Here it is - the December ScrapSimple Club!

Do you love the look of papercut illustrations and art? It is an art form seen around the world and has been adapted to many different cultural styles. There are beautiful antique and modern representations everywhere! I love it so much, I made Papercutting the theme of the December 2013 ScrapSimple Club. 

When you're a member of the Scrap Girls ScrapSimple Monthly Club, you get all of the newest ScrapSimple digital scrapbooking looks at a great price. If you bought all of these items individually, your cost would be $19.15. However, if you join the Scrap Girls monthly club, your cost is only $6.99!

ScrapSimple Club (Monthly Billing Cycle)

Five products are included in this month's club:

• ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Papercutting
• ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Cut Leaves
• ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Cut Leaves
• ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Hanging Words
• Brush Set: Papercut Frames

In addition, as a subscriber, you receive special Members-only content that is not available for sale in the boutique.  The value of this extra content is $10 or more - which is more than the club itself. This month I offer:

Two tutorials giving you guidance on how to use the products in the club.

• Using ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Hanging Words
  to Create Custom Word Art
• Using Blending Mode and Styles to Customize Papercutting Paper and Embellishment Templates

 You'll also receive two bonus items:
 

Papercut Ladies Embellishment Mini

Papercutting Nano Collection

All the products in the club are built around the paper templates, which include traditional and modern styles of papercutting:

ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Papercutting

Here's a layout showing how you can use the product.  I love how Angie used just a portion of the paper to create a canopy over the happy couple:

Layout by Angie Briggs

Also included in the club is an embellishment template set.  The leaves include lifted shadows.

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Cut Leaves

 The leaves are wonderfully complimentary to the paper templates - as you can see in these layouts:

“Photowalk” layout by Amy Flanagan

“Beauty” layout by Elisha Barnett

Then we have Brush Set: Papercut Frames, which includes a bonus bevel and paper texture style set:

Brush Set: Papercut Frames

I'd originally intended for these to be an embellishment set, but during the design process I decided that a brush set, along with the included PNG files and the bonus style set would give you more bang for your buck.  Here are some layouts using the brush set in different ways:

“Watch Molly Grow” layout by Elisha Barnett

“The Right Hat” layout by Elisha Barnett

 In the first example I used the heart frame to connect the the photos together visually.  In the second example, I used the frame brush to create a mat to anchor the photos  visually in the center of the page.  I used the bevel style to create an embossed look around the edge.

The alpha templets have three layers - a base layer, a shadow layer and a cut leaves overlay layer.  They can be used together or separately.

ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Cut Leaves

 I love how Melanie used them in this layout:

“True Love” layout by Melanie Cockshott

And finally, we have ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Hanging Words which includes nine words and nine icons to dangle from papercut strips. Customize the placement of your words and icons.

ScrapSimple Word Art Templates: Hanging Words

Valerie used them to compliment her title in this lovely layout:

 

“Sisters” layout by Valerie Tuffrey

I hope you'll enjoy using these products. If you've seen creative people make beautiful artwork cutting intricate shapes and patterns from paper, and want to create the look for yourself,  now you can, digitally!  If you'd like to get more information about this month's ScrapSimple Club, see more layouts and view layout ingredients, visit the boutique page here -  ScrapSimple Club.

ScrapSimple Club (Monthly Billing Cycle)

 

In Good Company

Way back in August, I posted this question on the Scrap Girls forum:

"I'm working on a new project that celebrates women's friendships/relationships. If you were to make a scrapbook page that included photos of you and your besties/sisters/mothers and the activities that you participate in together, what embellishments, phrases, color palette, etc. would you like to have in your stash to use on such a layout? I've got a lot of things in mind, but I want to hear what you want!"

There was an overwhelming response from you! So much that I was overwhelmed.  Based on your responses, I started a general collection, with the idea that there would be coordinating mini kits based specific themes. 

As previously mentioned, I had some set-backs this fall that affected my designing.  Since I've been back into full swing, I've been playing with the idea of a new Holiday collection, but my creativity just hasn't been led that way.  So rather than putting this collection off another month, I decided to jump back into it before it got too stale.  And besides, not everyone celebrates Christmas.  This might be a refreshing item to see with all the Christmas-themed products in the boutique lately!

 

In Good Company Collection

Here's a layout featuring the collection:

I also have a couple of coordinating products:

In Good Company Torn Paper Super Mini

In Good Company Word Art Mini

 Here's another layout:

All three products are packaged together in a money-saving Value Pack:

Value Pack: In Good Company

Here are a couple of more layouts to inspire you!

Thanks for looking, and happy scrapping!

Lost and found - and a freebie!

It's been a while since I updated this blog, obviously!  I haven't designed a new collection since October, and I've been slacking at updating my Facebook Designer Page too.  This fall there have been some personal obligations slowing me down, but for the most part, I've been trying to get back up to designing "speed" after a hard drive failure on my computer.  I had most of my files backed up, but I had to get a new machine - and loading programs and getting things set up is extremely time consuming!  I'm still not in the place I was.  But I have been designing!

