Note from Heidi: Poor Keri! I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I can definitely sympathize with this post. Nelly has had a constant runny nose, cough, sneeze, and general yuckiness since the beginning of March. There have been fevers off and on, and for a first-time mom with a preemie baby, it's been a stressful few months! Thankfully, nothing ended up being too serious, and spring looks like it has finally arrived. I'll hope it was only a winter cold that was making Nelly miserable, and I'll grab some cheese to share with Keri!

Keri Schueller

Wish Us Well

Winters are always a little tough way up in Minnesota. Cold temperatures, tons of snow, and recycled air for months does nothing for staying healthy. This year was particularly difficult for my youngest daughter, Avery.

At the end of January, she ended up in the hospital with RSV and pneumonia. The weekend following that, she caught another virus that made her lethargic and gave her a temp of 103. Luckily, that virus moved through by the next day. She stayed healthy for about a week, but then her daycare provider sent home a child with rotavirus. Since Avery's immune system was weak, I just knew we were next in line. Sure enough, a few days later began a bout of rotavirus through our whole house. Only the dog escaped that one.

Avery was healthy for about a week, then she got yet another virus, causing her congestion, breathing issues, and a double ear infection. She was home from daycare all week, so no time for work or digital scrapbooking for me.

The medications were starting to take over my kitchen. We basically spent the whole day rotating medicines and nebulizer treatments.

To top it all off, my nine-year-old dog slipped two discs in her back, so I had to carry her around the house for over a week.

May I please have some cheese with my whine?

But now, I believe we are definitely ready for spring!

- Keri

Scrap Girls, Etc. is a weekly column pulling bits and pieces from all over Scrap Girls. Stay tuned each week as Scrap Girls' Jane-of-All-Trades Heidi Dillon brings you tutorials, musings, recipes, interviews, design/software tips and tricks, layout walk-throughs, and who knows what else!

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 McGee using April's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Amanda McGee

Alert! Alert! TOMORROW is the last day you can sign up for the Scrap Girls club and still get this great group of products at this amazing price. Don't delay... sign up now!

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 Brush Set
2 Designer's Choice Item

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

Layout by Shalae Tippetts using April's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Jan Hicks and Shalae Tippetts

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!

Assemble Your Own Products

When you think of the Scrap Girls line of Assemble Your Own products, what do you think of? Do you think of computer desktops? Perhaps you think of embellishments that you can customize to fit your own needs. Or maybe you think of easy, incredible, fast layouts that, while essentially a "kit," have lots of room for customization. The line of Assemble Your Own products was designed to make your scrapbooking easier and faster, allowing you to have as much control over the finished product as you would like.

I know you like the sound of "easy" and "fast" when it comes to scrapbooking - because, face it, who isn't busy these days? Being able to create a layout in 10 minutes has as much appeal to the busy woman as does the phrase "lose 10 pounds in 10 days – guaranteed!" Well, I can't guarantee that kind of weight loss, but I can guarantee that you, too, can create a fast, beautiful layout in less time than it takes to bake a batch of cookies.

There are all kinds of different Assemble Your Own products in the Scrap Girls Boutique, including Tags, Easter Eggs, Charms, Snow Globes, Rubber Bracelets, Agendas, Flowers, darling Monkeys, and Bead Strings! These are just a tiny selection of the absolutely fun products that you can create, customize, and play with. If you have never played with the Assemble Your Own products, you are in for a treat. My daughters even have their favorite Assemble Your Own Embellishments - fashion dolls. They adore playing with the digital paper dolls and creating one-of-a-kind fashions. Here is a sample of what my daughter, Rachel, loves to do with ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Fashion Dolls Super Biggie.

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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Fashion Dolls Super Biggie are also available.

Learn the basics - and a whole lot more - of digital scrapbooking when you check out the incredible tutorials on Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed and MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed.

Layout by Joann Brown
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Article written by Joann Brown

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:

Scrap Girls 2009 Digital Scrap Link Class:
Let There Be Light

Follow Laurel, Scrap Girls' Layout Artist Coordinator, along as she teaches you the basics of light in your photography. You'll learn about the different types of lighting, about reflectors (including frugal ideas), and secrets on how to photograph small items or embellishments.

ReMix: (Digital Scrapbooking) From Ordinary to Extraordinary! eBook

Have you ever wanted to get a makeover - A layout makeover? Do you ever wonder how someone might decide to make certain changes and why? In ReMix: (Digital Scrapbooking) From Ordinary to Extraordinary! eBook, you have the opportunity to virtually "look over the shoulder" during the remake process.

Scrap Girls Tutorials & Way Cool Stuff eBook Set
2009 - 4th Quarter

Subscribers to the Scrap Girls Newsletter have one thing in common: they love to learn new techniques! Each issue shares ideas, tutorials, and new ways to use Scrap Girls quality digital scrapbooking products. Now you can have all those past tutorials and Way Cool Stuff articles of the 4th Quarter of 2009 in one convenient PDF format.

Start to Finish eBooklets

Start to Finish eBooklet - PS: How to Combine ScrapSimple Paper & Photo 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

Layout by Theresa Kavouras
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Designer Freebie by Theresa Kavouras coordinates with her Baseball Collection Mini

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Date Seals and ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Photo Borders Biggie 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.

Mischief Week is Here!

For those of you who haven't been with us for the past several years, Mischief Week is a week that's full of general madness and mayhem. We have lots of crazy chats, classes, games, prizes, and other random events just in time to usher us into the wonderful world of spring.

We've got a schedule full of events that the Scrap Girls Team are hosting, plus our Mischief Week Sale, games, freebies, contests, prizes and fun! Clear your calendars - you won't want to miss this!

Whack-A-Wonderland

It's here! It's finally here... the layout contest that everyone looks forward to all year! This year, you'll get to "whack" your friends, family, or people you love to tease by creating a silly layout with the aid of Digital Stickers: Alice and Queen of Heart Specials, located in the Freebie section of the Boutique.

Designer Freebie by Valerie Randall

All you have to do is add heads, backgrounds, titles, and your imagination!

Post your entry layout in the Mischief Week 2010 Gallery (located in the Special Events, Challenges, and Contests gallery category). Entries must be uploaded into the gallery before Midnight, April 30th (MDT) to be included in the contest.

At the end of Mischief Week, we'll pick out some of the best layouts to show off in the Saturday, May 8th edition of the Scrap Girls Newsletter. Each of these winners will each receive a $10 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!

Sample Layout by Valerie Randall
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Wonderland Scavenger Hunt Game

How to Enter

Below is a list of 50 underlined items to find in the Scrap Girls Boutique. It is possible to find multiple products that contain any given item, but you only need to provide one product name and link for each answer.

To enter the contest, send a Word or text document to [email protected] by Midnight (MT) on Friday, April 30th. For each scavenger hunt list item, provide the product name and link to the product next to it.

Prizes

Everyone that gets all of the answers correct will be entered into a drawing for a $20 Gift Certificate.
Everyone that gets 30-49 answers correct will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Gift Certificate.
Everyone that gets 1-29 answers correct will be entered into a drawing for a $5 Gift Certificate.

Award Notification and Additional Information

The winners will be announced in the Scrap Girls Newsletter on Saturday, May 8th.

Please do not post answers on the message board. We cannot be responsible for lost or un-received emails. One email per member; you will receive a response indicating your email has been received. If you do not receive a reply in 24 hours, please resend.

Good luck!

Alice's White Apron
Talking Blue Birds
Reading a Book
A Bottle on a table
Blue Bow in Alice's Hair
Bread and Butterflies
Cabbages and Kings
Cheshire Cat
Blue Caterpillar
Eat Me Cookie
Queen of Heart's Crown
Yellow Daffodils
Daisy Ring Crown
Locked Door
Lady's Fan
Walking Fish
White Gloves
Carpenter's Hammer
Top Hat
Queen of Hearts
Majestic Iris
Gold Key
Lovely Lilac
Tiger Lily
Little Girl
Handy Man Lizard
Mome Rath Clothes Pins found in the Tulgey Wood
March Hare
DorMouse
One side of the Mushroom will make your grow, one side will make you shrink
Half-Shell Oysters
Paint Brush for painting the roses red
Shy Little Pansies
Grunting Little Pig Baby
Playing Card Soldiers
Unbirthday Present
Grand Red Rose
Rocking Chair
Rocking Horse Fly
Sea Shell at the Sea Shore
Afternoon Tea Cup
Tea Kettle
White Rabbit's Trumpet
Singing Tulips
Slow-Moving Turtle
Vulture Umbrellas
Unbirthday Cake
Unbirthday Candle
Walrus and the Carpenter
White Rabbit

Mischief Week Chat Schedule

Thursday, April 29, 2010

12:00Noon MT - Interactive Embellishments Chat
Becca and Angela (angelaNussbaum) will be hosting a fun and interactive embellishment chat! Anyone is able to participate in the fun. Come see what these mischievous hostesses are up to!


2:00PM MT - Desktop Challenge Crop
Tired of the boring desktop wallpaper backgrounds that your PC or MAC came with? Join Becca and Angela (angelaNussbaum) on Thursday at 2pm MT for this month's Desktop Challenge Crop. We'll show you how to use your digital scrapbooking supplies to create a personalized desktop wallpaper of your own. For this challenge, we'll give you a theme and a technique challenge to choose from! Keep your eyes on the message board for more details!


7:00PM MT - Easy Page Class with Ro
Ready to begin digital scrapbooking? Join Ro for this entry-level digital scrapbooking class and make your first layout in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. You'll find out for yourself how fun and easy it is to make layouts. Prior to the start of the class, download and unzip the Easy Page freebie found here. Please have your Photoshop or Photoshop Elements software open and ready when you come to the chat. Note: An Easy Page is a scrapbook page with the papers and embellishments already in place.

