Note from Heidi: Man, I love trivia! When I was a kid, Jeopardy! used to be a favorite TV program. I'd dream about what I'd do with all the money I'd win when I was old enough to finally get on the show. Trivial Pursuit was a favorite board game, and I could outplay anybody (except my dad) at any version. Reading about Julie White's family’s trivia game, I could totally relate! It sounds like something I would have done with my brothers and sisters when I was younger. Sounds like I need to make a scrapbook page, too!

Family Games

Last year, our family found the Discovery Channel show called Cash Cab while channel surfing. The premise is that unsuspecting people get in a New York City cab and answer random trivia questions for money while driving to their destination. As my whole family tried to answer the questions before our television counterparts, the kids decided it would be more fun to play the game on our own. The couch became the makeshift cab. One child "drove," and the other answered questions. Then they switched places. It was quite humorous to hear the questions they created. Some were really creative, and others didn't make much sense. All in all, they had a blast. Our version of the game plays for points, instead of cash. That way, we can teach a little math with the random facts, and the game is free. It was so much fun that the next car ride became Cash Car. It also works at restaurants, waiting rooms, and anywhere else you need a boredom buster. Want to play?

To honor our favorite family game, I made this digital scrapbooking layout.

Layout by Julie White
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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 Valerie Randall using May's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Valerie Randall

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 Paula Wright using May's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Brandy Murry and Paula Wright

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!

ScrapSimple Photo Templates

If you like making your papers, ScrapSimple Photo Templates are just the thing for you. These templates provide a starting point for creating beautiful background papers. You can change the colors using the Hue and Saturation sliders in your photo editing software. You can also layer it together with other finished papers or paper templates, experimenting with Blending Modes to get the look that you want. Or you can use it as is.

In this tutorial, I used ScrapSimple Photo Templates: Luxe Paint 5701 Mini. I love these templates because they have rich texture and gorgeous colors. I also like that it has highlights and shadows, which makes for great visual interest.

So, let's get started!

First, I placed a dark blue photo template. Since I already love the color on this one, I don't need to adjust anything.

Then on the layer above this, I placed a template from ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Leafery, filled it with white (Edit> Fill) and changed this layer's Blending Mode to "Exclusion." The result is a rich gold color that complements the dark blue photo template.

Still on the leaf layer, I used the Magic Wand Tool to select leaves that I want to recolor. I set the foreground color to the hue that I want and used the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the leaves with color. For variety, I used green on some leaves and teal on the others.

My paper is practically finished, but I layered on a few paper templates for added interest. I placed a selection from ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Scripted on the layer above the photo template, filled it white (Edit> Fill) and reduced its Opacity to 30%. I also placed the Scuffed template from ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Beautiful Distress at 25% Opacity on the topmost layer.

My paper is done! Because of its rich color and texture, I need only to add minimal embellishments, my photos, and journaling to finish off my layout.

Check out the incredible tutorials on Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed and MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed, and in no time, you'll be using ScrapSimple templates to make your own papers, backgrounds, and embellishments.

Layout by Armi Custodio
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Photo Templates: Luxe Paint 5701 Mini, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Leafery, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Beautiful Distress, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Scripted and Lettering Delights Underwood Pica Font are also available.

Article written by Armi Custodio

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:
Using Silhouettes in Scrapbooking

Learn to make and use silhouettes with Using Silhouettes in Scrapbooking written by Brandy Murry. Learn the history of Silhouettes, different ways to use them in scrapbooking as well as how to make a digital traditional style Silhouette using Photoshop programs.

Perfect Memories for Photoshop eBook

In her debut eBook Perfect Memories: Creative Solutions for Less-Than-Perfect Images, Katherine Weaver introduces her latest design-based secrets for overcoming the most common photo flaws, as well as additional ideas for getting your digital scrapbooking projects off and running in no time.

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 - 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

Layout by Brandy Murry
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Designer Freebie by Brandy Murry coordinates with her
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Paper Roses, part of this month's ScrapSimple Club offering!

