Monday Mania!!!

Hey all ModernJune here to bring you this weeks Monday Mania!!

We have some great stuff for you this week.

Starting with Damsel Designs she has done it yet again and made a wonderful Disney themed kt called "Magical Princess"

I have a new kit out today "Cozy Embrace"

Mandy Made has some really Great CU products out today! This girl is on a role!

Designs by Ashlee has one rocking kit out today called "Rock On"

And last but not least Scrap N Bitz has a new kit out today called "Forever Autumn" -- perfect for those warm fall LO's!

Well that's all for this week! Don't forget to check out the Newsletter and grab up the freebies and coupons!!

See you all next week!

Good morning... it's Mandymade here

with another weeks worth of fantastic gallery standouts!!!

First up is Digilicious with a fabulous LO all about those much loved teddy bears!

Wonderful journaling that will win the heart of any who read!!

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Next up is Abigail with a fantastic LO with a very fitting title!!

I love a LO that makes me smile!!
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The next LO was created by our own Misdamsel... she used October Haze by Modern June Creations and did a wonderful job on her photo edits!!

This one was created by Twimomma2. She submitted this to the template challenge at DSM and did a fabulous job with it!!!

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Next up is our own ModernJune Creations with this fun LO she created for one of our speed scraps this week... great combo of the star burst paper and circles to bring your eye

straight to the photo!!! This LO has WOW factor!!!Credits

OK the next LO has YUM factor... created by digilicious... it just makes me happy!!!

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Alrighty big breath.... next up is Blessedby3qtz with this fab LO she posted for my Friday night Speed scrap.... we used picks and nicknames of our loved ones... made for a few fun lo's!!!

She used my Roots kit.... she seems to have an endless supply of great photos!!!

Next is Sarah with a great LO using Cozy Embrace by ModernJune Designs. I love her ellie clustering and title work!!

And lastly... a fabulous LO by Buzybee... A very personal and inspirational LO.... I love the detail and journaling!

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Well that's a wrap!!! There are many more fabulous LO's if you want to check them out go here.

I'll see you next week with more fab LO"s!!

Speed scrap Tonight hosted by Mandymade!

First off, here's the LO I made at last night's speed scrap....

And I'm hosting tonight's!!! Here's a preview of the PP I whipped up... It coordinates with my Make It Funky kit!

Hope you can stop by!!
9pm Eastern
8pm Central
7pm Mountain
6pm Pacific

It's Friday Freebie Time Again!!!

Today's Friday Freebie is from Riley Creations! It is a QP from her new kit Rock On. This kit has great colors and great ellies and great papers! Did I tell you how great this kit is?!?!

Click on the image to download your freebie and check back on Monday to get this great kit!

Speed Scrap with Athena!!!

Here is a preview of tonight's participation prize hosted by Athena of Digilicious Designs....

10 PU ribbons.... by Mandymade.

Come join us...

10pm Eastern
9pm Central
8pm Mountain
7pm Pacific

Monthly Mania November Issue

Clicking the Image will take you there!

A Fresh Look at Layouts

If you are a digi-scrapping newbie or even if you think your scrapping technique is a bit jaded and not quite working for you, then here are a few hints and tips that may just breathe some new life into your layouts.

Experiment with new techniques

Don't be afraid to stretch your imagination and try new things. Digi-scrapping is a wonderful way to scrap because there's no mess, no fuss and no waste of expensive paper or elements. If you try something new and you don't like it, just delete it and try something different.

Colours

The best way to choose the colours for your layout is to look at the photo you want to scrap and choose two colours that stand out for you. Then use various shades of those colours to accessorise your photo.

Adding photos

Choose your photos carefully because your photo should be the focal point of your layout and using a photo that is blurred and out of focus can make your layout appear dull and out of sync. So choose the best photo you can, one that sort of jumps off the page at you and shouts "look at me"

White Space

The term "White Space" does not refer to the colour of your background. Rather, it means areas around your photo that are devoid of elements and which allow your eyes to rest and then get drawn back again to your photo, the focal point of your layout.

Journalling

Journalling is a very important part of your layout. It can be as simple as a piece of wordart or as complex as a story, but without it your layout is just another pretty picture on a background with no history. When journalling, think about the fonts you want to use and don't use more than 3 fonts in your layout or you risk making it look fussy. Use something large and bold for your title and one or two others for your journalling

Layouts without Photos

You don't always have to use a photo in your layout. Some of the most effective layouts I have seen are made from just mementos from an event that have been scanned, cleaned up and added to the layout along with some very creative journalling.

Elements

Use your elements carefully and don't over-embellish your layouts as this will spoil the effect and detract from your photo. Just because you have a kit full of elements does not mean that you need to use them all at once.

Printing

Don't just keep your layouts for computer viewing only. Print them out, even if it means taking the files to a printer to get them done. Then add a few three dimensional elements to your layout and pop them into sleeves in a scrapbook.

Viola, you have just graduated from a Digi-scrapper to a hybrid scrapper and you can take out your albums and show off your creativity to friends and family in the comfort of your living room.

I hope you find these tips useful.

How to pin through your background paper

Copyright ~ © 2009 : Vanessa Fellows

This tutorial, the intellectual copyrights and artwork are the property of
Vanessa Fellows, Scrapz 'n Bitz

An instructional copy of this tutorial may be printed out for personal use only. My tutorials may not be distributed for educational, marketing or for-profit usage in print, digital, or any other format. Nor may my tutorials be copied and/or uploaded to any other website without
my written consent.

If you wish to share my tutorials with others in a learning group, please contact me via email (scrapznbitz@blueyonder.co.uk), for written permission to so .

A link back when giving credit is not essential, but would be appreciated.

This tutorial was written using PaintshopPro 9, but can be adapted for use by any of the PSP versions.

PDF Tutorial - Download Here

Making a pin appear to be pinned through a piece of material/paper digitally is not that hard to do.

If you don't already have a pin to use, then have a look at my Beaded Pin tutorial and complete Steps 1 through to 6 to create one.

Resize your pin twice by 85% , bicubic and increase your canvas size to 1500 x 1500px and rotate your pin about 30 degrees to the left. Just a quirk of mine, I like to work with pins on an angle.

Now add a new layer and fill it with a background pattern of your choice and then pull your background layer below your pin layer.

OK now let's begin.

Step 1 – Zoom in close to your pin and select your Freehand selections tool and set it to Point to point on your tools palette. Make a selection along the length of your pin like the one in the screenshot below.


Step 2 – Delete your selection, but do not deselect. Now select your Lighten/Darken Brush from the left hand tool palette. If you look at your pin you will notice that on the bead there is a spot of light. Click on your background layer to make it active and Lighten the right hand side of the pin by clicking inside the selection and pulling your brush down to the bottom of the selection towards the sharp end of the pin. Apply the Darken brush to the opposite side of the selection. Do not deselect yet.


Step 3 – Click on your pin layer to make it the active layer and apply a drop shadow. Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow as follows:

Vertical = -3
Horizontal = -9
Opacity = 65
Blur = 20
Colour = Black

Now you can deselect.

Step 4 – Now apply a slight drop shadow to your pin. Effects, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow as follows:

Vertical = 2
Horizontal = 10
Opacity = 65
Blur = 9
Colour = Black

That is all there is to it really. This is the end result

November Speed Scrap Schedule

Be sure to remember, a speed scarp everyday in November

I just wanted to share with you a few LO's I did for this weekends DSM Hallow Scream party...

This Lo was used for my Saturday morning speed scrap.... Kelsey's glasses really crack me up... it's so hard to look at her with a straight face!!! She is a beginner driver as well so I like to take pictures of her while she drives because there's nothing she can do about it!!!

I used my Licenced To Drive Kit... it's been a while since I played with this one... I forgot what a fun kit it is!!!

and this one I used for Friday nights speed scrap... I used ModernJunes Plucked Perfection.... I really like the idea of changing the saturation levels in each photo... the tree is from the DSM Memories Collab....

OK now here's some LO's I did for the party... this one was for the Halloween Past Challenge... we had to do a LO using a photo of you or your family from a past Halloween... this is a photo of Kelsey's first Halloween... she was a Skittle!!! Look how young My Mark looks!!! This was 15 years ago now...:(

Haha.. this one was for the Best Costume Contest... we had to dress up using only items we could reach from our computer chair... this is all I could come up with!!!

I used my Make It Funky Kit... There is a really good one posted in the thread at DSM but you have to sign up and have a look to see it....

I submitted this one for the Favorite LO contest.... all you have to do is post a LO using all DSM products and if your picked you win the Sweet Sugar Shoppe Collab!! It can be a new or old one so long as it is all DSM products... easy as pie!!! And yes freebies count!!

I used my Roots kit here....

I did the next two LO's for Kathy's Speed Scraps ... I earned her Eek kit for free!!!

Yay I love free..... I used my Make It Funky...

This is the second one... I used my Roots Kit again...

Funny story...

This is a hallway in our house... it may be the shortest hallway known to man but it counts... now all three doors lock from the outside... so every once in a while we catch someone in there and lock them in!!!! Hahaha... I've been caught in there a few times... and we get every one of my kids friends in there ... they all know about the hallway... but sooner or later they let their guard down!!!

Here's a few of the Challenges I made up... for this one every right answer you earn a Mania Money dollar to use in our store...

All you have to do is Match the Design Team member to the Thingamabob they own... this proved to be super tricky!!! But so worth a guess... if you want to play head over to the DSM forum sign up and post your answer!!! Contest closes tonight at Midnight!!!

Here are the DT members...

And the Thing a ma bobs...

And another easy one... for this one all you have to do is guess how many candies are in the jar... closest guess without going over wins... my new Make It Funky kit... and if you guess the exact number you win everything in my store!!!

To play you must sign up for the DSM Forum and send me a personal message on the forum... do not post your answer in the thread... we don't want anyone guessing one number more and cheating you out of a prize!!!

This contest closes tonight Sunday Nov 1st 2009 @ midnight!!!

Well I'd better run I have one more LO to do for the blind speed scrap... we are givin a set of instructions.. you have to create a LO as per the instructions and the LO closest to the original wins!!! I hear it's a bit tricky so I'm going to give it a try... I love a good challenge!!!

One more thing.... we have extended our Store Sale for one more day...

Everything in the store is 50% off for one more day!!!

We really wanted you to be able to use your coupons you earned at the party and take advantage of the great deals .... make your prizes worth a little more!! We love a good deal at DSM!!!

We at DSM had a monster of a week!!! Our big Hallow Scream Party was a blast!!! I have only one more LO to complete and I will have done them all!!! It felt so good to stretch those scrapping muscles!!

Now on to this weeks gallery standouts... I had a tough time this week... with so many awesome LO's to chose from I had to be extra picky!!

First up is Twimomma2 with this beautiful LO... she entered this in the lyrics challenge quoting When You Wish Upon A Star...

This is a another very pretty LO by dricamendes! This one was created during a DSM speed scrap... I love the stitching and clustering!!!

Next up is Stephieann with a fun LO she did at the DSM Hallow Scream party!! She used Mandymade's Licenced To Drive Kit

I'm loving this LO created by digilicous...

I love the clean look and it's a great example of clustering!!! FAB!!

Here's another from Twimomma2... I just had to post to help her feed her obsession!!!

I think this is a fabulous LO created by Tinkay2.... using Scrap Maniacs new kit Happy Fall...

This is a fun LO created by Beckag99... I just love everything about it!!! Very creative!!


OK this one cracks me up!!! The challenge was to dress up using only supplies you could reach from your computer chair... if you could roll to it you could use it... take a picture, create a LO and post... here's mine... Not very creative at all....
....it was even my challenge...

then Miss Tomosia posts this one!!!! OMG!! I laughed so hard...
She out created me!!!

Every time I look at it ... it cracks me up all over again!!

This is a fun LO done by our own ModernJune... this is her new kit Eek... could have been yours for free if you joined in her two Speed Scraps this weekend.... I made sure I was there :)

This is an awesome Lo done by our own Designs by Ashlee using Nightmare on DSM Street Collab... love the colors!!!

I think this may be one of my favorites this week... I may be biased seeing as Blessedby3qtz used my Roots kit... but that's not what drew me to it... it's the fabulous photo edits!!! It sure makes those photos pop!!! Wonderful job Steph!!!

Well that's a wrap!! I still have one more LO to do for the Hallow Scream Party...

FYI... we have extended the deadlines on all the challenges to Sunday @ midnight.... I scrapped all day yesterday and still didn't finish them all... there's sooo much to do and so many prizes to earn....!!