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Feature Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  It's spring break for me here, so I'm not as thrilled as usual to see Friday arrive. I am thrilled to bring you the layout of the week though - actually the layouts of the week this time :)

Esk used the Fresh Combo Kit to make three great pages this week! It just goes to show how versatile a kit like this can be - you could put together an awesome, well-coordinated album with all of the goodies in there.  I loved seeing how she used the kit for each of these pages - great work Esk!  Go to Esk's gallery and leave these layouts some well deserved love. She's also been rewarded with a gift certificate to pick up a free kit in the SA Shoppe - CONGRATS! 

You can win a free kit too - show us what you're doing with ScrapArtist goodies and your layout could be chosen for next week's layout of the week. Oh - and if you don't already have it, you should run to the shoppe and get the Fresh Combo kit 'cause it's only available until the end of March!

Happy scrapping and have a great weekend!

Featured Product of the Week!

Hi everyone! Me again with another featured kit, this week from the very talented Lori Barnhurst.

Dirty Preppy Boys caught my eye straight away when it was released a couple of months ago, and I knew it was the one I wanted to feature. The colours in this kit are just perfect for those 'dirty boy' layouts (look at that word art!), but as the name implies, it can also be used for cleaner, more 'preppy' pages! My favourite part of the kit has to be the alpha - so much detail, texture, colour in every single piece. And just take a look at that car word art! Love it.

And, if the kit wasn't just fabulous on its own. . . Lori has marked it down for this week only!  Save 30% on Dirty Preppy Boys if you pick up the kit before Thursday, April 5th.

If you want a chance to win a gift certificate to the shoppe, all you have to do is create a layout using Lori's kit and upload it to our Featured Product Gallery .  Each week one layout using the featured kit will be chosen.  Layouts must be uploaded to the featured product gallery by Thursday, April 5th. We can't wait to see what you create!

In the mean time, check out what the creative team has done with the kit, and be inspired!

Ange's credits                                                        Kellie's credits

Donna's credits

And, we had a HUGE response to our Featured Product Challenge this week!  We saw over 40 layouts using Lisa Whitney's A Beautiful Mess.  So, to make it easier on all of us. . .we used a number generator and had it select 3 winners!  And here they are. . .

Find zicoriaca's credits here.

Find tokyobuzz's credits here.

Find Sorashell's credits here.

There were way to many wonderful layouts posted to just choose one winner, so enjoy your gift certificates ladies!  It was so neat to see how many different ways one kit could be used to inspire beautiful art!  Thanks for sharing them with us.

Until next time,

Tip for 3/27... moving elements "just slightly"

OK, we've been doing "Tip Tuesday" for quite a while now (well at the SA forums, not so long here at the Hub!) and I'm honestly not sure if we have talked about this tip yet or not. If not, well it's a "superb" little tip!

If you have a layout created and you want to nudge an element just slightly up, down, left or right. Simply select that element and use your arrow keys to move it that direction.

I like this method better than clicking and dragging sometimes because it keeps things perfectly straight if you are moving left or right, (you can also get things "perfectly straight" by clicking and dragging while holding shift but sometimes this little arrow method is quicker!).

I hope this is something that helps you out and makes your scrapping that much easier!

Decisions, Decisions

I see a lot of discussion about turning off your flash for great natural light portraits, but lately I’ve been faced with several different situations that don’t allow for flash photography. The kids and I have been visiting several of Chicago’s great museums and for one reason or another they don’t allow flash. The Art Institute does not because of damage flash does to the pieces of art. The Shedd Aquarium does not because it is disturbing to the animals.

Now for some decisions to make… if you have a SLR camera, you’re going to want to bring along your fastest lens… the lens that will open the widest and let the most available light in. My fastest lens is my 85mm 1.8 (the smaller the number here, the wider it will open). In general, when shooting inside, I go ahead and set my ISO to my highest setting, which in my case is 1600.

The rooms at the Art Institute where fairly well lit so I had little problem shooting without flash. The picture below was shot in the well lit Asian art section of the museum. I was able to properly expose the shot without any issue with shutter speed.

Now, the Shedd was a totally different story. There I had a decision to make. I could properly expose shots and run the risk of camera shake that comes with handholding a camera at low shutter speeds or I could underexpose my shots and keep my shutter speed at or near my lowest speed that I’m comfortable with handholding at. My personal comfort zone is a shutter speed (ss) of 1/125 per second or higher. There are tricks for shooting at lower shutter speeds such as holding one’s breath while actually shooting or bracing against a wall. But since I don’t want to worry about those things, I try to keep my ss above that mark. Also, these photos were for my own personal, scrapping use… I wasn’t going to print them any larger than probably a 5x7 on my 12x12 layout. Given this, they could handle some post processing in photoshop to get a look I liked. Below is a straight out of the camera shot of a bull frog at the aquarium. The room was dark, the tank was fairly dark… I had my lens open as wide as it would go (1.8) and I was still slightly underexposing at my comfort level at 1/125. I decided that having an in focus picture that was underexposed (at a level that was easily fixed) was more important than the risk of a blurry but properly exposed photo.

Then here is that image with a quick screen layer and a slight tweak in curves.

I was pleased with my decision because the frog was in focus, no shake and the underexposure was easily fixed.

I hope this all makes sense! Take some time to find your shutter speed comfort zone with handholding your camera and please let me know if you have any questions! (FYI – I’m out of town all this week though)

Have a great week!

Mojo Monday Freebie! :)

A little something to get your creative juices flowing!

The Story of Us

I had so much fun with this freebie, that is just might turn into a full sized kit ;) I hope you enjoy it! Happy Monday! :)

Feature Friday - Featured kit of the week

Hi everyone! This is my turn this friday to choose the featured kit. This week we will look at a kit designed by Lisa Whitney. A Beautiful Mess is still one of my favorites by Lisa.  The elements in it are fantastic! Look at these doodles and round frames... And the colors of the papers are so rich. It's the kind of kit that you can use for so many layouts.  And, just to get you going for this week, you will find the featured product on sale for 30%, this week only!  So, if you don't have this little gem (and this kit is really packed full of goodies!) stop by the shoppe and pick it up at a discount!

you can find it here

Do you want a chance to win a Gift Certificate from ScrapArtist shoppe? I'm sure you do. Create a layout using that kit and upload it to our Featured Product Gallery .  Each week one layout using the featured kit will be chosen.  Layouts must be uploaded to the featured product gallery by Thursday, March 29th.
Since that kit was a huge hit at the ScrapArtist Apprentice challenge, I bet a lot of you have it. It's time to do a layout with it and play with us!

Here is some layouts done by our creative team with it:

Lisa's credits                                               Jenn's credits                                                         

 

  my credits                                                      Monique's Credits

Our winner for last week's product challenge is the very talented Tillie aka Garden Gypsy!  She really knocked this layout out of the park!  I love the way it looks like you could keep flipping pages and seeing more of her son's day at the park!

See her credits here and give her some love!

Have a great day!

Layout of the Week

It's my turn again this week to feature another gorgeous layout from the ScrapArtist gallery, which this week comes from Leenie.

A Good Dunking caught my eye straight away. I don't think she could have chosen more perfect photos for the collaboration kit this month. I love how she used three similar photos of the children getting dunked by the waves and arranged them using the geometric frames in the kit. In stark contrast to the more graphic background she's created, the title work just jumps off the page and it looks so real. I think the colours here, although not obvious at first, are perfect for a beach-themed page, too!

Thank you, Leenie for posting your gorgeous pages in the SA gallery - you've won a free kit of your choice from the SA shoppe, which I will send to you shortly! Remember, if you would like a chance to win a free kit from the shoppe, all you have to do is post your pages using ScrapArtist products to our Product Gallery, and if they catch our eye, you could be next - it's as simple as that!

That's it for this week! Another featured layout and kit to come next Friday - in the meantime, get scrapping, and you could be our next winner!

Until next time,

The printer is your friend:)

I don't know about you, but lately I find I have been forming deeper relationships with some of my scrap supplies. You know the ones I am talking about, you reach for them over and over and over again...I have definite favorites and regardless whether I am scrapping in digital, paper or both, I almost always incorporate my favorites into every page.

One of my all time FAVORITE ScrapArtist products has to be the Antiquities European Chemist Labels (brushes and png's). I recently sat down to complete this hybrid page and knew right away that this is the product I wanted to share!!

