 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Gifts Galore! Place an order totaling $10 or more before December 23rd and
Layout by Cheré Kaye Edwards
Scrap Girls' 12 Days of Christmas!
Craft by April Martell
Designer Freebie by Ro
12 Days of Christmas Games! Star Treasure Hunt Be a star and win this treasure hunt! The winner will get a $20 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique. The rules are simple... Use the clues below to find the correct products in the Scrap Girls Boutique. You will know when you have located them because you will see this star image on the product details page.
Please send the product name and its web address link for each item you find to [email protected]. Use the subject line: "Star Treasure Hunt" for your email entry; include your name and your Scrap Girls Forum user name, if available. Everyone who gets the correct answers to ALL of the questions in by 11:59pm MST on Friday, December 16th will be entered into a drawing to win the prize.
|
|||||||||
A Light in Ethiopia
Friday, December 16, 2011
IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
- Gifts Galore!!
- 12 Days of Christmas
- 12 Days of Christmas Stories
- What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique?
- Scrap Girls Club
- Tips from the Pros: Using ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up
- Designer Freebies
- What's Happening at Scrap Girls?
- Ongoing Opportunities for YOU
GENERAL INFORMATION
Support Center We Accept:
The entire Scrap Girls team wants to say how grateful we are that you have chosen to participate with us. You'll never know just how much your support means to us and our families. Ro P.S. Your email address is safe with us. We never share, rent, sell, or loan our list with anyone! P.P.S. If you ever need any assistance, please email [email protected] or call IMPORTANT TO KNOWDon't forget to check out the Retirement Sale section of the Boutique. Items in this section are always on sale for 30% off. The items you will find during any particular month will be discontinued permanently on the 5th of the following month. So if you see something you like, grab it while you can! OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUCustomer Muses: Would you like to share your own Life Muse with our readers? To have your own essay considered for publication as a muse in the column for our special Saturday newsletter, send your essay to [email protected]. If your essay is selected, you will receive a $20 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique. Way Cool Scrap Girl: We are so excited to have all of you meet some of the amazing people that have become Scrap Girls! If you would like to be spotlighted and win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique, send the following items to [email protected]:
Project SG Challenge: Stay motivated to scrap your current photos! Post your 2011 layouts in the Project SG Challenge Gallery to earn one point per layout each month. You can earn up to four points per month this way! Earn a bonus point each month by attending the monthly Project SG Chat! Each point gives you an entry into a quarterly drawing for a special prize! And at the end of the year, each month that you participated in will earn you an entry into the Grand Prize drawing for a 12 X 12, 52 page Keepsakes photobook from Color, Inc! Our fourth quarterly drawing winner will be announced in the Saturday, January 7th Newsletter. Suggest a Challenge, Win a Prize! Have a great idea for a Gallery layout challenge? Submit it to [email protected]. If your challenge idea is chosen, you will win a prize! Friday will be Customer Challenge Day, so keep an eye out on the Message Board calendar. It will be fun to see what YOU come up with for us to do!
Of course, it is a surprise what you will get because birthday presents are always surprises! But you will like it for sure because most people like money.... Anyway, make sure your Message Board email address is current and that you have the correct date entered into your profile to participate. *ADVERTISEMENTS*
|
12 Days of Christmas
Welcome to one of Scrap Girls' most cherished traditions - the 12 Days of Christmas newsletter celebration! We've been hosting this celebration since the beginning of Scrap Girls back in 2005. Back then, I was putting the newsletter together when I suddenly noticed that Christmas Eve was 12 days away.
Now, a 12-day event is something I love best about Christmas.
In some areas of the United States, people enjoy picking out a family in their neighborhood that they can secretly give little gifts to as a way of celebrating how grateful they are for the birth of Jesus Christ. Every evening after dark, some lucky person in the gift-giving family sneaks up to their target's front porch, deposits that day's gift, rings the doorbell, and takes off running with all their might. A successful 12-day campaign means that the receiving family never knows who has showered them with love.
