Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Newsletter: December 3, 2012

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You Have a Story to Tell...

...and we want to hear it! Scrapbookers are all about telling their stories – family stories, personal stories, children's and grandchildren's stories. Why, even the word "history" has a story in it! And my-oh-my, we love history around here.

Make some history of your own this year by putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, to be more precise, and tell us a Christmas story from your own experience.

Last year, we were blown away by the incredible stories that were submitted to our 12 Days of Christmas Story Contest. This year, we know you've got more stories just waiting to be told. We want to hear your stories of Christmas past, of Christmas memories, marvels, magic, or miracles. Was there a time when you saw something wonderful happen at Christmas or during the holiday season? Can you recall a first Christmas or holiday memory with your loved one, your child, or maybe the last Christmas with your great-grandmother? Maybe it's a story handed down through the generations in your family. We love to share good stories around here, and we don't mind having to grab a tissue, so write with all your heart to speak to our hearts.

We will select 12 stories - with one story revealed in our newsletter from December 13-24, every day, including Sundays. Just to keep things interesting, we're not going to tell anyone if they have been selected ahead of time. You'll just have to hop out of bed every morning, rush to your computer, and open up your Scrap Girls Newsletter with all the wonder of a child on Christmas morning and look to see if your story was published that day!

Here are the Submission Guidelines, so start those creative juices flowing!

The deadline for submissions is Midnight (ET), Friday, December 7. Email your story to [email protected] with a subject line of My 12 Days Story. With your email, please include the following attachments:
- Your story: Story length - maximum of 700 words. Your story must be true (to the best of your knowledge), and it must tell a story/event centered around a holiday theme, not just a collection of thoughts about why you love this time of year. One entry per person. Send your story in MS Word or something similar. At the top of your story, include your name, Forum username (if you have one), your mailing address, and your email address. At the bottom of your story, write a few sentences about yourself – where you live, what you do, your family, your job, your hobbies, etc.
- Scrap Girls publication release (download it here)
- One image/layout (optional): You may submit one image or layout that is related to your story - but only one, so make it good! Images should be no more than 300 pixels long on either width or height. If you submit a layout, we need two sizes: a 300-pixel image (72 dpi) and a 600-pixel image (72 dpi). Please show off our beautiful Scrap Girls products in your layout and include a supply list of products used (along with links to those products in the Boutique). Even if the product is retired, please include it in the list (without a link). By the way, submitting a photo or layout will not drastically improve the likelihood of a story being published, but it's a nice accompaniment to give our readers.
A few miscellaneous details:
- We reserve the right to edit the story as needed for clarity, grammar, punctuation, length, etc., though we will make every effort not to change the meaning of what you write. However, the better you write, the less we have to edit, and the happier you will make our editor.
- If you submitted a story last year that was not chosen, you may resubmit it this year!
Hmmm, what have we forgotten? Ah, yes, the prizes! What is a contest without prizes?!
- Everyone who submits a story will get a JIF 6 kit that coordinates with our "12 Days of Christmas Stories" this year! That's right – you get a prize just for entering! And this JIF 6 will only be given to our story tellers, not available in the Boutique. You want it? Then write a story and send it in!
- The 12 winners will get what everyone needs at this time of year – a little extra cash! If your story is published in our newsletter, you'll receive a $25 Visa gift card.

We look forward to hearing your story as we launch our annual 12 Days of Christmas celebration!

Some of the most intriguing things to capture my attention this year are paint lids. I think I first saw them in magazines to show current or up-and-coming color trends.

In this September 2012 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, paint lids are used to display stylist Sibella Court's choice for a color palette inspired by India. I love how visually stimulating the paint lids are. It's a little different than using paint chips. Paint lids are a bit messier, very textural, and eye catching.

These paint lids struck a chord with me because this year we have done a few home improvements around the house. I've painted walls, furniture, and even my kitchen cabinets. Here's a digital scrapbooking layout I made about our painted kitchen cabinets.

Seeing these paint lids made me want to use them in my digital scrapbooking layouts. I made three digital scrapbooking sets of paint lid ScrapSimple styles. They are available separately or in a Value Pack. These styles have a metal-ridged rim, plus the paint looks wet. By applying them to a 3-to-5 inch circle shape, you will get a paint lid that you can use on your digital scrapbooking layout. It's sure to be one of the most unique digital scrapbooking embellishments you've ever used!

This digital scrapbooking layout that I created was inspired by the Better Homes & Gardens magazine image in this article. Even though this layout is about Christmas and not about painting anything, I used the paint lids and invented names for the colors, then I journaled my favorite things about Christmas.

Surprise! Surprise! Gifts Galore!
We have TWO designer freebies for you each day until Christmas Eve!

* 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.

It's time for our 7th Annual Cookie Recipe Card Exchange - and you're invited! We have a special, free recipe card template to help you get started. We love cookies, and we love getting new cookie recipes to try, so this year, all participants will receive a sweet little Scrap Girls Boutique gift just for joining in.

Do you use your Digi-supplies to make cards? Do you want to? Instead of going to the store every time you need a card you can save money and have fun making cards with your digi stash! Make a note of any cards you might need for the upcoming month and Join April (April Showers) for the once a month Card Chat on the first Tuesday of each month at 8pm ET. It isn't too late to get your holiday cards finished. We'll show you how you can use ScrapSimple Card Templates: 5x7 Card Shark 2012 to get your cards done quickly. Can't wait to see you there!

Join April (April Showers) each Wednesday at 12 Noon ET for the 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 5th, we'll do a Circle Challenge. Create a page using at least one circle. It can be a circular embellishment, polka-dots, brads - it is your choice!

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!

Join us for an exciting game of December BINGO on the Scrap Girls Forum!! 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 Forum username" by Sunday, December 2nd (Midnight EDT) in order to play in the first round. The first round will begin on Monday, 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!

December Monthly Layout Contest: December is here and that means Family Time! During the holidays, we spend more time with each of our families... and we'd love for you to share your families with us! Post your layouts in the December Monthly Layout Gallery before Midnight ET on December 31st and you could one of the two people who will win a $10 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique! Please be sure to list your layout's product credits in the description or under the EXIF Properties.

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 Forum calendar if you have any questions about what is happening at Scrap Girls. All event times are given in the Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise noted. Need help converting time zones? Check out the World Clock - Time Zone Converter. (Use 'USA-New York-New York' as the location for the Eastern time zone.)

Gifts Galore!
Monday, December 3, 2012

IN TODAY'S ISSUE:

GENERAL INFORMATION

OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU

Gifts Galore! Monday, December 3, 2012

IN TODAY'S ISSUE:

GENERAL INFORMATION

OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU

Gifts Galore!
Monday, December 3, 2012