Today is possibly one of the greatest days of my life - my daughter told me that she is pregnant with my first grandchild.

I have been longing for this day. Both she and her husband are 31 - which seems to be the norm for today's young couples. They first get their careers and lives sorted out and then think of starting a family.

What is bittersweet for me is the fact that they live so far away in London. I live in South Africa. It is a 12 hour, not to mention very expensive, flight. I try my best to visit them once a year and they do the same by coming "home" at least once a year. But, I am going to miss being close and watching every single precious moment of the pregnancy, birth, baby days and years. My heart almost breaks with joy and sadness at the same time.

However, I have already given strict instructions that I need lots and lots of photos on a constant basis. I will spend my time digitally scrapping each one and this will be my healing therapy. I cannot wait to get started - never mind she is only just pregnant.

I am so happy. I am walking with a constant smile on my face and my heart is singing with joy.

- Sandra

Muse: To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation. Not intended to solve the world's problems, another person's problems, or to cover topics completely. One does not have to agree with musings to enjoy them, just as one does not have to be the same as someone else to appreciate who they are.

Would you like to earn a $20 Gift Certificate? Send your own muse to [email protected]. If it is selected for publication in the Scrap Girls newsletter, you'll get to have fun shopping!

It's that time... the Scrap Girls Convention is nearly here! Don't miss the chance to learn, meet, and make friends with other Scrap Girls from all around the world!

Here are the facts:

When: October 8-10th, 2009

Where: Salt Lake City, Utah

What's Included
- 4 (four) meals (two lunches and two dinners)
- A Collection Biggie, designed especially for the convention
- Other free digital scrapbooking supplies, designed for class materials
- PDFs of the class materials
- Action-packed classes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
- Crops, games, and time to hang out and make friends with other Scrap Girls
- The chance to meet in person and get help from Scrap Girls designers, layout artists, and welcoming committee members
- Memories that will last forever!

Note: Convention begins at 1:00 pm - Thursday, October 8th and ends at 6 pm - Saturday, October 10th.

How many people may attend? Only 126 and almost all of the seats have been sold! Don't miss out on this opportunity - secure your place now!

What will you learn? Here is a list of the classes and who will be teaching:

- How To Create Silhouettes with Brandy Murry
- How to Combine and Mix-up Digital Layout Templates to Create Unified Albums with Angie Briggs
- Using Styles To Make Your Photos look like Oil Paintings with Shalae Tippetts
- Tips and Tricks to Make Albums Fast! with Cherise Oleson
- How To Improve the Lighting of Your Photos with Laurel Lakey
- New Tricks for Using ScrapSimple Paper Templates with Marnie Adams
- How To Make a Slide Show with Your Layouts with Brandie Valenzuela
- Advanced Techniques To Improve Your Layouts with Christy VanderWall

A Canon Representative will be there to teach advanced techniques for using our cameras. She is going to award a prize! Then we will take a field trip for a special photo shoot.

We hope you come because you're special to us and we are dying to meet you! Scrap Girls is all about making friends while we enjoy the hobby that allows us to save our memories in a fun way. Having you with us would be awesome!

Sign up now!

SCRAP GIRLS CLUB

Join the Scrap Girls Monthly Club and you can have fun with the newest traditional digital and printable scrapbooking looks while saving! (A $27.94 value for $9.99 or less!)

The Scrap Girls Club contents are released on the 1st day of the month (or the closest business day to the 1st).

With the Scrap Girls Club, you will receive:

1 Collection Biggie
1 Paper Super Mini
1 8.5x11 Sheet of Word Art
1 Embellishment Set
1 Assemble Your Own Zoom Page Set
1 Designer's Choice Item

Layout by Thao Cosgrove using October's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Thao Cosgrove

If you prefer not to join a club, the Scrap Girls Club contents are available at regular prices in the Boutique. You can easily find them right now by checking the What's New? section of the Boutique.

Note: The Scrap Girls Club contents are always available for sale elsewhere in the Boutique at their regular prices once the associated club month is released. But all club contents are totally brand new, never seen before product releases for each month!

SCRAPSIMPLE CLUB

Join the ScrapSimple Monthly Club and you can enjoy the newest ScrapSimple looks while saving! (A $13.95 value for $6.99 or less!)

