Template Freebie!!!

Happy Hump Day, everyone! It's Wednesday already - half way through the week and almost to the weekend! This is extra exciting for me because my family leaves on Friday for a week at the beach. Wahoo! We'll be spending the 4th of July holiday with sand between our toes!

Today I'm giving away a new template that I created. I LOVE templates - they are such awesome tools to get your creative juices flowing, especially if you feel like you're in a scrapping rut and don't even know where to begin. So here is the template I made:

I made the mistake of using a white background - OOPS! It really is a 12x12 template! :)

One of the things I love most about templates is the flexibility they offer. You can flip them, shrink them, move things around, add to them and take away elements and photos. They provide the perfect starting point that scrappers can then jazz up and make unique. Here is a layout I made with the template, adding a few things here and there. I used Sarah's new collab kit "Old Glory" that Megg spotlighted on Monday. LOVE that kit!

You can download the template HERE

I'd LOVE to see the layouts you create with it, so link them up in the comments section, please!

Happy Scrapping and Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!

Annisa (lionsimba)

Old Glory Frame Freebie

Happy Monday Scrappers! Megg here with today's giveaway. I was thinking about the upcoming holiday this weekend, and of how grateful I am to live in the great country. The freedoms we enjoy, the prosperity we can achieve. It's limitless. So in honor of that I put together a frame cluster freebie using the new collab between Sarah Bennett and Trixie Scraps Designs, Old Glory.

This kit was just released on Friday and is jam packed with different elements and papers sure to be perfect for any celebration you have in mind. I loved the retro vintage feel of it. Very very cool. So click on the link below and you can download. Enjoy! And hope everyone has a great 4th!

Flashback Friday!

Hi everyone! Simply Sarah here from Sarah B's CT to bring you a Flashback Friday. I frequently "flashback" using all of Sarah's kits because they are just so versatile. I have one particular favorite, however, that I seem to keep using. It's a fabulous collaboration with 2 other designers, called "Storytime."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this kit. The colors in it are just fabulous.

Here's 2 different times I have used this fabulous kit:

Credits:
Alpha from My Buddy by Sarah Bennett
Papers and Elements from Storytime by Sarah Bennett, Lil Digi Designs by Jude, & Stacys Backdoor Designs
Stitches from Bad Sewing Machine Stitches by Traci Reed
Kraft Paper from Krafty Papers by Sarah Bennett
Template from Lined Up Template Pack by Sarah Bennett

Credits:
"Storytime" by Sarah Bennett, Lil Digi Bits by Jude, and Stacy's Backdoor Designs
"Scribbley Alpha" by Sarah Bennett"
"Bad Sewing Machine Stitches 12" by Traci Reed

Wanna grab this awesome kit for yourself? HEAD HERE.

Sneaky peek!

Hi everyone! Amanda here today to share a sneak peek of the new collab that Sarah has coming to the store tomorrow. I have to tell you I think this may be my favorite kit yet, it is packed full of such wonderful goodies. There are 20 gorgeous papers alone! This one will be one of my go to kits for a long time to come I am sure.

So, are you ready for the peek?

And here is a layout that I made with it. I also used Becky's template from our May CT Blog train.


Be sure to check it out tomorrow. I am sure you will love it as much as we do!

Giveaway Wednesday

Hey guys! Kendall here to share a little freebie with you on this Giveaway Wednesday. I used Sarah's awesome collab with Stacy's Backdoor Designs, Sweet Siblings, to create a set of stacked papers just for you.


DOWNLOAD HERE

And don't forget to check out Sweet Siblings in the ScrapMatters shop:


Hope you enjoy the freebie and please remember to leave us a comment if you grab it. We love hearing from you!

lost for a title?

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all those who celebrate it! How was everyone's weekend? Ours was filled with sickness but we're hoping we're all over that for awhile :( Saddest part was I didn't get ONE picture yesterday! Can you believe that? Oh well, I'll have to scrapbook a non-photo LO soon so I don't forget any details! Whenever I scrap, it never fails, I have the hardest time picking a title. Nothing seems right or I overuse certain titles. Do you do that? I'm here today to suggest some titles for you & they come in a pretty easy form....book titles! Have you ever taken a picture & a book title popped in your head? I had that the other day. My daughter sits in the most random places ever to watch her movie. Seriously, you should see half the pictures I've taken of the places I've found her. With these particular pictures, the book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" popped in my head & I had to go for it. It's not your typical title but it works with this situation. Here's my page-

Here's a few other books that we love at our house that could work for titles:

*"Where the Wild Things Are" (just imagine the pictures that could go with this with all our crazy kids....or is mine the only one?)

