Rozanne Paxman

The Pig on the Refrigerator

"OINK! OINK!" the door of the refrigerator reprimanded. "Do not open the door, fatso."

I pulled back my hand and pretended that I was not in the room. "Go ahead," Paula said. "It won't hurt you."

I shook my head. I did not want the pig to oink at me again. "What is that?" I asked.

"My mother belongs to a new weight group. They meet once a week and get weighed in. They gave her the pig to help remind her not to get in the refrigerator."

I shuddered. "Everybody knows how much you weigh?"

Paula nodded. "Yes. They get weighed, they talk about it, then they go home and eat diet foods."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Dry toast. Carrot and celery sticks. Grapefruit. Stuff like that."

I shuddered with guilt. "I'm fat. I should be on a diet. I need a pig on my refrigerator."

Waves of humiliation washed over me. "I can't do that," I thought. "Everybody will see it. I'd be too embarrassed."

My stomach clenched as I thought of existing on carrot and celery sticks. "I can't do that," I told myself. "I just can't. I guess I'm doomed."

My face flamed as I thought of standing on a scale in front of a crowd. I could practically feel their accusatory eyes staring at me as they chanted, "Fatso. Fatso. Fatso."

"Nope. No group meetings for me," I firmly decided. "I'll have to figure this out on my own."

"If that's what dieting is," I thought, "I'm out. I'm not strong enough to suffer like Paula's mom. Dieting is embarrassing. Dieting is humiliating. Dieting is torture. Nope. No group meetings for me. I'll have to figure this out on my own."

I was only ten years old. My body was being worked over by early pubescence. As I sprouted in places my peers wouldn't sprout for years, I felt increasingly more uncomfortable with myself. I began to believe what my peers told me: I was a fat girl.

It is only in hindsight that I am able to see that I was a tiny, petite girl. I remained that way until years of hormone replacement therapy, a bad diet, and an inactive lifestyle caught up with me.

I had become what I always thought I was: overweight.

I found myself in 2009. I learned to stick up for myself. I learned to do things I enjoy. I learned to express myself. I quit comparing myself to other people. It was the year I started to be who I am meant to be.

My goal for 2010 is to become comfortable with my body. I want this to be the year that I figure out how to eat healthy food without feeling tortured. I want this to be the year that I admit my sugar addiction and give it up. I want this to be the year that I discover I enjoy moving. I want this to be the year that I stop feeling guilty if I take time to move.

Changing ourselves is a process. But it is possible and 2009 taught me that. Here's to the journey of 2010. We're all on it, no matter what we think. We might as well do something positive while we travel.

If you'd like to share your particular journey with us, come on out to the Scrap Girls forum. You'll find lots of supporters to help you along the way.

- Ro

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 Amanda Sok using January's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Amanda Sok

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

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

Layout by Armi Custodio using January's ScrapSimple Club
larger view

Created for you by Keri Schueller and Ariadna Wiczling

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!

Using ScrapSimple Tools – Scripts for Saving Files

Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 with Windows XP.

You've created a great digital scrapbooking layout using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, and now it's time to save it. If you are only saving a copy for print, then it's pretty straight forward. You save the file as a JPG, and your work is done.

But what if you want to post your layout to an online gallery? What if you design digital scrapbooking supplies and you need several JPGs in different dimensions for the online store? Or have you ever tediously put your supplies in the Metadata, only to find them missing after using the Save for Web feature of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements?

This tutorial will look at how ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: File Save 1 11101 is designed to handle all of these file saving challenges with a click of the mouse.

When ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: File Save 1 11101 is run, a pop-up window appears giving you six options for saving your layout. This sample is for a 12 x 12 layout, but the script works for a layout in any size.

Original Size: This option is for saving a full resolution copy of your layout for print. It defaults to the current dimensions of your layout. For the 12 x 12 example, it is 3600 px (12 inches x 300 dpi.)

This field can also be used to change the dimensions of the JPG file that is saved. For example, if you scrap at 12 x 12, but like to save and print your layouts at 8 x 8, you can change this field to 2400 px.

Other: This option is for saving a second full resolution copy of your layout. I use this option for saving smaller, full resolution copies of my layouts for my class materials when teaching at Scrap Girls.

8 x 10 for Printing: This option is for putting square layouts onto an 8 x 10 inch canvas for printing at places like Sam's Club, Costco, etc. The script resizes your layout to 8 x 8 and puts it on an 8 x 10 inch background, using your current foreground color as the base color. It also leaves a very small border around the layout, to prevent edge details from being cut off during printing.

(Note: My daughters love it when I use the extra space for making paper dolls. It also makes a great bookmark! Some people put a 2 x 2 inch copy of their layout in that space along with a list of their supplies used.)

Options 1, 2, and 3: These options are for saving low resolution (72 dpi) versions of a layout for posting on the web. If you are sharing your layouts in an online gallery, the default choice of Option 1 – 600 px is a great size to use. If you are a product designer, Options 2 and 3 make easy work of saving even smaller JPG versions for the online store. Use the fields to customize the dimensions as needed.

Once you make the saving choices that fit your needs, click Save and let the script run! All files are saved as JPGs in the same folder as the original Photoshop file. The JPG will retain the file name of the original Photoshop file. The script will add information at the end of the file name so that you will know the size (in pixels) each JPG is. For example, when the script creates a 150 pixel JPG version of a PSD file that is named Like_A_Star.psd, the resulting image will be named Like_A_Star_150.jpg.

If you ran ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: File Save 1 11101 and chose all of the saving options, you would end up with these files:

If you have added any Metadata (information stored under File> Info) to the original Photoshop file, the data will also be found in the Metadata of the JPG copies.

