Digital Scrapbooking Freebies

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

March 19, 2024 by Jan

Challenge Spotlight: Word Art

Whew! I wasn’t sure I’d get this tut out to you today. We started the day with an unplanned trip to the dentist – Adam lost a filling that had only been in there a short time and it was RIGHT IN FRONT!! He needs IV sedation for dental work and that adds a ton of time to everything. But in the end, he was awake enough to get him into the car before noon so here I am! I’ve chosen the Word Art Challenge this month; the Challenge is to use the provided word art as inspiration and have it on the page somewhere. The host for this Challenge is Cheré Kaye and this is the word art she created for us. There are so many ways this can be used!

March is a brutal month for choosing a Spotlight Challenge… Scrap-a-Thon being in full swing. The Gallery is overflowing!! So, in a bit of a departure, rather than showing you every layout that has been submitted for March I decided to go with every OTHER layout. Otherwise we’d be here all week. 😉 The layouts are in the order they were uploaded, the GingerScrapper‘s user name is the direct link the the layout in the Gallery so you can get a closer look and leave a comment or two (I hope you’ll also look at the others, they’re awesome!) and I’ll be making my own comments as we go.

First up is Karen Diamond. She preserved the gradient colour of the word art, using it as her title, and took colour palette cues from it. It’s a little ironic that she chose the humble dandelion as her focus – they seem to “awaken” earlier than a lot of other plants.

This layout from jojores is a true original. The word art title looks a bit muted, but in the original gradient colours. I like the detail she’s added to the upper corners and how she included food-related elements to riff on the book covers in her photos.

For her layout demma_b13 also used the word art as is, and drew her palette from it. I can almost hear birds singing when I look at her layout, and don’t know how the woman in the photo can sleep through it!

Look at all the white space tillykaye has given us. The simplicity of her layout lets her photo shine. As the others have, she pulled colours from the word art for her palette.

Dhariana has given us more white space with her layout. She’s scaled everything down to draw the eye to the butterfly in her photo. I like the washi tape holding the photo in place. Against the buttery-yellow background the colours in the word art seem a bit brighter.

It’s interesting how the background colour can change the way our eyes see something, as biche57 shows us here. The gradient colours of the word art look more purple. It’s a perfect accent.

Let’s look at photocrazy‘s entry. See?! By putting the word art against a bright yellow background, the colours in the word art pop yellow too! She’s the first one (of this baker’s dozen) to use the wings that Cheré included with the word. The blue provides beautiful contrast.

AHA! AlyciaIN recoloured the word art!! Such a rebel. 😉 In the same way nature changes all the brown to green, she’s given the word art a lovely, shimmery look.

Jill went in a different direction with the “awaken” theme, and it works really well. Her shadows really give the brushes and paintbox realism and dimension. The word art colours appear in the paint splatters to tie it all together.

I like how greenfiend27 created contrast with the teal and blue elements to coordinate with her photo. Using a gradient paper in one of the shades in the word art is next-level thoughtful.

CathyS opted to recolour the word art to pick up the sandy, beachy look of her photos. Good choice!

Windswept has gone Easter-candy with her colour palette. The beautiful pink of her photo demands some drama. Clever girl, she used the same font to build her own addition to the word art, and she eliminated the white border around the words. Pretty!

Lucky 13 belongs to Zanthia. And her layout is stunning! She used the word art as created, pulled colour from it and reinforced the theme with her photos.

We’ve had four days of record-breaking warm days in a row here, and there are already two wildfires in the area. What will it take to awaken people to the climate crisis? I don’t know, but I’m really not looking forward to fire season. Please send rain!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Spotlight, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Designer Spotlight: March 2024

March 3, 2024 by Jan

Connie Prince

I think everybody already knows Connie. Some of us know her quite well, either as one half of North Meets South Studios (she’s the South half) with Trixie Scraps, or through her Shop at GingerScraps. But a Spotlight is a Spotlight, so she agreed to (another) chat with me. She’s had a hectic year so far, so this was a gracious act on her part… This is how our chat went.

J: Connie, thank you so much for taking a few minutes with me so I can introduce you to all the new folks in the GingerScraps community and to maybe give the rest a bit more of a glimpse into your creativity. I think this is our fourth Spotlight together, so I hope you’re not bored! Let’s talk creativity for a moment and then we can just gab. What are your most favorite and least favorite colors?

C: I love primary, bold colors. Pastels are my least favorite!

J: I think anybody who’s browsed your Shop would know that. <winks> We’ve talked about all the other mundane stuff, like what got you started and how your workflow goes a few times already so let’s talk about fun stuff! Can you play a musical instrument?

C: Yes, piano and it soothes my soul so much!

J: I know I’ve mentioned this before, that I took piano lessons as a middle-schooler. I wish I could have kept it up, but we didn’t have a piano at home and practicing was very challenging. I love music and, like you, I find it very therapeutic. This is a weird question so let me set it up for you. When we moved into our new house back in May 2020, for the first time in my life I had a BIG walk-in shower. I feel like we could have a party in there! I put a waterproof Bluetooth speaker in there and play my Amazon playlists while I’m unwinding. So, are you more likely to dance or sing in the shower? I do both…

C: Definitely dance!

J: Yeah, a good, non-slip base is really dance friendly. But boy am I glad no one can see me doing it! Good thing my family know I’m… um… quirky. What one word would your friends and family use to describe you?

C: Loyal.

J: Well, that’s a lot better than weird! And it’s an amazing quality to have. I wonder if I can guess your answer to this one. What would you do if you won the lottery?

C: Travel, travel, & travel some more!

