Rozanne Paxman

You're Safe

I want to ask you a question: If you knew - absolutely understood completely - that no matter what you did, you would be completely safe and that it wasn't required that you worry, what kinds of things would you do?

Would you buy a home?

Would you get a new job?

Would you travel?

Would you go to school?

Would you spend more time serving others?

Would you allow yourself to have more fun?

Would you get your hair done?

Would you try a new skill?

Would you step outside of yourself and try new things?

Would you introduce yourself to new people?

Would you change a habit that you've been hanging onto as a crutch?

Would you smile more?

Would you be kinder?

Would you feel all of the cells in your body relax?

What if I told you that you are safe right now - at this very moment? Would you believe me?

Or would you say, "Hold on there. You don't understand my life. I have a serious illness. I'm not safe. I am constantly sick."

Or would you say, "You don't know what you are talking about. I'm facing devastating financial problems. My world is falling apart."

Perhaps you might shout any or all of the following, "You just don't get my life, Ro. I have a handicapped child. I have experienced a recent death in my family. I hate my job. I lost my job. I want to get a job, but no one will hire me."

What if I told you that I have experienced all of these things in my life? And what if I told you that during the darkest days of my life, I discovered I was utterly and completely safe? It was only when I realized that it is impossible to plan more than one step at a time that I realized I didn't need to worry. If I would just trust that I am safe, I would be shown what to do, one step at a time. It was during periods of deep trials that I learned I am not alone, because it was those trials that drove me to test out the faith I always claimed to have. It was during the darkest nights of my life that I reached out for the hand that had been stretched out to steady me all of the time.

Once I fully and completely understood that no matter what may come my way, I am not alone, I finally began to move forward. I was able to overcome fears that had held me back from trying to improve my situation. When I learned that I am safe, I gained hope that I could achieve my dreams. Discovering I am safe helped me to release control of my future into far more capable hands than my own.

So please, do not listen to those individuals who run about shouting, "Duck, Chicken Little! The sky is falling!" While things may appear dreadful, the truth is that people live through challenges all of the time. We've traveled through them before, and we can make it again.

I challenge you to relax into life, pray, and follow the little pieces of inspiration that come to you. If you do this, you will be better able to move with the current that wants to pull you to a better place. You will understand that no matter what may come to you in that current of chaos, it will flow away again and a new experience will flow in. You will find that you don't have to drown in your river of life as long as you hold firmly onto the hand that keeps your head above water. You will find that no matter what happens, you will still be you.

May you feel safe today.

- 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 Laurel Lakey using August's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Ariadna Wiczling

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 Thao Cosgrove using August's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Thao Cosgrove 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!

QUESTION: Can someone help me with the EXIF function to keep track of supplies used? I'm usually pretty good with figuring out stuff, but this has me stumped. When I go look at posted layouts in the Gallery, I can click on "View EXIF properties" and see all the products used, very nice and neat, except I can't figure out how they did it. If I go to the properties of the picture I do see where I can type in notes, but those items don't show up for me when I upload my picture. Any help would be great or at least point me to the area that I need to go read up on. Thanks in advance.

ANSWER: In Photoshop Elements (PSE), go to File> File Info and put in all your information there (in the Caption box). Then when you upload it to the Scrap Girls Gallery, it will automatically appear.

ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: Okay, I see the Caption box, which is just one line; so I just type everything in there? Still confused, but guess I'll just have to make a layout and try it out. Gives me a good excuse to get to work on something new!

ANSWER: Also, when you save it to a JPG, it shows up in there automatically if you have put it in the PSD file and saved it there. But when I tried it to make my siggy, which is a PNG, the info didn't transfer to that one.

ANSWER: You can type as much as you want to in the Caption box. What I do to put my things in there is after I've put an item onto my layout, I make that item's file the active file, do Save As and the file name of the item will be highlighted in the Save box. Do Ctrl+C to copy and then cancel out of the Save As box. Now, go to your File> File Info and place your cursor in the Captions box and do Ctrl+V to paste the file name in. I also paste that file name into the layer's name box.

You will lose the information if you do Save For Web, so be sure that you just save it as a JPG at the proper size for posting in the gallery.

QUESTION: Hi there! I have Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE8). I bought several digital brushes, styles, and actions from Scrap Girls. I'm still pretty new to this, so this might be a dumb question, but how do I access them in PSE? I bought basic shadows, so can I put them in PSE's drop shadow choices?

ANSWER: When you purchased the products, you should have also received a download link for an instructional PDF: "1_SG_Brushes_Instructions." That file will have step-by-step instructions for installing the product in PSE. After it's installed, you will find the brushes in the Brush Palette (when the Brush Tool is active, up at the top of the workspace is a drop-down menu where you can see all your brushes), and the styles and actions will be in the Styles and Effects palettes (above the Layers Palette, over on the right side of the screen).

ANSWER: The other part of your question is, yes, you can add the new drop shadow styles to the drop shadow category if you would like. When you have them installed, go to this thread for a long and complete discussion of how to do that. (The thread is for PSE 6 and Vista, but the only thing that may be different is your computer's file name; I use PSE 8 and Windows 7.)

I found the easiest way to set up my own categories was by thinking of where I would look for a style. So I have a Fabric category, for example, that ranges from faux fur to leather and denim to knitted. The good thing is that you can change your mind at any time, just by changing the .xml file. (See above thread.)

Have fun with all your new styles and brushes!!