The new ScrapSimple Club contents are released on the 15th day of the month (or the closest business day to the 15th).

With the ScrapSimple Club, you will receive:

1 ScrapSimple Paper Template Set
1 ScrapSimple Embellishment or Word Art Template Set
1 Brush Set
2 Designer's Choice Items

A commercially licensed version of the ScrapSimple Club is also available here.

Layout by Brandy Murry using September's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Brandy Murry and Durin Eberhart

If you prefer not to join a club, the ScrapSimple Club contents are available at regular prices in the Boutique. You can easily find them right now by checking the What's New? section of the Boutique.

Note: The ScrapSimple Club contents are always available for sale in the Boutique at regular prices once the associated club month is released. But all club contents are totally brand new, never-seen-before product releases for each month!

Cooking Up Color Schemes

One of the things I like best about Scrap Girls classes is the homework gallery. Not only does it provide a place for everyone to show off the new techniques they've learned during class, but it is also a great place to get constructive criticism on layout and design principles.

It's inspiring to see a layout that someone isn't completely happy with and then to see a revised version posted. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite examples from my "Cooking Up Color Schemes" class.

Layout by kabernat
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In this layout, Karen did a great job developing a color scheme. The teal background, paired with the playful pink and the bold black and white is perfect for these fun pictures. But, the black ribbon running through the page is visually dividing the layout. It breaks up the flow. Since it is such a strong visual barrier, it is difficult for a viewer's eye to move from the left half to the right half of the layout.

Layout by kabernat
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Sparkle Trails and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Glitter Brights Super Biggie 4101 are also available.

By turning the ribbon, moving it under the focal picture and cutting it so that it is just slightly longer than the focal picture, it brings more emphasis to the focal picture. It also balances out the bits of black on the layout, without being so visually heavy and cutting the layout in half.

Layout by functionalfit
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Carol did a wonderful job with the color scheme on this layout. The orange, green and yellow color scheme works wonderfully with the photo and the theme of the layout. But, the title is difficult to read and looks awkward layered over the thick picture frame.

Layout by functionalfit
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Reworking the title pulls the whole layout together. The thicker, lighter alpha makes the title stand out and draws more attention to the photo. The whimsical style and placement of the alpha work really well with the photo.

Article written by Anna Mansfield

Weekly Layout Winners

Layout by mRaeDalman
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates - Photo Masks: Tattered Text, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Crafty Plaster, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Framed Ink 1801 Mini and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 are also available.

Layout by KatieGrace
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Want to see your layouts make an appearance in the Scrap Girls newsletters?

Simply post your digital or paper layouts that use Scrap Girls products in our online gallery, and if we choose your layout to be featured in the newsletter, you'll win a prize! To be considered, don't forget to list the Scrap Girls products that you used in your layout.

Congratulations to this week's selectees. Please email [email protected] to get your gift!

Want to see past winners of the Weekly Layout Contest? Visit the Weekly Layout Winners gallery on our message board here!

Member of the Month - October 2009

Congratulations Stephanie (StephRN)! The Scrap Girls Team has chosen Stephanie as the Member of the Month for October!

Stephanie is a wonderful addition to the Scrap Girls Community since joining in May 2008. Stephanie keeps everyone hopping in the Games Forum and is quick to answer a question or say a prayer for those who need it. She truly is a wonderful addition to the Scrap Girls family.

Stephanie receives a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique and has the honor of wearing the Member of the Month blinkie!

When you have a few minutes, Stephanie, please tell us a little about yourself and share a link to your favorite layout! Thank you for making Scrap Girls a wonderful, friendly place! Congratulations!!

FREE STARTER KIT

Free eBook "starter kit" turns your dreams of digital scrapbooking into reality today!

This dynamite eBook is 65 pages - packed full of the information, ideas, and help people need when they are about to dive into this great hobby. It answers all of the important questions new digital scrapbookers have. They are all here for you - in one easy to use eBook!

Bonus! Download the free "Warning" Label, too. It was created for you by Valerie Randall as a little bit of extra fun!

Would you like a chance to try digital scrapbooking yourself?

