Scrappy Girl Designs is looking for a GUEST DESIGN TEAM SPOT for DECEMBER

November is a time to reflect and count our blessings. Show us what you are THANKFUL for! Use the word "THANKFUL" in your layout title. Submit your THANKFUL layout and enter to win a Guest Design Team Spot for December! The layout can be 12X12 or 8 1/2 X 11 or a mini album and can be about anything you are THANKFUL for!

Upload your layout to our gallery in the Guest DT area and check in at the message board to let us know you've submitted! Layouts must be in the GDT gallery to be entered into the contest!

The Winner will receive December's SGD Kit and be featured in our Newsletter and on our home page and design team page!!!

The winner must be able to complete multiple layouts and our mini project from our December kit as well as actively participate on our message board.

Contest runs from November 1st - November 20th.

For more info, check out our message board @: www.scrappygirldesigns.com/messageboard

Titles

by: Shana

I've been scrapping for about five years now and sometimes I just can't think of a catchy title for my layouts. I was recently turned on to a site that has hundreds of catch titles for you to use. They are cliches. Little catchy phrases that we use all the time for just about everything, so why not use them for your layout titles. Here is the site: http://clichesite.com/alpha_list.asp?which=lett+1 go check it out and just relish at the thought that someone compiled this wonderful list of title ideas. Here is an example of a layout of mine that uses a cliché as the title:

Novenmber Sneak Peek!!

Here's a sneak peek
of November's Kit!!!

LAYOUT OF THE WEEK!!
by Melissa

DT layout:

Carrie used the 3 Bugs in a Rug paper from our Sept 07 kit to create this stunning layout. The handcut flowers and stapled ribbon embellishments make this layout simple but beautiful.

Customer layout:

Kim used the Dream Streets paper from our Sept 07 kit to create this fantastic layout. The design is unique and eye catching. The scalloped journaling circle and date tab are nice touches to this beautiful layout.

THANKS,

Melissa

Spooktacular Cybercrop!

We're having a fantastic, fun filled cybercrop going on at our message board! Come on over and join us!!! We have tons of challenges that will get you scrappin"

Our October Kit is HERE!!! Yippee!!!

I am SO VERY EXCITED about this months kit!!! Not only are the papers in this kit GORGEOUS, we've also added some fantastic embellishments including metal flowers from Imaginice!!! But my FAVORITE thing is the 3 page CLEAR ACRYLIC ALBUM!!! You are going to go NUTS over this album! Get a taste of the HOTTEST trend in scrapbooking right now!!!

So hurry over and get yours NOW!!!

Click here!

Warm Up Your Photos

Have you ever picked up your photos from the printer and everyone skin looks a little grey? Photoshop has the perfect tool for this. I use it ALL the time.

Open photoshop in the "quickfix" format. Down at the bottom under the Color Menu, is a slider for Temperature. Slide the arrow slightly to the right (towards the red) and it will warm up your photos and bring a perfect color to everyone's skin.

Also, when you go to get your photos printed, most photo places will do an automatic color correction. This too can take the warm glow out of your pictures, so be sure to check for NO auto correction.

Lost Your Mojo??

Lost your Mojo??
by Holly Hooven

Well where did you leave it last? I bet you'll find it on your last layout... Perhaps in your scrapbook magazine... Maybe its hiding under your bead, in your car, on a Street Ad... Maybe its right under your nose... We all lose that umph to scrapbook.. It could be a number of reasons... 1) Kids are not giving you the time of day to just get in there and scrap, but when you find a moment to do so , you lost all interest.. 2) You have the perfect pictures, but for some reason you just cant decide on the right papers to use... 3) You just need a break and don't want to realize it so you keep trying to scrap and cant..

My number 1 tip for lost mojo is to take a break when needed... Look through some scrapbook magazines, online galleries, even a challenge or two will help out.. I'm not going to say SHOP because we want to try NOT to spend lots of money just to get products we may not use right away... Another fabulous tip that works for me is shopping for a scrapbook KIT! Why ?? Because everything is right there for you.. All the paper, embellishments and anything else you may need...

Other things to try are sit out side and look at the clouds, reach up in your cabinet and grab a box.. That hamburger helper or mac and cheese box may hold a sketch you never thought You would use! If you use any of these ideas OR have any other tips remember to share them with us at Scrappy Girl Designs

Holly

Bonkers For Buttons!

by Melissa Eschler, SGD Design Team Member

Buttons are all the rage right now! I have a TON of solid colored buttons and I thought I’d spruce up my buttons with a little ink and fabric paint.