PS: I don't load all my brushes into PSE; I keep the .abr files in their own folder on my desktop and do Load Brushes to get them from it. If you want to learn more about brushes, I highly recommend Mastering Brushes for Photoshop Elements, an eBook in the Boutique, that will also teach you how to put them into categories.

QUESTION: Hi, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me with this. I have PSE 7 on Windows XP and have the Brush Set: Naturescape. I just tried to use one of the brushes, but I got a message that reads: "Could not load the brushes because the file is not compatible with this version of Photoshop." I've had this set for quite some time, and I'm sure I've used it in the past, so I don't understand why I'm getting this message. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions as to what I can do to fix it?

ANSWER: My best thought is to restart PSE, and then if that doesn't work, restart your computer. If they are in an .abr file, they ought to load in any version.

ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: I already tried that, restarted both PSE and then my computer. No luck.

ANSWER: I wonder if something happened to the file itself. Computers can do weird things. Can you load up any other brushes successfully?

ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: Yep, I don't seem to have any trouble with any other brushes, just Naturescape.

ANSWER: Maybe you could try downloading it again? It might be that it got messed up during the download. If you do that, delete the original file off of your computer and then download it to a new spot. If that still doesn't work, send an email to Angie at [email protected]. She'll help you get it sorted out!

ORIGINAL POSTER'S RESPONSE: Yea! It worked after I deleted the files, re-downloaded and re-installed. The brush set is fine now. Thanks to everyone!

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 2008 Digital Scrap Link Class: Understanding and Creating Color Sets

Learn to create perfect color palettes on your digital scrapbook pages with Understanding and Creating Color Sets written by Trish Yochum. Learn color terms, how to put together color palettes, how to mix and match colors by hue and how to create winning color combos every time.

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, as Scrap Girls Product Designer Marnie Adams takes member's pages and plies her design magic.

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 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 Ursula Schneider
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Digital Scrapbook Freebie coordinates with the 1 Scrap Girls Trust Collection

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Layer Your Own Brushes: Flowers - 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.

CROPS AND CHATS

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, August 25th - 10:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) each Wednesday at 12 Noon Eastern Time 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 August 25th, we'll do a patterned paper challenge! Create a layout on any theme, any topic, and any colors - using multiple patterned papers - at least 2 different patterns! Mix it up! Create your layout and upload it 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!

Desktop Challenge Crop
Wednesday, August 25th - 5:00PM MT

Tired of the boring desktop wallpaper backgrounds that your PC or MAC came with? Join Becca and Angela (angelaNussbaum) on August 25th 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. Stay tuned for the challenge! We will post it the day of the chat!

NSBR Chat - Early Edition
Thursday, August 26th - 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 April (April Showers) at 2pm MT in the chat room Lobby! Hope to see you there!

Speed Scrap Crop
Thursday, August 26th - 7:00PM 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, August 26th, at 7pm MT!

What's New Chat
Friday, August 27th - 9:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) 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, August 28th - 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 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. We'll brainstorm a theme for next month, too! Join us, Carla (CRS) and Angela (angelaNussbaum), for a fun chat at 6pm MT on Saturday, August 28th!

Emphasis on Embellishments Chat
Monday, August 30th - 7:00PM MT

Join Angela (angelaNussbaum) and Janine (J9Buckles) on Monday at 7pm MT for the Emphasis on Embellishments Chat. This monthly chat is geared towards challenging you to use more elements/embellishments on your layout. Each month, you will be given a specific number challenge to inspire you to start using more elements on your layouts or to create your own cluster of embellishments! You will be amazed at what YOU can do at this chat!

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, September 1st - 10:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) each Wednesday at 12 Noon Eastern Time 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 September 1st, we'll do a surprise color challenge! Create a layout using a color to be chosen by the group at the beginning of the crop! You'll be amazed what you can get done in just one hour, but there is no High Noon Sheriff timing you!

ATC Swap Crop Chat
Wednesday, September 1st - 5:00PM MT

Please join Lei (Bride) and Elisha (elibar) in the chatroom for our ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap Crop/Chat on Wednesday, September 1st at 5pm MT. Come see what everyone has created and we'll talk about next month's topic. We're looking forward to seeing you there.

AUGUST EVENTS

August Message Board Game: Posting Contest!

It's that time again - Posting Contest time! This is where you are rewarded for your flying fingers and chattiness. The contest will run from August 1 when we post the thread to August 31 at 12:00 Midnight (MST). We are doing things a little differently this time, so here are the rules:

1) To enter the Posting Challenge, reply in the game thread with your CURRENT post count. This is the number under your Avatar that shows when you post. Do not post the number found on your profile; it is a different number that is calculated differently.

2) During the month, chat your fingers off!

3) On August 31, BEFORE Midnight (MST), go back to your original post in the game thread (the one with your starting post count) and take a screenshot of it. Send the screenshot to [email protected]. The screenshot is your contest entry! We will calculate your post count based on the numbers on the screenshot. (Directions for taking screenshots will be posted in the game thread.)

Prizes: The top poster gets a $20 Scrap Girls gift certificate. Everyone over 250 new posts will be entered in a random drawing for a $10 Scrap Girls gift certificate. Everyone over 100 new posts will be entered into a random drawing for a $5 Scrap Girls gift certificate.

For complete details, visit the Monthly Message Board Games folder on the Scrap Girls message board.

Layout Contests:

August Monthly Layout Contest: For August's layout contest, we want you to scrap about what you do to "get away from it all" when you can't get take a big vacation. Do you play tourist in your own town, do you pamper yourself with a spa day, do you just take a weekend day to do nothing? Post your layouts in the August Gallery before Midnight MT on August 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!