Guess What??

I have some very exciting news to share with you... I will be guesting at a super awesome shop for the month of September.. But can you guess where?  Leave a comment  here telling me where you think it is, and if you're right, you'll be entered to win an all-access pass to the products I release at my guest gig.. Good luck!  :D

Sweater Weather - 50% off!

Check it out .. my Manic Monday sale comes just in time for that crisp and brisk weather that is steadily approaching.. Get a head start on your fall photos - or catch up on years past - for a mere $2.50!  It doesn't get much better than that!  Hurry - the sale ends at midnight!

Sweater Weather

If you love ScrapMatters as much as I do...

...then definitely apply for this call!  It's like cake!  Perfect for newbies who may be intimidated to apply to CTs, but still gives you the opportunity to play great kits and associate with great people!  

More Yummy Templates!! :)

Here we are again with another week behind us.. And what does that mean for you?  Why another GREAT new product from me, of course!  ;)  So here we go... 

Scraps by Number: Just Call Me Sara   Another set of incredible templates inspired by my incredibly talented creative team - this time, by Sara - aka misfitinmn.  Her great sense of style, and creative use of shapes always makes her layouts so artistically enjoyable.  And now you can have that same great look yourself!  Each template is available in PSD, TIFF and PNG formats.

I have more than templates for you this week, as well.. A great sale on some of my older kits.. I've decided to ship these guys off to the vault, but you still have a few days to grab them before they're gone for good..     U-da-Bomb   A Little Spacey

To close, I'll leave you with some fabulous pages from my CT using Sara's templates - and a few with my retiring kits as well..

And finally, the winner from Kate's sneak peek contest...  Stefanie ... You're the lucky lady.. And seriously, it was random.org that picked, so you totally lucked out winning the set you wanted to see!!  Email me for your coupon.. 

Well, that's it for me this week, but stay tuned for some exciting news coming up in the next few weeks.. Have a great weekend, and happy scrapping!  :D

Spotlighting Sasha

Life is really getting crazy around my house right now with the start of school.  How about you all?  Is life starting to become crazy?  When things get crazy I like to take some time for myself, even if it is 5 minutes or so and browse scrapping galleries.  One gallery I recently discovered belongs to our guest CT member for this month.  And oh my what a gallery it is!  Let me introduce you to...

Sasha

{aka mrssashag}

I am a SAHM to 3 beautiful drama queens ages 14, 13 and 3.  Married since 2006.  I love digital scrapbooking, photography and cake decorating.

1. How long have you been scrapping?  Have you ever paper scrapped?  When did you make the switch to digi and why? I did some paper scrapping when my two oldest were little but like everyone with lil ones know its a mess and couldnt do it.  Then I somehow bumped into photoshop and sig forums and I was hooked.  Once I felt confident enough to stop lurking in forums I took the leap and started digi scrapping about 2 yrs ago more or less....and now I CAN NOT  stop =)
2. What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill?  Your weakest? Everyone seems to love my shadowing and layering but don't try and get me to journal cause iI just stare at the screen hehehe...  
3. What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping?  Look around, ask questions to anyone, and practice practice practice! 
4. Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Do you always have something in mind when you start, or do you let your creativity guide you?  How long does it take you to complete a layout?  I use PSCS3.  When I start scrapping I dont have a set guide, I just go with it.  If I know of a picture I want to use I start there.  Sometimes its the papers or elements in a kit...it varies.  It normally takes me about an hour to two. 
5. On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week?  It all depends if  my CT's have a kit to work with.  I try and do atleast one a day. 
6. Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks?  MUSIC is a must! Something to drink and my daily planner with a red and regular black or blue ink pen. 
7. What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? Spending time with my girls when they get home from school, we swim or just hang out and be silly. 
8. What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? I would love to travel more, so that i can have a wider variety of pictures to scrap with. 
9. Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? WOW, there is soooo many talented ladies out there who inspire me that I can't choose just one...
10. 
    
    If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why?  Anything girlish, as I have 3 girls who love to be in front of the camera!
    
    

    Ready to see some stunning layouts by Sasha.  Okay, sit back and here we go! 

    
    

    First Layout
    

    

    Layout Using Stolen Moments Products

    

    
    
    

    Most Recent Layout 

    

    
    

    Amazing layouts huh?!   To see more of Sasha's work check out her BLOG and her GALLERY!

It's Sneak Peek Time!

