I’ve known Kellie (joelsgirl) around the digi world for a long while now and I’m a HUGE fan of hers. She can totally rock patterned papers and if you took a cruise through my favorites folder you’d find a LOT of her layouts hanging out in there. She is totally hilarious, totally sweet and totally fabulous!

Here’s a little more about Kellie:

I made my first album in 8th grade with newspaper clippings and everyday photos. I continued to paper scrap until I discovered digi in 2004. I tried to paper scrap after that, but once I got used to Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Z, I couldn’t go back to cutting that pretty paper.  I use PSE 7 and I create for  Fee Jardine, Lauren Grier, Zoe Pearn and Dani Mogstad. Oh, and TheDailyDigi. I like being a part of that.

1. What are 2 things you consider yourself to be very good at?

2. What’s one little known fact about you?

Well I’m pretty much an open book, but you might not know that when I was in college my bff said she had to follow me around to tell people I was just joking because I could (and did) pretty much say anything with a totally straight face.

3. Tell us a little about your scrapping “style” if you have one.

4. What’s your favorite element to use on a page?

I also asked Kellie to share 3 of her own favorite layouts and tell us what she loves about them…

Holy cow, I love that bg paper and feel so lucky to have come up with a good excuse to use it.  Plus the page is splattered with pics of my favorite people in the world.

Jack has the most beautiful eyes, and they sparkle in the sunlight. I feel like I did a really good job of capturing Jack in the photos, and the layout expresses all those things I just love about him.

First, let me say, I know I should have picked a Max page for number 3, but, well, I just really, really like this! I had so much fun layering and title-working, and it just makes me happy.

Featured Scrapper Challenge (Bonus #3) for your March 2010 Scrapper’s Portfolio

It’s Sweet Shoppe Cookie Time! Download the following template based on Kellie’s layout “First  Love”, fill it with your own goodies and then upload it to the SSD Gallery.

**please note this challenge is worth 1 point and cannot be combined with other portfolio prompts except for NR bonus point for a total of 2 points.**

Here are some examples from our very own Sugar Babes!

Jacq

Credits: Be You by Traci Reed

Kresta

Credits: A Beautiful Glow by Lauren Grier

Aggie

Credits: Kitschy Sweet by Traci Reed and ScrapKitchen Designs

Nikki

Credits: Note to Self by Zoe Pearn

Don’t forget to edit your Portfolio with your page for this challenge!

NOTE: These Bonus Challenges are EXTRA on top of the Posted Portfolio Challenges.  They CANNOT be combined with any other challenge and stand alone (except New Release bonus pt).  Please feel free to PM me with any questions – nikkiARNGwife.  Thanks!

Hi Sweet Shoppers – it’s Teresa here to bring you this week’s installment of Penny Candy Playdate. Today we’re featuring Zoe Pearn and I had the pleasure of selecting one of the kits I’ve been eyeing for ages as our “chosen one”. Fun For Me is sure to put a tiny dent in your PayPal account, so give in to the temptation and add it to your cart this instant! And just in case you need a little bit of extra coaxing, check out what our Sugarbabes have done with this kit. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

From Crystal:

From Jacq:

From Dana:

From me:

From Lynnette:

From Aly:

From Krystal:

Happy Wednesday!! It’s Savitri here today and I want to show up an easy way to get into Hybrid! You don’t have to have any fancy smancy photo-editing software. All you need is a word processor and for this example I am using Microsoft Word.

So to be clear I have this little video to share with you:

Easy, huh?

If for example you have a digital stamp/brush/image that you want to recolor, check out this video:

Ok, now there is NO excuse to try out hybrid!! Oh, one more thing… IF you don’t have Word, try out Gimp. It’s a FREE application and this thing is Photoshop-ish. What if you’re in a hotel computer business area (or in my case a university’s computer lab) and totally bored? Try this online version of something Photoshop-ish: Sumo Paint. It’s pretty neat! You can use these apps to open and rearrange your paper and images, similar to what Jen showed you last week using PSE, and then push print!

Hi everyone!  It’s Dana with today’s Takeout Tuesday special treat – an amazing layered template by the fabulous Lauren Grier!   You can download the template by clicking on the preview below or HERE.

Some of the SugarBabes were able to play with this template – check out their layouts below!  I love how everyone put their own spin on this – one of my favorite things to do is look at a bunch of different layouts made from the same template and see how everyone’s personal style peeks through!

by Kresta using Another Year Older Petit Four by Christy Lyle, Shawna Clingerman, Libby Weifenbach and Julie Billingsley

by Mary using Boy Yer Crazy by Lauren Grier and Simply Scraps

by Shannon using With Gratitude by Dani Mogstad with Misty Cato and Lauren Reid

and I had to play too (of course!) – here’s mine using Mariposa by Julie Billingsley

Hope you enjoy the template!  I can’t wait to see the pages you make with it!

Lynnette here with a slightly delayed Layout of the Week!

So many amazing layouts in the gallery this week but my pick is this stunning layout by heatherbird…

I just love all the amazing details and shadowing here is just stunning!!

Congrats Heather! I’ll be PMing you shortly!

Happy Saturday Sweet Shoppers! Your favorite day of the week is here, and I have lots of scrumptious new treats to show off this week! Here’s your first look…

Spring is clearly in bloom because we have soo many great springy kits this week. From adorable kits for Easter and St. Patty’s Day to floral kits that will make you want to get out there and pick a bunch of flowers for someone special, you are going to love this week’s new releases! Don’t miss taking a closer look at Misty’s Spring Arrives – the colors are absolutely scrumptious. I also adore Traci’s Bit O’ Green and Julie’s Find Your Wings too! Finally, Dani’s Here We Grow is absolutely gorgeous and will give you baby fever for sure. There’s lots more to love this week from Manda, Darcy, Libby, Janet and the rest of the girls too, so head to the shoppe now to pick up your faves!

Speaking of picking a fave, we are so excited to announce the winner of February’s Outstanding Portfolio…

It’s not too late to create a portfolio of your own for March, and don’t forget you can earn Sweet Rewards for doing it which will save you 20, 30 or even 40% off in the shoppe during a special shopping event in April!

Finally, I’m really excited to share a couple of special opportunities to work with two of our amazing designers! Both Melissa and Libby are looking for new members for their creative teams, so check out the details below and send in those apps…

On that note, I’m off for the week, but we’ll see you here in your inbox next weekend with lots more news and sweet new stuff! You also won’t want to miss checking out our newsletter in two weeks because a brand new designer will be making her debut here at SSD and we can’t wait to show off her scrumptious goodies! Until then, keep making memories and scrap MORE!

Robin : )

Happy Friday Sweet Shoppers! I bring to you this fabulous Friday in March our second Featured Scrapper – Cheryl aka gonewiththewind.  I have been a fan of Cheryl’s work for a long time. I admire her style and her treatment of photos. I would describe her as a very distinctive scrapper.  If you are not familiar with her gallery – go take a look here! It is amazing.

Cheryl started paper scrapping 1996 and converted to digi scrapping in August 2007.  She started with, and still uses, Photoshop Elements 5.0.

I asked Cheryl a few more questions to get to know her better. 

Q. What two things do you consider yourself to be very good at? 

I’m very organized and focused, and I really love to let myself just go and be creative.

Q. Which aspect of scrapping do you think you are best at? 

I think I’m flexible.  I can use almost any digi scrapping collection and I can almost do any type of layout style (well, I can tell you I don’t rock the graphic layout LOL).  I guess I’m trying to say that I’m open to try different types of kits and try on different layouts styles.

Q. If you could only use 2 elements on a layout, what would they be? 

Flowers and leaves.

Q. What is your favorite color scheme to work with? 

Anything that is paired with green, but I also love shades of turquoise and red together.

Cheryl shared her three favorite layouts with us as well.

mr. and mrs. CREDITS:  Platinum Dreams by Krystal Hartley; Scraplift of “Erin” by Krystal Hartley; Photo Actions by My Four Hens Photography; font is Old Typefaces

Hope: CREDITS:  Designs by Krystal Hartley at SSD:  Lil Stinker; Outlaws from Outer Space ; Under The Sea; Off Tha Chain; Crush; Puppy Love; My Stamp Stash No. 1 ; Pocketful of Sunshine; Shabby She; Wild, Wild West; Song Sung Blue; quote by Viktor E. Frankl; font is 1942 Report

Love Grows: CREDITS: By Krystal Hartley – Song Sung Blue; Everyday Play; Lil Stinker; Pocketful of Sunshine; Shabby She; Shabby Baby; font is Cindy

Blog Bonus Challenge #2: Cheryl really knows how to work those photo filters to make them shine within her layouts. Your challenge is to create a layout making your photos really shine. The goal is to play with the filters and settings within your photo editing program and really make them stand out.  Your photos should look obviously processed.  Please mark this challenge within your March Portfolio as Blog Bonus Challenge #2.

Here are some Babe layouts based on the challenge:

Meg used Dear Diary-Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Amanda used items from the Quarterly Assortment Volume 1 from 2010:

And Darla used Boy Yer Crazy by Lauren Grier & Simply Scraps

Remember that this challenge cannot be combined with any other portfolio challenge.  This challenge is worth one point. You can combine this challenge with a new release for a total of two bonus points.

Happy Friday!

Hey Everyone!! Crystal here bringing you another Penny Candy Playdate! I always love these because I can find so many awesome kits that I forgot about and you guys can score them at a discount! WOOT! Today I am showcasing Julie and Eva’s Fantabulous You.

I love this kit! So perfect for my little guys!!!

Here is a page by Mary:

And here is one by Melissa Bennett:

And here is one from me:

Seriously such a fun kit and perfect for those little men in your life!!!

Hey there Sweet Hybrid Lovers! Jen Tapler here with your Hot 4 Hybrid post for this week! The Hybrid Babes have had several specific questions recently from community members about hybrid card-making. Each of us has a very distinct style and as you experiment with hybrid I encourage you to find a technique and style that works best for YOU! Some Hybrid hotties do all of their design and layout work digitally, then print out their finished digi card, score the cardstock and add a few physical embellishments.  I tend to have a hybrid style that is a bit more like a traditional paper crafter / card-maker.  At the request of a few community members, today I thought I’d give you a detailed look at my card-making process from start to finish.  (I apologize ahead of time for the long length of the post – LOL).

I almost always start with a fantastic kit I see in the shoppe and want to play with.  I am most often initially inspired by digi papers – I look for patterns and colors (and sometimes textures) that I think will print up well and that I can combine with cardstock and items from my physical stash of goodies (like ribbon, buttons, etc).  Today I was drawn specifically to the papers and alpha in this fun kit by Melissa Bennett:

I started by opening up the papers and embellishments I wanted to use (in this case I wanted to use the alpha to form the word “HI”) in Photoshop Elements (I use PSE6 and will be showing some cropped screen shots of my process. Disclaimer: I am so NOT a digi girl, so forgive me if I mess up the lingo or whatever). I also open up 2 new documents – an 8.5 x 11 inch document and a new document that is the size of the card front I’ll be making – today it is 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  I then start dragging the papers one by one onto the card document (4.25 x 5.5 inch) and then using the little corner square things to “shrink” the paper to a size that seems right so that the size of the pattern on the paper looks right for the size of the card:

Once the pattern looks good, I merge my layers and then drag the card document onto the “print” document (8.5 x 11 inches):

I typically have a basic idea of what I want the finished card to look like at this point. To save paper and ink, I don’t print ALL of the digi papers in that full card front size, so this is when I roughly “crop” them down, keeping in mind I do my final cropping physically after everything is printed.  But in this case, I know that I want my striped paper to be about 2 inches tall, so I go ahead and use the marquee tool and delete button to crop it down to roughly that size. I’ll shape everything up with my paper trimmer later after I’ve printed everything:

I then repeat this process with the other papers I want to use, resizing them onto the card front document, then dragging onto the “print” (8.5 x 11) document, then cropping with the marquee tool. Once all the papers are roughly the size I want them to be, I drag my embellishments onto the “print” document and size them appropriately:

Once I have all of the digital papers and elements in place, I’m ready to print. I ALWAYS print on double-sided matte brochure / presentation paper. I usually just buy the OfficeMax or store brand or whatever happens to be on sale (I honestly can’t tell a difference).  But I’ve found that this matte paper seems to give me the best true-to-color results and I like the weight of the paper. The MOST IMPORTANT tip I can give you, something that makes a HUGE difference in overall print quality, especially in the vibrancy of the colors, is to be sure you change your printer settings to reflect the paper type you’re using each and every time you print!! For me, because I use an HP printer, I do this in my print window by clicking on “Preferences” , then making my selection under “Paper Type”. This may look slightly different for you depending on the printer you use, but there should be somewhere to change this setting before hitting that final “print” button!! (and even though I don’t use HP brochure paper, this is the closest to what I do use, so that’s what I go with):

Once I’ve printed my document, I cut all of my digi papers out and gather my supplies.  For this particular card I wanted to use a Kraft cardstock base and I needed a hobby knife to cut out those letters. I also wanted to pop the letters up on 3D adhesive to give the card some dimension:

And finally, here’s a look at my finished card:

I know it seems like  A LOT of steps, but really this card took less than 20 minutes to complete, start to finish. I could have added some ribbon and brads to give it a little more oomph, but I think it’ll be just fine the way it is.

I hope you’ve found this helpful and can see that hybrid really is SO easy. You don’t need a lot of fancy supplies and you really don’t need to be a digi expert either (obviously!! LOL).

I’d love to hear what you think! Are these types of tutorials and glimpses into the Hybrid Babes’ processes helpful, or would you rather just see completed eye candy?

Hi Everyone SugarBabe Mary here bringing you the new installment of the
Take Out Tuesday Sketch provided by Traci Reed
It’s so versatile you can be creative and copy it to a T or modify it as you see fit.
Consider it a jumpstart to your digital scrapbooking layout

Here are a couple of the Sugarbabe examples ………….

My Page

Credits:Dear Diary by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
——————————————-
Traci

Credits:Toddle Around Boy and Paintity Doo Dah Alpha by Traci Reed, Year In The Round Dates
by Lauren Reid, DJB Sarah’s Print by Darcy Baldwin
———————————————
Shannon

Credits:Limited Edition Petit Four Oh So Pretty(Retired) Traci Reed, Melissa Bennett, Eva Kipler and Krystal Hartley, Robin Carlton:De-Constructed Alpha(retired) Fonts by Darcy Baldwin:DJB Merry, Zoe Pearn
Bag O Buttons, Dani Mogstad & Paper Flowers
———————————————
Sue

Credits: Blue Skies Ahead by Lauren Grier, Border-Line: 2 by Lauren Grier, More Than Words:
Titles by Darcy Baldwin & Jenny Hutson, Bold Brushwork by Misty Cato, Border Basics:
Rectangle Stitches by Libby Weifenbach, Daisy Chain by Fee Jardine, Fonts: DJB Poppyseed,
DJB Pooja, DJB Paulam
————————————————
& Crystal

Hope your inspired now Go Have Fun