Hope these tips and tools make your file saving a bit easier!

Layout by Christy VanderWall
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: File Save 1 11101, ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: Copy and Close 11101, ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: Supply Tracker 11101, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Alpha Beads, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Stapled Ribbon, Brush Set: Acrylic Stroke Biggie 3, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Corrugated 2 and Brush Set: Stamped Dates are also available.

Tutorial written by Christy VanderWall

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
NEWLY UPDATED! Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Photoshop Elements
Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Paint Shop Pro X (XI)

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

Now that you've learned the basics of digital scrapbooking with Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, you are ready to learn advanced skills for having even more fun while you create digital scrapbooking layouts!

Get a big boost learning how to use ScrapSimple products to make your own backgrounds, embellishments, and alphas with the MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed for Photoshop Elements movie tutorial series. You'll learn so much that your digital scrapbooking layouts will never be the same!

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:

Inspirations eBook

With three richly illustrated sections, Inspirations eBook not only offers a virtual gallery of stunning works by EIGHTEEN contemporary digital artists in a variety of styles, but it also describes the techniques they used and gives several key points on how you can recreate each of these TWENTY-EIGHT layouts yourself.

Ten Beginner Tips on Type eBook

If you're creating a digital scrapbooking layout, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be using type on your pages somewhere. But did you know that type can make or break your page? What typeface will you use? What size font? Where will you place it on your page? If you want to take some beginner steps towards improving the type on your layouts, and thereby improving the overall look of your layouts, then this eBook is perfect for you.

digital Photography Simplified eBook

This eBook is full of easy to understand information and photographic examples, and is tailored to the beginning digital photographer who wants to take better photos. More advanced photographers will also benefit from this eBook with the sections that get you out of your comfort zone.

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 Amanda Sok
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Designer Freebie by Amanda Sok coordinates with her So Basically Collection Mini

* 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

What's New Chat
Friday, January 29th - 9:00AM MT

Join Michelle (Shelbi) and Sherry_Lynn at 9am MT 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!

Swap Crop Chat
Saturday, January 30th - 7:00PM MT

It's time for the Swap Crop Chat! We've done the swapping and created the layouts, now it's time to chat about all the gorgeous layouts! I don't know what it is, but these swaps bring out the best in everyone. This is the time to chat about the theme, the beautiful layouts and learn about the swap crop if you haven't participated before. I'll even reveal the theme for next month! Join me, Carla (CRS), for a fun chat at 7pm MT on Saturday, January 30th.

NSBR Chat
Monday, February 1st - 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 me, Carla (CRS), on February 1st at 7pm MT!

ATC Swap Crop
Tuesday, February 2nd - 5:00PM MT

Please join Sherry_Lynn in the chatroom for our February ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap Crop/Chat on Tuesday, February 2nd at 5pm MT. See you there!

Creative Card Chat
Tuesday, February 2nd - 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 digital stash! Make a note of any cards you might need for the upcoming month and join Michelle (Shelbi) and April (April Showers) for the monthly Creative Card Chat on February 2nd at 6pm MT. Can't wait to see you there!

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, February 3rd - 10:00AM MT

Join your 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 February 3rd, we'll do a photo manipulation challenge! Create a layout using a photo you have manipulated in some way - change it to black and white or sepia, remove a distraction, cut out the subject - anything goes! 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!

Project SG Chat
Thursday, February 4th - 5:00PM MT

Have you heard about Project SG yet? This challenge is all about creating an album for 2010 and scrapping your most current photos. Join Becca and April Showers on Thursday, February 4th at 5pm MT for this month's Project SG Chat! Hope to see you there!

What's New Chat
Friday, February 5th - 9:00AM MT

Join Michelle (Shelbi) and Sherry_Lynn at 9am MT 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!

JANUARY EVENTS

January Message Board Game: Jumpstart January!

Join us on the message board this month for "Jumpstart January!" This is a message board game and challenge to start your year with fun and focus on taking time to scrapbook regularly despite the little speedbumps of life. When the month is over, you'll have completed several layouts and been challenged and treated to some fun along the way.

A member of the Welcoming Committee will post a mini-challenge/task every day from January 1-30 in the games folder on the message board. Check out the game thread titled "Jumpstart January 2010" for complete details and rules.

Those who complete all tasks and submit or post required participation by 11:59PM MT on January 31st will be entered in a drawing to win one of three $10 Gift Certificates to the ScrapGirls Boutique! Those who complete just the layouts will be entered in a separate drawing to win one of three $5 gift certificates. (Those who complete all tasks will have their name entered in both drawings!) Winners will be announced in the newsletter on Saturday, February 6th.

Layout Contests:

January Monthly Layout Contest: Did you have dreams as a child as to what your life would be like? Did you dream as a young adult how you wanted your future to pan out? Do you, as a mature adult, have dreams unfulfilled? The beginning of a new year is a great time to think about the future. This month's layout contest, create a layout about your hopes and dreams. It might center on family, a job or a recreational pursuit, show and tell us what your dreams are and how you are making them come true. Create your layout and post it in the January Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight on January 31st. Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the EXIF Properties. If your layout is one of the two chosen, you will win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!

Club Concepts Layout Contest: Post your new layout using the current club selection (either the Scrap Girls Club or the ScrapSimple Club) in our Scrap Girls Club Members Gallery or the ScrapSimple Club Members' Gallery. Be sure to list all of the Scrap Girls products you used. If your layout is chosen, it will be showcased as a Club Concepts layout winner, and you will win a $5 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.)

Haven't received your prize as a contest winner? Please send an email to [email protected] and we'll get it out to you right away!