Hi Everyone! I'm back again with another sneak peek of Amber's new release for this Friday. This is a super cute template set and once again you'll get to scrap like one of the super talented members of Amber's Creative Team.



As always, there's a chance for you to win these fantastic templates. Next week I will be posting the random questions (I totally forgot to ask the other team members for this week) along with the Creative Team's answers, but this week you're stuck with one of my boring questions - sorry! On the right hand side of the blog <<-- over there.. there's a link to everyone on the team's galleries, I just love the "just call me" template sets that Amber creates, so, who from the CT would you like to see a "just call me" template set? You don't have to pick just one - sheesh it's too hard! so let me know who you'd like to see "lifted" and maybe we'll see some of those sets coming soon in Amber's store! Just leave me a comment below as your entry and Amber will pick one winner to post along with Friday's new release post.

Have a great week!

~Kate

Oops! We need a winner!

So in all the hustle and bustle of getting everything posted for my releases this weekend, I forgot to pick a winner from Kate's sneak peek contest.. It wasn't much of a surprise the things you said you hated about school - early mornings, the rush to get out the door, fighting to get homework done.. I don't have kids in school yet, but I remember from growing up, there were definitely some things that were more fun than others.. ;)  Although, getting up early on the first day was never a problem for me...{later in the year, though - that was definitely a struggle!} .. I was always SO excited to go back to school, I had a hard time going to sleep the night before, and was always ready super early.. :)  Another thing I loved about back-to-school preparations that I almost forgot about:  fashion shows!  My mom would take my sister and I shopping for b2s  clothes, and we'd always come home and give my dad a fashion show of all our new things.. We thought we were so cool, lol.. 

Anyway, enough about me... we need a winner!  Dream Big Designs you are the lucky lady!  Because of the delay, you get the whole kit and kaboodle!  Congrats!  :D  Email me for your coupon.  And until next time.. Happy scrapping!  :D

Sharpen Your Pencils...

Welcome back, scrappers!  It's been another full week of designing and scrapping for me, and it feels SO awesome to be back with my CS3 - I missed it so!  Have you had many chances to do any scrapping yourself, or are you busy with preparations for heading back to school?  I've managed to do both, and am SO excited to be able to show you my latest collection - inspired by my favorite time of year growing up.. Back to school time!

A Time to Learn   It's that time of year again, when the temperature drops just a little, there's an anxious energy in the air, and all the little ones run off to school again..  A Time to Learn is just perfect for capturing all those back to school memories - from the first day with a new backpack to receiving that final report card - and with a more "mature" color palette, it works for pre-k all the way to high school and beyond!   A Time to Learn: Word Bits   A fabulous pack of word bits that coordinate perfectly with the kit.  Complete with grade markers for K-12, journaling blocks and lists, and other education-related phrases, they will add just the perfect finishing details to your pages.  There are 48 files total.   A Time to Learn: Flashcards   Get a little crafty and make your own flashcards this year!  Made to coordinate with my new kit, these cards are fluff-free to help the focus be on learning the basics.  There are 84 cards {on 14 sheets} included in your download - intended to be used double-sided, but you can customize them as much as you like..  Flashcards are 2.5" x 5" - available as PDF and JPEGs.  Basic instructions are included.   Blackboard Alpha   There is something so timeless about a beautifully scripted line of penmanship on a freshly cleaned blackboard.  It speaks of a time gone by, and you can almost smell the dust from all those sessions of cleaning erasers after school.  Give your pages that same nostalgic feel with my Blackboard Alpha.  Contains UC, LC, #s, symbols, and a blank for creating longer sentences of text.   A Time to Learn: Bundle   Save 25% when you buy all 4 of these back-to-school products together! {If you only want the bits and pieces, those are 20% off Fri-Sat.}

And now - some gorgeous inspiration layouts from my team...

  And finally, a fun little freebie add-on for you.. Happy scrapping and I'll see you next week!

 DOWNLOAD

Spotlighting Sam

Summer is almost over!  Can you believe it?  I sure can't.  I didn't get half of what I should have done, including Stolen Moments spotlights!  Today I have another guest CT member to introduce you too.  This lady has been scrapping stunning pages for Amber all month long.  When I grow up I want to be a scrapper just like her ;)  Introducing....

Sam

{aka scrappychic}

I work in a biotech company as a production planner in the day, then I turn into mommy to 3 princesses, Mckenna(7), Cheyenne(5), and Piper (soon to be 4!).  I've been married to Jeff for 10 awesome years, he's the best father and husband anyone could wish for.  I also have 3 cats and 2 rotties.  It's a quite a full house, so currently we're under construction and adding 2 more rooms to our rapidly shrinking house!

