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It's the season of giving, and nothing is more appreciated than a personalized, handmade gift. We have tons of templates in our Boutique to help you create one-of-a-kind gift card holders, dress up homemade treats, make gift tags, and decorate your home. Get all the supplies you need to make your special holiday projects during this two-day sale!
Gifts Galore! |
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Silent Night 12601, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Silent Night Ornaments, Dynamic Brush Set: Silent Night 1261, Brush Set: Silent Night Masks Mini and ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Tiny Tales are also available. |
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Layout by Jennifer Ziegler
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ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Polar Fleece 14501 Biggie
These Polar Fleece styles will add a touch of cozy to all of your winter projects. Perfect for adding fleece texture to titles, shapes or even larger areas like borders and backgrounds.
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Recipe Card Layout by Laura Louie
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Printable Recipe Page Kit: Holiday Cooking
Create your own recipe cards in no time! Let this cheerful printable recipe card kit brighten up your recipe box or use it to create cards to share with friends and family!
Layout by Brandy Murry
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Lilly's Christmas Collection Biggie
A Christmas digital scrapbooking kit inspired by a sweet little girl who said, "Aunt B, I want Pink!" For the little girl in all of us.
Layout by Syndee Nuckles
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8.5x11 Boughs of Holly Collection Mini
Take a stroll down memory lane with this vintage Christmas inspired 8.5x11 digital scrapbooking kit. Boughs of Holly celebrates traditions and times past with worn and distressed digital scrapbooking papers, embellishments and word art. Six antiqued and distressed digital scrapbooking papers include diamond swirls, vintage greeting card, holly and more. Embellishments include frames, holly, Santa, children, pine cone flowers, bows, buttons and more. Word art includes vintage greeting cards, frames, calling cards and more. This is the perfect size for making printable pages and projects!
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Butterfly Shadows 6301 Mini, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Blendability, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: 8.5x11 Blendability and ScrapSimple Paper Templates: 8.5x11 Fragmented 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 Forum? It's easy!
If you are a registered user of the Forum, 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 Scrap Girls team layouts, visit the Scrap Girls Design Team section and the Scrap Girls Layout Artist Team section of the Layout Gallery.
How To Create An Interactive Digital Bulletin Board For Your Desktop
Thursday, December 6, 2012
IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
- 40% off Cards, Crafts, Papers and Printables Sale!
- Gifts Galore!
- What's New in the Boutique
- Share Your Story for a Chance To Win!
- Tips From The Pros
- Scrap Girls Club
- ScrapSimple Club
- Designer Freebies
- 7th Annual Cookie Recipe Card Exchange
- What's Happening at Scrap Girls
- Ongoing Opportunities for YOU
GENERAL INFORMATION
Contact Scrap Girls
Your email address is safe with us. We never share, rent, sell, or loan our list with anyone! If you ever need any assistance, please email [email protected] or call
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While one girl's picture appears here on the Newsletter, Scrap Girls is really a community of talented designers, techy gals, thoughtful contributors and fantastic customers. We are ALL so happy to have you as part of the Scrap Girls community and we are very grateful for your support. Debbie OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUSuggest 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 receive because birthday presents should alway be a surprise! Make sure your Forum email address is current and that you have the correct birthdate entered into your profile to participate. |
Scrap Girls sends a birthday gift to each of our Forum members!|
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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:
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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.
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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!
How to Make an Interactive Digital Bulletin Board for Your Desktop
Created on a PC using Windows 7 and Photoshop Elements 8
Does your refrigerator front look like mine? Magnetic photo frames, coupons, magnets from the museum, calendars and reminders, more magnets (from the last three vacations), kids' artwork, more magnets, doctor's appointment reminder cards, and even more paper pieces. Every so often, I just have to clean it all off, reduce the number of magnets and papers to the bare essentials, and get a clean look (for a little while, at least).
A few months ago, it hit me that my computer desktop looked the same way – dozens of documents (I didn't really want to file them because I kept thinking I would use them "in the near future") and dozens of folders (same problem as the documents) – all were cluttering up my workspace and really weren't all that beneficial to keep right under my nose. Now, granted, once I get three documents open, my email going, and my Internet browser rockin' along with 10 windows open, I really don't see my desktop at all. But – I know it's there (the cluttered desktop) and the clutter was somewhat reflective of my rambling digital disorganization. Could I get organized and then make a plan to help keep my desktop more visually pleasing – yet useful?
Since I edit every Scrap Girls tutorial that appears in the newsletter, I have been particularly intrigued by tutorials that instruct us about creating desktop backgrounds with our digital scrapbooking supplies. While I love putting a simple pic from my pictures folder on the desktop, featuring a bigger-than-life-size image of my kid's face (especially those pics from when he was a curly-headed preschooler with an impish grin, sigh...), I have to admit that the concept of creating a uniquely designed desktop was increasingly interesting.
In something of an "aha!" moment, I decided to take the basic idea of a digitally designed desktop background and build upon it so that I created an "interactive" desktop. I say "interactive" because I found a way to make the background (my desktop image) and the foreground (desktop gadgets) work in unison. Let me show you what I mean. First of all, one of the fun features that I use all the time in Windows 7 is the Desktop Gadgets, in particular, the Sticky Notes gadget. To access your desktop gadgets in Windows 7, right-click anywhere on your desktop, and when the menu appears, click Gadgets. (Mac users: Go to your Applications folder and click to open, then select Stickies.) (PC users: Sticky Notes are available in Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions.)
The Sticky Notes in Windows 7 can be color coordinated, too. Right-click on a note and choose a color (blue, green, pink, purple, white, yellow), plus you can cut-and-paste with abandon from any source, making it easy to transfer information and keep it handy. A Sticky Note can be enlarged or reduced in size by grabbing one of the edges and pulling it out or in, longer or shorter (Click+Hold+Drag).
I've been using Sticky Notes for several years as my daily calendar reminders, one note for every day of the week, because they are so easy to update with reminders, to-do lists, doc appointments, etc. Plus, I usually amassed a healthy "stack" of sticky notes that contained cut-and-pasted quotes, a friend's address that I had yet to enter in my contacts list, inspiring Scriptures and prayer requests from friends, plus links from all over the Internet. (I warned you that my desktop resembled my refrigerator front - minus the magnets.)
Enough about the foreground flexibility, let's look at what your background image can do to make these Sticky Notes even more logically organized.
What's a natural place to put an actual sticky note? On a bulletin board! (Or the refrigerator, but I really didn't want my desktop to look like the 'fridge.) I looked through my digital stash for items to build a digital bulletin board and didn't have to look far before I realized Jen Reed's The Messenger Collection Biggie was perfect! It has several boards – chalk board, corkboard, dry-erase board, plus hundreds of doo-dads (embellishments) to put your board.
In Photoshop Elements, I started by creating a new document, sized 11 inches in height by 20 inches in width. The size of your computer screen will dictate the size of your document.
After setting the size, it was simply a matter of designing my digital corkboard. I knew I wanted the days of the week buttons so that I could "hang" my daily Sticky Note under each one.
I also added several digital sticky notes from Jen's collection (the yellow "post" note and the lime green note) because my plan was to keep my docs and folders "corralled" in those areas, rather than sprinkled all over my desktop in a willy-nilly fashion. Of course, I had to add a photo of my adorable son, which I framed in a Polaroid®-style frame from Jen's collection. The red and green push pins were added (with shadows) to give each item an authentic look – because paper items have to be held onto a corkboard somehow! The "Dake family" letters are chalkboard and magnet alphas from Jen's collection, too. The "My Stuff" title was simply a text box using Rage Italic font at 60 pt.
I chose to put the whole corkboard on top of a background paper, just to add another color element. The background paper is easy to change in PSE without changing one other thing. I used a lime green paper during the summer and fall, but for Christmas, I changed the background to the Red Velvet paper from Brandy Murry's Jingleberry Collection.
After the designing was finished, it was simply a matter of saving it as a PSD file (so I could make changes in the future), then saving it again as a JPG (I went for a medium resolution, about 3.5mb) so it would look good enlarged on my screen.
