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Brandy Murry
Make Pie, Not War
I was driving down the road with Jeroen coming back from his parents' house when I spotted something familiar - Phillips (you know, the light bulb company). I was excited and proclaimed, "Look! There's Phillips, a good 'ole American company!" (being the oh-so-proud American girl that I am).
"Phillips isn't American," said Jeroen.
"What? What do you mean Phillips isn't American?"
"Well, contrary to your popular belief, all big, successful companies aren't only American."
I was a little stunned by that remark. How could I have been wrong? It wasn't like the company was named Van Phillips.
"And by the way," Jeroen said, "Shell is Dutch, too."
"Huh? You mean the gas company, Shell?"
"That would be the one."
I was getting an eye opener. I guess I was a little naive about the business world when it came to which countries could claim which companies.
I was thinking to myself, "Okay, if he tries to tell me Levi's and Texaco aren't American, he's cooking his own dinner tonight!" (My American pride was starting to get in the way of peace, love, and harmony.)
I could see Jeroen start to smile and snicker to himself; he likes to pick at me, and he knows how to get a reaction.
"Oh, and apple pie is Dutch, too."
Uh-oh, now he's gone too far. "You are completely insane. Haven't you ever heard of as American as apple pie?"
"Yes, but the Americans stole it."
"Americans didn't steal apple pie!"
He was really laughing now, knowing he's got me going. I knew he was teasing me; but still, don't mess with an American girl and her apple pie.
When we got home, I ran straight for one of my best friends to sort out this illusion of Jeroen's. Yes, that would be Google. Good 'ole Google. I started to wonder if Google wasn't American either.
After a bit of research, come to find out, we were both wrong. Seems the first apple pie recipes came from England.
English apple pie recipes go back to the 14th century. The first printed apple pie recipe was by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381. The ingredients for the pie were good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears. He also mentioned a cofyn, which is simply a casing of pastry. The last ingredient, saffron, is used to color the pie filling. The traditional way to serve apple pie in some parts of England (such as Yorkshire) is with cheese. In many Commonwealth countries, apple pie is served with ice cream, custard or double cream.
Dutch apple pie recipes also go back centuries. The first recipes probably appeared in the late 15th century or early 16th century.
Three Apple Pie Facts
As you can see above, early English apple pie recipes did not include sugar, which is common in today's English apple pies. This is likely because sugar was very expensive at the time as it had to be imported from Egypt. Sometimes a "typical American" is referred to by saying "as American as apple pie." The saying "for mom and apple pie" was supposedly said by soldiers in World War II whenever journalists asked why the soldiers were going to war.
All of this pie research got me to wondering about the difference between American and Dutch apple pies. This is what I found out:
American Apple Pies are usually made with a full crust on the top and bottom while Dutch apple pies are made by having a crust at the bottom and around the edges. Most are topped with the lattice of dough or none at all. Americans prefer their apple pie served warm with ice cream, while the Dutch prefer it cold with whipped cream. Dutch pies also are typically made with cinnamon and sometimes lemon zest, though many American recipes also include cinnamon.
American Apple Pie
Photo courtesy of foodwishes.blogspot.com
Dutch Apple Pie
Photo courtesy of yummyinmytummy.nl
Now I wanted to learn to make this Dutch apple pie, so I asked Elly (Jeroen's mama) to come over and show me how. She was as happy to help as I was to learn.
It turned out beautifully! And while it was baking, the cinnamon filled the house with good smells.
So what's the moral to this story? Well, I would say I learned a few things:
Maybe Americans don't own all the great companies of the world (just a lot of them). Both American and Dutch apple pie is yummy! No matter where it originally came from. The smile on Jeroen's face when he came home to fresh, homemade Dutch Apple Pie made by his favorite American girl brought a peace treaty between our fun-warring over which country is the best. Our peace, love, and harmony was back in balance.
I thought as I sat down to my computer to tell you about all this, "Hmm, maybe NATO could learn a few things: Make Pie, not War."
- Brandy
Favorite Product I've designed:
Bon Appetit Collection Biggie
Food is a big part of our histories and daily life. This collection helps bring that to our scrapbooks.
