Live in the Moment

I first met Catherine when she joined our Monday morning Watercolor Classes and sat right behind me. I was amazed at how beautifully she painted since she was a newcomer, but she told me she'd been an art teacher for many years. I enjoyed her thoughtful and insightful comments and the quiet dignity she brought to our class. I was sorry when she switched to a different painting day.

I spent time with Catherine again one hot sunny day in May when our class was painting in the nearby iris gardens. She told me she might be returning to the Monday painting class. I was glad of that and told her I'd missed her.

I heard of Catherine again a month later. She'd painted in the Tuesday morning class, finished two beautiful pieces, and brought them to the framer. She was picking them up on Friday to be included in our Summer Art Show at the library.

But Catherine never picked up her paintings. She died unexpectedly on Thursday. In a gesture of kindness, our framer did not accept payment for her pieces or her photo. Our instructor dedicated the art show in Catherine's memory, and when she hung the show, she made a special place for Catherine's pieces. Included was a scrapbook layout I'd done with class photos of Catherine painting.

Catherine's family and close friends attended the Summer Art Show reception, and we've been told that many people have come to see her work in the library.

I'm brought again to remembering to live in the moment and as if this one could be your last....

Imagine painting one day... and bringing them to be framed and picked up on Friday....

Live each day to its fullest and appreciate the time you are given.

Marilyn Saxe

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 Keri Schueller using October's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Keri Schueller

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 Amanda Sok using September's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Kim Meeder and Amanda Sok

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!

How to Make Your Photo a Puzzle

Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS2 with Windows XP.

The ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Puzzled are an extremely versatile digital scrapbooking product. There are endless ways you can use this product, and today I will show you one method of how to create the look of a puzzle photo – one that's not quite finished.

First, open the PSD file for the shape you wish to use. I selected the rectangle.

Now, select the photo you wish to make into a puzzle, open it, and drag it into your puzzle document. Resize it if necessary; you want it to be as close to the full puzzle shape as possible. It should be on a layer above all the puzzle pieces.

The next step is to duplicate the photo, once for every puzzle piece. This rectangle template has 12 pieces, so you will need 12 copies of the photo. You can easily duplicate the photo layer by selecting the photo in the Layers Palette (click once on the photo layer to highlight it), then click Ctrl+J. As an alternative, you can right-click on the photo layer in the Layers Palette. Select "Duplicate Layer" to make copies.

When you have 12 copies of the photo, drag the duplicated photo layers in the Layers Palette so one photo copy is above each of the puzzle layers. Your Layers Palette will alternate puzzle pieces and the photo, like this:

Right-click on each photo layer in the Layers Palette and select "Create Clipping Mask" (or Ctrl+Alt+G for PSCS users; or Ctrl+G for PSE users). You will do this to each and every photo copy which will make each photo layer take on the exact shape of the puzzle piece that you are clipping it to.

NOTE: If after doing all the clipping masks, you are not happy with the way the photo is displayed as a puzzle, you can move or resize the photo using the Move Tool in the Tools Palette, but you must link all the photo layers by Ctrl+Clicking on each photo layer to select and then click the "Link" icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette. This will keep all the photo layers together so you can shift it around.

When you are all done, your photo will look like a puzzle. All of your photo layers will have a little arrow pointing down to the puzzle piece below it. Save now as a PSD file with a new file name (keep layers separate, don't flatten or merge layers).

Now you are ready to move your photo to your layout. Select all of your photo puzzle layers (Shift+Click on the first layer, continue holding your Shift key, and then click on the last layer to easily select all), and drag all of them to your layout.

Here's where we will give the "unfinished puzzle" look to your photo. Look carefully at your photo and decide which pieces you would like to pull away from the rectangle. Find the puzzle piece you want to separate and the photo layer clipped to this piece in your Layers Palette.

Select the Move Tool in your Tools Palette. Hold down your Ctrl key and click on both the puzzle piece layer and the photo layer that is above the puzzle piece. Now you can drag out the photo/puzzle shape. With these pieces still selected in the Layers Palette, you can also rotate them a bit, which is what I did to make it a bit more interesting. You can apply a ScrapSimple chipboard style to each puzzle piece in your Layers Palette or play with the bevels and shadows to get a realistic puzzle look.

Continue with your layout, adding embellishments, papers, journaling, shadowing, or anything else you would like.

Explore the flexibility of ScrapSimple Templates, plus 50 other digital scrapbooking topics, in Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed and MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed. Drop by the Scrap Girls Boutique now!

Layout by Brandie Valenzuela
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Puzzled, Brush Set: Grungelle and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Chipboard 1802 Mini are also available.

Tutorial written by Brandie Valenzuela

Weekly Layout Winners

Layout by Kacie
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders are also available.

Layout by venedypics
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Commercial license versions of His and Hers Collection Biggie and AMC_Doodlelicious Font are also available.

Want to see your layouts make an appearance in the Scrap Girls newsletters?

Simply post your digital or paper layouts that use Scrap Girls products in our online Gallery, and if we choose your layout to be featured in the newsletter, you'll win a prize! To be considered, don't forget to list the Scrap Girls products that you used in your layout.

Congratulations to this week's selectees. Please email [email protected] to get your gift!

Want to see past winners of the Weekly Layout Contest? Visit the Weekly Layout Winners gallery on our Message Board here!

