New Release: Tell Your Story Templates

Are you gearing up for Digital Scrapbooking Day? I know I am feverishly trying to finish up a grab bag, Halloween costumes and a few other thing I have in the works. So in an effort to make your scrapping next weekend a little faster, I've created an awesome set of journaling templates. Remember, they are 20% off through Sunday!



And now, Congrats to.....SHARONG.....you've won Tell Your Story Templates! Congrats! Email me or PM me at ScrapMatters to receive your coupon code!

And some journaled inspiration from the CT!


Have a fantastic weekend!

Coming soon..............

Hi everyone Lisa here!! It's that time of the week again...to check out the sneak peek! Mary has a really great item coming to her store this week. Check it out!

And Mary is giving you a chance to win this product ;) Leave a comment below and she will pick a random winner on Friday.

Good luck!

Storytelling: Fontaholic

Are you a fontaholic? I love finding and downloading all sorts of fonts in search of the "perfect" one. I've found though that there are certain fonts that I keep going back to for the journaling on my LOs. I find it's nice to have a few go-to fonts so I don't have to stress too much about which one to use.

I try to have a favorite font in each of the following categories: Sans Serif, Serif, Typewriter, and Handwriting. These few styles will go a long way in journaling just about any LO. I'm still on the hunt for my favorite script font...any suggestions?!

Here are some of my favorites...

1. Sans Serif (I have two favorites here)
Century Gothic - no fuss, no muss. Perfect for most any LO! (usually included in software)

Slim Sans Serif - I find this font is perfect for fitting journaling into tight spaces. Available for download here.

2. Serif - I like Georgia (usually included in software). Other nice serif fonts are Times New Roman, Perpetua, or Century Schoolbook.

3. Typewriter - One of my favorites is Traveling Typewriter available here. Other fun typewriter fonts are 1942 Report, Georg and My Own Topher.

4. Handwriting - If you don't have your own handwriting turned into a font, consider it!! I had mine made into a font a few years ago and use it quite often for LOs. I think I'd like to have it redone because the "y" looks a little silly (see below), but it was well worth the investment! I don't love my handwriting, but there is something fun about your own handwriting on a LO!!

If you don't have your own handwriting font, consider one of the many fonts from Fonts for Peas by Kevin and Amanda. You might even find one that is close to your own handwriting! Some of my favorite handwriting fonts are Pea Tara, Highland Perk, SMD CamiJo, and SMD Kimby.

I'd love to hear, what are your go-to fonts?

One more week to get SUPER!!!

If you haven't yet put on your cape and leapt over a tall building to get to the Plum Dumpling Designs store, you have one more week to soar over and pick up All-American Superhero for 30% off!

Click here to ZOOM to the shop!

Here's a little inspiration for you; I used not-at-all-superhero-y pictures for a page about my two "super" boys. The pics were originally very autumny, so I turned them black and white to work a little better with this comic-colored kit.

Remember to upload your Super layouts to the PDD Gallery, then post a comment on the original Product Highlight blog post to be entered to win a PDD gift code at the end of the month.  Now... UP, UP, and AWAY!!!

Gallery Stand Outs

Starting this month, Mary's CT are going to highlight a few layouts from her gallery at ScrapMatters (here) on this blog every month.  I am Eve and am so exited to pick my favorites for October! 


Let's start with Ice Cream by Debbysrose
She uses one of my favorite kits- I Scream and I love the way she uses the big photo!

Next we have Pumpkin Patch by Colson (Cara)

She uses the new Haunted Hollow kit and the colors work beautiful with the pictures she used! 

And I love Day 1 by Fonnetta

She is using the The Open Road kit and I love how she lays out her trip so well with the blocking! Wish I could remember to get all those pictures on trips! 

There are lots more to pick from but I don't want to overwhelm you with all my favorites! Don't forget about the chance to win a $10 Plum Dumpling gift code for using this months featured kit- All American Superhero! Read all about it and link up your layout's here for the chance to win! 

Storytelling: Revising Your Journaling - the easy way!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm here to show you how I sneak some revisions into my journaling. I know that sounds an awful lot like an English assignment, but never fear! We'll take this one word at a time.

One thing I do know is that when I revise my journaling, I almost ALWAYS like it better the second, third, fourth, etc. time around.

1. I start by choosing my pictures and placing them on my LO.

2. The next thing I do is start with the first draft of my writing. I start writing some very basic things about the event. I try to include the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, why. I DON'T worry about font or any other little details. I usually choose a basic, readable font in a decent point size (here: Century Gothic, 14pt.).

I give the text a home on the page...Have you ever created a super cute LO and then have to work the words in...this way the words are at home and the elements can complement them and not compete with them.

