struggling with the layer masking or the erasing, you can always take the short-cut of using a pre-made mask, which many designers have available (there are quite a few in different packs/kits in our shop!) and use those to clip your papers to!

Here are some more fantastic layouts to inspire you from our fab ScrapMatters team!
By Ophelia:

By Day:

and By Sarah:

and just in case you need a bit more inspiration, here are a couple more layouts from my gallery-in this first one, I used two similarly colored papers from Steph.Designs A La Campagne kit (1 craft paper, then a wonderfully textured paper) and used the soft light setting to get that extra texture I was needing.

And on this layout, I used a clipping mask (originally made for photos) to clip one of Erica Zane’s great papers onto my layout.

So, what do you think, a good how-to today? I hope you try it out!

Here are all the details for this challenge, please read carefully!

Challenge reminders:
-You will receive one point for posting in this thread & in the Saturday Special gallery. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month (August) you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points! The same is true for those of you who scrap along with me in September!
- You have until the end of August to complete this challenge for August MOS points, and if you can’t get it done by then, you get the added bonus of having until the end of September to complete this challenge for September MOS points!!

-Remember no double dipping…your photo and/or layout must be unique to this challenge.

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but remember your SM gallery must contain at least 50% SM products as of July 8, 2011.

Can’t wait to see what you create!

It’s once again time for another fun filled “It’s in the Cards” challenge!!!

Let’s get right to it!  Here is our template:

You can download the template here

My card was made using Plum Dumpling Designs’ Easter Sunday kit – I printed out the bunny silhouette in the kit and traced it onto felt.  His tail is the cut off end of a Qtip 

Here is a close-up of the details:

How about some inspiration from the team???

Hybrid Team Guest Tracy (Sunshinetk) created this fun one using Monkeying Around by Jenn Labre & Kate Hadfield :

Ami (Steami) came up with this gorgeous card using Mr & Mrs by WM [squared] & Haynay:

Jewelle (jubeejewels) did two cards with the template – one using For the Love of Girls by Stolen Moments and JadyDay Studios:

and another using For the Love of Boys by Stolen Moments and JadyDay Studios:

I just love the hot air balloon that Sarah (sporte91) used on her card – it’s from the ScrapMatters Design team collab kit Up, Up & Away:

Remember: the rules of the challenge are:
*To earn your Matter of Scrap point for the month you need to photograph and upload your card to the Hybrid Challenge gallery by the end of [COLOR="Red"]April[/COLOR] – then come back here and post it in the comment section of this post as well. Make sure to let me know if you use a new product within a week of it’s release – if you do, you get an extra point!*

I can’t wait to see what you come up with using my template!

Hey scrappers! Wow, can you believe it’s almost April? I sure can’t! Welcome to the last GTL for March, and, technically, the first for April, since the challenge will carry over through the whole month! I’m Becca (becca372), here to bring you one of my favorite challenges.

This week, I am bringing you the gallery of one of my favorite scrappers, and someone I’ve been scrapping with since (to be honest) we both barely knew what a layer was! Sarah Bennett is an amazing scrapper, has been a great digi-designer, and then…well…her internet went POOF for several months. Just recently, she got it back, and I was SO happy…I didn’t realize how much I had missed seeing her pages in the galleries!!

Anyway…her gallery, from old to new, is full of fabulousness, and I’m sure you will find something there to spark your creativity! Check it out here, scrap away, and then show me your layout in the Grand Theft Layout thread in our challenge forum!

Here’s the layout I chose to lift:

and here is the layout I created, using Embrace the Day by the ScrapMatters Design Team

and here is some more inspiration from Sarah and the SM Creative Team

Amy chose this layout:

and used My Life and Story: An Autobiography Kit by Jady Day Studio, and Many Thanks: An SM Design Team Collab to create this:

Sandra chose this:

and created this, using Drift Away: The Sweet Deal by Graham Like the Cracker and By Becca

Fiona lifted this layout:

and used Totally 80′s by the ScrapMatters Design Team to create this fun layout:

tsmspt lifted this recent layout of Sarah’s:

and her lift, using Erica Zane’s First Time Ever

and, last but not least, Fran lifted:

and used (look out!) Back 2 Skool, Handwritten Dates, My Magical Place: Add-On Alpha, My Magical Place Add-On and My Magical Place Clusters, all by Haynay Designs to make this fun layout

So, are you feeling inspired? I know I’m ready to lift Sarah over and over again!

Challenge reminders:
-You will receive one point for posting in the Grand Theft Layout thread & in the Grand Theft Layout gallery. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points!

-You have until the end of March to complete this challenge for March MOS points or wait to post in April for April MOS points!

-Remember no double dipping…your photo and/or layout must be unique to this challenge.

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

Hey everyone!  LuAnn here with your March Getting Hybrid Challenge!

This month we’re going to be decorating candles, votive holders, jar candles and more with beautiful decorative wraps. They are the perfect way to add color or a personal touch to tables, shelves, centerpieces and more.

