Rozanne Paxman

Fear of the Unknown

Fear of the Unknown is a terrible fellow. He stands in hip boots and shakes fists in the air. He pulls frightening faces. He points, and he paces. He laughs when he scares you. He just doesn't care.

Fear of the Unknown is a terrible, wild man. He'll rip up your sofa and steal all your bread. He'll total your car and embezzle your money. He'll fire you, disown you, and leave you for dead.

Fear of the Unknown is a powerful fellow 'cause that's what he's told you and that's what you think. But the truth of the truth (and it's time that you knew it) is that Fear of the Unknown's a weak, sniveling stink.

He is vanquished forever when questions are answered – the ill-mannered questions that torment at night - the questions that stand in the back of your closet that jump out and get you and give you a fright.

"What if you fail here?" He whispers and teases. "What if they fire you and send you away? You'll starve, don't you know? You can't handle disasters. You're weak. You're a coward. You're foolish and lame."

"What if you're sick?" He mentions while moaning. "What if you're so sick that you pass away? You'll leave them behind without any money. They'll suffer and hate you when you're in your grave."

Fear of the Unknown is a persistent fellow. He sits in the parlor and rides in your truck. He follows you closely and sticks to your clothing. He walks in your shadow and laughs when you're stuck.

Fear of the Unknown is a sham of a fellow. His questions of terror you do need to hear. So listen and grab them and hold them and squeeze them. Write them and read them. Get rid of the fear.

Prepare for the worst things, the worst that he tells you. Decide what you'd do if your nightmares come true. Consider each one, from beginning to finish. How would you manage? What would you do?

And then he will leave you, old Fear of the Unknown. He'll leave you alone. He will go far away. Preparing and planning when you hear his questions are certain to scare him. He'll go without pay.

'Cause Fear of the Unknown loves shadows and darkness. Fear of the Unknown loves terror at night. He doesn't like bravery or courage or action. He doesn't like people who put up a fight.

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 Syndee Nuckles using January's Scrap Girls Club
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Created for you by Syndee Nuckles

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 Trish Yochum using December's ScrapSimple Club
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Created for you by Trish Yochum and Valerie Randall

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!

Creating Realistic Paper Doll Style Layouts

Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Windows XP.

There is a fun trend happening in the scrapbooking world where suddenly you can virtually be a part of an imaginary world. From storybook worlds to magical forests, moonlit nights and mansions, you can simply cut and paste yourself into a new circumstance. It reminds me of playing with paper dolls as a little girl. This is paper dolls for the new digital generation!

To start, you will need a digital scrapbooking paper with a realistic scene. Twilight Magic Collection Biggie is designed just for this sort of application.

The best photos to use are full body shots that can be cut out easily. I like to first do a photo shoot and pose in all sorts of different ways so I have a lot to choose from.

First, select your photo and cut it out (with a Lasso Tool or Quick Selection Tool, or by erasing the background - whichever way you prefer). You only want the figure selected with no background.

Bring a digital paper into a new document in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. On a new layer, copy and paste your person onto it. Now copy it so you have an exact duplicate right on top of the first one (this is for blending purposes, we'll get back to this later on). To do this, just drag the layer onto the "Create New Layer" icon in the Layers Palette or go to Layer> Duplicate Layer.

For a light or daytime scene, you could leave it like this, but it looks a little too bright for the nighttime scene we've placed it on. To remedy this, make a new layer directly above the girl and fill it with a color from the background. (I used the Eyedropper Tool to select a blue from the fog near her legs.) Clip the color layer to the girl (Alt+Ctrl+G or Layer> Create Clipping Mask).

Change the Blending Mode to "Color." Now, remember how we made a copy of the girl? Leave the bottom one on "Normal" and change the top one to "Multiply." Lower the Opacity so it looks realistic on the background, I lowered it to 25%. You might need to adjust the Blending Modes and Opacities, depending on your background paper.

The important thing to remember is:

We want to darken the figure to match the paper if it is nighttime.
We want the figure to reflect the color of the background or room they are placed in (the coloring will be subtle).

Merge all the layers that make up the figure (not the background, though!) and complete your layout. Or you could make it pop a little more with the Dodge and Burn Tool. Use the Dodge Tool to add highlights and the Burn Tool to deepen the shadows. I like to overdo it just a little and make it glow since this is an imaginary world!

Now you are ready to complete your digital paper doll layout. Have fun!

Layout by Sheri Johnson
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Tutorial written by Sheri Johnson

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:

30-33 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:

Scrapbook Quotes: The right quote for your scrapbook layouts

Looking for scrapbooking quotes or quotes to use for greeting cards? Here's your solution. This packed eBook contains hundreds of quotes, collected over many years by Rozanne Paxman specifically for use on scrapbooking layouts.