Journaling: Clark was in his first Primary Program at church on Sunday. He was really prepared and even memorized his part. He did such a wonderful job as he got up there to say, "Following Heavenly Father's plan will bring me happiness." We are so proud of him and the fine young boy he is becoming.

3. Now I start adding my papers and trying to get the bones of my LO created. 

4. I keep adding elements and thinking about the story that I'm telling. I usually remember more details as I create my page. I add my shadows. I realize that I have more to say...so I make room!

5. I go back to my journaling and fill in some extra details. I like how the journaling now reflects the cute boy in the main photo and also captures the spirit of the boy in the rest of the photos! He is a funny kid! I decided here to leave the date in as part of the journaling so that it filled the line all the way to the right.

Journaling: Clark was in his first Primary Program at church on Sunday. He was really prepared and even memorized his part. On the way to church, we went over again how he needed to speak slowly and clearly. He said to me, "Mom, everybody wants to hear what I say." I don't think we have to worry about stage fright with this one! He did such a wonderful job as he got up there to say, "Following Heavenly Father's plan will bring me happiness." We gave him a little thumbs up from our seats in the back. He saw us and put his hands up like he just scored a touchdown. He spent the rest of the program picking his nose and squirming in his seat. Just to keep us humble, I suppose! We are so proud of him and the boy he is becoming. 10.16.11

6. I finish up the LO by pulling up the bottom row of pics, adding a title and giving the words a last look over. At the end of creating a LO, I try to remember to proofread for typos. There is nothing that I hate more than having to go back and fix a typo!! Ugh!

Full credits here

And that's it! I try to sneak in a few revisions of my journaling on each LO. I really think that as I go through and revise, the page always improves. Give it a try and see how your journaling improves!

Tip: Organizing Your To-Be-Scrapped Photos

For today's tip I am going to show you how I organize my ever growing folder of to-be-scrapped photos. When I first started digi-scrapping I loved to do the Power Scrapbooking challenge over at Digital Scrapbook Place. You had to create 10 LOs in one week for the challenge. They don't have the challenge anymore (not that I can see anyway), but it really helped me set up my system for organizing those pages to be scrapped.

All of my photos are organized by date on my computer's hard drive. I keep all of my scrapping supplies on an external hard drive. So when I upload photos from my camera, I instantly create a folder or multiple folders in my Photos folder of my external hard drive as well. Each one holds the photos for a page that I'd like to create.

If I have a clever title already in mind, I'll title the folder with that creative title. When I get ready to do a LO, I check this folder for all pages that I need to create. At times, I include a notepad document with some journaling or kit and template ideas or other thoughts on creating the page.

When I create the page, I simply delete the folder...without any worry that I'm deleting the originals...those are stored safely three other places, lol!!

Right now there are 235 folders to be scrapped...yikes! I keep reminding myself that this is the time to make memories...I'll scrap them later when the kids are in school!

If you are interested in Power Scrapbooking, check out this awesome article on The Daily Digi.

How do you organize your to-be-scrapped photos?

October Product Highlight: All American Superhero

Hello! Roxana here to bring you a reminder of the October Product Highlight. This month we are featuring All American Superhero, a fabulous kit for all the heroes in your life, and the palette is so versatile you can use it for many more themes! 

(preview linked to the store)

And here´s the page I made using  All American Superhero kit, the WA from Faded Columns: Single Sentiments and a template from Feeling Griddy, everything from Plum Dumpling Designs:

So what are you waiting for, head over to PDD store, grab All American Superhero kit 30% off this month, create a layout, upload it to the Plum Dumpling Designs gallery at ScrapMatters, come back and leave a comment on the October 3 blogpost, and you could win a $10 certificate for Plum Dumplings store!

Watch the PDD blog on November 7 (first Monday of each month) to see if you've won!

Cant wait to see your layouts!

New Releases: Kit, Alpha, Sale, Freebie?! WHOA!

I'm so excited to show you this week's release! I've teamed up with Inspirations from Day to bring you a spooky Halloween kit: Haunted Hollow! It's perfect for those "less than cute" Halloween memories! And remember...new releases are 20% off Friday through Sunday!



And a great coordinating alpha: Nightmarish!


And now, Congrats to.....LINDA.....you've won Haunted Hollow and Nightmarish Alpha! Congrats! Email me or PM me at ScrapMatters to receive your coupon code!

My LO:


And some spooky inspiration from the CT!


CLEARANCE SALE! Be sure to check out the clearance category at ScrapMatters to find these great products and so much more...all at 50% off!



And if that's not enough...I have a FREEBIE for you too!! 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Have a spooktacular weekend!

2 Sneak Peeks and a RAK!

Plum Dumpling Designs and Inspirations from Day have teamed up to bring you an amazingly spooky kit!  You won't believe all the goodies and ghouls in this kit!  Take a peek:

I know you are all excited to see the fullness of this kit, but you will have to wait until Friday!  Plum Dumpling Designs also has an alpha perfect for all your Halloween and trick or treating photos!  Take a peek at this:

These goodies will be released on Friday at ScrapMatters, so make sure you stop back for the full reveals!

