Note from Ro: I just had to show you this post from my blog – Life Muses by Ro. In case you don't know yet, my daughter just presented me with the most beautiful baby granddaughter in the entire world! (And I'm not prejudiced one little bit.)

Rozanne Paxman

A Letter to an Angel

Dear Baylee,

You have filled your mother's heart with a love she hasn't carried before. She is totally, completely, madly, and hopelessly in love with you. She stares at you as if you are a dream that may disappear if she looks away. You have melted her resistence into a deep, baby-scented bubble of soft perfume. You have cast away the heavy weight of her childhood difficulties. You have freed her to become herself and that, alone, is reason enough for me to be devoted to you forever.

Here's a kiss on your soft, downy cheek, our little angel child.

I love you.

Grandma

If you'd like to read Baylee's account of her birth day, you can find it here. It has lots and lots of pictures!

Follow Ro's popular blog – Life Muses by Ro
Blog-only muses and humor pieces, inside scoop of Ro's life, photo journals, and more)

Follow Ro's newest blog – How Mom Did It
Food recipes, homemaking tips, gardening, quilting, and other neat stuff her mom and grandma taught her

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 Kim Meeder using February's Scrap Girls Club
larger view

Created for you by Kim Meeder

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 Brandy Murry using February's ScrapSimple Club
larger view

Created for you by Brandy Murry and Sara Beth Peterson

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!

Girls' Night Out

It's Girls' Night Out - and no husbands or kids are allowed! How can you top spending time with your friends, having a blast all night long? It's a pretty tall order, but I bet creating digital scrapbooking layouts about your evening can be just as fun, especially when the Scrap Girls Boutique offers a wide variety of products for you to work with.

Let's begin with some products that can make your layouts fun and flirty. These collections will work great for scrapbooking a complete recap of the night:

Amanda McGee's Fab 5
Metro Collection Mini
TGIF Collection
Tres Bon Ami Collection Mini
Uptown Collection

Telling the story about your fun night is the most important part of scrapbooking your Girls' Night Out. The fonts will give a perfect look to titles, journaling, or even just a simple date:

Lettering Delights Hallmark Font
Lettering Delights Monique Font

If you like to have more creative control over the scrapbook products you use, you might be interested in these ScrapSimple scrapbook templates. They will allow you to use any color you wish – even apply Photoshop styles to give them the exact look you want to convey:

Brush Set: Bordering on Elegant
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Witty
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Zippy
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Glitter 6501 Biggie
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Sequin Sparkle-Gradients 8501 Super Biggie

Sometimes, choosing the perfect outfit and accessories and primping in front of the mirror is almost as much fun as the actual outing! Here are some products that specifically help capture the excitement and anticipation of getting dressed up for a night out on the town.

Stylish Beauty Collection Mini
Stylish Fashion Collection Mini

But what if those colors don't work perfectly for you? It's not a problem because there are lots of great digital brushes, embellishment templates, and paper templates in the Scrap Girls Boutique. Use your Eyedropper Tool in Photoshop to pick out some of the colors from your actual photos and use that very same color to jazz up these products:

Brush Set: Stylish Beauty Splotches
Brush Set: Stylish Hair
Brush Set: TGIF Doodles
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Anna Grace
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Sweet and Lovely Biggie
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Sweet and Lovely 6501 Biggie

Layout by Ashleigh Bronner
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Sweet and Lovely Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Sweet and Lovely 6501 Biggie, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Artful Photo Masks, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini, Lettering Delights Monique Font and Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font are also available.

So now you're all dressed and ready to go - and it's time to go out! The Boutique has a wide variety of supplies you can use to build a layout that will reflect the interests of your inner circle.

Do you like to dance from dusk till dawn at your favorite hot spot? Are you and your friends on the V.I.P. list at the hottest downtown locations? These products feature cityscapes and other fun nightlife-related embellishments:

Brush Set: Glow
Celebration Station Embellishment Biggie
City Streets Collection Mini
New York City Collection
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Glow Stick 10801
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Neon 9201

Maybe you prefer to lounge in a swanky restaurant or keep it cool and casual at a local café. The Boutique offers several restaurant- and bar-themed products – everything from sushi to coffee!

Assemble Your Own: Sushi Biggie
Caffeinated Collection Mini
Digital Stickers: Bar Beverages
Sushi Night Collection Mini

Had too much fun with your friends so now you're short on time for digital scrapbooking? No worries, because sometimes the designers do all of the work for you. These next products were created specifically around the Girls' Night Out theme. Pair them with a layout template and it's easy to whip up a layout quickly before those memories fade of the awesome time you had with your friends.

Brush Set: Girls' Day Out
Digital Stickers: Girls' Night Out Mini
Girls' Night Out Collection Mini
ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Bursting
ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Frame It! Edgy 1
ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Instamatic

Layout by Ashleigh Bronner
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Commercial license versions of Basic: White Paper Mini, Brush Set: Bordering on Elegant, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Witty, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Sweet and Lovely 6501 Biggie, ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Frame It! Edgy 1, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini and Lettering Delights Hallmark Font are also available.

Article written by Ashleigh Bronner

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.