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Paper Roses, Brush Set: Special Day, Brush Set: Swirlicious Biggie and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Aged Metals II 8501 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

Speed Scrap Crop
Thursday, May 27th - 8:00PM MT

Ever wonder what you can get done when time is tight? Here is your chance to find out! Join Angela (angelaNussbaum) and Carla (CRS) for a Speed Scrap Crop! We'll give you six items, spread out over an hour, for you to include on your layout. It's a challenge that is also a lot of fun! We'll see you in the chat room on Thursday, May 27th at 8pm MT!

What's New Chat
Friday, May 28th - 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, May 29th - 6:00PM MT

It's time for the Swap Crop Chat! We've done the swapping, and created the layouts, now it's time for the chat! 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. We'll even reveal the theme for next month! Join Carla (CRS) and Angela (angelaNussbaum) for a fun chat at 6pm MT on Saturday, May 29th!

Desktop Challenge Crop
Sunday, May 30th - 5:00PM MT

Tired of the boring desktop wallpaper backgrounds that your PC or MAC came with? Join Becca and angelaNussbaum on Sunday, May 30th at 5pm 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!

Creative Card Chat
Tuesday, June 1st - 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 once-a-month Card Chat on Tuesday, June 1st at 6pm MT. Can't wait to see you there!

Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, June 1st - 7:00PM MT

Is there a man in your life that has inspired you to be a better person? Is there someone you look up to? Life Moments Chats are about making an album about YOU, one layout at a time. Join Carla (CRS) on June 1st at 7pm MT for another Life Moments Chat honoring the man in your life and your feelings about that man.

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, June 2nd - 10:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) on Wednesday at 10am MT for the East Coast High Noon Crop. All coasts and time zones are welcome! 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 June 2nd, we'll do a Flower Challenge. You can use photos of flowers that are in bloom, use a floral paper, or embellish your page with lots of beautiful flowers. It is up to you! Upload your layouts to the special High Noon Crop Gallery. You'll be amazed what you can get done in just one hour, but there is no High Noon Sheriff timing you!

Project SG Chat
Wednesday, June 2nd - 8:00PM 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 Angela (angelaNussbaum) and April Showers on Wednesday June 2nd at 8pm MT for this month's Project SG Chat! It isn't too late to start. Hope to see you there!

NSBR Chat - Early Edition
Thursday, June 3rd - 2:00PM 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 Michelle (Shelbi) and Shari (Shari PV Mom) at 2pm MT in the chat room Lobby! Hope to see you there!

What's New Chat
Friday, June 4th - 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!

MAY EVENTS

May Message Board Game: Geocaching - Scrap Girls Style!

There's no need for maps and compasses for this month's Geocaching trek! The object of the game is to correctly guess an item within a product in the Scrap Girls Boutique by solving clues and discovering the stars.

Each day, you will be given two clues: The first clue will be to the product (you will know you have found the correct product because there will be a star on the page.) The second clue will be to find a particular item within the product!

Send an email with the EXACT item name (within the product) and the link where the product is found to [email protected]. Use the subject line: Geocaching Scrap Girls Style in your email entry, and be sure to include your message board name and real name. Entries must be received by Midnight MT on May 31st.

Everyone who correctly identifies all 29 items will be entered into a random drawing for one $15 Gift Certificate!

Everyone who correctly identifies 19+ items will be entered into a random drawing for one of two $10 Gift Certificates!

Everyone who correctly identifies 9+ items will be entered into a random drawing for one of two $5 Gift Certificates!

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

Layout Contests:

May Monthly Layout Contest: Summer is right around the corner for some of us and winter for others. What is your favorite part of that season? For this month's layout contest, scrap your favorite parts of the upcoming season. Maybe you enjoy swimming in the pool, boating or hiking the trails. Or, maybe it's building a snowman, skiing or sledding. Whatever you love, scrap it for us to see! Create your layout and post it in the May Layout Contest Gallery by Midnight MT on May 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!