J: Yep, nailed it! I “travel” vicariously with you through your Facebook fan group. Except when you cruise. I just can’t… the ICU nurse in me won’t. So, let’s shift to what your dream vacation looks like.

C: Anywhere tropical works for me!

J: I’ve done a few semi-tropical vacays – Florida, Louisiana, California – but the only truly tropical locale I’ve visited is Jamaica. I’ve never been a lie-on-the-beach-baking-in-the-sun kinda gal, but I’d absolutely go back to Ireland any time. England, Scotland and France too. Excuse me a second, I’ve got spaghetti sauce needs stirring. Ah. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

C: Steak and salad!

J: Hmm, not very tropical! <winks> So, tell me. Aside from the necessities like food, water, sleep and exercise, what one thing could you not live without?

C: My phone!

J: I know, right?! My husband doesn’t understand how I can use my phone as much as I do; maybe it’s because he needs his text super-huge so he can read it, he doesn’t really know where his phone puts things or how to get to them, and his fingers just don’t behave accurately enough for a phone keyboard. I don’t know. (I’ve had to teach him how to send text messages, and how to attach photos to them, as well as how to use most of the apps he has.) But I use mine for everything! It’s one of my super powers. If you could have a literal super power, what would you like it to be?

C: Manipulate time, I’d definitely make use of that one!

J: YEAH! Extend your tropical vacays!! Push back deadlines. Get out of things you’d rather not do just by skipping over that day. I could use that. Is there any one thing about yourself you’d change if you could?

C: I would love to master the art of being patient. I’m working on it, but it is for sure a big struggle!

J: I’ve been told I have the patience of a saint. I don’t know about that; there are some things that drive me absolutely crazy and my fuse is short when I have to do them. Anyhoo, I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll take care of the rest of the Important Spotlight Information. Thanks again for giving our community a little insider 411 on Connie!

As with all of our Spotlight Designers, Connie is the provider of the Daily Download for this month – links are found here on the Blog each day and are good for 5 days – and the host of the Designer Spotlight Challenge in the Forum. She also is the regular host of the #2024 Challenge that is in essence, a minikit challenge. This is what the March kit looks like. And did I mention it’s FREE?

So cute!!! The other Important Info is that Connie has a coupon for y’all… and a GENEROUS one at that!!!!!

Ready? Set? SHOP!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer Tagged With: Designer Spotlight

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

February 20, 2024 by Jan

Challenge Spotlight: Mixed Media

Today I’m showcasing one of the new GingerScraps Challenges for 2024. Interestingly enough, it’s hosted by a designer who was a guest at GS for many months before she made it her home: Sarapullka Designs. This is the inaugural month for the Mixed Media Challenge. So we’re seeing the very first layouts posted to the Gallery! Larisa (Sarapullka) has provided an artsy paper and a paper cut element as the foundation for this month’s Challenge; participants were welcome to add anything they liked, as long as it came from Larisa’s store. They are required elements, which makes this Challenge an ideal one for my Individual Style analysis.

Because this is a brand new Challenge, there were only 6 layouts in the Challenge Gallery this morning. I hope, by putting a spotlight on it, we can bring that number up before the end of the month – and we do have an extra day… As always, each layout appears here in the order it was uploaded, and is linked to the Gallery so you can get a closer look, and maybe leave some feedback for the Scrapper. Just click on the Scrapper’s user name and you’ll be teleported to the Gallery.

AJsRandom is up first. She used the paper in the background and turned the paper cut into a blended overlay. The layout is simple in its design and compliments her photo very nicely.

I really like how trinanne has used the paper cut element like a black stamp against the paper background. Then she used segments of the paper cut, recoloured pink and green, to frame her photo. The addition of several artsy brushes and a simple cluster in one corner pulls it all together.

This is truly a mixed-media layout from lm44west. A simple still-life with the paper cut used as a stamp in black, a handwriting brush with gold leaf foiled to it and some subtle shadowing round out the design.

Alasandra went green! I’m adoring the blended daisy photo she’s layered over the paper and the 3D effect on the paper cut.

Oh Mylanta!! This is stunning! Yvonne55 has popped a blue paper into the background, added some crosshatched brushes over the required paper and those adorable little chickadees to the dried-grass paper cut. The extracted photo is the icing on the cake.

And last, we have a layout from the Queen of Challenges, KatherineWoodin herself. To give herself lots of space for her diary entry, she greatly downsized the paper cut element and duplicated it to create a stamped border. She changed Blend Mode on the paper to bring out the pinks and blues hiding within. Her photos are works of art in and of themselves.

What do you think? Is mixed media a style you’d like to try? I think I might give it a whirl… I watched a Facebook Live on creating bokeh mixed media backgrounds for greeting cards earlier and feel quite inspired!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Spotlight, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, GingerBread Ladies, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements 15+)

February 13, 2024 by Jan

Ink Smudge Technique for Photos

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3SWPxqJ

Spoiler alert: This technique is an advanced one, but hopefully I’ve made the instructions clear enough that it’s achievable by everyone. Hence the huge collection of screenshots……

As I mentioned last week, Karen is trying to stay busy and has been looking online for new things to try for her digital scrapbooking repertoire. She came across a YouTube video showing a beautifully manipulated photo and wanted to try it for herself. But the video host’s accent was really heavy and he moved through the steps really quickly and soon she found herself lost. AND he was using Photoshop, not Elements – where terminology is different and some options and tools aren’t included. She uses Elements, so she asked me to look at it. I watched the video 3 times, watching what he was doing more than listening to what he was saying, before I ventured to try it. Then I did 3 dry runs, consulting the video as needed, before I started screenshotting my work. Ready for a workout?