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Layouts by Brandy Murry
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Online Class Round Up
Once a month, we share with you the details of a recent digital scrapbooking class that has been held at Scrap Girls. I'd like to share with you about a popular class by Katherine Weaver called The Beauty of Blending Modes, for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
Online Class - The Beauty of Blending Modes
Instructor: Katherine Weaver
It goes without saying: Digital scrapbooking templates are popular among digital scrapbookers! While there is so many ways to use them, the use of Blending Modes is essential for achieving amazing looks in scrapbook layouts, but also to fix many common photos problems. The Beauty of Blending Modes online class was the perfect opportunity for computer scrapbookers to learn about the versatility of Blending Modes in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and how to combine them with ScrapSimple products.
Using various methods, this class taught students how to correct photograph exposure problems such as overexposure (photos that are too light), underexposure (photos that are too dark), and how to fix old photos that have faded over time. The learning didn't stop there though – students went on to learn how to use Blending Modes to create their own beautiful backgrounds for digital layouts.
This class was held in our most popular method of two chat room class sessions. Students also received class materials with step-by-step PDF instructions, including screenshots to make it easy for following along. As with all our classes, there was a private class gallery set up for students to post their before-and-after work and were also able to receive feedback. There was also a private class forum for the students to ask questions and share information, which was an excellent way for students to interact further with Katherine. At the end of each class session, students received a transcript of the class chat.
I've chosen two class layouts to share with you. This layout is from the Photoshop Elements version of this class and is by ArizonaAngel:
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Layout by ArizonaAngel
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This layout is from the Photoshop version of this class and is by Linda.E:
Layout by Linda.E
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The The Beauty of Blending Modes class was already held; however, we do repeat classes. Be sure to keep watch on our Online Class section of the Boutique to find future class offerings to help you expand your digital scrapbooking skills.
Article written by Brandie Valenzuela, Scrap Girls University Principal
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Join the Scrap Girls Monthly Club and you can have fun with the newest traditional digital and printable scrapbooking looks while saving! (A $40.87 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 Word Art Mini
- 1 Embellishment Mini
- 1 Assemble Your Own Zoom Page Set
- 1 Designer's Choice Item
April's Scrap Girls Club designed for you by Angie Briggs |
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But that's not all! Club members now receive these three exclusive, club-only items!
Club Exclusive! JIFFY Easy Page Album
Club Exclusive! Designer's Gift
and a Club Exclusive! Color Palette |
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Mischief Week is Here!
For those of you who haven't been with us for the past several years, Mischief Week is a week that's full of general madness and mayhem. We have lots of crazy chats, classes, games, prizes, and other random events just in time to usher us into the wonderful world of spring.
We've got a schedule full of events that the Scrap Girls Team are hosting, plus our Mischief Week Sale, games, freebies, contests, prizes and fun! Clear your calendars - you won't want to miss this!
Brownie Recipe Cards
Mischief Week wouldn't be the same without chocolate, right? Our Scrap Girls Design Team has cooked up their favorite brownies and created recipe cards just for you! Check out the Newsletter each day for high-resolution downloads of these designer-crafted goodies – a high energy, no carb treat that's sure to please everyone!
Recipe Card by Erica Hite
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Click HERE to download the high-resolution version of this card.
Recipe Card by Sara Peterson
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Click HERE to download the high-resolution version of this card.
Mischief Week Chat Schedule
Monday, April 25, 2011
- 10:00AM MT - Mini Class: Creating Digital Paper Flowers
Spring is in the air and things are starting to grow again! Join Anna (anna) for a new mini class where we'll learn to make some fun and easy digital paper flowers to brighten up any layout! Anna will post a link where you can download the tutorial on the Message Board on Saturday, April 23. Please have the tutorial and your supplies (listed in the tutorial) ready to go!
- 12:00Noon MT - Build Your Own Brownie Sundae Challenge
Grab a (real) brownie and join Cheri (Cheri T) and Pat (PBarnes) in the chat room for great fun as we chat, scrap, and share our pages. A few hours before chat time we will post a list of "ingredients" for your layout. You must pick the specified number of items. Closer to chat time we will post the "translation" of the items and that's what you'll use to make your layout!
