Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day!

I feel as though I should be singing a song about the "best time of the year" or something, but I've only had one cup of coffee, so maybe we will just skip that part :)  Hope you all have great fun chasing down freebies and glorying in great sales!

I think I'm going to go scrap with my latest kit:

You can, too - my creative team member Tamie has graciously provided this cute stacked paper to start with!

You can download it HERE.

Be sure to watch for more goodies later!

It's Digiscrap Parade Time :)

I will be perfectly honest with you.  The color palette for the Digiscrap Parade for November is not in my wheelhouse.  I took multiple tries at it; most of what came out of my effort looked babyish or (worse) like baby poop.  So I kept the papers that worked, and added a cute little photo cluster, because I think it's better to have something that's usable, LOL.  And I make photo clusters because I love them - I'm far too independent for most templates; I end up deleting most everything but the photo spots because *I* want to decide where the goodies go, LOL.  Here is this quarter's contribution for those other independent souls:

Download HERE.

And if you get lost, here's the main Parade blog so you can get back on track again ;)

http://digiscrapparade.wordpress.com/

DSD and Happy Halloween :)

It's Halloween.  I'm trying to get this blog post wrapped up before the sun completely sinks over the horizon and the doorbell begins to ring ;)  When you get to the end of the post you will find a little treat of the digital variety!

Digital Scrapbooking Day is Saturday, but I like to take a running start, so my sale started today.  And since this *IS* the holiday that celebrates what I love most, this is also my biggest and best sale of the year!  You will find everything in my shop at Scrapbookgraphics marked at half price!  That's right, a full 50% off of everything, and that includes the bundles, which are already specially priced to begin with - making them an even better deal :)

I have a new collection in honor of the event - it's been bubbling in the back of my head for some time now, and finally fought its way out, LOL.  "Woodland" everything is hot right now, and I've fallen for its charm.  I have been fascinated with foxes for some time (yes, even before What Does the Fox Say) and so I pretty much indulged myself with all my favorite colors and patterns and textures and vintage-y things and cute things...something for everyone (no matter What they Say).

Of course there is a bundled version with extra savings - it includes everything!

And don't forget last week's collection (part of which is new):

One of my CT members, Tamie, very graciously created some stacked papers to share with you using this collection, and here is the first one!

(link)

The Image is linked to your download :)

I also have a new freebie on Facebook to share:

Link

That's it, for now.  Stay tuned for more freebies :)

A Decade of Digital - the Celebration continues!

 Scrapbookgraphics has been celebrating their 10th birthday, which is astounding in the digital scrapbooking world!  There have been lots of fun events, challenges, sales, and it isn't over yet!  Check out the forums for challenges:

Make sure you stop by the Studio Girls Facebook Page and enter the big giveaway:

There are also freebies to pick up on the store blog and on the Facebook page, so make sure you collect them!

Last of all, I have a template for you that will help you scrap your ten favorite - well, your ten favorite what-evers, LOL.  There's also an extra coupon in the pack for an extra 10% savings on your next purchase.

Download HERE.

Enjoy, and happy scrapping!  And stop by and say "Hi!" in the forums!

August Digiscrap Parade - Destination: Adventure!

Yay!  It's Digiscrap Parade time again!  I'm offering my contribution on my blog as well as my FB page because I know some people would rather not "do" Facebook.  The stop before me is HGD by Laurie Ann  and your next stop will be Wishing Well Creations (Wishing Well Blog for those who don't use Facebook). If you get lost along the way, simply head back to the main DigiScrap Parade site to view the master list and get back on track.

Here's my contribution this time:

You can download it HERE.  Hope you have a wonderful time collecting all the pieces, and I hope to see what you do with them!

Underlayers? Is she talking about underwear?

I'm sure you've seen them all around digiland.  Every designer has a different name for them, and some scrappers, too :)  I've seen "paint," "splats," "grunge," "smears," just recently, and I'm sure there are more.  I call mine underlayers, because I've created them to "layer under" a photo or elements to give the scrapper more creative options for grounding the photo or creating better contrast, or even for adding a touch of color to help the eye find the focus of the layout.  A little pedestrian term-wise, but a very useful tool!

What, you may ask (see how nice I am now that you know I'm not talking about underwear?) does one do with an underlayer?

I'm so glad you asked!

Here we have a rather bland layout of some elephants chillin' at the zoo using some papers and elements from my Menagerie Collection.  Nice enough, a few cute elements.  But just a little "blah.

 Here, however, I've popped a nice splattery underlayer under things, and see how it livens things up?  Adding texture, a touch of sparkle, and a bit of color to tie in the subtle red border, it adds some pizazz and also unites the elements with the background.

 Maybe, though, you don't care for the extra tension of the red, and would like a calmer look - after all, there were lots of screaming kids at the zoo (hopefully not yours) and you just want to remember the restful parts. Try clipping a paper to the underlayer - you get the same subtle interaction with the background, but not so much contrast.  I also changed the color of the border to continue the more subtle effect.

Maybe you like the color of the paper clipped to the mask better than the original, but want a little pizazz.  Not screaming yellow zonkers level, just a little pop of sparkle.  Here, I've layered another sparkly underlayer over the adjusted mask:

Sometimes a background can prove to be a little dark - in this version, I like the harmonious feel of the greens, but the elements seem a little lost and it's awfully zen.

 So I popped a light colored underlayer beneath it all for this look:

 While I like the lighter color for some contrast, I think it's too bright and stark, so I lowered the opacity of the underlayer a bit (you can also play with blending modes for different effects).  And then I thought it would be fun to add the red layer, too, for a smooshy good time (without getting my fingers dirty, LOL, I love digi!)

This one might be my favorite of all.  See how you can change things up?

OK, now You give it a try!  I've packaged up the underlayers I used here and you can put the tricks to work in your own layouts:

You can download them HERE.

Menagerie will be on sale 20% off through Friday, so if you have your own chillin' elephants to scrap, now's a great time to pick it up:

And til next time, happy scrapping!

60% off Moving Sale :)

I have been at the Digichick for almost three years, and I have loved being there amongst warm and supportive friends and talented folks.  I have learned so much along the way, and I value the friendships I have made.

June 13 I will be starting a new adventure at Scrapbookgraphics.  I'm so looking forward to meeting new friends and being inspired by the amazing artists in residence there!  I hope you will join in the fun along with me.  I will be updating further here on my blog, and you can also keep in touch with my newsletter and Facebook Page so you don't miss out on any of the freebies or special goodies along the way.  In the meantime, I'm retiring some of my products to make the "journey" a little easier :)  This is your chance to snap them up, and then they will retire to the depths of my hard drive forever.