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

Are you stuck in a creative corner? Need a jumpstart to your layouts? Want more ideas how to go from a blank page to a digital masterpiece? With a fresh collection of original sketches, all the hard design decisions (such as balance, composition, and rule of thirds) have already been made for you.

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!

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? What typeface will you use? What size font? Where will you place it on your page? If you want to take some beginner steps towards improving the type on your layouts, and thereby improving the overall look of your layouts, then this eBook is perfect for you.

See more titles

Layout by Amanda Sok
larger view

Designer Freebie by Amanda Sok coordinates with her You're the One Collection

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Just Because and Dynamic Brush Set: Stitching 6401 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

New Member Chat - Early Edition
Tuesday, February 15th - 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, February 15th - 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!

Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, February 15th - 7:00PM MT

Join Shannon (tinkerbell11) in the Chat room for a Life Moments Chat on Tuesday, February 15th at 7pm MT. A layout idea will be posted earlier in the day for you to get started. These chats are meant to help you scrapbook about YOU!

East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, February 16th - 10:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) each 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 February 16th, we'll do a photo manipulation challenge! Create a layout using a photo you have manipulated in some way - change it to black & white or sepia, remove a distraction, cut out the subject - anything goes! 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! Hope to see you in the chat room!

U.F.O Chat
Wednesday, February 16th - 11:00AM MT

Everyone has those projects you started but just haven't gotten around to finishing! Join Shannon (tinkerbell11) and our guest hostess from the Layout Artist Team, Ashleigh (caprimom) in the chat room at 11am MT to talk about all of your U.F.O (unfinished layouts). Post your layouts in the Unfinished Objects Layouts Gallery before the chat so we can get help from everyone during the chat.

NSBR Chat - Early Edition
Thursday, February 17th - 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!

Heritage Crop & Chat
Thursday, February 17th - 6:00PM MT

Do you have boxes of heritage photos just waiting to be restored and scrapped? Are there family stories just waiting for you to write down and preserve? Then this is the crop for you! Join April (April Showers) and Carla (CRS) at 6pm MT for the Heritage Crop and Chat! We'll help you get motivated to scrap those heritage photos and record your family stories for future generations to enjoy.

Ad Inspiration Challenge & Chat
Thursday, February 17th - 7:00PM MT

Join Pat (PBarnes) at 7pm MT for an Ad Inspiration Challenge and Chat. A few hours before the chat, a magazine ad will be posted on the message board to use as inspiration for a layout. You can use whatever you want to from the ad - the colors, the shapes, the composition. There are no wrong answers!

What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique Chat
Friday, February 18th - 9:00AM MT

Join April (April Showers) at 9am MT on Friday mornings to chat about all the wonderful new products 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!

Back-Up Party and Chat
Friday, February 18th - 8:00PM MT

Need a little extra motivation to back-up your layouts and stash? Join April (April Showers) in the chat room at 8pm MT for the Back-up Party and Chat. The goal of these chats is to make sure our back-ups are current. Come chat while you back up your files. We'll also go over several different ways to safeguard your files and even give you some tips on organizing your supplies. Grab some chocolate and we'll see you in the chat room!

Photo Focus Club Chat
Saturday, February 19th - 10:00AM MT

Do you want to challenge yourself and improve your photography? Check out the Scrap Girls Photo Focus Club. No membership required - Everyone is welcome. Please note that this is not a class but an opportunity to share ideas, ask questions, and try something new. If you are looking for tips, techniques or inspiration to help you take better images, this is the chat for you. Join Becca and Ashleigh (caprimom) on Saturday, February 19th at 10am MT for February's monthly conversation about photography.

FEBRUARY EVENTS

February 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 February 1st when we post the thread to February 28th at 12:00 Midnight (MST). We are doing things a little differently this time and there are two ways to participate - the Message Board and the Gallery, so here are the rules:

1) To enter the Message Board 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. During the month, chat your fingers off! On February 28th, 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.)

2) To enter the Gallery Posting Challenge, take a screenshot of your Gallery comment number and send it to [email protected] BEFORE February 1st, Midnight (MST). To get to your Gallery Stats, click the arrow beside your Profile photo and go down to Gallery. Your total comments number is under Stats on the left-hand side - this is what we need a screenshot of to know where you are starting. Then BEFORE Midnight (MST) on February 28th, take another screenshot of your Gallery Stats and send it to [email protected], this will give us your ending number and enter you in the contest!

PRIZES: You may enter both contests. Members with Message Board posts over 50 will be put in a drawing for a $5 Scrap Girls Gift Certificate. Members with Message Board posts over 200 will be put in a drawing for both the $5 Scrap Girls Gift Certificate and a $10 Scrap Girls Gift Certificate. Members with Message Board posts over 400 will be put in a drawing for a $15 Scrap Girls Gift Certificate, as well as the $5 and $10 Gift Certificates. Members with Gallery comments over 25 will be put in a drawing for $10 Scrap Girls Gift Certificate.

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

Layout Contests:

February Monthly Layout Contest: In the spirit of Mardi Gras, let’s scrap about parties!! For the February Layout Contest, we'd love to see your layouts featuring people or things that make a party special to you! It can be a party you hosted or one you attended. So put your party hats on and post your layouts in the February Monthly Layout Gallery before Midnight MT on February 28th. 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!