I have a Christmas collection in the works, but it's not near ready.  However, in going through my files while moving them to the new computer, I ran across some products that I was working on but never finished. Finishing these products up has helped me to get back in the groove.  Here's what I've got:

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Cut-Outs and Candy

I had a set of gingerbread cookie embellishments, Sugar Plum Cookies Embellishment Mini, to coordinate with my Sugar Plum Collection Biggie which I released last year.  I started an embellishment template set to make it more versatile, but Christmas came and went without it getting finished.  Now it's done!

ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Cut-Outs and Candy Textures 12601 Mini

I released a set of coordinating styles for Sugar Plum Collection Biggie - Value Pack: Sugar Plum Styles - but I thought that it would be nice for customers to have the texture of the candy, cookies and frosting without the color, so that they could be coordinated with any photos or layout.  This set of styles will add the just the texture to an element of any color.

While I was looking through the folder that contained the December 2012 ScrapSimple Club, I found an embellishment template set which I had nearly finished, but didn't make it into the club:

ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Stacked Shapes

This is such a fun product, and I can't believe that I forgot about it!  I only needed to run a quality check before it was finished.  Here's a layout using this embellishment set:

While I was looking through the December 2012 ScrapSimple Club files, I thought it would be nice to pack some together into a Value Pack: Value Pack: Junk Journal.
 

Value Pack: Junk Journal

 
It's not a lost and found product, but I packed four products together to be a great value for those who are looking to add an art journaling touch to their digital layouts.  I especially like the layout templates!  Here's my favorite layout using them:

And, finally, be sure to take advantage of the freebie available for a very short time:

Sugar Plum Paper Special

Find it here: Sugar Plum Paper Special

I hope you'll enjoy these new products that aren't so new!

New Collection and a Freebie!

When I created the Edgar Allan Poe The Raven themed collection of products, Nevermore, my goal was to create a series of products inspired by classic literary tales often associated with Halloween.  All of the products would have the same color set and would be in similar style so they would all coordinate. This year's set is inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, specifically the scene with the three witches:

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, 

Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Here's the collection!

Toil and Trouble Collection

 Here are a few layouts using the collection:

Coordinating Nevermore Products sold separately:
(click image to view)

And here's your freebie! Click the image to go to the download page.  It's available for a limited time, so get it while you can!

Unkindness of Ravens Embellishment Special

Have a spooktacular Halloween!

Scrap Girls Anniversary!

On October 20th, Scrap Girls celebrated nine years of providing the best in digital scrapbooking! We will be celebrating all week – October 21st — 25th – with giveaways, games, and chats. 

This year, we are celebrating Sugar & Spice – what every Scrap Girl is made of!  

 

Join the party!  To find out all that's going on - chats, challenges, contests - click here:

It’s Our 9th Anniversary — Join the Party!

To mark the occasion, the entire Scrap Girls design team got together and created the new Fall Charity Collaboration: A Touch of Spice Collection Biggie, available now. A full 100% of the sales of this kit will be sent to Food for the Poor! 

The designers were also invited to create coordinating products inspired by our favorite spices.  One of my favorite spices is paprika!  I love to use it in goulash, chicken dishes, and of course, to sprinkle it on deviled eggs.  It's made in many places, but I always associate it with Hungary.  My Paprika Collection has a savory color palette and a generous measure of Hungarian influence.

Paprika Collection

Here's a couple of layouts using the collection:

I hope you'll join in on the fun!

Beach, Travel, Vacation Sale

We're heading in to fall, sigh.  I'll miss the warm weather, but I look forward to getting back into those regular routines that seem to go by the wayside during the summer.  And I'm also looking forward to sitting down and going through all of my vacation photos.  Are you?

This sale has come at the perfect time!

Here are some of my products that are included in this sale:

Mermaid Mystique Collection

 

 

 

 

 

Chesapeake Collection Biggie

Sunken Treasure Embellishment Mini

Let's get scrapping!

New Puppy!

We have a new puppy - and we are so happy!  This cute little bundle of joy's name is Pippin. He's an F1 Labradoodle (Lab mommy and Poodle daddy), and he's got a beautifully sweet temperament. He demands a lot of attention, but he also gets more than he demands!  He likes to sleep under my desk chair - and it's hard just to keep from staring at him while he's sleeping.  Consequently, I haven't gotten much designing work done.

I've taken lots of photos of him, and I've been spending my design time making layouts rather than working on my current project.  Oh, well - they're only young once, right?  Here's an example of what I've been doing:

 When I posted this layout in the Scrap Girls Gallery, the positive response overwhelmed me!  So many members loved not only the puppy, but the composition of the layout.  The response gave me the idea to create a template from the layout, to make it easy to duplicate.  I added a couple more templates from among my favorites with a similar style.  The layout template set is available in the Scrap Girls Boutique now!

ScrapSimple Digital Layout Templates: Stacked Strips 1

 

 

The set includes both 12x12 and 8.5x11 sizes.  Here's a brand new layout using one of the templates, featuring my beautiful Mom!

I hope you will enjoy these templates.  You may notice that I called this set "Stacked Strips 1."  If you love the look of stacked paper strips in your layouts, watch for more.  This is just the first in a series!