Inspirations eBook

What happens when you move digital scrapbooking beyond the basic page? What happens when you allow the layout to blur the edges between keepsake and art? Find your answers and take the next step in Inspirations: Celebrating Life's Joys With Digital Scrapbooking eBook. This eBook is meant to highlight the hopes and loves, the faith and joys, the simple days and big events that give our lives meaning and inspire us - and the pages we create about them. There are different layouts in a wide range of styles and techniques to be found in the book, and there are a multitude of ideas to be culled from the pages.

Scrap Girls Tutorials & Way Cool Stuff eBook Set - 2010 1st 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 1st Quarter of 2010 in one convenient PDF format. It's easy to find those helpful hints with just the click of your mouse. You get two eBooks for the price of one!

Mastering Brushes for Photoshop

Whether you are just finding out about brushes, or have been using them for a while, this eBook will help you see and understand the creative power that brushes contain and give you new ideas for using them in your digital scrapbooking layouts.

See more titles

Layout by Trish Yochum
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Designer Freebie by Trish Yochum coordinates with her ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Zippy,
part of this month's ScrapSimple Club offering!

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Zippy, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Threads, ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Zippy, Dynamic Brush Set: Zippy, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Brooches, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Frosted Glass 6401, Dynamic Brush Set: Holiday Trail 7301 Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Ragamuffin Glitter 8501 and AMC_Doodlelicious Font 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, January 12th - 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 January 12th, we'll do an embellishment challenge! Create a layout using lots of embellishments - flowers, tags, frames, whatever you'd like! Make use of those fancy, fun embellishments! You'll be amazed what you can get done in just one hour, but there is no High Noon Sheriff timing you!

Baby Theme Crop & Chat
Wednesday, January 12th - 7:00PM MT

Join Carla (CRS) and Thersea (tiza126) for a new twist on the Baby Theme Crop! We're starting the New Year with a new challenge. This month, we'll work with ABC's. Include something in your layout that starts with an A, a B and a C! We'll see you in the chat room on Wednesday, January 12th at 7pm MT!

What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique Chat
Friday, January 14th - 9:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) at 9am MT on Friday mornings to chat about all the cool new things in the Scrap Girls Boutique. What are your favorite new items? Is your shopping basket full? What did you kaboodle? Have you already done layouts or other projects with your new goodies? Come tell the designers how much you love their work. You never know who will show up. There's a thread every Thursday and now there's a chat too!

Hybrid Craft Chat
Friday, January 14th - 7:00PM MT

Do you love your digital supplies but still like to use glue, paper and maybe even glitter? Then come join Carla (CRS) and Shannon (tinkerbell11) in the Chatroom for a Hybrid Craft Chat. We will be starting the New Year in style with a fun altered journal.

Recipe Swap Chat - RESCHEDULED!
Saturday, January 15th - 7:00PM MT

If you tried to come to the Recipe Swap Chat last Saturday and couldn't get into the chat room, we have good news! Lei (Bride) and April (April Showers) have rescheduled the Recipe Swap Chat for Saturday, January 15th at 7pm MT. This month's theme is Slow Cooker Recipes. Check the ScrapGirls Message Board for more details on how to participate in the swap. Hope too see you at the chat!

Life Moments Crop & Chat
Tuesday, January 18th - 12:00Noon MT

Join Debbie (B&K Mom) in the chat room on January 18th at 12 Noon MT for the Life Moments Chat and Crop. These chats are focused on building a scrapbook all about you, one layout at a time. This week we will be focus on Change (clothing styles, hairstyles, attitudes, relationships, houses, family roles, or whatever comes to mind when you hear "Change"!). So dig through your files, write down your memories, and be sure to join us in the chat room!

New Member Chat - Early Edition
Tuesday, January 18th - 1:00PM MT

Join Debbie (B&K Mom) at 1pm MT for a fun chat to get to know our newest members. We will discuss the message board, gallery, chocolate and so much more! Everyone is welcome - new or not so new! Not sure how to get there? Just click the "chat room" button at the top of this newsletter; you will need Javascript enabled to access the chat room.

Faith Journey Chat
Tuesday, January 18th - 6:00PM MT

Join Elisha (elibar) and Lei (Bride) for a Faith Journey Chat on the third Tuesday of each month at 6pm MT. All faiths are welcome! We'll be chatting and scrapping about our individual faith walk and how we also walk together. Watch the message board for this month's topic of discussion, and if you like - create a layout based on the topic!

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 "January Jumpstart 2011" 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 Scrap Girls 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 5th.

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

Layout Contests:

January Monthly Layout Contest: Now that the snow is flying in some parts of the world, we are focusing on staying warm! For the January Layout Contest, we'd love to see what you do to stay warm! Do you have a favorite blanket or sweater? Or is there a family favorite comfort food you turn to in the winter? Let's scrap the photos and stories that help keep us warm! Post your layouts in the January Gallery before Midnight MT 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!