*"Daddy Kisses"

*"Goodnight Moon" (for all those cute sleeping/bedtime photos)

*"Love You Forever"

*"Mommy Hugs"

*"Cars & Trucks & Things That Go" (perfect for the photos of your little one playing with cars)

*"Pinkalicious" (for all those princess photos)

*"Harold & the Purple Crayon" (substitute your child's name for all those artwork pages....or coloring on the wall...)

*"11 Birthdays" (change the number for however old they're turning)

*"Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (i could use this over & over! how about you?)

*"Million Dollar Throw" (for all those summer games)

Have I got your mind rolling with different book titles? The possibilities are endless! Hope this has helped & if you create any pages, we'd love to see them! Post them to Sarah's gallery at Scrap Matters so we can leave you some love! Have a happy Monday!

Father's Day

Yep, it's tomorrow! Becca (aka becca372) here...Sarah has a GREAT kit out for scrapping all things "Dad" right now! Her newest collab, with Connie Prince, is an amazing kit! There's actually TWO parts to this kit, one part being in the ScrapMatters newsletter for June (hope you subscribe!) and the other being sold in the store right now! I've been out of town recently, so haven't had time to scrap with it, but the rest of the team has done an amazing job! Here is the main kit, Just Like Dad (it's linked to Connie's store, where it's being sold)...

And here are some amazing things the team (Sarah's and a bit of the SM team) has done with it!

by Britanee


by Katie



by Jen


by Trish


by Annisa


by Denise

by Kim


by Cara


by Amanda


by Janine

by LeeAndra


by Kat


by Stephanie



Whew...that's a lot of goodness! Hope these inspire you to create a layout about an amazing man (big or little!) in your life! Happy Father's Day!

Just a little bit of bragging

Many of you familiar with the digi-scrap world may be familiar with the Queen of Scrap (QOS) contest that happens in the month of May.  This contest is hosted by Scrapmatters.  Basically, every contestant is trying to scrap as many layouts in one month as they can.  This year there was a bigger emphasis on the quality of layouts and the contestants rose to the occasion.  I just wanted to highlight the members of Sarah's CT that participated in the contest and showcase one of their layouts made with Sarah's products in the month of June.  (Click on their names to see the complete gallery for the month!)

Janine completed 73 layouts (That is more than 2 per day!)

Jamie completed 68 layouts

Katie completed 66 layouts

Kim completed 60 layouts.

Kendall completed 35 layouts

Amy completed 30 layouts

Li completed 10 layouts

Excluding all the fabulous layouts completed by CT members who didn't participate in the contest, the QOS ladies on Sarah's CT did a grand total of 342 layouts in the month on May alone.  Go leave these creative (and quick) ladies some love!

Gallery Standouts!!

I've combed the galleries looking for some fabulous layouts using Sarah's stuff and just look at all these gorgeous layouts I found!! It was SO hard to chose just a few! Click on the images to leave these ladies some love!

Layout by MelindaH using Sarah's new Just Like Dad collab:




Layout by wagsmom also using Just Like Dad:




Layout by Becca1976 using the Storytime collab:




Layout by lightmistress using the Sunday Afternoon collab:




Layout by Wandam using the Go Green collab:

Patterned Possibilities!

I am a HUGE fan of patterned paper but for a long time I wasn't sure what exactly to do with it. I tended to shy away from it, particularly if it was bold or bright. I typically used the more subtle papers while wishing that I could figure out how to use the more bold papers that I loved so much. It felt like every time that I tried to use those bolder papers, it ended up distracting from my layout, overpowering the photos or the journaling. I thought we might take a little time today to explore all the possibilities of patterned paper and how to use it more effectively on your pages!

Here are some tips and tricks that I have found helpful to me as I've been working on getting more comfortable using more patterned paper ...