Scrap Girls' Refresh Collection Biggie offers you free samples of some of our most popular product types. Try making a layout, your own paper with a ScrapSimple Paper Template, a fast layout with a ScrapSimple Digital Layout Template, or experiment with a brush.

We know you'll love digital scrapbooking as much as we do, and we have thousands of products to feed your new addiction!

Ready to Take Off? In-depth Tutorials Help You Become a Great Digital Scrapbooker

Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed!

NEWLY UPDATED! Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Photoshop CS4, CS3, CS2, and CS
NEWLY UPDATED! Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Photoshop Elements 6.0 and 7.0*
Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Paint Shop Pro X (XI)

(*Have Photoshop Elements 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, or 5.0? We have a tutorial program that will work for you. Please visit the product details page for more information.)

Find out what tens of thousands of people have already learned: Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed is the fastest way to learn how to create digital scrapbooking layouts. And because this series covers so many topics with one purchase, it is a bargain!

In the tutorials, you'll see Ro working on her computer and hear her talking about why she is doing what she is doing. It's like having Ro come to your home and give you private scrapbooking lessons. You can create digital scrapbooking layouts today!

Download and CD versions available.

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users receive:

30-31 movie tutorials
Companion eBook(s)
Collections
Other supplies

Paint Shop Pro users receive 31 movie tutorials.

MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed!

MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed! for Adobe Photoshop
MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed! for Adobe Photoshop Elements

It's time for you to stop playing catch-up in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and start having a blast creating your own digital scrapbooking supplies! You'll also learn all sorts of tricks that professionals and advanced digital scrapbookers use in their layouts. And because Ro covers so many topics in the series, it is one of the most cost-effective methods of moving your skills to a higher level. Join in with the thousands of digital scrapbookers who have chosen to learn advanced skills from Ro. You'll be happy that you did!

Note: These are NOT beginning tutorials. If you get this training and you have never used Photoshop or Photoshop Elements before, or if you aren't pretty sure of yourself in the software, you are going to be lost. You simply have to understand layers, where things are located, and all of the basic, important skills that Ro teaches in her Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed series before you try to use it.

eBooks

Scrap Girls offers a large catalog of eBooks covering topics that will expand your digital scrapbooking abilities to new heights. Here are just a few samples:

The Virtual Canvas eBook

What happens when you move digital scrapbooking beyond the basic page? What happens when you allow the layout to blur the edges between keepsake and art? The Virtual Canvas: Celebrating The Art of Digital Scrapbooking eBook will provide those answers for you.

Colour (me) Creative eBook with 36 color swatches

Learn about the color wheel, color terms and their meaning, how to load the colour palettes in Adobe or use the colour strips with a colour selection tool. You get both valuable lessons and inspiration in this book filled with 48 layouts showcasing the use of the colour palettes along with links of all the products used to create the digital scrapbooking pages.

Scrap Girls Tutorials & Way Cool Stuff eBook Set
2009 - 2nd Quarter

Now you can have all the past Scrap Girls Newsletter tutorials and Way Cool Stuff articles of the 2nd Quarter of 2009 in one convenient PDF format. It's easy to find those helpful hints with just the click of your mouse. You get two eBooks for the price of one!

Start to Finish eBooklets

Start to Finish eBooklet - PS: How to use ScrapSimple Tools: Custom Shapes & Patterns

Nothing could be simpler than learning to scrapbook digitally with Scrap Girls Start to Finish eBooklets. Step by step written guidelines and detailed screenshots will help you learn new digital scrapbooking skills. Included with the eBooklet are the actual digital files you need to create a finished project!

See more titles

Layout by Stefanie Harris
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Designer Freebie by Syndee Nuckles coordinates with her ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Isn't it Grand

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Isn't it Grand, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Aged Photos 6301, Brush Set: Crayon Basics, Brush Set: Paint Stroke and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 are also available.

* There is a "free download" button on the details page for each gift. You don't need to put them in your shopping cart unless you are shopping for other items. Also note that if you are slow reading your newsletter, you may find this freebie has already been retired, as the freebies are only available as gifts for about two newsletter cycles.

CROPS AND CHATS

NSBR Chat
Monday, October 5th - 7:00PM MT

What is NSBR? It's a non-scrapbooking related chat! We talk about everything, including some scrapbooking and usually chocolate. It's a great chance to meet new friends, catch up on what everyone is up to, and just relax! If you have a problem, we'll lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on. Have some great news to share? We'd love to celebrate with you. So join Carla (CRS) on October 5th at 7pm MT!

Creative Card Chat
Tuesday, October 6th - 6:00PM MT

Do you use your digi-supplies to make cards? Do you want to? Instead of going to the store every time you need a card you can save money and have fun making cards with your stash! Make a note of any cards you might need for the upcoming month and join Michelle (Shelbi) and April (April Showers) for the once a month Card Chat on Tuesday, October 6th at 6pm MT. Can't wait to see you there!

Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, October 6th - 7:00PM MT

Time for another Life Moments Crop! Life Moments is a crop dedicated to pages about yourself. We often neglect our own stories while preserving the stories of our loved ones. We're creating an album about ourselves, one layout at a time. For this month's topic, let's scrap an anniversary! It doesn't have to be a wedding anniversary, but an anniversary celebrating something in your life. So, join Carla (CRS) in the chat room on Tuesday, October 6th at 7pm MT!

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, October 7th - 10:00AM MT

Join your guest host Carla (CRS) for the East Coast High Noon Crop every Wednesday at 10am Mountain Time. These crops are designed to allow you to work on your own photos and themes, simply giving participants a one hour goal, and a fun, new challenge each week! On October 7th, we'll do a color challenge! Create a layout on any theme, any topic, using the color PURPLE! You'd be amazed what you can get done in just one hour! We hope you'll join us!

Aussie Chat & Challenge
Monday, October 12th - 9:00PM Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time

Please come join Karen (kazbar73) & Jo (scrappingjo) at 9PM (Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time) on Monday 12 October for a chat and challenge. This week's challenge is to create a new layout all about Spring. Join us in the Live Chat Lobby for lots of fun and laughter as we talk about Spring and what it means to you. For our International ladies, the chat will be on at 4am MT (6am New York time.)

Baby Album Chat
Tuesday, October 13th - 11:00AM MT

Do you need some motivation getting those baby albums done? Children grow so fast; Let's get those baby memories scrapped! You can scrap your children, grandchildren or even your own baby album. Join Carla (CRS) and Shari (Shari PV Mom) in the chat room on Tuesday, October 13th at 11am MT to work on those albums! You can start from fresh on a brand new album, or jump in where ever you are in your project. We'll provide an optional challenge for motivation if you want one. For this month's challenge, let's take a look at what was happening in the world the day your baby was born!

OCTOBER EVENTS

October Message Board Game: Posting Challenge

It's time to put those fingers to the test and get chatty. This month, everyone who posts at least 250 times will have their name entered in a drawing for one of five $5 Gift Certificates to be used in the Scrap Girls Boutique. In addition, the one member who posts the very most in October will receive a $10 Gift Certificate! To be included in this month's game, you must post to the October Posting Challenge thread in the Monthly Message Board Games folder on the message board and include your starting post count as of Thursday, October 1st. Once you have reached 250 posts during the month of October, email Ang at [email protected] and include your forum user name, starting post count and your new post count total. Contest ends on Saturday, October 31st at Midnight MST!

Layout Contests:

October Monthly Layout Contest: You might be a city girl or maybe a country girl, but even those that live in the city can enjoy time spent in the country. For the October Layout Gallery Contest, we want you to scrap a page about time spent in the country. It could be a visit to a farm, or a state or national park, or maybe you live in the country. Create your layout and post it in the October Monthly Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight on October 31st. Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the details tab. If your layout is chosen, you will win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!

September Mid-Month Layout Contest: Everybody has some one or something in their life that has made a difference for them. For the September Mid-month Gallery contest, we want you to scrap a page about someone or something that has been a positive influence in your life. It could be a parent, a spouse, a teacher, an organization, or maybe a school or church. Create your layout and post it in the September Mid-Month Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight on October 15th. Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the details tab. If your layout is chosen, you will win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!

Check our message board calendar if you have any questions about what is happening at Scrap Girls. All event times are given in Mountain Time Zone unless otherwise noted. Need help converting time zones? Check out the World Clock - Time Zone Converter. (Use 'USA-Utah-Salt Lake City' as the location for the Mountain time zone.)