1. How long have you been scrapping?   8 year all together. Have you ever paper scrapped?  yes, about the time my eldest was born through a CM party.  When did you make the switch to digi and why?  Ran out of space and time.  I still have a few unfinished paper pages!
2. What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill? Clustering and layering  Your weakest?  Titlework (ugh!)  Many times I leave the title out altogether.
3. What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Don't be afraid to try different things.   You can always undo something you don't like.  Play around as much as you can before printing your pages out.  It takes time to find what you like and what you're comfortable with.
4. Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  PSE 5 Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Actually, that's exactly the order I do things!  How long does it take you to complete a layout? Luckily it takes me about a couple of hours now.  It used to take a couple of days when I started!
5. On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week?  Hmmm, who's counting? LOL  I'm ashamed to say probably too much!
6. Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks? A hot mocha or java chip with the TV in the background (tuned into Spongebob, Dora, iCarly or something to that nature).
7. What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? Shopping, watching movies and filling up on popcorn.
8. What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? Travel around the world.
9. Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? I'm actually inspired by artists that use a lot of white space like Sarah Cornish (my3hens) and Becca (BeccaBoo).  I love their style of clustering and layering while not making the page too heavy.  They keep the elements small and crop their pictures so well, the composition and arrangement of their LOs are amazing.  On the other end of the spectrum, I'm also a fan of Cindy Schneider, her fabulous layering and multi-photo pages are just wonderful to look at.  There's always so much going on in her pages. 
10. If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? I would love Amber to create a construction kit.  We're adding onto our home and the backyard is a mess right now.  I'm taking pics everyday to chronicle the progress.  

 Now that you know a bit about Sam I get the pleasure of showing you some of her rockin' layouts!!!

First Layout

Favorite Layouts

Most Recent Layout

Love all those inspiring layouts don't you?  To see more of Sam's inspiring work check out her GALLERY!  Stay tuned next week to meet another guest CT member!

Back to school & a sneak peek!

Hi Everyone!! If you're in the U.S. you are probably either preparing for the kids to go back to school or they've already started. This is our second week back and WOW has it been crazy around here! Staying with that theme, Amber has created a super cute kit and alpha set with the kids going back to school in mind - I totally LOVE this set.. wait. What of Amber's don't I love? hehe

So here's a little sneaky peek at what's going to be hitting Amber's store on Friday..


I need to take more pictures of my daughter just so I can scrap with this.. I took the normal first day picture, but of course, I've scrapped that already and now I need MORE!

Next week, I will be posting the random questions along with the sneak peek and some of the team's answers. Should be SO fun! So for this week's "answer to win it" just leave me a comment with the one thing you HATE about the kids going back to school - the early morning wake ups, the traffic in the morning, the CARLOOP (that's mine!) etc etc.. Leave me a comment and Amber will be back on Friday with this weeks winner!

Have a great week and I'll "see" you all soon!

~Kate

Did you miss me?

Oh my goodness!  I am finally back from one heck of a whirlwind month!  Road-tripping almost 5,000 miles to visit family, last-minute changes to our cross-country move, and tomorrow and send my husband across the country to find work and somewhere for us to live.. But somehow, I've managed to sneak in a little bit of time for designing, and boy - does it feel GREAT!!!  :D  So - let's get right to it...

 

---

 

I thought I'd start things off easy with a basic that you can never have enough of: dating elements.. And how fun are these little doozies?!?

Frame the Date

Mix 'em and match 'em.. Break them apart and recolor them.. The possibilities are endless, and with 6 add-on phrases for the frames, you can have a custom look in no time!

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And of course, another staple for the busy scrapper... templates!  Yay!  I have so enjoyed creating these template packs inspired by my creative team members.. It's like I get to sneak inside their awesome little brains and see what it takes to make a great page, and I'm here to tell you, you are going to LOVE these babies!

 

Scraps by Number: Just Call Me Andrea

 

 

 

 

Each of the templates comes in PSD, TIFF and PNG formats, making them accessible to everyone - no matter your program - and, as always, they're S4H friendly!  :D

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Now, I know it's been a while, but you do remember all those featured kits from waaaaay back in July?  Well I've finally been able to sift through all the AMAZING layouts in my product gallery and have chosen some winners ..  It was so fun to see everyone scrapping with these older kits, and I was really amazed by some of the awesome talent out there!  Great job to everyone!

by sporte91 using One More Sleep

 

 

by Mamaof3 using 10 Tiny Toes

 

 

by jessica31876 using Into the Night

Congratulations, ladies - you should each have received a PM from me with your $5 coupon..