My first attempt was with some Staz-on ink and stamping.

I used a couple different styles of stamps, but I’m really happy with the

stamps that leave a negative space and the script stamps.

Here are my examples using the stamped buttons:

Next I tried using some puffy fabric paint.

Here’s a quick card and layout where I used the altered buttons.

You could alter buttons with a ton of different products.

Some other ideas that come to mind… Rub-ons, Acrylic paint, rhinestones, floss… the list goes on and on.

Wow! CHA is a week away! I can't wait to go and see what everyone has to offer! I always feel like a kid in a candy store!

Congrats to Carrymesouth! She was featured at this week's Layout of the Week!



Be sure to sign up for our newsletter so that you can see who gets featured each week! Better yet, load your stuff into the gallery and maybe you'll get picked!

{DESIGN TEAM CALL}

{Scrappy Girl Designs Design Team Call}


Scrappy Girl Designs is look for a new design team!

We are looking for design team members to design for our monthly kits as well as participate regularly on our message board to inspire our members.
• DT Call Dates: June 23-July 5th
• DT Term: August - December
• 4 DT Members will be chosen 2 - 81/2 X 11 and 2- 12X12 scrappers

Requirements for DT submissions:

Must be able to:
• be active on the message board BEFORE applying with a minimum of 50 posts. And must stay active through the entire process. Any applications received before the 50 post requirement is met will be disqualified (posts with just smiley faces do not count).
• submit 3 NEW layouts (may be 12X12 or 81/2 X 11) & 3 NEW altered items
• submit a brief bio of yourself
• submit 1 NEW layout of yourself.
• post at least 5-10 posts every day.
• create monthly challenges & contests.
• contribute at least 5-10 layouts in the gallery each month.

• We also strongly encourage anyone who has never been on a Design Team to apply.

**We are looking for both 81/2 X 11 AND 12X12 Scrappers!!!!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING:
1.E-mail us with your:
*Name
*Address
*scrapbook resume or blog
*list of galleries and message boards you’re active on
*any DT’s you’re on

2. Please Submit Original Work for:
3 – NEW layouts
3 – NEW Altered Items
1- NEW Layout w/ a photo of you featuring who you are


3. Please answer the following questions:
1. Why do you want to be on our DT?
2. If you are on another DT: Do you feel like you can fairly divide your time and complete your assignments ontime? Why do you want to be on more than one DT?
3. What is your design style?
4. Can you contribute daily to our message board?
5. Can you contribute 3-4 layouts and ideas to our gallery each month in addition to your design team assignments?
6. Can you be creative with challenges?


What you can expect:
• You will recieve our entire kit each month.
• You will be required to submit instructions & sketches for 2 layouts each month or 1 altered item.
• You will be expected to completely use up our entire kit each month. Post finished items in the gallery.
• Participate daily on our message board with a minimum of 5 posts per day
• Help organize and run cybercrops
• Submit newsletter articles
• Host challenges and contests on our message board
• Submit layouts and altered items to our gallery regularly
• Receive 25% Discount in our store

It is extremely important that you follow instructions.

E-mail submissions to: scrappygirldesigns@hotmail.com

Kindergarten Registration

Today is kindergarten registration. I can't believe my baby is off to school this fall!!! She's my first to go to school (you can see her in the picture I took of her to the left). She's beyond excited to go. She wants to start right now! LOL I spent the whole morning rounding up all of the needed paperwork. Ugh! What a nightmare that was!!! I first realized I didn't have her immunizations up to date, so I called the pediatricians office. They're booked out through JUNE!!! So I got a July 2nd appt for both my girls. What a fun visit THAT will be. Luckily, they gave me a memo that the school will accept saying that I'm scheduled for a visit.

Then I launched into finding her birth certificate. I think I went through every drawer in my house. Then I moved out to the garage to dig through those last few boxes we can't seem to unpack. NOTHING! So I headed to my parents house, (where we lived while our house was being built) and YIPPEE!!!! I found it!!! WHEW!!! What a relief!

So the camera battery is charging, got my paperwork, got my MIL watching my youngest... I think we're ready!

I'm so bad! I haven't posted in over a month! I promise to do better!!!

