Ro Paxman

Oh My... What a Surprise!

Last year, as I sat in my office admiring the outstanding job the neighbor boy was doing as he obediently shoveled deep piles of snow off of his family's driveway, it suddenly occurred to me that I could give my neighbor a Christmas gift that would not only be a big surprise, it would be deeply appreciated.

I ran out the front door, took a few photos of the surprised boy and went straight to my computer to make a digital scrapbook layout. I decided to create an 8.5x11 inch layout because I knew the resulting image would be a size that the family could easily stick into one of their "regular-type" photo books.

I printed the layout with my photo printer and took it right over to my neighbor. She was delighted and I was sooooooo happy that I didn't have to bake cookies!

It was a win/win day for all.

Layout by Ro
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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!

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 Shalae Tippetts using December's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Shalae Tippetts

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 Amanda McGee using November's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Amanda McGee and Brandie Valenzuela

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!

Quick Brush Texture Fill

Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS4 with Windows XP.

Brushes are one of the most versatile tools available in digital scrapbooking. With a brush, you can control the size, color, rotation and spacing. The image can be used to create a paper, erase or grunge a layer, produce an embellishment, make a title... the list goes on and on.

Today, I am going to use the Brush Tool as a stamp and I'll show you a fun and easy way to fill the brushed image with texture and color.

To begin, open a ScrapSimple paper template. I am using ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Christmas Eve - Dots from Design Pack: Christmas Eve 1. You may wish to lower the Opacity of this layer so you can see the underlying layers for placement.

Add a new layer above the paper template and select the Brush Tool. On the brush panel, click on "Brush Tip Shape" to open the menu options and adjust the size of the brush and angle. For this sample, I am using Brush Set: Christmas Eve 2 - Mitten Heart from Design Pack: Christmas Eve 1 at 811 pixels with an angle of 10°.

Select the Magic Wand Tool. On the Options Bar or Control Panel, set the Tolerance to "0" and click to make Contiguous checked.

Continue working with the brush layer active. Click the Magic Wand Tool beyond the outline edges of the brushed image (selecting the negative space or background). The marching ants will be visible.

Now, make the ScrapSimple paper layer active. If this layer is a raster layer, hit the Delete key to erase the background, leaving the paper template in the shape of the brush. Keep the selection active (marching ants turned on).

If the ScrapSimple paper layer is a Smart Object (i.e., added via File> Place) Shift+Ctrl+I (Shift+Cmd+I) to inverse the selection and then click on the layer mask icon to create a mask in the shape of the brushed image. The marching ants will automatically be deselected with this method.

At this point, we need a selection in the shape of the brush again. If you have a rasterized paper layer, you are good to go. If the paper layer is a Smart Object, Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click) on the layer mask thumbnail (created in the last step) which will start a selection and the marching ants will be visible again.

Add a new layer between the paper layer and the brush layer. Use Alt+Delete (Opt+Delete) to fill the selection with the foreground color.

Use Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) to deselect or turn off the marching ants.

On the layer panel, select a Blending Mode for the fill layer. Also, change the Opacity of the paper layer to "100%."

Add a style to the brush layer. On my layout, I use ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Silver 4101 - 3.

You may wish to repeat the steps to create a second complimentary embellishment. For my page, I chose Brush Set: Christmas Eve 2 - Mitten Star from Design Pack: Christmas Eve 1 with an angle of -15°.

Layout by Marnie Adams
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Commercial license versions of Design Pack: Christmas Eve 1, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Silver 4101, Lettering Delights Aloha Font and Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font are also available.

Tutorial written by Marnie Adams

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:

Artistry: A Celebration of Digital Design Excellence eBook

Artistry: A Celebration of Digital Design Excellence highlights the best-of-the-best in digital scrapbooking focusing on high quality layout design, imaginative use of products, creative vision, top-notch typography, and artistic expression. There are different layouts in a wide range of styles and techniques to be found in the book, and there are a multitude of ideas to be culled from the pages.

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 - PSE: How to Emboss & Texturize with ScrapSimple Templates

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

Surprise! Surprise! More gifts galore!
We have TWO designer freebies for you each day until Christmas Eve!

Layout by Paula Wright
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Designer Freebie by Paula Wright coordinates with her A Merry Season Collection Biggie

Layout by Brandie Valenzuela
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Designer Freebie by Brandie Valenzuela coordinates with her
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Rippled, part of this month's ScrapSimple Club offering!

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Rippled, Brush Set: Textile 1501, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Reverse Applique and ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Photo Clusters 3 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

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, December 9th - 10:00AM MT

Join your guest host April Showers for the East Coast High Noon Crop every Wednesday at 10am MT. 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 December 9th, we'll do a photo-manipulation challenge! Change a photo to sepia, cut out a background, use filters, try something new with your photos! You'll have one hour to create a layout and upload to the special High Noon Crop Gallery. You'd be amazed what you can get done in just one hour!

