March 15, 2024: Fresh Baked and NEW Guest Designer

Happy (almost) St. Patrick’s Day. Do you have plans for all things green on Sunday?

Remember, if you spend $10 in the store, you will get this great collab for free.

Let’s see the fun new items in the store this week.

We have a new Guest Designer starting this week!

Buzzbee Scraps

BIO:
I am so very happy to be guesting at GingerScraps. Here’s a little about me:

My name is Karen and I live in the UK on the South Coast. I have been scrap booking for around 20 years. Both traditional and digital. Then a couple of years ago, I ventured into designing. I absolutely loved it and so here I am today. I live with my husband Paul, and my rescue dog Tilly. Most days see me hiking around the countryside or walking on the beach. Plus gardening, crafting of all kinds, listening to lots of music and, of course, scrapbooking. I work 2 days a week as a children’s nanny. Which leaves lots of time for designing. I also have 3 grown kids all living away from home and I love visiting them.
Scrap wise, I enjoy simple designs with lots of white space. And I love to focus on family, everyday life, gratitude and nature.
I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone here!

Today also starts the March Bake Sale.

Remember we also have the Spring Scrap-a-thon going on.

How are your challenges going? Complete any 10 challenges and get this great collab as a reward.

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

Tucked Photo Frames Made Easy

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3VmV2R8

Anyone who has spent any time touring the GingerScraps Gallery knows that we have some inordinately talented and creative scrappers in our midst. And some equally superlative Designers. If you’re ever needing a healthy dose of inspiration, you won’t have to look far. Karen found a layout using one of these fabulous tucked frames in the Gallery and had to try it for herself. Turns out Sheri (Jumpstart Designs) has already done ALL the work and all we have to do is customize. Here’s a link to the product in her Shop.

So how easy is it to use these gems? I’ll show you! While I’m at it I’m going to add my tucked photo to a template from this month’s Spotlight Designer, Connie Prince. (Alas, it’s discontinued, but this will work regardless.) As you can see in the screenshot below, I’m using a layered file, in this case a PSD.

The only difference with using PNG files for this is that you’ll have to add them to the template’s photo spot manually, one at a time, aligning them as needed. I dropped this photo of my grandson Aaron onto the Photo Mat layer of the PSD.

When I Resized my photo, I found it still wasn’t a great fit; there were important details I didn’t want to crop out.

But… I CAN Resize the rest of the layers to fit to the photo. I Activated all those layers EXCEPT the photo and made my adjustments. The nice thing about the Photo Mat layer being black is that it’s easy to see if the Resized frame still isn’t right.

Did you notice the tab is partially covered by the photo – which isn’t the look I want? To solve that problem I just Clipped the photo to the Photo Mat layer. There are always multiple ways of doing these types of things in Elements, and I usually will show you two of them. Right-click>Create Clipping Mat is one way. The keyboard shortcut for Elements 14 and earlier versions is CTRL/CMD>G. For Elements 15 and more recent it’s CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>G.

Simply by Clipping the photo to the Mat, the tab now looks like it’s part of the paper the photo/frame combo is tucked into!

Now to move it all to the template. I just moved the whole stack as one object onto the photo spot on my template. Will it still work like a PSD though? One way to find out!

Brilliant! All I did was turn visibility for the template’s photo spot off and the tab looks like it’s the same paper that’s under the photo.

As you can see on the finished layout, Clipping a paper to the template did exactly what I wanted it to do, and my photo is neatly tucked under some brown cardstock.

Now I can’t wait to try the others in the package!!

Next Tuesday, it’s YOUR turns to shine! Which Challenge will be in the Spotlight?

 

 

 

March 8, 2024: Fresh Baked

Happy Friday everyone. Has spring “sprung” in your area yet. We’ve had some great temperatures this week. I’m sure it will get cold again before spring hits for good. Don’t forget we have the Gingerscraps {Spring} Scrap-a-thon going on.

Gingerscraps {Spring} Scrap-a-thon!

Remember, if you spend $10 in the store, you will get this great collab for free. I just these bright colors.

Let’s see some of the new items in the shop this week.

How are your challenges going? Are you participating in the Scrap-a-thon? If you complete any 10 challenges, you will get this kit as a reward.

GingerScraps: New FREE with Purchase Collab, New Monthly Mix, Fresh Baked & More!!

It is the 1st of the month and you know what that means; a huge, exciting newsletter! We have a New Buffet, New Monthly Mix, New Free With Purchase Collab, New Challenge Reward, & a New Daily Download on the GingerScraps Blog!  Plus it’s Friday so we have Fresh Baked goodness as well.  It’s also the start of the Gingerscraps {Spring} Scrap-a-thon!

Gingerscraps {Spring} Scrap-a-thon!

Don’t forget to check out the Buffet Bundles. One easy click to add bundles of Buffet goodies to your cart.

These colors remind me so much of Spring! You’ll see a lot of Spring kits in the store this week too!

Remember any $10 spent in the store gets you this great collab.

Indulge in a whimsical journey with ‘Magically Delicious’—the vibrant digital scrapbooking kit that captures the essence of childhood wonder and nostalgia! Immerse yourself in a kaleidoscope of fun, bright colors reminiscent of your favorite breakfast cereal, adorned with playful rainbows, mischievous leprechauns, and glittering pots of gold. With enchanting unicorns prancing through the pages, this kit sparks imagination and invites you to create delightfully magical scrapbook layouts.

This Free With Purchase was created by ADB Designs, Alexis Design Studio, Karen Schulz, Tami Miller Designs, and The Scrappy Kat.

This collab includes: 3 Alphas {Uppercase, Lowercase, Numbers & Punctuation}, 61 Papers, and 115 Elements.