Another caveat: There are steps in this technique that weren’t available in Elements until version 15, so if you’re working with an older version, I’m sorry, this one isn’t for you. As usual, I’m including commands for both Windows and Mac. I work in Windows, so that goes first. 😉

First thing is to choose a photo to manipulate. I looked at thousands at Pixabay and almost chose a photo of a cheetah, but then I found this one from Jerzy Gorecki that I really like. Portraits are most effective when the eyes are the focal point, and for me, that’s what I see here. Next, I hunted for some ink smudges or smears in my digistash. I found a bunch, all from the talented Connie Prince. I chose one from Hakuna Moscato and one from My Lucky Stars. And then… I discovered as I was doing my dry runs that PNG-format ink smudges don’t work for the technique. At all. They have to be JPGs. I converted them so I could keep going, but YOU could use brushes in black on a white background, then Save As a JPG and go with that.

It’s a good idea to get in the habit of doing techniques like this on a COPY and not the original, just in case something goes sideways. Right-click on the layer then choose Duplicate Layer.

You can change the name of the layer to keep them straight; you want the Copy layer to be with the original so nothing needs to happen with the Destination Document. Then click OK. If you’re into keyboard shortcuts, you can skip these two steps and just use CTRL/CMD>J.

Filters are marvelous things. I highly recommend playing with them sometime so you can see what you can do with just a couple of keystrokes. But for right now, Filter>Filter Gallery>Artistic will do. Or Filter>Artistic – skip a step. OR… click on the Filters button at the bottom of the Layers Panel. They all end up in the same place.

The Filter we’ll use is the Dry Brush.

Any adjustments to the Filter will depend on the resolution of the image you’re working with, as well as how much you want to alter the image’s appearance. This photo is pretty sharp, so I went BIG, with a Brush Size and Brush Detail of 10, but I left the Texture at the default 1.

The effect isn’t really obvious, but trust me, it’s there. Now let’s drop a New blank Layer on top of the photo layers.

Fill that new layer with white with the Paint Bucket.

Ready for something we’ve NEVER done before in any of my tutorials? We’re going to add an empty Group to the Layers stack. This is what will let us get the special effect on the image in the end. Click on the icon that looks like several sheets of paper spread out on a table, second-from-left at the top of the Layers Panel. The default Blend Mode is Pass Through, and we’ll need to change that.

The Mode we want for the Group is Multiply.

We’re breaking a lot of new ground with this tut! Now we’re going to add a Layer Mask inside the Group. Click on the icon that looks like a blue square with a gray circle inside it, fourth from the left at the top of the Layers Panel. See how the new layer with the mask is indented? That’s how you’ll know you’ve put something into the Group.

Now go back to the Copy layer that we added the Dry Brush Filter to, down there second from the bottom. Click Select>All or CTRL/CMD>A. That will Select the photo and the Filter.

Next, click on Edit>Copy or CTRL/CMD>C. (See the marching ants around the outside of the photo?)

Move back up to the Layer Mask up there at the top of the stack. Hold down the ALT/OPT key and click on the Mask thumbnail. Then Edit>Paste or CTRL/CMD>V.

Now you know what that Mask will do… the photo turned to black and white. It needs a tiny tweak before we go on. The contrast needs some help. Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels or CTRL/CMD>L.

Go for drama with this step. Move the sliders on the histogram toward the middle. Watch as you adjust so you know when it’s right.

Now we’re going to turn the black and white image into a negative by first Deselecting the Mask (CTRL/CMD>D or ESC) then click CTRL/CMD>I.

Drag and drop one of your ink smears onto the canvas on top of the white layer. See how it completely hides the Mask?

Not for long! You can use CTRL/CMD>] to move it up the Layers stack and into the Group, or you can drag it up there. That’s all it takes to have some of the photo show again!

Here’s where you get to play around with it! Resize the ink, Rotate it, Reposition it, move it about until you like what it’s showing.

But first things first. Let’s change the Blend Mode on the ink layer to Multiply too.

Now I’ve added my second ink smear onto the canvas and made sure it’s inside the Group. It’s obscuring the photo though. See the edge of the “paper” background?

Easy fix!

I think I like it. Most of her face is visible, her eyes are sharp, so let’s add some colour back!

We’ll need another Copy of the Dry Brush layer for this step.

The new colour layer needs to be on top of the whole stack. There are a few ways to do that. One is to click Layer>Arrange>Bring to Front. Another is to hold down the CTRL/CMD key and use the ] key to jump it up there. Or grab it in the Layers Panel and drag it!

Some steps just don’t screenshot. This is one of them. Yeah, I’ve added an Inverse Layer Mask to the colour photo layer I just dragged to the top of the heap. That’s how the colour is going to get into our image, so let me tell you how I did it. After the photo layer was positioned, I held down the ALT/OPT key and clicked on that same Layer Mask button – the one that looks like a blue square with a gray circle in the middle. That’s all!

Then I used the Brush Tool and some Ink Blot Brushes to bring the colour up. Don’t have any ink blot/splatter/smear Brushes? Check out Brusheezy.com!! They’ve got a ton of free Brushes and 98% of them are Elements-compatible. For this step be judicious. Drop the Opacity to 40-50%, no stronger. I think I used 3 different Brushes, sized fairly large, and just clicked them one time over a part of the image. Don’t forget that you can go into Brush Settings… and Rotate them, squish them and make them less Hard. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

When you’re satisfied with your efforts, you can Merge or Link the layers and Crop the image. It’ll have a solid background so it can’t be used like a PNG, but it CAN be Clipped to a Mask to eliminate a bunch of the white space and soften the edges. Anything you can do with any other photo can be done with this.