 

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Now - I'm not done yet... This month I've also participated in creating another totally awesome collab with some of the other ScrapMatters designers... 

 

Dude

Loaded to the brim with an eclectic mix of all things "boy," this kit is the perfect addition to your scrapping stash to help show off  pics of your favorite teenager.  A variety of bold colors and plenty of unique elements, you'll find yourself coming back to this one time and time again.  ..  And if you want to get more bang for your buck, check out the August Collab Bundle - two totally awesome kits bundled together for a limited time at an awesome price!  You won't want to miss it!

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Now, I think that's everything, but we can't forget about Kate's sneak peek contest winner... scrappin5kids  shoot me an email - you've just won the product of your choice from this week's releases!  :D  Also, if anyone wants a freebie template also inspired by the awesome Andrea, be sure to sign up for my newsletter, as I'll be sending that out in a few days.. I meant to have it ready today, but time just got away from me.. 

 

Anyway, I'll leave you with some incredible pages from my CT using this week's new releases, and don't forget - both of my new products will be 30% off today and tomorrow only - so grab them on sale while you can!

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you next week, and happy scrapping!  :D

Sneak Peek - 8/11

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since I've done a sneak peek, and I'm so excited to be "back" and give you a little sneak peek at the goodies that Amber has for you this week! I just love these 2 new products and I think you will too! I'm not going to gush too much today, because well, it's my first post in a while, and you don't want to hear from me, you just wanna see the goods, so without further ado, here they are!!

Don't they look awesome? Well, it wouldn't be Sneak Peek Wednesday without a little give-away, so.. if you'd like a chance to win your choice of either of these new products, just leave me a comment here - just to say hi! and one lucky winner will be able to pick (I don't envy you there) which one of these you'd like for free! Amber will announce the winner on Friday along with the information about these fantastic new products!

Psst.. be on the look out for the random questions to start along with the sneak peeks soon - it should be fun! I can't wait to see what you're answers are!!

Spotlighting Heather

Hey all!  Jewelle here to introduce you to our first guest CT member for the month of August.  So lets get to introducing her shall we?

Heather

{aka snowdrop}

I'm 30, live in NJ (near Philadelphia), do some temp computer work, and I'm single, with no kids.