Finally, I placed the Sticky Note gadgets, my other gadgets (calendar and temperature), plus my docs and folders, but this time, they had a logical place to land.
You remember the old saying: A place for everything and everything in its place. Now my desktop has combined the foreground flexibility of Sticky Notes with a customized digital scrapbooking background image – and I'm on my way to conquering the digital clutter!
Digital Desktop Wallpaper by Cindy Dake
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Commercial license versions of The Messenger Collection Biggie are also available. |
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Article written by Cindy Dake
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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 Melissa Renfro |
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November's ScrapSimple Club has been created for you by |
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:
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Surprise! Surprise! Gifts Galore!
We have TWO designer freebies for you each day until Christmas Eve!
Card by Elisha Barnett
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Designer Freebie by
Elisha Barnett coordinates
with her Dynamic Brush Set: Silent Night 1261
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Commercial license versions of Dynamic Brush Set: Silent Night 1261 are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Elisha Barnett
Layout by Sarah Batdorf
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Designer Freebie by
Sarah Batdorf coordinates
with her Instapic Collection Mini
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Commercial license versions of Wonder and Joy Collection and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Sarah Batdorf
* 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.
7th Annual Cookie Recipe Card Exchange
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.
Here's how to join in the fun:
Design a 4x6-inch recipe card (at 300 dpi) using mostly Scrap Girls products. Use one of your favorite holiday cookie, candy, or sweet treat recipes - something "tried and true" is preferred.
All skill levels are encouraged to participate! If this is your very first time to try your hand at digital scrapbooking or if you're a pro, please join in the fun!
When you design your card, avoid putting any text within 1/4 inch of the edges. Anything close to the edges can get cut off when the card is printed.
Place your name or Scrap Girls Forum username somewhere on the recipe card (small text is fine).
Save your design as a JPG file, with a file name that includes your name or Scrap Girls Forum user name (for example, my file might be called aprilshowers_gingercrinkles.jpg.) We want to know who made what!
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Attach your card to an email and send it to [email protected]. Please include your first and last name in the email. A confirmation will be emailed to each person who sends a recipe card so they know their card was received. Please allow 48 hours for confirmation.
Cards MUST be received by Midnight (ET) on Tuesday, December 11.
Unfortunately, if you don't send in a recipe card, you will not be able to get a copy of all the cards. No exceptions. Your recipe card is your ticket to all the fun!
We ask that you not post your recipe card in your Gallery, Facebook, or anywhere else until the swap is over. This way, we can all be surprised by the cards we get! You can post your own card in the Gallery or anywhere else any time after December 13.
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Please don't sell or give away any of the finished cards on blogs, emails, etc. You may print some or all the recipe cards as a gift for someone you know personally, but wide-scale distribution or sale is not allowed, as per our commercial use terms, which can be read in full here.
You can submit more than one card, if you wish - the more the merrier!
On or before December 13, each participant will receive the links (via email - the same way that links come when you buy Scrap Girls products) to download the recipe card files.
- April Martell (April Showers)
Here's the free recipe card template:
Recipe Card by Angie Briggs
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Cookie Exchange Template Freebie by
Angie Briggs coordinates
with her ScrapSimple Digital Layout Album Templates: 4x6 Cook It
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Freebie designed by Angie Briggs
Journaling Chat
Monday, December 10th - 8:00 p.m. ET
Do you struggle to get your words on your layouts? This is the crop for you! Join Carla (CRS) in the Chat Room for a Journaling Crop at 8 pm et that is sure to help you get journaling! We'll show you just how easy it is to highlight the important parts of your journaling with Cherise Oleson's Brush Set: Highlights 8301 Biggie and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Highlights 8301.
New Member Chat
Tuesday, December 11th - 9:00 p.m. ET
Join Pat (PBarnes) for the New Member Chat at 9 PM ET (8PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific) 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.
High Noon Crop
Wednesday, December 12th - 12 Noon ET
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 12th we'll do a multiple photo challenge! Create a layout on any theme, any topic, and any colors - using FIVE or more photos!
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!
December's Forum Game: BINGO!
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!
For complete details, visit the Monthly Forum Games folder on the Scrap Girls Forum.
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.)