Next week we’ll be looking at Individual Style and a Challenge Spotlight. Where does the time go??

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Designer Spotlight February 2024

February 3, 2024 by Jan

ScrapChat Designs

Hey y’all! How’s February treating you so far? This month’s Designer Spotlight is on Jill, aka ScrapChat Designs.

Some of you may remember that Jill was my guest here last April. We bonded over our shared enjoyment of a good bourbon. 😉 This time, she was driving so we had tea instead. 🙂 Since we’ve already covered a lot of the blahblahblah stuff during her last Spotlight, this time we just had fun.

O: Jill, it’s so good to touch base with you again! Let’s get the mechanical stuff out of the way and tell me how long you’ve been designing.

J: I started designing templates in May of 2021. Looking back it was such a random decision. I later entered a design contest. I did not win but it certainly gave me the bug to keep designing.

O: I remember your first template designs. I have some… What do you use when you’re creating?

J: I use both Photoshop and Illustrator to design. My skills in Illustrator are very limited but I enjoy the challenge of trying to learn new things.

O: Yeah… Cricut Design Space… I find myself doing my stuff in Elements then converting it to Cricut-friendly format using a free website. It’s less work! What motivates you when you’re designing?

J: When searching for ideas for kit, I often look at photos of my children and grandchildren. Looking at photos from my daughter and daughters-in-laws’ points of view often shows me what a customer might need such as a kit I did called Toddler Life. I imagined either of my daughter-in-laws scrapbooking their photo rolls. Occasions and accomplishments in the lives of my children and friends helps as well.

O: How sweet is that?! Do you have a favourite child …ummm… kit in the Store?

J: My current favorite is my For Your Service collection. Raised by a former Marine, appreciating the military service of our vets was a huge part of my upbringing. My youngest son is in the Ohio National Guard, my oldest is a Navy vet. I really enjoyed creating the collection.

O: Wow, we have something else in common. I was raised as an Air Force brat, married an Airman and raised my own Army cadet. Have you ever met anyone famous?

J: When i taught paper scrapbooking, I used to attend conventions each summer. I met Stacey Julian and Becky Higgins a couple times there.

O: I barely got my feet wet with paper scrapping before I moved to digi-scrapping, and now all that stuff I collected I’m using for card-making. Those 12×12 sheets of patterned paper make fabulous envelopes! Other than absolute necessities, what one thing could you never live without?

J: My photographs or scrapbooks. Photographs are an instant of time that we can return to by looking at them. The same photograph can be a source of a smile or a tear depending on my mood. I would be lost without photos of the past.

O: I LOVE that! I think most of our GingerScrappers do too. That gives me a nice little segué… If time travel was possible, would you go back in time or ahead? Why?

J: I would go backwards. Born the last year of the baby boomers generation, I tend to be a bit old fashioned. Aging myself, I can say I miss the good old days or at least the people from earlier in my life. I would definitely go back and enjoy the time I had with my family and late daughter more. Appreciate things more rather than stressing as much as I did. Ah they say hindsight is 20/20 don’t they?

O: I’m so fascinated by history, I’d want to go back too. It would be hard not to want to change some things though, and that could really mess up the now. I’m absolutely sure I don’t want to know the future, other than in broad strokes, if you know what I mean. Can you play any musical instruments?

J: Nope! I thought I wanted to learn how to play the trombone when I was sixth grade. The band director was old, set in his ways and in a 6th grader’s opinion, mean. I think I went to band for about 9 weeks. After that I skipped band and went to gym. Seriously who skips a class to go to gym. I am one of THE most nonathletic persons on earth but went to gym to avoid band. I’m not sure how long it lasted but I remember getting grounded for a good long time when my mom found out I was skipping band.

O: OMG. I’m dead!! I took piano lessons for awhile when I was about the same age. But we didn’t own a piano – I had to practice on the piano at the elementary school. No supervision, no encouragement, not ideal. Then I broke my left pinky finger and that was my excuse to quit. My oldest grandson is learning to play the cello; it suits his personality to a tee – he’s very introverted and sober. If you had a warning label, what would it say?

J: “Easily distracted.” It’s best not to ask me an open ended question, something that isn’t just yes or no. You will get three side stories, one restart of the story and the answer to a question I forgot to answer that you asked yesterday.

O: Me too! I’m the queen of tangential storytelling! (To no one’s surprise.) What would you change about yourself if you could?

J: It would go right back to the above question. I would like to be able to concentrate for longer periods of time.

O: Well, that got heavy really quickly. Rapid change of subject: Tell me about your dream vacation!

J: Over Christmas we were blessed to be able to go to Lihue, Kauai in the state of Hawaii. Prior to going to Hawaii, I had never thought I liked the beach. Five days there and I’m hooked on beach vacations although I cannot swim. Long quiet walks on the beach with the sun rising or setting. Beautiful and perfect.

O: That sounds so relaxing! I’m not a beach person, so I’m not sure how my daughter ended up one. She and her husband are in Cabo San Lucas right this minute, doing beach stuff. They’ve been to Hawaii twice. The photos are beautiful, but they don’t make me anxious to go… Anyway, I know you’ve got to get on your way, Jill, so I’ll finish up. Thanks for giving our community another glimpse into your world.

Now, as always, I’m going to tell you all the things about Jill we didn’t talk about. For example, as the Spotlight holder this month, she’s providing the Daily Download all month. Check out the post before this one for a sneak peek. This full-sized kit is free for the taking! Each link is up for 5 days, but if you don’t have time to collect all the pieces, or if you miss some, the kit will be in the Store sometime after Jill‘s Spotlight is over. But wait, there’s more!! She’s also hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge on top of the A Year of Blessings Challenge she hosts EVERY month. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also offering this HUGE discount on her entire store!!

I hope you’ll check out her Challenges and her designs. April was her best month last year, and YOU did that! See you Tuesday with a new tutorial I think you’ll love.

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer, GingerBread Ladies, Product/Designer Spotlight Tagged With: Designer Spotlight

Designer Spotlight (January 2024)

January 6, 2024 by Jan

Heather Z Scraps and Scrapbookcrazy

Better late than never, right? I had good intentions to have this post out to you before now. Heather has been very patient!

Our first Designer Spotlight of 2024 is a pairing of Heather Z Scraps and Scrapbookcrazy Creations. (Robyn has so far declined being put under the microscope.) Read on for a glimpse into Heather‘s and my visit.

J: Heather, thank you for popping by to chat with me. The ladies at GingerScraps will love getting to know you better. Now that Christmas and New Year’s are in the rear view mirror, it’s time to get to work! How long have you been designing?

H: I’ve been digi-scrapping for 10 years (almost 11), and designing for 8.5 years.

J: Ah! You started digiscrapping right around the time I made GS my digi-home, 11 years ago in March. What was the trigger for you to start designing your own creations?

H: I started digi-scrapping as a form of therapy after my sister passed away suddenly in 2012, and then I moved on to designing about a year or so later because I just love to be creative and wanted another outlet for my grief. It helped to keep me busy and to make it through some very sad/dark years!

J: I think you’re in good company here. I’m so sorry to hear you lost a sister so young. You’re a strong person for channeling your grief into creativity. Distraction can be very effective, allowing us to heal. Do you have a special place where you do your designing?

H: I design right from my couch! I have a laptop, so I sit on the couch and design while watching TV and hanging out with my family.

J: Again, you’re in good company! I sit in my comfy IKEA wingback chair with my feet on the coffee table. Do you have a favourite colour? Colours you really can’t use?

H: Favorite color(s) is teal/turquoise, and my least favorite would be brown or gray, probably.

J: Aha! I created a custom colour for you on WordPress! I like teal a lot, so much that it’s the main colour in my bathroom. What did you want to be when you grew up? [It’s a theme at our house right now.]

H: I wanted to be a veterinarian for a long time as a kid … until I realized you also had to put them to sleep. That’s when I changed my
mind! Then I went to wanting to be a teacher and now I’m finally living that dream … I’m working as an Instructional Assistant in a Multiple Disability Classroom (mainly autism, though). I love my job!

J: Mmm. Yeah, the euthanizing part would be really hard. I LOVE that you work with kids like my son, who is a pediatric stroke survivor. He’s 40 now; he was in kindergarten when it happened and when he went back to school after his stroke, the principal had worked miracles setting up a comprehensive program for him. She took advantage of a new division guideline for physical classroom size and carved out a wheelchair-accessible washroom and therapy space from the renovations. She also saw to it that every entrance was ramped and an elevator was installed so ALL students could get to the library on the second floor. The six years he attended her school saw innovation after flash of genius after brilliant idea and the school became a model for the rest of the division. [Bless you, Cathi Hill!] Are you the sporty type, or more of a spectator?

H: I love watching football, basketball and baseball. I don’t play any sports, but I love to watch my boys play these sports!

J: I’m a true Canadian cliché, I was a varsity curler in high school… you know, with the brushes and the big granite boulders. I prefer baseball to the other “balls”; one daughter played rugby and ultimate, the other ladies’ fastball. Makes for busy days! Describe for me your perfect vacation.

H: Anywhere with my family, really! But I love a trip to the Caribbean, staying at a really nice resort, all-inclusive, with fun excursions! I’m planning something like this for my family and I next year or a cruise. Not sure which yet.

J: Daughter #2 was married (the first time) in Jamaica. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. I’m not interested in cruising – my big boating adventure was a glass-bottom boat tour of Negril. What would you do if you won the lottery?

H: First, I would buy a house. Nothing fancy, but big enough for the four of us and my parents. Then I’d make sure both kids had college paid for in advance, and last I’d take us all on a fun family vacation! [See above!]

J: We’ve been in our dream house for almost 4 years now. Our 2024 tax assessment was a shock… $1,048,000. GASP!! We paid about half that when we bought it! So I suppose you could say we did win the lottery. If time travel was a thing, would you want to? Would you go backward or forward?

H: I’d probably go back in time. Although I’d love to go in to the future as well. I’d love to go back to the 50s/60s and early 1900s to see what life was like and perhaps change the future for the better.

J: I was a kid during the 60s. Life was so much simpler then. If I could go back to the early 1900s I’d want to spend some time with my Swedish great-grandmother. I have a million questions for her. I feel like I should come with a label: Will drive you crazy with her chatter! What would yours say?

H: WARNING!!! SAYS WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS THINKING!!!

J: Hey, somebody’s gotta do it! On that fine note, I want to thank you again for the visit. I hope your Spotlight month is very good to you.

Now, before I let Heather completely off the hook, I want to take a moment to remind y’all that she and Robyn are providing the January Daily Download, found here on the Blog. Every day a link to a new chunk of the (FREE) kit is posted and the link is valid for 5 full days. If you miss enough of the links you can still grab the kit from the Shop a few weeks after the new month starts.

As well, both ladies have coupons to their Shops!

Robyn‘s is here:

Heather’s:

Make sure you check them out! But that’s not even all… they’re both hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge this month. That’s on TOP of Robyn‘s monthly Template Challenge and Heather‘s Signature Challenge. They’re so busy!! I hope you’ll make them even busier… you know what I mean. 🙂

Tutorial Tuesday (GingerScraps)

January 2, 2024 by Jan

New Year, New Challenges

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/48J0lOv

Hopefully everyone has had a smooth start to 2024. It was quiet for us, and that’s a good thing! Last year’s first tutorial was about resolutions and how those artificial goals are too easily discarded. This year’s first tutorial is also about goals, in a way, and they’re achievable goals! I’m talking about GingerScraps‘ monthly Challenges. They tick a lot of those goal-related boxes. There are some changes to Challenge Rewards, and some brand-new Challenges so let’s dive in.

Effective this month. the Challenge Reward offers some choice. Previously, each month a Challenge Reward collaborative kit was created and for all the Scrappers who completed and properly documented ten (10) Challenges in that month, a link and coupon code for the kit was sent by Private Message to the deserving Scrappers. There were some downsides to that, one being that if there was a Reward kit you really liked but your life interfered with your scrapping, you missed out on it. Those kits eventually turned up in the Shop, but it’s not the same! The opposite could also apply – maybe you didn’t love the Reward but felt obligated to download it anyway. All that has changed. You still have the ten (10) layout requirement, but now you’ll have a choice of collabs! There will still be a new collab created for each month, but you can also look in the newly-added Challenge Rewards section of the Shop for something you might like better. You’ll receive a coupon code in your Private Messages (value $7.00) that can be redeemed for any one of the collabs in the Rewards section.

What hasn’t changed is the ten (10) layout rule. To review, you’re eligible for the Challenge Reward in the month you’ve documented a total of ten (10) Challenge Layouts that meet criteria. (More on that in a second.) For example, in October you complete and document three (3) layouts. In November you complete five (5) layouts. In December you complete three (3) layouts. That’s eleven (11). That eleventh layout won’t be counted, it doesn’t roll over to the next month. So be efficient! Keep track of your layout count so you know where you are. This isn’t as important now as it was when you might miss a Reward you really liked, but it’s still a good idea. Each month a member of the GingerScraps staff verifies and validates the Cookie Jar counts and tracks totals. For your own peace of mind, figure out a way to keep track in your own way. I’m a folder-maker; each Challenge layout has its own folder, and when I’ve uploaded and documented that layout, I add a number in brackets to the folder name so I know where I am. See below… In December, I got 4 layouts done. So when I made my January folder, I put a [4] after the folder name and I know exactly where I am.

Let’s talk about eligibility and documentation a little. For your layout to qualify, it must meet the following criteria:

a) It actually fits the description of the Challenge – such as “include at least 5 snowflakes somewhere on your layout“.

b) You’ve used a minimum of 80% product from a currently active GingerScraps designer. (The product can be a retired one, or one you found somewhere else, but the Designer must still have a presence in the Shop.) As explained in the Challenge Reward System update in the Forum, if a Designer leaves the Shop mid-month, their product is still eligible for the remainder of that month, and only to the end of that month. Another thing to pay attention to… That brings me to credits. When you download a Designer’s product, you literally agree to give that Designer credit for their work whenever you post that layout publicly. The easiest way to do that is to include the information in the description of your layout. One word of warning… sometimes the internet gremlins play with things behind the scenes and when your layout posts, your credits have disappeared. When you’re in the step between uploading your image and actually posting it, you’ll know your credits will also appear if you see them in the description box. If that box is empty, fill it in before you click your final Submit button.

c) Each Challenge requires a unique layout. For example, you can use the template from one of the Challenges to create your All About Me layout, but it can only be counted for one Challenge, whichever one you choose.

d) Your layout must be uploaded to the appropriate Challenge Gallery – there’s one for each of the Challenges within the larger GingerScraps Gallery. Just pick the one you’re adding to from the drop-down menu in the upload screen.

And finally, e) you’re required to track your layouts in your Cookie Jar.

Now for the fun part! There are THREE new Challenges this year!!! That brings the total to thirty-six (36) opportunities to create.

The first of these new Challenges is Documenting Your Life, hosted by Diane of ADB Designs. Diane is, like I am, a family historian in the genealogical sense, and many of her designs reflect that interest. Each month she’ll provide a prompt or two to guide your process.

The second new Challenge is Everyday Memories, hosted by Miss Juli Fish. Each month will bring a new prompt reflecting literally the everyday ordinary parts of our lives that we lose track of. This month’s is “START”.

And the third? It’s the Photography Challenge! It’s hosted by Triple J Designs and the goal here is to learn more about what makes a good photo to build our layouts around. The inaugural principle is “the rule of thirds”, a concept that forms the basis for all truly noteworthy photos.

Challenges are the best way for new digi-scrappers to learn new skills and for all memory-keepers to get those special moments immortalized. Check them out!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Summary, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Designer Spotlight: December 2023

December 3, 2023 by Jan

Scrapping Serenity!

Typing the word December is painful! But here we are… This month our Spotlight falls on Christie Dawn, also known as Scrapping Serenity. We had a lovely little chat and I’d like to share some of the fun with all of you so you too can get to know her better. Be sure to read all the way to the end, because Christie has some fabulous treats for us!

J: Christie, thanks for spending some time with me. I know my readers are interested in getting better acquainted with the GingerScraps Designers. How long have you been at it?

C: I’ve been designing for like 14 years! I needed a hobby after my youngest was born, and just started designing after scrapping for a while!

J: That’s a long time! Do you have a dedicated workspace?

C: Currently working on a laptop in Photoshop Elements 2022, on a lap-desk in my living room! Our 2 year German Shepherd puppy is super hyper and needs eyes on her at all times! 🙂

J: Ooh I remember the puppy stage really well. They get into mischief almost worse than toddlers! Do you have colours you prefer to work with, or colours you avoid when you design?