- 5:00PM MT - Monday Challenge
Join Angela (angelaNussbaum) for a fun chat that will coincide with the Monday Challenge. The challenge will be posted Monday morning, but be sure to join the chat at 5pm MT to learn more tips, tricks, and ideas for the challenge and your layouts.
- 6:00PM MT - "Grab Bag" Chat
Join Amy (mimes1) and Lei (Bride) for a "Grab Bag" Scrap Chat at 6pm MT on Monday evening. We will spend the mischievous hour of fun letting you choose your "grab bag" which contains specific instructions to complete a special layout.
- 7:00PM MT - ATC Mischief Chat
Join Lei (Bride) and Carla (CRS) in the chat room at 7pm MT for an hour full of Mischievous Artist Trading Card chatter! We'll have a theme for you and explain what an ATC is.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
- 10:00AM MT - Tuesday Freebie Challenge
Join Carla (CRS) for a Tuesday Freebie Challenge! Carla will pick a freebie from the Newsletter for you to use in a layout. It's so much fun to see how everyone uses the same freebie in different ways!
- 5:00PM MT - University Chat
Join April (April Showers) and Shannon (tinkerbell11) as we explore the Scrap Girls University. We will post a link to the university tutorial we're going to cover on Tuesday morning. Come to the chat room at 5pm MT and we'll help you try out a new technique! As always there will be fun, games and a little bit of mischief.
- 7:00PM MT - New Member Chat
Join Pat (PBarnes) and Theresa (tiza126) for the New Member Chat at 7pm MT in the Live Chat room lobby. This is a great place to ask questions about getting around the Scrap Girls site or about digital scrapbooking in general - and a great place to make some new friends. All are welcome, new and long time members included. You do need to have Java installed on your computer to access the Live Chat.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
- 10:00AM MT - East Coast High Noon Crop - April & Debbie
- 2:00PM MT - Mess or Masterpiece? Crop - Ro
- 5:00PM MT - Mischief Journaling Chat - Amy & Lei
- 6:00PM MT - Mischief Quote Challenge and Chat - Shannon & Theresa
- 7:00PM MT - Critique Chat - Shannon & Ashleigh
- 8:00PM MT - Easy Page Class - Ro
Thursday, April 28, 2011
- 2:00PM MT - Thursday Challenge Chat - Pat
- 4:00PM MT - Out of the Box Challenge Crop - Angela & Shannon
- 6:00PM MT - Scrap Simple Use It! Chat - Amy & Angela
- 7:00PM MT - Brownie Recipe Swap - Shannon & Theresa
Friday, April 29, 2011
- 9:00AM MT - What's New (or Old) Chat - April
- 12:00Noon MT - Customer Submitted Challenge Crop - Lei & Debbie
- 3:00PM MT - Mischievous Siggy Challenge Crop - Angela & Lei
- 5:00PM MT - Scraplifting Chat - Angela
- 6:00PM MT - Speed Scrap Crop - Carla & Angela
- 8:00PM MT - Late Night Scrappers Crop - Cheri & Ashleigh
Saturday, April 30, 2011
- 10:00AM MT - Saturday Color Challenge Chat - Debbie & Carla
- 2:00PM MT - Sketch Challenge Chat - Cheri & Theresa
- 6:00PM MT - Swap Crop - Angela & Carla
- 7:00PM MT - Cram the Chat Room - Theresa & Cheri
- 8:00PM MT - PJ Party Chat - Angela & Theresa
* Schedule is subject to change... stay tuned to the Newsletter and Forum for the latest Mischief Week happenings!
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Using Color to Create Contrast in your Layout
Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 with Mac OS.
Do you ever feel like you started a great digital scrapbooking layout, but it just lacks a little pizzazz? One of the best ways to create interest and dimension in your scrapbook pages is to use contrasting colors!
What is color contrast?
Simply stated, color contrast is the difference in a color that we see when one color is surrounded by another color. I like to think of contrast as the amount of "pop" that appears when one color is next to another color.