1. Use bold paper sparingly - This is the most important paper lesson that I've learned. I can use those bolder papers if I use them in proportion to my layout. I use small bits of it to accentuate but not overwhelm the page I'm working on.  You don't need much in order to get a lot of payoff because patterned papers tend to go a long way!
2. Stick with themes - Think about the theme of your paper and use papers that seem to support that theme rather than distract from it. For example, if you are creating a page about the beach, use paper that has a beach/ocean/water theme.
3. Think through your proportions - If you choose to use a large amount of a bold patterned paper, consider using a large, eye-catching photograph so that the paper doesn't distract from the photo.  On the other hand, if your patterned paper is more subtle, you can use smaller photos without overwhelming them. I've heard in a couple of places that a general rule of thumb for this type of proportion is to never use a background patterned paper with a pattern larger than the smallest photographed head in your photos.
4. Start small - When first beginning to experiment with using patterned paper, try to use a more subtle pattern as a background paper. It gives the page visual interest without detracting from the overall look. As you get more comfortable, you can begin branching out and trying bolder backgrounds on your pages.
5. Create a patchwork - Try using bolder (and subtle) papers in smaller shapes on your pages to create a patchwork of visual interest. This allows you to use those patterns that you love but in a more manageable way that doesn't overtake your page! Cut them in all sorts of shapes - circles, squares, strips, etc. They become excellent accents for your pages!
6. Strip It - Use just a strip of your bold patterned paper (try a 2 inch x 12 inch strip for starters) to get that bold paper onto the page without having it compete with the rest of the page!
7. Use It on No Photo Layouts - Non-photo layouts are PERFECT for using lots of patterned paper! Since there isn't a photo to worry about, you have a lot of flexibility for using bold papers to accentuate your page!

Here are some examples of pages using Sarah's designs that show you how to use the fantastic patterns that Sarah creates in interesting and unique ways! I hope these tips and tricks will help you use patterned paper more effectively on your pages!

For this page, I wanted to use some of the beautiful patterns in the kit while also keeping the focus on the photo of my cute little ones. I found the striped patterned and used it to direct the eye right to the photo so that it ultimately added visual interest without making the page look too crazy! I also used several other patterns in strips below the photo to add a bit more of a pop! 

Credits:Sweet Siblings Bundle by Designs by Sarah Bennett & Stacy's Backdoor Designs

 For this page, I used a number of different patterned papers but kept them in proportion by using it in small strips as well as using different shapes to line the photograph with ...

Credits:LYLAS by Designs by Sarah Bennett and  Template by WM [Squared] (freebie for Template Tuesday at ScrapMatters)

For this page, I really wanted to use the cute patterned papers but I wanted the eye to focus on the cute photo of my son. I decided to use papers but keep a solid paper at the top of those visually so that they would compliment the design but not detract from the photo.

Credits:Sunday Afternoon kit by Trixie Scraps and Designs by Sarah Bennett

I went with the theme idea for this page by using a patterned paper that was thematic and would not distract from the overall feel and story of the page. I think it worked out really nicely. This is one of my favorite no photo pages ...

Credits:Go Green Collab by Sarah Bennett & WM Squared

Friday Flashback Favorite...and a Freebie!!

Hey all! Becky (hoo-rah) here to bring you today's Friday Flashback Favorite! I have been a huge fan of Sarah's designs for quite some time now, and while I honestly L.O.V.E all her kits one of my most favorite is the beautiful Sister Sue.

The color pallete in this kit is simply divine and the various paper patterns create a sophisticated elegance coupled with a little bit of funky grunge. I love the unique buttons and blowers and use of newsprint, not to mention the touches of metal and acrylic. My words simply cannot do this amazing kit justice, so rather than chat your ear off (figuratively speaking - you know what I mean), I think it would be best to let YOUR creations do the talking. So, here are some layouts I found in the ScrapMatters gallery - all of them were created using the fabulous Sister Sue kit...

  

          

Did I not tell you this kit is absolutely gorgeous?! Do you now see why Sister Sue is one of my ALL-TIME favorite kits. I honestly can't get enough of this kit...seeing it just makes me happy! And you want to know what else makes me happy? Free stuff...and since today is Friday, I've created a fun little freebie to help get your weekend started on the right foot.

CLICK HERE to download from 4shared

 Enjoy the freebie frame! I hope you have a wonderful day and an even better weekend!!