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Save 40% off all Presentation Digital Scrapbooks 1-2-3 (commercial license versions, too!) in the Scrap Girls Boutique
Gifts Galore! Place an order totaling $10 or more before December 23rd and
Layout by Cheré Kaye Edwards
Scrap Girls' 12 Days of Christmas!
Layout by Cheri Thieleke
Designer Freebie by Ro
12 Days of Christmas Games! Christmas Quiz Let's play a Christmas game and the winner will get a $20 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique! All you have to do is send the answers to the following questions to [email protected]. The answers to the questions are names of products in the Scrap Girls Boutique. You'll see... It's really pretty easy! Please include the product name and its web address link for each answer. Use the subject line: "Christmas Quiz" 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 Tuesday, December 20th will be entered into a drawing to win the prize.
Today's Special of the Day!
Save 30% off this Digital Layout Template set today only! Each week on Tuesdays, we will be spotlighting one designer and one of their favorite products. This product will be on sale for one day only at 30% off! This week's designer spotlight is on Andrea Trump. In a brief interview with Andrea, she shared these comments with us... Smart Stackers help you create the look of stacked paper without all the hard work of deciding how to lay each item on the page. 1. Are you an early morning designer or do you burn the midnight candle? Burn the midnight oil for sure... I'm not a morning person. 2. Soda, coffee or other? Herbal tea... hands down! |
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"I Don't Do Presents," She Said.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
- Save 40% off Presentation Digital Scrapbooks 1-2-3!
- Gifts Galore!!
- 12 Days of Christmas
- Today's Special of the Day!
- 12 Days of Christmas Stories
- What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique
- ScrapSimple Club
- Tips from the Pros: Using Patterned Paper
- 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*
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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
"I Don't Do Presents," She Said.
At the beginning of each December, my landlord, Lonna, delivers a fruit basket. She always insists, "It's not a present, because I don't do presents." She may say they aren't presents, but I have come home to find flowers in springtime, vegetables in summertime, and pumpkins and gourds in the fall. I adore such "presents" left on my porch.
Lonna is now 90 and declares she is still capable of doing everything she did when she was younger. Gardening, greenhouse, barn work, yard work, etc. - you name it; she's still doing it. I see her little silver Jeep busting through the ruts and puddles in the old farm road as she goes over the rise to the homestead. On occasion, I even see her shooing a cow or two out of the road and leading them back to the barn. When she sees me outside, she always toots the horn and waves. I always smile and whisper, "I hope I feel that good when I'm her age."
Last December, the first week of the month went by, then the second. It was well into the start of the third week before I realized I had yet to receive the annual Christmas fruit basket that should have been waiting for me on the porch.
I confess, I'm guilty of being absorbed in work, family, hobbies, and home life, and I didn't think about the reason why I hadn't had a delivery yet - until I received a phone call.
"Hi, it's Molly - Lonna's daughter. I was wondering if you could come help my mother. She's been sick the last few weeks. She hasn't made the widow's baskets yet, and it's all she can think about. Could you please help?"
I arrived at the front of the house to find that little silver Jeep stuffed full with heaping boxes of apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and tangerines - oh my!
"We need your muscles," she said. Lonna was peeking through the open screen door at me and said, "I can't lift those heavy boxes. Got to work on my widow's baskets and get them delivered today."
No empty space existed in the living room. Thirty baskets needed a creative touch. I spent the next three hours unpacking and sorting the most amazingly delicious-looking fruit. Since I had skipped lunch, my senses were going into overdrive with all the aromas. Lonna kept handing out samples, which I eagerly accepted.
I worked until there was nothing left to put in a basket. I loaded my truck to make deliveries. Before I left, Lonna gave me a huge hug and told me how thankful she was to have my help.
I noticed the marquee as I passed the little Baptist church down the road: "What are you thankful for?" That day, the number was in the thousands. I never thought about how much work went into all of those widow's baskets and how they truly were Christmas "presents."
- Kristine Patton
Layout by Kristine Patton
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Layout by Jo Corne
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Commercial license versions of Funky Hanukkah Collection, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photo Basics 5001, ScrapSimple Digital Layout Album Templates: 12x12 Clustered and Clean, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Butterfly Shadows 6301 Mini are also available. |
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Digital Presentation Layout by Durin Eberhart
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Commercial license versions of Presentation Digital Scrapbook 1-2-3: 8.5x11 Autumn Elegance are also available. |
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Layout by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Digital Layout Album Templates: 12x12 Absolutely Blended and Brush Set: Ultimate Grunge are also available. |
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Digital Presentation Layout by Syndee Nuckles
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Layout by Laura Louie
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Digital Presentation Layout by Durin Eberhart
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Commercial license versions of Presentation Digital Scrapbook 1-2-3: 8.5x11 Realms of Glory are also available. |
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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.
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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). A commercially licensed version of the ScrapSimple Club is also available here. With the ScrapSimple Club, you will receive:
December's ScrapSimple Club has been created for you by
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 Layout by Melissa Renfro using December's ScrapSimple Club larger view |
 Layout by Laura Louie using December's ScrapSimple Club larger view |
 Layout by Melissa Renfro using December's ScrapSimple Club larger view |
Using Patterned Paper
Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS5 on Windows 7
Are you afraid of patterned paper when you are designing digital scrapbooking layouts? Sometimes it simply just seems easier to stick with neutral backgrounds and stay away from the papers that are patterned, whether because it just seems like it makes the layout too busy or you are intimidated by the thought of figuring out how to get all those beautiful patterns to play nicely together on your page.
In this tutorial, I want to show you that it's not only possible to use patterned paper in your layout but to keep it quick and easy (because, let's face it – do you really have hours and hours to scrapbook in a day?).
I have two simple techniques:
- Keep the patterned pieces small.
- Keep them coordinated.
The designers at Scrap Girls do an amazing job of creating fabulous collections with a great assortment of patterned papers and solid/less busy papers.
In this layout, I want to show you what you can do with various papers in a single collection. I chose Brandy Murry's Serendipity Collection. I adore the colors in this collection, and I love that the background paper that I chose has just enough design and color to not overtake the entire page, but it definitely adds lots of great interest. I took small pieces of four separate patterned papers from Brandy's collection and flanked my photo in such a way that it draws the eye to the main picture.
My journaling is a huge part of my layout, and I really wanted the eye to be drawn to the journaling - so I positioned my journaling right over the design on the background paper. To really make my journaling stand out, I added an Outer Glow to my text (in Photoshop CS, select the little fx in the Layers Palette, and then select "Outer Glow." I selected my color to match my background paper, Blending Mode is "Screen," and the Opacity is 63%). With this Outer Glow, it adds just enough "smudge" behind my words to make them legible on top of the design.
Layout by Joann Brown
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Transparency 4901 are also available. |
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Article written by Joann Brown
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 Jo Corne
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Designer Freebie by Jo Corne coordinates with her Funky Hanukkah Collection
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Commercial license versions of Funky Hanukkah Collection and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Jo Corne
Layout by Ang Campbell
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Designer Freebie by Ang Campbell coordinates with her Gift Bows Embellishments
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Commercial license versions of Gift Bows Embellishments, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Gift Bows, JIF 6 Plus: 12x12 Lucky Day and Christmas Carols Collection Mini are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Ang Campbell
* 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.
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!
East Coast High Noon Crop
Wednesday, December 21st - 10:00AM MST
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 December 21st, we'll do a stripes challenge. Create a layout on any theme, any topic and any colors using stripes! 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 in the Scrap Girls Boutique Chat
Friday, December 23rd - 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!
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!