Because I hadn't planned it out, the first Scrap Girls 12 Days of Christmas event was pretty simple - consisting of some extra freebies, a daily Christmas muse by me (this is when muses first appeared in the newsletter), and some neat layouts and samples. Angie Briggs quickly noticed that I needed a little help with this project – because, as I said, it was not pre-planned - and she started feeding me extra layouts for the newsletters. I'll always love her for that. She saved my bacon!
The second year (2006), without thinking through the ramifications of what it would mean for future celebrations, I decided to surprise our readers with a 12-part serial story. You know... like Charles Dickens used to write. (I'm a little nuts sometimes.) That first story – The Flight of Christmas - took me months to write and remains my favorite one to this day. (I have now written five serial stories for this annual event.)
The specially-designed set of 12 Days Embellishments first made their appearance in 2007. The games - including the Infamous Tree of Doom - made their debut in 2008.
So, as you can see, the 12 Days of Christmas event grew from me having a desire to share a little extra holiday spirit with you into an event that takes our team months to prepare for. We keep it going because it's just one small way we can let you know how grateful we are for you and your support of our company. When you refer your friends to us and share what we are doing, you help keep Scrap Girls going. Every time you shop with us, you help us maintain our Forum, our Gallery, our newsletters, our blog, and every other service we offer you. And, of course, you help us to be able to continue to provide you with the free daily downloads that you all enjoy so much!
We need you. We understand that completely. We want you to know that our team members and their families are sublimely grateful for you each and every time you choose Scrap Girls to be your source for the beautiful digital scrapbooking supplies you need to make your layouts and projects. Every time you make a purchase in our Boutique, you make a HUGE difference in many, many lives. You help keep this small business going!
This year's 12 Days of Christmas stories come from our readers who submitted them when we put out a call for amazing stories related to the holidays. Every day from now through Dec 24, you'll read a new story that will make you laugh heartily, think deeply, and maybe blink back a tear or two. We received lots of amazing stories and had a hard time picking just 12!
So here we go! This is the 2011 Scrap Girls 12 Days of Christmas event. I hope you have fun!
- Ro
A Light in Ethiopia
It was Christmas 1960, and the boarding school my brother and I attended in Ethiopia was abuzz with joy! Words alone couldn't sufficiently express how excited we were. Only one more week and we would be going home to our families whom we hadn't seen since late August. Tim and I were among the lucky ones: Our father was in Addis Ababa for the mission council meetings. That meant we could visit with him all Saturday afternoon – and he had phoned to say he would take us Christmas shopping!
Right after lunch on Saturday, Tim and I waited at the school gate searching for that bright, beautiful, red Jeep. It was the only red one in Ethiopia – how could you miss it? Suddenly, there it was, turning the corner to the gate. My loud squeals of joy and Tim's huge grin welcomed our father. Big bear hugs followed!
Hopping in the car, we drove into Addis Ababa. The streets, as ever, accommodated more than vehicles. Horns blared, warning the animals and people on the road to make way for vehicles. Passing the large market, we were greeted with smells of Ethiopian spices, eucalyptus trees, and coffee - mingled with the not-so-great smells of human waste. As we neared the center of the city, these lessened, and finally we were downtown. We parked the car, and Dad promised a young boy that he would be paid to guard the car while we shopped.
"Look over there!" Tim gestured in the Ethiopian manner with his chin. The only department store in town was drawing a huge crowd. Something in their window seemed to hold a lot of fascination. We were headed to that store anyway and managed to squeeze through the crowd. We could now see the object of attraction – a large, battery-operated Santa Claus, dressed in the traditional way, smiling and waving to the crowd. Yes, even to our young more "sophisticated" eyes, this was captivating. The chatter around us began to register.
"What is it?"
"It's the Western god" was the reply.
Quickly, I scanned my father's face – an expression of hurt, mixed with a bit of anger, that this object would be considered our god!
Dad entered the conversation. "No, this is just a toy, an inanimate object with no power. Our God is Jehovah God, possessing all power with love for all people. It is His love gift - the birth of His Son, Jesus -that we celebrate. He is the reason we are here in your country, to tell you of His love for you."
We finished my mother's shopping list and drove part-way down the hill to the Christian Menno Simons Bookstore. There in the display window was the most beautiful Christmas night scene of the town of Bethlehem with the star shining above.
My whole being thrilled at the sight: A star shining in the night, proclaiming the birth of the Savior, God's only Son, and showing the way to His humble abode.
"Now that," I thought, "is Christmas."
- Laura Toews
Layout by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin
larger view
|
|
|
|
||
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Layout Masks Grungy Stencils are also available. |
||
Digital Slideshow Layout by Syndee Nuckles
larger view
 |
|
|
Layout by Jan Ransley
larger view
|
|
|
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Edgers Christmas are also available. |
||
Layout by Laura Louie
larger view
|
|
|
Layout by Brandy Murry
larger view
|
|
|
Card by Syndee Nuckles
larger view
|
|
|
|
||
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Card Templates: Holiday Photo 2 and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Butterfly Shadows 6301 Mini are also available. |
||
Printable Art Sample by Elisha Barnett
larger view
|
|
|
Layout by Jen Reed
larger view
|
|
|
Card by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin
larger view
|
|
|
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Card Templates: 4x8 Holiday Vertical and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Glitzy Christmas 6401 Biggie are also available. |
||
Layout by Katherine Weaver
larger view
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Damask Nuevo and White Christmas Collection Biggie are also available. |
||
If you have praise, comments, or questions for any of our Product Designers or Layout Artists, did you know you can send them a PM (private message) using the Message Board? It's easy!
If you are a registered user of the Message Board, just click on the "PM" box at the bottom of any of their posts to send them a message. Or, to check out more of your favorite designer's layouts, visit the Scrap Girls Design Team section of the Layout Gallery.
|
|
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:
December's Scrap Girls Club designed for you by Angie Briggs
|
|
 Layout by Angie Briggs using December's Scrap Girls Club larger view |
 Layout by Joyce Schardt using December's Scrap Girls Club larger view |
 Layout by Angie Briggs using December's Scrap Girls Club larger view |
Using ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up
Note: Tutorial created using Photoshop CS4 with Windows 7
Today I want to show you my favorite way to use the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up since I know many of us will be creating digital scrapbook layouts featuring gift-giving holidays in the next few weeks. One of the great features of these digital scrapbooking paper templates is that they can be color-coordinated to fit any holiday or gift-giving event. My family celebrates Christmas in December so I'll use some of last year's Christmas photos to demonstrate how to use these fun digital scrapbooking paper templates.
First, choose the photos you want to work with and decide which color from your photo you'd like to use to color your ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up paper. Using the Color Picker Tool, select a color from your photo to set as your foreground color. I chose the bright blue from the wrapping paper on my son's gift.
Create a new layer (Ctrl+N). In your Layers Palette, be sure to position it above the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up paper template that you're using. I've chosen the solid paper option to start with. Click on your new layer in the Layers Palette (it will appear highlighted when you click on it) and use your Paint Bucket Tool to fill the layer with the foreground color you chose in your first step. Create a clipping mask using Ctrl+Alt+G (Ctrl+G in Photoshop Elements) to clip your solid color layer to the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up layer below it in your Layers Palette.
Then simply choose a Blending Mode and adjust the Opacity to achieve the colored, realistic look of the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up paper. I've set mine to "Overlay" with 75% Opacity.
You can use this same method of coloring for the other patterned papers included in the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up set. I wanted to also use a nice striped paper to coordinate with the actual wrapping paper on my son's gift. I opened ACA_SSPaper_WrapItUp_Striped and duplicated it twice. Then using the Color Picker and Paint Bucket Tools as explained above, I created new layers of solid color, positioned them appropriately in my Layers Palette and created clipping masks.