Many types of color contrasting techniques exist, but today I am going to show you how to create color contrast with the arrangement of colors in a layout.
First, I chose my color scheme from my photos. The three colors that stood out to me were the pink, purple, and yellow from the subject's clothes and shoes. Now that I had my color scheme, I needed to layer and arrange the three colors so that parts of my layout would stand out.
Here is an example of mild color contrast:
As you can see, the layers of pink and purple look nice, but there is minimal contrast between the layers. I wanted more "pop" so I included more yellow, which had a high level of contrast against the pink and purple.
First, I replaced the pink paper from Amanda Fraijo-Tobin's Hannah Solids Paper Mini with a lighter paper from the same collection. Next, I used a clipping mask on the yellow paper to apply it to the small scallop paper template from Ang Campbell's ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Basically Bordered Squares. These small changes created big contrast in my digital scrapbooking layout! Coupled with the splashes of yellow, pink, and purple embellishments, I now have a scrapbook page with pop!
Layout by Julie Moberly
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Article written by Julie Moberly
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Learn to make digital scrapbooking layouts and more! – Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed
Find out how easy it can be to learn how to create digital scrapbook layouts, edit photos, use and make brushes, recolor papers and embellishments, make your own simple backgrounds and embellishments, save and share your layouts and much more!
Ready to learn advanced techniques? – MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed
Learn to use paper templates, embellishment templates, custom shapes, styles, and brushes to make your own supplies. Learn advanced clipping mask and lighting blend techniques. Learn to make and use patterns. Learn to make brushes from your own doodles. Learn to extract images from photos. Learn work flow techniques that will speed up the layout creation process and advanced photo editing skills and much, much more!
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Layout by Angie Briggs
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Designer Freebie by Angie Briggs coordinates with her Being With You Collection Biggie,
part of this month's Scrap Girls Club offering!
Today's freebie designed by Angie Briggs
* 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.
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New Member Chat
Tuesday, April 26th - 7:00PM MT
Join Pat (PBarnes) and Theresa (tiza126) for the New Member Chat at 7pm MT in the Live Chat room lobby. This is a great place to ask questions about getting around the Scrap Girls site or about digital scrapbooking in general - and a great place to make some new friends. All are welcome, new and long time members included. You do need to have Java installed on your computer to access the Live Chat.
East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, April 27th - 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 April 27th, we'll do a patterned paper challenge! Create a layout using at least two patterned papers. 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!
What's New Chat
Friday, April 29th - 9:00AM MT
Join April (April Showers) at 9am MT on Friday morning 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!
Scraplifting Challenge Chat
Friday, April 29th - 5:00PM MT
Are you in a rut? Do you need some inspiration? Join Angela (angelaNussbaum) in the chat room at 5pm MT for a crop and chat about scraplifting! Scraplifting can be a huge source of inspiration to you and your layouts, and it's a lot of fun for the person who inspired you. Come and see what fun we will be having!
April Message Board Game: BINGO!
Join us for an exciting game of Springtime BINGO on the Message Board Forum in April! Pick 25 words from the list provided and send them in an email to [email protected] with a subject line that says "BINGO CARD - your Scrap Girls Message Board username" by Saturday, April 2nd at Midnight MST in order to play in the first round. The first round will begin on Monday, April 4th. If you miss the first round deadline, you can still play! Just send in your BINGO card at any time during the month, and you'll be eligible to begin playing when the next new round starts.
Each day, a member of the Welcoming Committee will call five random words from the BINGO list. Match just 15 of those words to win a BINGO. You must be first to call "BINGO!" in the game thread to win that round. After a winner is called, the boards will be cleared and a new round will begin the following day.
Each winner will receive a $5 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique! We like to see lots of winners, so please remember that each person can only win one round during the month. Have fun!
For complete details, visit the Monthly Message Board Games folder on the Scrap Girls Message Board.
April Monthly Layout Contest: Earth Day was started in the United States in 1970 and it went global in 1990. For April's Monthly Layout Contest, we want you to show us what Earth Day means to you or what you are doing to make our precious world a little greener. Post your layouts in the April Monthly Layout Gallery before Midnight MT on April 30th. 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!
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