Also, leave a comment on this post, telling us what your biggest fear is, and you could be a lucky winner!!!  Check back on Friday , when Mary will pick a winner!  Your biggest fear can be anything from black cats, lightning, snakes (my husband's), or......B-A-T-S.  That last one is mine!  I can't stand them!  Growing up, we would have them in our house, and I can still remember waking up in the middle of the night, feeling a breeze from their wings, as they flew over my face!  Still gives me the chills!  So, what is your biggest fear?  Make sure to leave a comment here, and you might be the BIG winner!  See you Friday!

Storytelling: Look for Another Story

I've been going through my un-scrapped photos and organizing them into folders for easy scrapbooking. I came across these photos that I absolutely LOVE! Then I started thinking...what kind of story do they tell? In typical informative storytelling, you would include the who, what, where, when, why. So it might sound something like this:

"Clark and Kent enjoy a hammock ride on a warm October day. Kent kept trying to get Clark's toes through the ropes."

I've decided that these photos didn't need to tell that story. The story is so much deeper than that. I was able to capture with the camera some decent photos of both boys smiling and playing with each other. Thinking of this story, my journaling sounds like this:

"There are moments in my day when I think to myself that my referee days will never end. Some days when you boys are wrestling, I think...this is the least they will ever hurt themselves. You boys will only get bigger and stronger. And then there are moments like these when I see what great brothers you really are. You are the only ones who can make each other laugh the hardest. You light up when you see each other. You are brothers for sure. Being around boys is definitely different for me, but as long as it is you two that I am with, I'll try to love every bit of it! I love you boys...more than you'll ever know."

It's not perfect journaling, but it's better than the first version! Although...now that I look at my page...I should add their names on the page somewhere.

Look through your photos...if the 5W's story doesn't sound too interesting...see what other story your photos can tell!

full credits here

Clearance Sale at ScrapMatters!

Get your paypal ready!!!

October Product Highlight: All American Superhero!

Happy Monday Everyone!! 

Denise here with another installment of our monthly product highlight. In October we are featuring Plum Dumpling Designs' fantastic All American Superhero kit!  Perfect for highlighting the super dad, mom, girl, boy, or trick or treater in your life!

Adorable isn't it?  I absolutely loved working with this kit.  Here is one of my layouts with All American Superhero and the Plum Dumpling Designs bracketed templates:

Even more exciting is that the kit is on sale for you right now at 30% off!  Yep... for just $3.85 you can scrap the superstars in your life.  Check it out by clicking here!

We would love to see what you can do with this gorgeous kit.  Just scrap a layout with it, post it in the ScrapMatters design gallery and link us right here on the October 3 post.  One lucky random poster will win a $10 gift certificate to the Plum Dumpling Designs store at ScrapMatters!!

To get you started, I have a little freebie using the kit that you can download using Mediafire by clicking right here.   Enjoy and get scrappin! We can't wait to see your layouts!

New Release: Pieces of Fall

More fall goodness coming up! It feels strange to be posting about fall when it is 80+ out here today. But we'll take all the sun we can get before the cold sets in! Today I have some fantastic fall goodies for you...





And now, Congrats to.....Anna.....you won both Pieces of Fall and Pieces of Fall Paper Pack! Congrats! Email me or PM me at ScrapMatters to receive your coupon code!

I'm kind of on a photoless LO kick. Here's one about one of my favorite fall traditions...


And some fabulous fall inspiration from the CT!

Have a fantastic weekend!

October FREEBIE: Candy Corn Alpha

Are you ready for another FREEBIE?! It's time for the October Freebie Challenge! I've created an alpha to celebrate one my favorite guilty pleasures of October...Candy Corn!



Here's my LO to celebrate...


And some delicious inspiration from the CT!

Challenge Details: Each month we have a freebie challenge here on the blog. Complete the challenge with the freebie, post in my Designer Gallery and link us up here at this post and we'll choose a winner to receive a $5 coupon to my shop! There is a link on the sidebar so you can click back to this post easily when you finish your LO. I can't wait to see what you create!!

The winner from last month's challenge is...SHANELL...congrats and thanks to all who participated!! Shanell, watch your ScrapMatters PM box for a coupon code for my shop.


Enjoy some candy corn...digital or otherwise!

Sneak Peek

 Hello everyone!! It's that time of the week again, I love sneak peeks! Mary has some really cute stuff coming to her store this week. Check it out!

And what's better than a sneak peek? Well a chance to win it, of course :) Leave a comment below and Mary will pick a random winner on Friday. Good luck!