C: I DO! My favourites are purple and teal. I don’t love yellow and orange.

J: We’re kindred spirits there! I love blues, pinks, purples, teal and some greens but tend to avoid yellow and orange except in the fall. Do you have a green thumb?

C: I grew some veggies – tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers – this summer from seeds!! First time hadn’t killed something!

J: That’s awesome! I don’t have space to grow veggies. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve got a roast in the oven. I felt like I should put some effort into supper tonight. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

C: Pasta! Any way you can cook it!

J: I do love pasta. Even just plain macaroni and butter. Maybe I never grew out of the toddler age. Might be my super-power. If you could have one, which one would you want?

C: Mind-reading, having teenagers is hard! Mind-reading could really help!

J: Oh noooo! I don’t think I would ever want to know what my kids were thinking when they were teens! My younger daughter was pretty clear about what she thought of her parents. I’m still trying to process that. She’s 42. Aside from necessities, what’s the one thing you couldn’t live without?

C: Is a phone a necessity? Cause I definitely need that to play my Monopoly Go! 🙂

J: I can relate! I play Words with Friends, Design House and Wordle on mine every day. When I booked my son’s dental cleaning I asked the receptionist what we did before smart-phones. Did we really have to remember all the stuff we keep in our phones? But seriously, I need to win the lottery so I can pay his dental bills. What would you do if you won?

C: Pay off the house, the cars, the camper. Put plenty of money aside for my kids colleges and future houses. Buy a vacation house on the ocean… any ocean.

J: Being debt-free is fabulous. Fun question for a second… If you came with a warning label what would it say?

C: Caution – Brutally Honest – Don’t ask questions if you don’t really want to know the answer.

J: That’s actually a super-power. No pussy-footing around. I see it’s getting late. One last question for you: If time travel was a thing, would you want to? And which way would you go, to the future or the past?

C: I’d love to go back in time and tell my Grandma everything she’s missed and how much we miss her!

J: Oh, yes! I’d love to spend some time with my great-great-grandmother so I could ask her why she wasn’t able to settle in Canada. She tried. Three times. But every time, she went back to England. Anyway, thanks so much for the time and the chatter! I enjoyed it.

Before we close this down, I want to make sure all my dedicated readers know the business side of being in the Spotlight. Christie is providing this month’s Daily Download, found right here on the Blog. Here’s a sneak peek:

Isn’t that just so cute??! She’s also hosting the December Designer Spotlight Challenge, in addition to her usual Font Challenge. Be sure to check them out. But that’s not all!! She also has not one but TWO very generous coupons!

She’s practically giving her work away! Make sure you take a look at her store.

I can’t believe this year is almost over! Where does the time go?? I feel like I’ve accomplished NOTHING this year, but when I look at it objectively, I actually got a LOT done, just nothing to write home about. I bet you know exactly what I mean. But onward and upward. 2023 isn’t over yet!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer Tagged With: Designer Spotlight

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

November 21, 2023 by Jan

Challenge Spotlight: Scraplift

There are several great things about GingerScraps Challenges. They can provide inspiration when we might think we have no gas in our scrapping tanks. (That’s me right now.) They can get us out of our comfort zones. They can teach us new tricks or techniques. They can help us through tough times, through distraction or through acknowledging them. Some of the Challenge hosts provide us with free templates or minikits to use for our layouts. Other hosts offer participation prizes or coupons for their stores. (Were you expecting me to tell you which ones? Not today, Ray! I want you to go look at the Challenges!) Last, but definitely not least, there’s the monthly Challenge Reward kit, a collaboration between several of the GS Designers, that is completely free for simply completing 10 layouts. More about that later. This month’s Reward is this one:

My purpose behind the Challenge Spotlight is to let YOU, the lifeblood of GingerScraps, shine. This month I’m showcasing the Scraplift Challenge, hosted by Lena, aka LDragDesigns. This Challenge asks you to look at a layout created by a member of our Community, chosen by the host, and create your layout using the chosen layout as your inspiration. When I participate, I tend to be about 95% faithful to the exemplar layout, because why not? Others will be inspired by the colour palette, others by the way the clusters are arranged, still others by the subject matter. That’s what makes this such a great Challenge – we all have our own perspectives. So let’s look at how differently each Scrapper has interpreted the Challenge, shall we? [As usual, each of the layouts to follow is linked to the Gallery so that you can get a better look, and so you can offer some praise to the Scrapper. Just click on their user name and it’ll take you right there! Your layouts appear in the order they were uploaded to the Gallery.]

First, though we should look at the layout Lena chose as her exemplar. It’s from Cinna.

Firstoscartgrouch has the basic structure of the exemplar here, but she’s substituted 4 photos for the 2 Cinna used. Her clusters are larger but no less beautiful! She’s added texture to the background with brushes, a technique I love.

B2N2Scraps has the basic structure as well, but she’s used a journal card where the original has journaling; to make that work so well, her photos and journal card space are all the same size. I don’t think it would look as balanced had she made the journal card smaller to fit into the dimensions of the original. Another unique touch is the reversal of the colour palette. Well played!

GrannyNKy too has kept to the basic structure but has gone more minimalist. She’s used some confetti to add dimension without taking the attention away from her photos.

Grace. has the structure, and she’s replaced the journaling with a transfer (which I LOVE!) and embellished her title to emphasize her theme. I see she’s substituted a doily for the paper circle – I approve!

The bones are easily visible in chigirl‘s layout. She’s added some torn paper in the upper left corner, which coordinates well with her photos’ palette. Her title treatment sets her work apart as well.