Member of the Month: October 2010

Congratulations Carol (lorac)! The Scrap Girls Team has chosen Carol as the Member of the Month for October!

Carol joined Scrap Girls in November 2007 and has been a huge asset! She is active in the Games Forum, participates in the various challenges and swaps, and leaves comments on other members' layouts in the Gallery. Scrap Girls wouldn't be the same without her!

Carol receives a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique and has the honor of wearing the Member of the Month blinkie!

When you have a few minutes, Carol, please tell us a little about yourself and share a link to your favorite layout! Thank you for making Scrap Girls a wonderful, friendly place! Congratulations!!

Contest Winners

Project SG - 3rd Quarter Winner

Congratulations Michele (Reminiscing)! You have been randomly chosen as the Project SG Challenge - 3rd Quarter winner!

Michele receives her choice of one of the ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates from the Scrap Girls Boutique! Please send an email to [email protected] to claim your prize!

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:

Scrapbooking 911 - 2-page Sketches to Revitalize Your Digital Scrapbooking eBook

Are you stuck in a creative corner? Need a jumpstart to your layouts? With a fresh collection of original sketches, all the hard design decisions have already been made for you. Using sketches, you'll spend less time arranging and more time playing with all your family pictures and digital scrapbooking supplies.

Scrap Girls 2008 Digital Scrap Link Class: Pattern Repeat Basics

Now you can own the class material taught at the 2008 Scrap Girls Digital Scrap Link event. Learn to create your own digital scrapbooking patterns with this eBook written by Amanda McGee. Learn to create a basic dot pattern and more advanced floral pattern repeats. Also includes a brush set mini to create your own floral patterns.

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? If you want to take some beginner steps towards improving the type on your layouts and improving the overall look of your layouts, then this eBook is perfect for you!

Start to Finish eBooklets

Start to Finish eBooklet - PSE: 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 Melanie Johnson
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Designer Freebie by Melanie Johnson coordinates with her Brush Set: Swirls and Flowers Biggie

Commercial license versions of Young At Heart Collection 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

NSBR Chat
Monday, October 4th - 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 us, Carla (CRS) and Lei (Bride) on October 4th at 7pm MT!

Creative Card Chat
Tuesday, October 5th - 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 April (April Showers) and Theresa (tiza126) for the once-a-month Card Chat on Tuesday, October 5th at 6pm MT. Can't wait to see you there!

Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, October 5th - 7:00PM MT

The Life Moments Crop and Chat is offered to help you make an album of yourself, your life. On the day of the chat, Pat (PBarnes) will post a theme for your layout. You are welcome to do a layout even if you can't join us for the chat. The chat will be Tuesday, October 5th at 7pm MT.

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, October 6th - 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 October 6th, we'll do a color challenge! Create a layout on any theme, any topic, using the color PURPLE! 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
Wednesday, October 6th - 6:00PM MT

Please join Lei (Bride) and Elisha (elibar) in the chatroom for our ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap Crop/Chat on October 6th at 6pm MT. Come see what everyone has created and we'll talk about next month's topic. We're looking forward to seeing you there.

Secret Pal Reveal Chat
Wednesday, October 6th - 6:00PM MT

Join us for the Reveal Chat for the current round of Secret Pals at 6pm MT in the Scrap Girls Chat Room!

NSBR Chat - Early Edition
Thursday, October 7th - 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 Pat (PBarnes) at 2pm MT in the chat room Lobby! Hope to see you there!

What's New in the Boutique Chat
Friday, October 8th - 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!

Project SG Chat
Friday, October 8th - 4:30PM 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 Shannon (tinkerbell11) and April (April Showers) on Friday, October 8th at 4:30pm MT for this month's Project SG Chat! It isn't too late to start. We'll fill you in on all the details at the chat. Hope to see you there!

OCTOBER EVENTS

September Message Board Game: Going on a Boutique Hunt!

Remember as a child when you played the game that started like this: "I am going on a ___ hunt and bringing..." then you listed an item with the first letter of your name or a specific letter? We are playing a similar game on the Message Board during the month of October. Each day, a new theme and starting letter will be posted in the Game thread. Members will search the Boutique for something that fits the theme and post a link to it in the Game thread. Only one product per letter per round will be counted, and products cannot be used more than once. Collections and their individual parts are one product, and time stamps will be used to determine which post came first in case of more than one post per letter. Entries are to follow the alphabet, starting with the letter posted with the theme each day. There's a limit of three posts per person each day, and there must be another player's post before posting again.

PRIZES: Members' names will be added to a drawing based on the number of qualified product links (up to three) which they post in the thread. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the month. Gift certificates will be awarded as follows: First prize, $15 Gift Certificate; second prize, $10 Gift Certificate, and third prize, $5 Gift Certificate.

Winners will be announced in the Newsletter on Saturday, November 6th.

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

Layout Contests:

October Monthly Layout Contest: October is National Family History Month in the United States but we can celebrate our family's history no matter what part of the world we live in. For this month's contest, we want you to do a layout telling a story from your family's history. Was there a black sheep in the family or someone who was a person of prominence? Did someone sacrifice a lot to keep their family together? Everybody has some story of note from their past. If you don't have photos of the particular members of your family that the story centers on, think about using a photo of a place where the story happened or just do a journaling page with embellishments that evoke a feeling from the time. Post your layouts in the October Gallery before Midnight MT on October 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!