I started my page on paper, after I proofed and printed my main photo. To print and use the Labels on the page, I did the following:

1. Open a new canvas in PS (or your photo editing program) and size as "Letter" or 8.5"x11"
2. With Chemist Label file open on your desktop, drag and drop all the png images into your program. They should all open as individual files inside PS.
3. Drag and drop each image from it's original file onto the "Letter" canvas.
4. Fill the page with as many labels as will fit, dragging and arranging them on the canvas, paying careful attention not to overlap.
5. When finished, select File>Print with Preview. Be sure to select your appropriate printer and adjust color and layout settings for your file. (I often choose the option "Scale to Fit Media" in PS to be sure I don't lose any of my image to the margin of my printer.)
6. Print labels on either full label sheets or white cardstock.
7. Spray with Preservation Spray and cut out each label using sharp scissors.

Once you have your labels cut out into individual elements, you can begin to arrange them onto your page.

This is a fun way to incorporate your favorite "Digital" embellishments into your paper pages! Try it with your favorite elements and see what you can create!! And don't forget to post your projects (and check out our other fun hybrid ideas) in the ScrapArtist Gallery!!

See you soon!
Jennifer Pebbles

Q&A with Guest Goddess Crissy Hunt

On the first Wednesday of each month, we introduce a new Guest Goddess, and on the third Wednesday, we have them answer a few questions. OK, so it's more like 20 questions. Not a few... ;) So we are kind of nosy! To make it a tad easier to read, Crissy's answers are in blue.

1. My full name is: Crissy Hunt

2. My best friend calls me, well, since my best friend is my DH......Honey, sweetie, sugar booger!! LOL!! The list goes on :)

3. I scrap my family and my life because these are our cherished and sacred memories. I am the 9pt;">

4. My favorite inspiration comes from my Kids!! The things they do and say. I want these moments to be captured for them and their kids too. I also get my inspiration from the many wonderful LO's in the galleries each day.

5. My computer is set up anywhere I go. ;)

6. If I'm surfing the web I go to the scrapbooking galleries and the forums first, always.

7. If I'm shopping I'm usually in a craft store thinking about scrapping, LOL! Yes, I am addicted!!   

8. I've been scrapping digitally for a year and a Half

9. My favorite elements that I use on almost every layout are stitching, staples, tags, flowers

10. My family consists of me, my wonderful husband, and my CUTE little 3 kids :)

11. Don't look, I'm having a little snack and it is popcorn! I LOVE Popcorn!!

12. My favorite travel destination is the beach

13. My dream vacation is Hawaii

14. I love to journal. Sometimes the picture isn't enough and I want to exlpain how I feel about the picture and give it more meaning to why I scrapped it.

15. A movie that never fails to make me cry is Passion of Christ. Watched it once, not sure if I could watch it again anytime soon. Too much emotion for me. 

16. If I'm not scrapping, I'm taking pictures!! LOL :) I have got to keep those pages coming!

17. It takes me 1 hour to a week  to complete a layout. I really want to make sure that it's how I want it to look. Otherwise, I end up rescrapping again later.

18. When I was ten, I saw myself as an artist!! I have always have a passion for art. During my teenage years, I tried denying it, thinking I wanted to do something else, but I always loved it no matter what!

19. My biggest scrap success has been having the opportunity to be on some really fun creative teams and making some really wonderful friends.

20. A little known fact about me is I love to oil paint! Especially the Bob Ross sceneries.

AND the bonus question (hee hee, we lied, there were 21 questions!):

I'm famous in my family for my Artistic talents! What can I say? I am just an artsy fartsy kind of girl, LOL!! 

And then we also scraplifted her1 Check these out.

Crissy's original:

Click here for more details.

My lift:

Click here for more details.

Crissy's original:

Click here for more details.

Jenn Olson's lift:

Click here for more details.

Original:

Click here for more details.

MLewis's lift:

Click here for more details.

Crissy's version:

Click here for more details.

Esk's lift:

Click here for more details.

Thanks Crissy for playing along! And everyone for their scraplift! Stay tuned for the next Guest Goddess.