Unleash your creativity with ‘Bee YOU tiful’—the buzzing digital scrapbooking kit inspired by the enchanting world of bees! Immerse yourself in the warmth of muted yellows and natural tones as you adorn your pages with delightful bee motifs and sweet honey accents. From charming bee illustrations to honeycomb patterns, this kit offers a hive of possibilities for crafting beautiful and buzz-worthy scrapbook layouts.

This Monthly Mix was created by Adrienne Skelton, Connie Prince, Lindsay Jane, Magical Scraps Galore, Scraps N Pieces, and Tinci Designs.

This collab includes: 1 Alpha {Uppercase, Numbers & Punctuation}, 57 Papers, 110 Elements, 4 12×12 Template {page, png, psd, tif file formats}.

Now to the March Daily Download Sneak Peek. This month’s Daily Download is from Designs by Connie Prince! Make sure you are checking the blog every day to get all the pieces of this kit!

Not only do we have the wonderful Buffet and other first of the month goodies, it’s also Friday and that means Fresh Baked goodies too!

Take a look at the new challenge reward kit. If you complete any 10 challenges this month, you get this gorgeous collab as a reward!

Create cheerful spring memories with ‘Happy Happy Everything’—the ultimate digital scrapbooking kit bursting with springtime delights! Featuring an array of pastel colors and charming elements, this kit is perfect for crafting vibrant and joyous scrapbook pages. From whimsical bunnies to blooming flowers, capture every precious moment of the season.

This Challenge Reward was created by: Cutie Pie Scraps, Heather Z Scraps, Key Lime Digi Design, Memory Mosaic, and ScrapChat Designs.

This collab includes: 1 Alpha {Uppercase, Lowercase, Numbers & Punctuation}, 62 Papers, and 111 Elements.

February 23, 2024: Fresh Baked

Here we are at another Friday. I hope you have had a great week.

Remember, spend $10 in the store and you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s see what is new in the store.

How are your challenges. Just one more week to get them completed and posted. Complete any 10 challenges to get this reward.

We have teamed up with The Digital Scrapper to bring you another awesome class at an exclusive discount! This is not a new class, but if you haven’t taken it yet, you should check it out, it is super cool!!
The Digital Scrapper : Die-Cuts Gone Wild

https://qwiklearn.teachable.com/p/die-cuts-gone-wild-gs/?affcode=159709_crihvr_k\

In Die-Cuts Gone Wild by Syndee Rogers
, you’ll learn how to create an elevated die-cut design with a modern look. Too complicated? No way! Syndee shows you everything you need to know to create designs like these.

Exclusive Sale for GingerScraps Customers

  • Save 35% through Friday, February 23, 2024, Midnight Eastern.
  • Regularly $72.
  • NOTE: This is not a new class.
  • I hope to see you in class!

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

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!

February 16, 2024: Fresh Baked

Happy Friday. Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day? We stayed home and hubby made me steak and lobster tail for dinner. It was so good.

It is time for the annual GingerScraps Newsletter Hop!! Sign up for all the listed designers newsletters and collect some AMAZING freebies!! Please read the full list of instructions in the forum here :

https://forums.gingerscraps.net/showthread.php?71812-2024-Newsletter-Hop!

Remember, spend $10 in the store and you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s see what we have in the store this week.

It is time for the $1.50 Bake Sale!! Stop by the shop to see everything included.

We have teamed up with The Digital Scrapper to bring you another awesome class at an exclusive discount! This is not a new class, but if you haven’t taken it yet, you should check it out, it is super cool!!
The Digital Scrapper : Die-Cuts Gone Wild

https://qwiklearn.teachable.com/p/die-cuts-gone-wild-gs/?affcode=159709_crihvr_k\

In Die-Cuts Gone Wild by Syndee Rogers
, you’ll learn how to create an elevated die-cut design with a modern look. Too complicated? No way! Syndee shows you everything you need to know to create designs like these.

Exclusive Sale for GingerScraps Customers

  • Save 35% through Friday, February 23, 2024, Midnight Eastern.
  • Regularly $72.
  • NOTE: This is not a new class.
  • I hope to see you in class!

February 9, 2024: Fresh Baked

Happy Friday! I’m so glad it’s the end of the week. I’m ready for a couple of days off work.

It is time for the annual GingerScraps Newsletter Hop!! Sign up for all the listed designers newsletters and collect some AMAZING freebies!! Please read the full list of instructions in the forum here :

https://forums.gingerscraps.net/showthread.php?71812-2024-Newsletter-Hop!

Remember, spend $10 in the store and you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s see what is new in the store.

We have teamed up with The Digital Scrapper to bring you another awesome class at an exclusive discount! This is not a new class, but if you haven’t taken it yet, you should check it out, it is super cool!!
The Digital Scrapper : Die-Cuts Gone Wild

https://qwiklearn.teachable.com/p/die-cuts-gone-wild-gs/?affcode=159709_crihvr_k\

In Die-Cuts Gone Wild by Syndee Rogers
, you’ll learn how to create an elevated die-cut design with a modern look. Too complicated? No way! Syndee shows you everything you need to know to create designs like these.


Exclusive Sale for GingerScraps Customers

  • Save 35% through Friday, February 23, 2024, Midnight Eastern.
  • Regularly $72.
  • NOTE: This is not a new class.
  • I hope to see you in class!

How are your challenges going? Complete any 10 challenges and the kit as a reward.

Designer Spotlight February 2024

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.

 

 

 

February 2, 2024: Fresh Baked

Welcome to another Fresh Baked Friday! I hope you have all had a great week filled with plenty of scrapping time.

Remember, spend $10 in the store and you will get this great kit for free.

Ready for the this weeks new releases?

Have you jumped on your challenges yet? Complete any 10 challenges and get this great collab as a reward.