Friday, April 30, 2010

9:00AM MT - What's New Chat
Join Michelle (Shelbi) and Sherry Lynn at 9am MT on Friday morning 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!


12:00Noon MT - Scrap Girls Club Chat
We know everyone is excited to get their hands on the new Scrap Girls Club to be released tomorrow! Come join Becca and Sherry Lynn on April 30th at Noon MT for a Scrap Girls Monthly Club Chat and Challenge! As a challenge, let's create one more layout using April's Scrap Girls Club, designed by Amanda McGee, before the next one arrives. It's sure to be a blast! Hope to see you there!


5:00PM MT - Coast-to-Coast Challenge and Chat
Join Amy (mimes1) and Sherry (Sherry Lynn) on Friday at 5pm MT for the final leg of our week long journey. Watch the boards starting Friday, April 23rd as Alice begins her trek from California to Maine!


6:00PM MT - Swap Crop Chat
It's time for the Swap Crop Chat! We've done the swapping and created the layouts, now it's time to take a stroll through the garden and enjoy the pastels and flowers! This is a good time to learn about the swap crop if you haven't participated before. We'll even decide on a theme for next month! Join Carla (CRS) and Angela (angelaNussbaum) for a fun chat at 6pm MT.


7:00PM MT - Quote Challenge Chat
"Off With Their Heads," "Curiouser and curiouser," or "Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction" - these are just a few of the many quotes from Alice In Wonderland. Watch the boards on Friday morning for our chosen quote, create a layout and come join the fun and games with Karen (kazbar73) and Carla (CRS) on Friday at 7pm MT.


9:00PM MT - Un-Birthday Party!
Happy Un-birthday to me! Happy Un-birthday to YOU!! It's time for a PJ party with a theme! Join Carla (CRS) and Angela (angelaNussbaum) for a fun and celebratory chat - let's end Mischief Week with a bang!

* Schedule is subject to change... stay tuned to the newsletter and message board for the latest Mischief Week happenings!

CROPS AND CHATS

Desktop Challenge Crop
Thursday, April 29th - 2:00PM MT

Tired of the boring desktop wallpaper backgrounds that your PC or MAC came with? Join Becca and Angela (angelaNussbaum) on Thursday, April 29th at 2pm MT for this month's Desktop Challenge Crop. We'll show you how to use your digital scrapbooking supplies to create a personalized desktop wallpaper of your own. For this challenge, we'll give you a theme and a technique challenge to choose from! Keep your eyes on the message board for more details!

What's New Chat
Friday, April 30th - 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!

Scrap Girls Club Chat & Challenge
Friday, April 30th - 12:00Noon MT

We know everyone is excited to get their hands on the new Scrap Girls Club to be released tomorrow! Come join Becca and Sherry Lynn on April 30th at Noon MT for a Scrap Girls Monthly Club Chat and Challenge! As a challenge, let's create one more layout using April's Scrap Girls Club, designed by Amanda McGee, before the next one arrives. It's sure to be a blast! Hope to see you there!

Swap Crop Chat
Friday, April 30th - 6:00PM MT

It's time for the Swap Crop Chat! We've done the swapping and created the layouts, now it's time to take a stroll through the garden and enjoy the pastels and flowers! This is a good time to learn about the swap crop if you haven't participated before. We'll even decide on a theme for next month! Join Carla (CRS) and Angela (angelaNussbaum) for a fun chat at 6pm MT.

NSBR Chat
Monday, May 3rd - 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 May 3rd at 7pm MT!

Creative Card Chat
Tuesday, May 4th - 6:00PM MT

Do you use your digital 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 digi 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 Tuesday, May 4th at 6pm MT. Can't wait to see you there!

APRIL EVENTS

April Message Board Game: Progressive Word Scramble!

The object of the game is to correctly guess the name of a product in the Scrap Girls Boutique by solving clues and unscrambling letters we give you. Each day, you will be given a letter found in the product name as well as a clue. You won't know how many letters are in the product name until it is complete. We will keep giving clues until a correct guess is made.

The designer's name or the word "Collection" are not included as part of the puzzle. Letters from any other words in product names (such as "Biggie," "Brush" or "Transparency") may be given as part of the puzzle.

Be the first to answer it correctly and win a $5.00 Gift Certificate to the Boutique! You are only allowed ONE guess per daily clue, and you are only allowed ONE win per month. When you make your guess, you MUST provide a link to the boutique item you are referencing. We will play the game daily during the entire month of April. When a correct answer is given, the new puzzle will start the following day.

For complete details and examples of game play, visit the "Games" folder on the Scrap Girls message board.

Layout Contests:

April Monthly Layout Contest: It's time to get your silly on! For this month's layout contest, we want to see layouts featuring the silly or mischievous antics in your life. Let us see the silly faces, crazy clothes and hilarious moments. Create your layout and post it in the April Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight on April 30th. 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!