This stripped-down layout by zanthia keeps the framework intact. Rather than complex clusters, she’s chosen themed elements to complement her photos.

Pups_r_Paps is one of only a handful of non-12×12 Scrappers. Her sense of humour is front-and centre here!

Jill has such vision! She has the basic blueprint here, but has really taken the Challenge seriously. Those paint splatters ground all the various elements of her work. This layout just bursts out of the Gallery… I think it’s the contrast between the blues, yellows and blacks, which draw from her photos. Love it!

For her layout, dhariana has gone stripped-down too. The muted colours of her papers and embellishments draw the eye to the bright kingfisher in her photo. There’s a lot of movement there too.

AJsRandom pulled the bones and the wooden background from the original, but chose a softer palette for her papers. The pops of yellow are very eye-catching. And of course, her heritage photos steal the show.

If you don’t smile when you see breoni‘s layout, you’re broken. Sorry. It’s true. She’s kept to the overall design of the layout, but those photos. Oh. My. Heart. The soft blues and golds are the perfect foil for them.

I’ve mentioned how much I admire KatherineWoodin‘s dedication to her daily layouts before. She always finds a way to create a layout that meets the Challenge criteria AND diarizes her day. She’s the only one to have made her journaling spot larger than her photos!

Our last entry is from 01lousmith. She really made the layout her own. She’s got the same number of different papers – 6 – and the same number of clusters – 3 – as the original and used a shabby painted wooden paper for her background. Double the photos. At first, I didn’t see that she’d also flipped the arrangement horizontally. Fabulous!

As I mentioned above, I want to talk about the Challenge Reward, because it can be confusing. Missi keeps a running total each month for each participant and she follows the rules. First of all, you earn the Reward in the month during which you reach 10 completed Challenge layouts, properly posted, since the LAST time you received a Reward. For example, if you completed 10 layouts in the month of September because you had some extra free time and lots of mojo, you’d qualify for the September Reward. Then October rolls around and you get really busy, so you only manage 4 layouts. That’s cool. It’s not a competition. In November, you’re pretty busy again so you get 4 more layouts done. Now you’re at 8 layouts toward your next Reward. December arrives and you’ve once again got some extra time (yeah, I know, right?!) and you’re super-productive, participating in 7 Challenges. Eeeerchhhhhhh! Only TWO will count. The other 5 don’t get carried over. Your counter starts over at zero on January 1st. I know I can’t be the only one who got caught by that, right? Right? Anyway, I highly recommend keeping track of your own count, and strategize your Rewards. Let’s face it, the Rewards kits aren’t ALL going to be attractive to you. If you don’t like the kit for a given month, don’t feel any pressure to hit your 10 layouts in that month. Simple!

Now… I haven’t created a single layout this month and it’s already the 21st. I have 6 in the can from October, so if I want this month’s Reward, I have 9 days to crank out 4 layouts. I should get to work!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Spotlight, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

November 7, 2023 by Jan

Yes! You Can Add a QR Code to Tour Layouts!

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3MKBAsF

And omigosh, you won’t believe how easy it is!! Last month the Journaling Challenge had two options for topics: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Or tell us about the last time you cried. I chose the latter and created my layout, as shown below.

I ugly-cried when, while watching a country music awards show with my son, I heard Toby Keith sing Don’t Let the Old Man In, looking gaunt and pale from his battle with stomach cancer. I lost a close friend 5 years ago to the same cruel disease and I found myself sobbing. I used the lyrics as my journaling but never even thought to include a QR code linked to the video of his performance until much later. Let me tell you how I did it.

First, I did some Googling to find the safest, most reliable, completely free converter out there. The one I chose to use is found here. (Click on “here”.) Or type in the URL from the screenshot below. Look at all the options for file source you can use for your code! And it’s completely customizable.

I’m linking to a YouTube video, so I clicked the YouTube icon and Copy-Pasted the URL (Universal Resource Locator, or web address) into the source bar. For this step you need two tabs open, one with your source and one with the QR code generator website. Highlight the URL on your computer screen by click-dragging your cursor over it. Right-click and choose Copy, or CTRL/CMD>C. Then go to the QR generator and put your cursor in the source box. Right-click and choose Paste, or CTRL/CMD>V. Last, click on the green bar to Generate QR Code.

Your QR code appears instantly as shown. Before you go any further, get your phone and test the code to make sure it works. Most phones these days don’t need a separate QR code scanner app, just the camera. Try mine!

There are so many options for customizing your code. I don’t want to add a logo, but the instructions are very straight-forward if you choose to add one. I DO want to make the colour fit into my layout better, so I’ll show you how I did that. Click Set Colors.

I had my layout’s PSD file open in Elements so I used the Eye Dropper Color Picker to choose a russet-brown shade from one of the flowers. Keep the Color Picker dialog box open, you’ll need it! I tried to Copy the hex code for the colour – the one with the # symbol in front of it in the blue box – into the code generator but it wouldn’t let me do it.

So I tried typing the numbers shown in the R, G and B boxes on the Color Picker into the R, G and B boxes on the code generator. It worked. Here’s a closer look at the Color Picker so you can see what I mean.

The colour of the QR code changed automatically. I verified that the hex code matches with the Elements Color Picker. It does!

I could use the code as is, but decided to add a border.

I changed the default colour to one from my layout in the same way. There’s even an option to change the text inside the border, and the font too. To save it so I can add it to my layout, I chose to go with a PNG file so it would have a transparent background.

Here it is, added to my layout next to the lyrics. I’ve tested it in its location and at this size, as shown on my computer screen and it works perfectly! I may have to do this again (a few times) for other layouts.