1. How long have you been scrapping?  Have you ever paper scrapped?  When did you make the switch to digi and why?I've been digi scrapping a little over 2 years. I've been seriously paper scrapping over 8 years, though I scrapped in some way probably my whole lift (I still have one of my earliest scrapbooks, things glued onto that brown paper, eek! No surprise, Mickey's on the cover.) Unlike some digi scrappers, I still LOVE paper scrapping, and I feel bad that I’ve been neglecting all my supplies, especially my poor, lonely, Cricut, the last year or so.  I actually never wanted to get into digi! The digi LOs I saw always looked fake (like a magazine ad vs a traditional layout) to me. On a Michelle Kwan site I run, we had a scrapbook thread that was paper only, until Melissa (Yzerbear19), started posting some digi LOs. I thought they looked so beautiful, and real (!), and that got me to start lurking in the digi threads at the DISboard. The LOs were just as beautiful & real, and I even posted in one of the threads complimenting the scrappers, but saying I was just looking. Britt & a few others responded that I would probably be joining them soon, and I just laughed. A few days later, there was a challenge with an awesome alpha as the participation prize, and I thought, let me try to throw something together. I did a few more challenges before I realized that I was *hooked*, and there was no turning back! I still never expected to switch completely to digi from paper, but I haven't done a paper layout in about a year, so I guess I did. ;) I love doing things that I could/would never do on a paper LO, such as stitching, or things like glitter, that would be really messy but now is a snap! I also LOVE being able to scrap any picture I have. With paper scrapping, I had to decide well in advance what I wanted to scrap, then get the pics printed, and then be stuck with that size. That may be one of the biggest reasons I really got into digi, because the pictures are always the most important part of a layout to me. 
2. What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill?  Your weakest?  I tend to know more about my faults than what I'm strong at (I guess we're all like that!) I try to make my layouts look "real", so I
   hopefully do a good job at that, and maybe title work? My weakest is trying to get out of that template box (I love templates!) and clustering.  
3. What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping?  I would say to remember the reason why you are scrapping. It's not to get a gallery standout, or get the most comments, it's to get your pictures & memories recorded. Twenty years from now, people looking at
   your layout aren't going to care that you used the latest technique or coolest product, but they are going to love being able to relive that moment you scrapped, to look at the pictures, and to read your
   journaling. So, don't be stuck on the fact that your layouts don't look as great as others you see in the galleries right away. Just play around with your software and kits, and soon enough, people will be
   wishing they scrapped like you!
4. Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Do you always have something in mind when you start, or do you let your creativity guide you?   On my desktop I have Photoshop 7, on my netbook, Photoshop CS3. I don't know if I have a system, it depends on the layout I'm working on. Sometimes I'll just get in the mood to scrap a certain set of
   pictures, and then I generally would pick a template & then products that work with the pics. Other times, a kit will inspire me, and I'll choose my pics from there. I usually do the title work then journaling
   last. Most of the time I don't have an idea what I want the layout to look like, I just go with the flow. Usually if I DO have a plan, the layout doesn't turn out anything like I pictured in my head.  I'm a
   pretty slow scrapper, and I'm constantly paying attention to small details that no one else would notice, (I can sit there for 20 minutes just changing the visibility of an element to decide if I want to use
   it, move it, or not!), so layouts usually take a few hours. If I can get one done in an hour, that's shocking!
5. On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? I don't even want to think about how much time I spend scrapping, lol.  It's hard because it can take me a while choosing pictures (I take a LOT of pictures, so it can take me forever to narrow say 130 pics to 6 pics I want to use!) I usually scrap 4-5 layouts a week, and they take a few hours each.
6. Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks?  I almost always have the TV on. Not that I'm watching anything, but I like having background noise. I don't like having any food near the computer, because my luck, that's an accident waiting to happen. 
7. What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping?  I LOVE Disney, and I got incredibly addicted to Disney World a few years ago. That's one of my favorite things to scrap, so when I'm
   not there (my next trip is in September!), I can relive Disney! I'm a diehard Phillies fan, so during baseball season, I'm either at the ballpark (I attend over 30 games a year, plus a road trip each season,
   and spring training!) or watching the game on TV. I've run a Michelle Kwan site for 13 years, but I have to say I'm not as into figure skating as I used to be (I used to travel all over the country for events.) I'm also a TV addict, I don't know how I lived before getting a DVR!
8. What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it?  I've joked about this many times, and now I can't think of anything!  Maybe go on a Disney Cruise (the layouts always look so cute!) or travel to Europe?
9. Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? There are SO many scrappers I love, I really get inspired by everyone!  I love both ScrapMatters and MouseScrappers. The scrappers that I hit "favorite" on layouts the most are probably britt, TanyaH666, Yzerbear19, and QuiltyMom, but I am probably leaving out about 20
   people.

Wow!  What a busy lady Heather is!  I always love checking out Heather's layouts at the SM gallery since she has such inspiring Disney layouts.  Take a gander at these layouts of hers and you'll see what I mean!

Oldest Layout

This is my 2nd ever layout. It's actually not too bad, a lot of my earliest layouts are worse. It's the title page to my 2007 Disney trip album (hundreds of layouts later and I'm STILL not done!) I added a 2007 Disney World sticker to the empty space, so it's a little bit hybrid.

Favorite Layouts

I saw Toy Story 3 on Opening Night, the midnight showing. It was SO much fun and I loved the movie. I scrapped this the next day.

For Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party two years ago I dressed as Snow White. The only place to get a picture with Snow White & all the dwarfs is at the party, and I had to get that picture! I always have a hard time scrapping favorite pictures (I want it to be perfect!), but I finally was able to get one done a few weeks ago, and I love how it came out!

Layout Using Stolen Moments Products

I saw 5 Broadway shows during a short trip in 2003, and I wanted to do this layout ever since. I was so excited when Amber & Britt's kit came out because it was exactly what I was looking for!

Most Recent Layout

I've been working on my Flower & Garden Festival layouts for months, I really wish I was done by now! This was one of the only disappoints of the festival, and I like the layout better than the display.

Amazing, amazing layout!  Thanks Heather for sharing with us!  If you would like to see more inspiring layouts by Heather check out her BLOG or GALLERY!  Stay tuned next week to meet another August guest CT member!