Journaling Challenge Chat
Wednesday, December 9th - 5:00PM MT

Join Angela (angelaNussbaum) and Becca for a Journaling Chat at 5pm MT. Struggle to find the right words for your layouts? Are your layouts more decorative than descriptive of the moments you're trying to capture? Then you won't want to miss this chat - we'll have a special challenge to encourage you to journal on your pages more! See you there!

Sketch Challenge Crop
Thursday, December 10th - 7:00PM MT

Join Marnie (sprinklz) for the Sketch Challenge and Crop on December 10th at 7pm MT in the Scrap Girls Chat Room! Like getting a little jump start on your layouts? Then this challenge is for you! A few hours before the challenge begins, a sketch will be posted for you to use as the starting point for your page. You can be inspired by the basic arrangement, the amount of photos, or copy it literally. All interpretations are welcome and encouraged!

What's New Chat
Friday, December 11th - 9:00AM MT

Join Michelle (Shelbi) and Sherry_Lynn at 9am Mountain Time on Friday mornings to chat about all the cool new things in the boutique. You never know who else is going to show up! What are you getting? What did you kaboodle? And most importantly show us the layouts or other projects you made with your new goodies! There's a thread every Thursday and now there's a chat too!

Quote Challenge Crop
Sunday, December 13th - 6:00PM MT

Come join Pat (PBarnes) for the Quote Challenge Crop at 6pm MT. Including a quote on your layout can be a touching and meaningful addition, especially if you use the quote to create your own word art. Here's how it will work. On Sunday, Pat will post a thread on the Chat section of the board giving you the quote that you may use to make your own word art. It's not hard, and I will have a layout with a Word Art example in the gallery. Then we'll meet in the chat room to have fun, chat, and create our Word Art layout! Everyone can participate and create a layout, even if you can't make the chat. Hope to see you there!

Aussie Chat & Challenge
Monday, December 14th - 9:00PM Australian Eastern DST

Please come join Karen (kazbar73) & Jo (scrappingjo) at 9pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time on Monday 14 December for an Aussie Chat and Challenge. This week's challenge is a Template Challenge. Create a layout using your favourite template and then join us in the Live Chat Lobby for lots of fun and laughter as we talk about our layouts. For our International ladies, the chat will be on at 3am MT (5am New York) time.

ScrapSimple Club Chat
Monday, December 14th - 5:00PM MT

We know everyone is excited for the new ScrapSimple Club to come out on December 15th. Come join Sherry_Lynn on Monday at 5pm MT for a ScrapSimple Club Chat and Crop! We'll be discussing ideas on different ways to use the current club. As a challenge, let's create one more layout using November's Scrap Simple Club before the next one arrives. November ScrapSimple Club Designer Amanda McGee (amanda) will be joining us for this chat! It's sure to be a blast! Hope to see you there!

Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, December 15th - 12:00Noon 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 your favorite Holiday Moment! So, join Carla (CRS) in the chat room on Tuesday, December 15th at 12 Noon MT!

New Member Chat - Early Edition
Tuesday, December 15th - 1:00PM MT

Join April (April Showers) at 1pm MT for a fun chat to get to know our newest members. We will discuss the message board, gallery, chocolate and so much more! Everyone is welcome, new or not so new! Not sure how to get there? Just click the "chat room" button at the top of this newsletter; you will need Javascript enabled to access the chat room.

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, December 16th - 10:00AM MT

Join your guest host April Showers for the East Coast High Noon Crop every Wednesday at 10am MT. 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 December 16th, we'll do a stripe challenge! Create a layout using stripes! Whether it's in the background paper, your photo, or embellishments, we want to see stripes! You'll have one hour to create a layout and upload to the special High Noon Crop Gallery. You'd be amazed what you can get done in just one hour!

DECEMBER EVENTS

December Message Board Game: Holiday Hoopla 2009

Welcome to Holiday Hoopla 2009! This time of year is packed with celebrations, events and traditions galore! It's also time for our most challenging game of the year! This challenge promises to keep you busy all month long. We're going to celebrate the season together on the Message Board through tasks and challenges focused on holiday and seasonal traditions and of course, there will be prizes in store!

Join us in the Monthly Message Board Games forum for details about this month-long challenge. Find out how EVERYONE who completes the Holiday Hoopla challenge will earn a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls boutique, and learn what you can do to earn an additional $5 Gift Certificate through your participation in the challenge. Join us for fun and festivities as we celebrate the winter holidays together - Holiday Hoopla 2009 style!

Layout Contests:

December Monthly Layout Contest: December is here! It's a time for celebrations and family traditions. For the December Monthly Layout contest, we'd love to see your Family Traditions scrapped for future generations to enjoy! Post your layouts in the December Layout Contest Gallery before Midnight, December 31st. Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the details tab. If your layout is chosen, you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!

November Mid-Month Layout Contest: We all know one; maybe you even are one. You know her, the woman who can do it all and make it look easy... a Superwoman! For the Mid-November Layout Contest, scrap a layout all about that Superwoman in your life. Post your layouts in the Mid-November Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight, December 14th and you will be eligible to win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique! Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the details tab.

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.)