Here's what I've been working on:

-Scrappy Girl Designs T-Shirts (so fun, should be debuting soon)
-Getting the March... and now the April kit out (which BOTH SOLD OUT!!!! YIPEE!!!)
-Reordering MORE kits for May! Yippee again!!!
-Redesigning our website!!! Yes, yes, I know. AGAIN! But I just haven't quite gotten the right look that I'm looking for. Plus, it keeps you guys on your toes and our sight looking fresh!
-Designing a new webstore! Should be easier to navigate!
-You've seen our new gallery! Soooo much better!!!
-Fighting against the tons of spammers trying to get onto our message board! Ugh!
-Planning our cybercrop for this Friday & Saturday!!!
-Planning our National Scrapbook Day Sweet Memories Crop!
-And doing a little scrapbooking with the March kit and some other goodies I have. Here's a few of the pages I've been working on this month.

This is with our March Kit:

This is just with some of my stash:

Update on my Scrap Space!!!

My scrap space is coming along. My husband has worked hard on my space. He installed granite countertops and this week he installed laminant flooring in our family room, which is where my scrap space is located. I thought I'd post some pictures of how my space is coming along!









This is where I organize my pages in progress. When I go the my LSS I take my pictures and match up the pictures to the paper and embelishments. When I get home, I slide them in these slots to keep everything organized and so I'll remember what I bought the stuff for.

This is all of my glitter & paint. It's hanging right above my workspace so it's easy to access when the mood strikes me.

This is where I've started to store my embelishments. As I get new things, I sort them by color into these jars. I've got quite a bit still in boxes from our move. But I'm slowly getting everything out.






I have a cabinet in storage that I'm going to paint and bring in to store the majority of my stuff in. Until then, it will have to sit in boxes. But I'm thrilled with my space so far!!!

Two days left for the design team call!!! It's so exciting the response we've been getting for this DT call!!! So many very talented ladies applying! Finalists will be announced this weekend!!!

We sold out of our February Kit, so I posted a picture of our March kit a little early. If you signed up for our newsletter, you've already seen it! But here's a peak for the rest of you!


In keeping with my new years resolution, we've starting a weight loss boot camp on our message board. I've been inspired by Oprah's weight loss challenge. THIS IS THE YEAR!!! I've already started exercising. I took my girls for a bike ride today. I hate exercise, but MAN DOES IT FEEL GOOD WHEN I'M DONE!!! My goal this week is to exercise 5 times and drink water all day. I'm such a bad water drinker. So that will be a tough goal for me! But I can do it for me!!

TGIF!

Wooohooo!!! The weekend is here!!! It's already off to a fun start. We had my brother's birthday dinner and we came back to my house and played cards. I LOVE playing cards. It was so much fun.

Tomorrow my mom and I are going to try and get one last shopping trip at my favorite scrapbook store. It's closing its doors. I'm sooo sad. It's an awesome store. Archivers is coming to town and I'm sure this store wants to get out while they're still ahead. I'm sad to see it go. I love to support small business owners.

WE HAVE TWO FEBRUARY KITS LEFT!!! Woooohoooo!!! February is almost sold out! I'm so excited!!!

The boxes are rolling in from CHA. I think I'm going to have to buy some shelves! LOL I don't know where I'm going to put it all!! But it's so exciting to see it come in!! I'm like a kid in the candy store everytime a box comes! Even my 4 yr old gets excited everytime the doorbell rings she screams "It's the brown guy! He's brought more scrapbook stuff Mom!" meaning the UPS guy in his brown outfit and brown truck. So cute.

SGD Design Team Call

{Scrappy Girl Designs Design Team Call}


Scrappy Girl Designs is look for a new design team!

Each month our kit features two 2-page layouts and 1 altered item. We are looking for design team members to design for our monthly kits as well as participate regularly on our message board to inspire our members.
• DT Call Dates: Feb 7th-28th
• DT Term: First Kit due April 5th and will run through the end of July.
• Up to 6 DT Members will be chosen
• During the DT call we encourage applicants to participate on our message board to get to know our members and for us to get to know you! And also to upload additonal layouts to our gallery.
• We also strongly encourage anyone who has never been on a Design Team to apply.