Tip Tuesday 3/20... changing ruler units

Hi Scrap Artist blog readers! It's time again for another Tip Tuesday, something I hope will help add to your knowledge of Photoshop (remember our tips are written for Photoshop and I'm using CS2, but other versions might work as well!).  I just wanted to remind you all that you can access all our previous tips in the SA forums right here! OK, on with this weeks tip!

   To understand this tip, first you should know about how to get "rulers" on your layout.  To show the "Rulers" on your layout go to View>Rulers (or Control R).  To turn off the Rulers go to View>Rulers again to "Uncheck" them and turn them off.

Now, once you have your rulers on your layout, it's super easy to change the unit of measurment on them.  They will default to whatever you last measured in, but if you prefer to measure in Centimeters, Millimeters, Pixels, Picas, etc.  just right hand click in the ruler area and select your new unit of measurment.   One that I like to use is the Percent.  At first that doesn't make much sense, but percent will give you a breakdown of your layout so you can see where 33% is (great for applying the rule of thirds principle), or other percentages that you might want to know.

Hope this helps in your layout creating!  Have a good week!

Mojo Monday- Hybrid Challenge

Happy Monday! I used to really dislike Mondays. But I've decided to think it as a beginning of a new week to start over again, to try different things, to accomplish tasks I meant to do last week, but didn't get a chance. So with that new, shiny attitude in mind, what could be better than doing a little scrappy challenge? ;)

This week's hybrid challenge is to create a purse or bag! You know how that goes, one can never have too many handbags! (Or is it shoes? Or is it both?)

Here is my little purse. I created this to hold a gift certificate. Yes, I know that you usually get a little card with your gift certificate, but isn't this better? It's color coordinated! And that counts for something, right? LOL! Mine little bag is holding a Starbucks card, and Dianne's L.O.V.E. Papers and L.O.V.E. Solids
were the perfect match for it. Add little flowers and some chipboard action, and voila, you've elevated a humble GC to superstar status.

Click here for more details on how to make this little bag (including a template for it).

The fab Jenn Olson created this darling "Love My Family" purse. She used Lisa Whitney's Artsy Fartsy papers and Nancie Rowe Janitz's Summer Afternoon papers. I love how the rings are holding the book and are also part of the handle! So clever!

Click here for more details on Jenn's purse. She explains how to make your own!

And yes, a gift to get your creative juices moving! The talented Linda Gil Billdal created this little sumpin-sumpin for you! Thanks Linda. You rock!

As always, please post your awesome creations in our Hybrid gallery for all to share. Can't wait to see them all!

Don't forget...

That today is the last day of our St. Paddy's Day Sale...

Stop by the shoppe today to save 30% off all our yummy new goodies that we have!!

Feature Friday - Layout of the Week

So glad it's finally Friday and even more excited that it's my turn to pick a layout from the gallery to feature.  This one jumped right out at me - look at those bright blue eyes!  Lisa's new flowers are the just the perfect elements for this and the rings of paper by Lisa and Linda are such a great background - everything draws your attention to this precious photo :)

You can find all of the credits and leave love for this layout by cherpea right HERE

Thanks so much for posting this for us to ooh and ahh over.  Because it was chosen for the featured layout of the week, I'll be sending you a gift certificate to the shoppe to get yourself some more SA goodies - congrats!

And now it's time to see our next Featured Product!  I'm really excited about showing off the goodies that are in our next designer's kit called Stationaries.  Most of you are familiar with Linda Gil Billdal's fabulous cardboard overlays. . . and this kit is another terrific staple to have in your scrapping supplies.

   

There are so many useful elements to use in this kit, along with lined papers, crumpled paper, file folders and tape.  Come join us this week and scrap with Linda's kit!  Post your layout to the Featured Product Gallery by Thursday, March 22nd 2007.  One layout will be selected to receive a gift certificate to the Scrapartist Shoppe!

And, some eye candy for you!  Here's what a few of our Creative Team members did with Linda's kit:

Buddhini's credits can be seen here.           Find Kathy's credits here.

And Dagmar's can be viewed here!

Last, but not least. . . we want to show you the layout that was chosen for the Featured Product Challenge using Kim Christensen's Thrift Chic.  Greta's layout called Bits and Pieces focused on a few different moments of a wedding.  It was beautifully done and I love the catchy title.  Congratulations Greta!   

See her layout and credits here!

Have a great weekend and keep scrappin!