Next, select the top copy of the paper template in your Layers Palette. Using the Eraser Tool with a small, solid brush, you can erase portions of the paper template to allow color from layers below to show through. And here's a quick tip for erasing straight lines: Click once to start the eraser and hold down the Shift key and click again on the ending point of the area you want to erase. This will erase a perfectly straight line between your first and your second click.
I hope this tutorial helps you see how easy to use and how versatile the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up are. Maybe you don't consider wrapping presents to be a fun holiday task, but coordinating your digital scrapbooking papers to the wrapping paper you used can be loads of fun! Enjoy!
Layout by Ang Campbell
larger view
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Wrap It Up, Arts N Crafty Kids Collection Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Vellum 11201, Merry Little Collection Mini and Zoomba Collection Biggie are also available. |
||
Article written by Ang Campbell
Learn to make digital scrapbooking layouts and more! – Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed Ready to learn advanced techniques? – MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed |
Surprise! Surprise! More Gifts Galore!
We have TWO designer freebies for you each day until Christmas Eve!
Layout by Elisha Barnett
larger view
Designer Freebie by Elisha Barnett coordinates with her ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Coffee House
|
|
|
|
||
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Edgers Biggie are also available. |
||
Today's freebie designed by Elisha Barnett
Layout by Syndee Nuckles
larger view
Designer Freebie by Syndee Nuckles coordinates with her ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Months Biggie
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Months Biggie, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Cardstock 2 and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Butterfly Shadows 6301 Mini are also available. |
||
Today's freebie designed by Syndee Nuckles
* 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.
What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique Chat
Friday, December 16th - 9:00AM MST
Join April (April Showers) and Theresa (teecee) 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!
Swap Crop Chat
Saturday, December 17th - 6:00PM MST
It's time for the Swap Crop Chat with Lei (Bride) and Carla (CRS)! 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! If you haven't done so, you can check out past swaps in the Swap Crop Gallery!
ScrapSimple Club Chat
Monday, December 19th - 6:00PM MST
Join April (April Showers) and Shannon (tinkerbell11) on Monday, December 19th at 6pm MT for a chat and challenge using this month's ScrapSimple Club. Did you know that every time you create a layout with the current ScrapSimple Club and upload it into the ScrapSimple Club Gallery that your page could be chosen to be featured in the Newsletter and receive a prize? Join us for the chat so we can encourage and inspire you and help with any questions that you may have. Let's get those ScrapSimple Club layouts done and uploaded!
New Member Chat - Early Edition
Tuesday, December 20th - 1:00PM MST
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" button at the top of this newsletter; you will need Javascript enabled to access the chat room.
Life Moments Chat
Tuesday, December 20th - 2:00PM MST
The Life Moments Challenge is about encouraging YOU to do an album about YOU! On the day of the chat, Pat will post the theme for the chat on the Message Board. You can do your layout before, during or after the chat. There are no deadlines! Join Pat (PBarnes) in the chat room at 2pm MT to talk about the theme and creating a digital album about yourself.
Faith Journey Chat
Tuesday, December 20th - 6:00PM MST
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!
December Message Board Game: BINGO!
Join us for an exciting game of BINGO on the Scrap Girls Forum during the month of December!! 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 Friday December 2 (Midnight MST) in order to play in the first round. The first round will begin on Saturday, December 3rd. 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 (Monday through Saturday), 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 Forum.
December Monthly Layout Contest: For the December Monthly Layout Contest, it's all about the gifts! Scrap a layout about a gift that was extra special, either one you gave or received. Or you can scrap about something or someone you consider to be a gift in your life. Share with us what makes that gift special! Post your layouts in the December Monthly Layout Gallery before Midnight MST on December 31st. Be sure to list your credits in the description or under the EXIF Properties. Two layouts will be selected to win a $10 Gift Card 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!