1.E-mail us with your:
*Name
*Address
*scrapbook resume or blog
*list of galleries and message boards you’re active on
*any DT’s you’re on
*A paragraph about who you are

2. Please Submit Original Work for:
3 – 2 page layouts
3 – Altered Items
2 – Cards

3. Please answer the following questions:
1. Why do you want to be on our DT?
2. If you are on another DT: Do you feel like you can fairly divide your time and complete your assignments ontime? Why do you want to be on more than one DT?
3. What is your design style?
4. Can you contribute daily to our message board?
5. Can you contribute 3-4 layouts and ideas to our gallery each month in addition to your design team assignments?


What you can expect:
• Complete at least 1 2-page layout or 1 altered item each month
• Participate daily on our message board
• Help organize and run cybercrops
• Submit newsletter articles
• Host challenges and contests on our message board
• Submit layouts and altered items to our gallery regularly
• Receive 15% Discount in our store
• Design specialty kits

E-mail submissions to: designteam@scrappygirldesigns.com

Off to CHA

Two days and we'll be off to CHA in sunny Anaheim!!! Yipee!!! I can't wait to see the new products that are coming out. I can't wait to put together new kits for the summer. I also can't wait for a few days of relaxation. Don't get me wrong, this is a business trip. But for me, it's some time off.


I guess I'm really excited because of how many kits we'll be purchasing!! Our company is growing by leaps and bounds and it's so exciting to see my dreams coming true.

I'm also excited that I will be attending CKC Portland... as a student. BUT, keep your eye out for our pink t-shirts. If you spot us, you'll get a prize... and that prize may be your own Scrappy Girl Designs t-shirts. We're busy designing some fun t-shirts. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks!

WOOOHOOO!!!! WE SOLD OUT OF OUR JANUARY KIT!!!!!

I'm beyond exited! Two months in a row of selling out! And a promising February ahead.

It's been a busy week getting the kits ready to send out. Quite the process!! I had kit boxes lined up on every avaiable surface! I made sure to put some chocolate on top for the mailman when he came to pick them up!

Friday night I actually got to do some scrapbooking!!! Yeah! We had quite the crowd at my house. I think I need more tables! We all had a ball putting our kits together. I did a cute box for my daughter. She LOVES it!! I did her name and the pinwheel with glitter. It matches her room, so she's going to put it on her shelf. I'm sure she's only doing it to keep it away from her sister! LOL Anyway, everyone had fun at the crop and it was really fun to see how everyone designs with the kit.

Tonight I worked on setting up my new scrap space. I've never been able to take my scrapbooking supplies out and LEAVE them out. It's an odd feeling. I'm trying to figure out how to set everything up and keep down the "visual clutter". So far, I love it. I can't wait to actually create something there! I hope to do some layouts tomorrow. We'll see.

My new scrap space...

It was a busy weekend to say the least. We've been in our new house for almost 4 months now. Can't believe it's been that long! We're slowly checking off our home to-do list. My hubby is almost finished putting tile in our bathroom. It's looking awesome. We've been organizing the garage. We've done a lot of purging which equals a lot of trips to Goodwill. We're slowly getting settled. Our goal is to get our house the way we want it NOW rather than right before we sell. Which tends to happen to a lot of people. They put off chores until they're ready to move. Then they finally get their house where they want it and then they sell it! Only to start over at a new house. I see it all the time on the design to sell shows.

This weekend, we worked on my scrap area. I've been scrapbooking for 12 years and have never had my own space. I finally used a gift card to Lowes and bought a cabinet to use as the base to my scrap table. I was just going to go for a simple table. My wonderful husband had other ideas. He built me a VERY sturdy table and is putting granite tiles on the top. It's looking fabulous so far! He was up until the wee hours of the morning working on it. I feel so blessed to have a husband that goes out of his way to do nice things for me.

I can't wait until it's done. Finally I'll be able to have my stuff out where I can see it and use it. My main problem is that all of my stuff is in scrapbook totes where I can't see it. Or when I want something I can't FIND it! We've been having a great discussion on my message board about organization. Come join us and share what you've done to stay organized! My Message Board

Starting the New Year Out Right!

Ahhhh.... New Years resolutions. Have you written yours down? Me? Not yet. But I think it's important. If you write it down it somehow forces you to commit to them. Ummm... especially if you do it on the internet where lots of people read them!!

Well... here are a few of mine:

1. Finish decorating my house
2. Organize every room of my house
3. Lose weight
4. Plan out my dinners each week
5. Plan out my week
6. Finish our yard
7. Grow my business

I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing!