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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 Joyce Schardt
Designer Freebie by Ro
12 Days of Christmas Games! Christmas Tree of Doom The Christmas Tree of Doom is here! For those of you who are new to this game, the object is simple. You must correctly identify the items shown in the Christmas tree card image, created from products found in the Scrap Girls Boutique! Send your guesses for this game to [email protected]. Use the subject line "Christmas Tree of Doom" for your email entry; include your name and your Scrap Girls Forum user name, if available. Please include the product name and its web address link for each item you find in this Christmas Tree of Doom! You have until 11:59pm MST on Saturday, December 31st to enter. The Christmas tree card above is made using 14 different papers. The paper designers include:
The Christmas tree card has 27 embellishments. Those designers include:
Now don't panic! You don't have to find them all to play the game. (Whew!) But anyone who DOES get them all correct will automatically win a $10 Gift Certificate! No problem. You've got it. This means more than one person can win a $10 Gift Certificate. (Anyone this motivated deserves a prize!) The winners of these gift certificates can get in on the rest of the game, too! For all players:
Does that sound possible? Hope so! HINTS: The background paper and the star paper are both included; the drop shadows are not. Everything is very straight-forward: papers and embellishments only. There are no ScrapSimple products, brushes or tools. Even if you aren't up to playing the game, look at the pretty Christmas card that was made for you and see if you can recreate it using your favorite papers and embellishments! Have fun! |
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An Ornament for Belinda
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
- Save 40% off Presentation Digital Scrapbooks 1-2-3!
- 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: What are Collections?
- 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
An Ornament for Belinda
Christmas ornaments often have special meanings to us, associated with an event, a memory, or a person in our lives. I'd like to share this story about Belinda, a woman I met years ago who wanted more than anything to know what it was like to hang an ornament on a tree.
Back in November 1997, I was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. I stayed in the hospital from November 19th through December 9th. I made several friends while I was there, and we participated in many activities together. One day, we were doing art, and I made a paper Christmas tree and decorated it to look like my family's past Christmas trees.
Belinda, my friend and a fellow patient, told me that she was sad that she never got to put ornaments on a tree because she was homeless. This really moved me. It was heart-breaking that anyone missed out on the joy of decorating a tree. Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do to fix the problem, but I wanted to cheer her up. I had her help me make a big paper ornament, and we decorated it with glitter and paint. We wrote "Belinda's Ornament" in big letters. I promised her that I would hang it on my parents' tree when I went home, so in a way, she would be "helping" to decorate our tree.
When I was released from the hospital, I was overwhelmed by the "real world." New York City is a loud, busy place, so very different from a quiet psych ward. I struggled to assimilate back into my life, but my family helped me. I thought of Belinda often and hoped she was safe and warm like I was. When I got to my parents' house in Massachusetts, one of the first things I did was to put Belinda's ornament on the Christmas tree.
I put her ornament on my parents' tree every year - and every year I would pray that Belinda would finally get to decorate a Christmas tree.
After about five years, the paper ornament was falling apart and couldn't be repaired further. So I stored it away in a box, and now I pick an ornament from my parents' box of ornaments every year and mentally dedicate it to Belinda.
I never saw Belinda again, so I don't know if she's okay or if she ever got to decorate her own tree. But I think of her every Christmas season, and I say a prayer for her and all the other people in the world who want to celebrate the season but can't because they have no home to call their own.
I offer up this story as a further way to honor Belinda - and all the people in the world like her who have no tree to decorate, no home, and little hope. Maybe we can all find a way this year to help a Belinda in our corner of the world.
- Sarah Higgins
Sarah and the Christmas tree at her parents' home in Massachusetts
Digital Presentation Layout by Armi Custodio
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Commercial license versions of Presentation Digital Scrapbook 1-2-3: 8.5x11 It's Christmas! are also available. |
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Layout by April Martell
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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 Just Before Dawn are also available. |
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Layout by Katherine Weaver
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Winter Velvet 10301, ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Editable Text Christmas and ScrapSimple Tools - Lightroom Presets: Classic Black and White 10301 are also available. |
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Digital Presentation Layout by Syndee Nuckles
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Layout by Jo Corne
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Commercial license versions of Funky Hanukkah Paper Mini, Funky Hanukkah Collection and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 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 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
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 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 |
What are Collections?
If you've been around Scrap Girls for any time at all, you'll see this word pop up frequently: collections. So, what are collections exactly?
At Scrap Girls, a collection is a group of products put together by a designer. Those products coordinate to make it easy for you to create beautiful digital scrapbooking layouts and albums. Included in collections are papers, embellishments, and word art. In larger collections, one or more sets of alphabets (which we call alphas) are included. Sometimes, you may hear these collections referred to as kits.
You will find collections in the Boutique area of our website. At the navigation bar at the top of our site, simply click on the word Boutique.
Next, click the drop-down box under the categories and look under Pretty Things to find all the digital scrapbooking collections.
Scrap Girls has four different sizes of collections: Nano, Mini, Regular, and Biggie. Let's take a peek at what that means exactly. We will start with the smallest of the collections - the Nano.
Example of a Nano Collection
A Nano Collection consists of:
- 3 digital papers
- half a sheet of digital embellishments and word art
All "sheets" at Scrap Girls are 8.5x11 inches. In this case, the embellishments and word art fill up 8.5x5.5 inches.
Example of a Collection Mini
The next size is the Collection Mini, which includes:
- 6 digital papers
- one 8.5x11-inch sheet of embellishments
- one 8.5x11-inch sheet of word art
Sometimes, the designer will substitute word art with a set of alphas.
Example of a Collection
Then we have the regular-sized collection (which is simply called a collection, not a regular collection) that has:
- 10 papers
- two 8.5x11-inch sheets of embellishments
- one 8.5x11-inch sheet of word art
- one alphabet set
An alpha is sometimes substituted with word art or vice versa. This is up to the designer, so sometimes you may have one alphabet and one sheet of word art or two sheets of either, but all in all, you will have two sheets of elements that will help you put words on your digital scrapbooking layouts.
Example of a Collection Biggie
The last size is the Biggie Collection. Biggies include:
- 16 papers
- three 8.5x11-inch sheets of embellishments
- two 8.5x11-inch sheets of word art
- one set of alphabet letters
Again, the word art is sometimes substituted with an extra alpha or vice versa. The Biggies are your best value - and for me as a designer, they are my favorite to create!
Here are several layouts I have made using Blessed Be Collection Biggie. You can see how using a collection will help your scrapbooks have a beautiful unison.
Layout by Brandy Murry
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Commercial license versions of Design Pack: Inked Text are also available. |
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Article written by Brandy Murry
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 Brandy Murry
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Designer Freebie by Brandy Murry coordinates with her Cottage Christmas Collection Biggie
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Commercial license versions of Brush Set: Swirlicious Biggie, Design Pack: Inked Text, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Glitter Edge 6302 Biggie and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Ragamuffin Glitter 8501 are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Brandy Murry
Layout by Shalae Tippetts
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Designer Freebie by Shalae Tippetts coordinates with her Humble Christmas 2 Collection Mini
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Commercial license versions of Humble Christmas 2 Collection Mini, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Fabric Buttons and Christmas Catalog Paper Mini are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Shalae Tippetts
* 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.
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!
New Member Chat
Tuesday, December 27th - 7:00PM MST
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.
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!