But most importantly….
**These candles are for decorative purposes only – please do not ever light a candle that has paper and other flammables on/or near it**

Here is my candle sporting a gorgeous new wrap using Jady Day Studio’s collab kit with KimB’s Designs called What Matters Most.

and a close up of the details:

So let’s get started with how to make your own candle wrap!
Supplies:

• Candle

• Epson Matte Presentation Paper

• digital kit of choice

• embellishments of choice – buttons, ribbon, brads, punches, flowers, dies, ink, pop dots, 3D foam squares, etc.

• double sided tape (or other adhesives of choice)

1.  Measure around your candle – allow for an overlap.  Determine how tall you want your candle wrap to be.

(My candle is a 6 inch pillar – my wrap is going to be 9 1/2 inches wide by about 3 1/2 inches tall)

2.  Create your candle wrap using a photo editing program of choice.  I’m using Jady Day Studio’s What Matters Most digital kit.

3.  Determine if you want your candle wrap to be all digital including shadows or if you want to print each layer of your wrap and then assemble true “hybrid” style.
(I decided to print my paper layers separately.)

4.  Determine how you want to decorate your candle wrap – now don’t panic!  Just think of it as a long narrow layout that you will print out and wrap around a candle. 

5.  Print your wrapper and/or the pieces to your wrapper on matte presentation or matte photo paper using your printer’s best print option.

6.  I distressed the edge of my patterned paper and used a lacey border punch on the cream colored plain paper and inked the edges. I adhered the lacey punched papers to the back of the edge of the patterned paper.  After wrapping my papers around my candle, I used double sided tape on the overlapping area to secure the wrap.

7.  To create the flowers, I printed some square blocks of the solid pink and solid cream digital papers in the kit.  Using my Big Shot, I die cut some Cherry Blossom flowers.  I also die cut a butterfly from the solid pink digital paper and added two small crystals to the center of the butterfly.

8.  After inking the edges, I punched two small holes in one petal of each of the pink flowers and two small holes in opposite sides of the cream colored petal.   I used twine to create a cross stitch to attach the flowers together.  Then I added a flat back pearl to the center of each flower.  The pearls were a little too white in the middle so I lightly dabbed the pearl with the same ink that I used on the edges of the flower.

9  The flowers and butterfly are attached to the candle with 3D foam squares.
And there you have it – a beautiful candle perfect to display or give as a gift!

How about some inspiration from the team?

Cathy (Scrappycath) created this beautiful jar candle wrap using Thankful for you by Mye De Leon:

Jewelle (jubeejewels) created this fun candle wrap using So Silly by Amy Stoffel:

Amanda (Abhall76) created this gorgeous wineglass lamp shade which uses a battery operated tea light – she used Zen Garden by Inspirations from Day:

**Again…This candle is for decorative purposes only – please do not ever light a candle that has paper and other flammables on it**

Here are the ScrapMatters challenge guidelines:
- Entries must be posted in the Getting Hybrid challenge gallery HERE and also linked up in the comments section of this post.
- You will have until the end of March 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. You will get a bonus point if you use a new release within one week of it’s release to complete your project. You must mention that you used a new product in the comment section of this post to get the bonus point!

I can’t wait to see what you create so be sure to link me up so I can leave you some luvin’!!!

LuAnn

Hey everyone! LuAnn here with our next It’s in the Cards challenge!

Before we get to the template – have you checked out the Hybrid Bootcamp put together by the ScrapMatters’ Hybrid Team?  It’s never too late to stop by and pick up some tips and techniques to take your hybrid projects to the next level!!!

Remember: the rules of the challenge are:
*To earn your Matter of Scrap point for the month you need to photograph and upload your card to the Hybrid Challenge gallery by the end of March – yepp, you get more time since it’s just about the end of February.   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!*

Here’s our template:

Download HERE

Here’s my card using Man in the Moon Designs’ Carousel Ride kit

And check out this wickedly cool card by Julie:

I can’t wait to see what you come up with using my template!

Happy 2010 everyone! LuAnn here with the first card challenge of the new year! A new year of card challenges with some small changes.

As you can see from the subject line, we’ve gone back to the original name of the ScrapMatters’ card challenge – “It’s in the Cards!” And we’re switching the challenge to every other Thursday. But other than that, the challenge will remain the same – hosted by your favorite hybrid goddesses!

Before I show you the template, let’s review the rules of the challenge:

*Remember that to earn your Matter of Scrap point for the month you need to photograph and upload your card to the Hybrid Challenge gallery by the end of the month. Then post it in the It’s in the Cards challenge 1/14/10 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!*

Here’s our template – the template was inspired by a card created by stamper Donna Baker:

Download template here

Here’s my card using the template and Juno Designs’ Dessert kit:

And check out what the team did with my template…

Sylvia’s gorgeous card using Dare to Dream by Jennifer Barrette:

and Cristina’s take on the template – using Day by Day : January mini-kit by Chelle’s Creations:

So, let’s see what you can do with the template!

*and for those of you who are interested in trying hybrid but have no clue where to start, be sure to join us in the forums in February for our Hybrid Bootcamp – where we’ll cover all the basics to get you started!*