As a digital scrapper, have you ever thought of yourself as being environmentally-friendly? Quite honestly, I scrap digitally for 3 big reasons: 1) no mess to clean up; 2) I can rearrange photos and elements on the fly; and 3) I can use my favorite pieces over & over again (& I don’t have to worry about accidentally destroying that paper by cutting it the wrong size). Helping to “save the planet” is just an added bonus for me. But if you have friends who like to reuse & recycle, perhaps it’s time to introduce them to digital scrapbooking!

And if you want to “show off” your green-ness, check out this super fun mug from Scrap Orchard (which is on sale right now for 20% off … & it likely won’t be on sale again!):

You might also want to take a peek at the customizable coffee mug … I have some ideas for this one! Wouldn’t they make fun Christmas gifts?

Have yourself a fabulous Monday!

The Daily Digi released their third playbook this week (it’s FREE!), so I thought it’d be fun to scrap some layouts using the tips inside the playbook, as well as The Digi Files #20 which I picked up last week (they’re only available a few more days … for the templates alone it’s worth the $5!).

What is The Daily Digi Playbook? “The Daily Digi Playbook is an e-book filled with techniques, tricks, and play-by-plays to recreate the looks in the layouts you see on The Daily Digi.”

This month’s e-book contains:

• a play-by-play for a hybrid project AND a digital layout (from start to finish)
• ideas for clustering elements
• how-to for using Flerg’s glitter styles
• how-to for creating the rainbow word art we use on Fridays
• cutting irregular paper strips
• using a photo as an overlay and background
• altering templates
• giving papers a new look
• editing photos in Flickr
• a couple of fun free gifts

So, let’s play the game! (And if you love what’s inside this playbook, head on over to The Daily Digi to snag June’s playbook and July’s playbook!)

Every supply in my layouts comes from The Digi Files #20.

On page 3, Karen shares tips for adding a photo to a template. So I grabbed a template from NeeNee’s Papercropz: Vol. 9 and decided to add a pic below the 2 main pics. And I used Happy Snapper by Captivated Visions for the layout.

On page 4, Jenn shares a method for “punching” a hole in your paper, and on page 20 she shares a tip for making an irregular paper shape. I actually ended up using my traditional method of punching holes with the aid of a clipping mask, which turned out to be a good thing ’cause I ended up wanting them smaller and in a different place. I’ll do a tutorial on my method sometime soon! But the irregular paper shape method was a clever trick and I totally used it to make the purple paper strip with the layout title.

Katie shares how she used a feminine kit to create a boy layout on page 7, so I challenged myself to do the same. I used the same kit as Katie, Emotions by Fei Fei’s stuff. I chose the orange paper and a green element to make the layout fit for my little boy. I changed the blending mode on the “joy” word art so it became a stamp instead of a sticker. I also changed the blending mode on the cluster elements so they became a dark orange. (Changing blending modes was mentioned on several pages in the playbook.)

The playbook also has a few tips on clustering, so I attempted to try some clustering with this layout. I started with the other template from NeeNee, which I modified a bit, and created the layout using In Bloom by Studio Flergs. My layout is definitely not as clustered as some … and would have been more clustered if I’d have had more to work with. More on that in a bit. I also used the “selectively moving parts of a png” tip from the playbook to move a few of the glass balls around to fit my layout better.

Well there you have it. My first time really delving into the playbook (versus skimming the contents & saving it for later) and I must admit that I learned a few new tricks that I’ll be using again in the future. I definitely recommend downloading this free resource & giving a few of the pointers a try. They also share a couple of hybrid play-by-plays that I’ll be trying in the future. Looks like fun!

I’ve been purchasing The Digi Files for a while now, occasionally to sample the designs, sometimes because one of my favorite designers is contributing, but mostly to support The Daily Digi because I believe they’re a valuable resource for scrappers. Because I’ve made little time to scrap in recent months, I haven’t scrapped with many of my digi file purchases yet. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with this set. Don’t get me wrong, the quality is excellent and the designs are beautiful. But I felt the contributions were somewhat lacking in quantity of elements. It’s not my habit to mix-&-match kits, mostly for the sake of time. I like to scrap quickly, so it’s just easier to scrap using items from the same kit (exception: stitching, doodles, & alphas — I don’t mind digging into my stash to find those.) So it was a real challenge for me to scrap only from the contributions in The Digi Files.

I’m curious now to go dig through my stash of unused goodies that I’ve downloaded from past digi files and see if the contributions are usually this small. I know when I was a contributor I created a full kit but maybe I’m just super generous and that’s not the norm.

I still plan to purchase The Digi Files in the future. It’s still a great deal, and I still want to support the site. I really enjoyed the templates by NeeNee, and all of the kits were absolutely beautiful. I just won’t limit myself to scrapping from only The Digi Files next time I play along with the playbook, especially if I want to scrap several layouts quickly.

Enough jabber from me — go download your copy of the playbook, scrap along with me, and share with me the layouts you create by posting a comment!

Short post today — just popping in to announce my new QTs! Thank you so much to everyone who applied. As always, it was a very tough decision — made even tougher because I only had 3 spots to fill!

I’m so excited to welcome Keisha (Mommylaroo), Jenn (jennv), and Sara (misfitinmn) to my awesome team!

And keep your eyes peeled — changes are coming to my web site design very soon!

Nope, this isn’t an English class … but some of the writing techniques we learned in school can totally kick our digital scrap layouts up a notch! This week I want to share one of my favorite writing technqiues — alliteration.

So what is alliteration? Well, if you ask Merriam-Webster, this is how they define it: “the repetition of usually consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables”

Pretty good definition, but I always find that examples make it easier to understand. How about you? Here are the examples they gave:
wild and woolly
threatening throngs

Tongue Twisters are great examples of alliteration:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

She sells sea shells by the seashore.
And the shells she sells are surely sea shells.
Since she sells shells by the seashore,
I’m sure the shells she sells are seashore shells.

How does alliteration apply to journaling? Well, journaling is like telling a story … you’re sharing part of the journey, and it’s always more enjoyable to read something that was written with intent. Writing techniques made your English papers and poetry better … why not give them a try in scrapping?

Want to see it in action? Check out this layout:

(Credits: Going Green by Amanda Heimann and SuzyQ Scraps; Storyteller Templates #3 by SuzyQ Scraps)

Here’s the journaling, with the alliterative parts bolded:
“Oh goodness!” you yelled as you ran into the kitchen. You yanked on my arm & pulled me outside, over to your trains on the sidewalk. You knelt down beside James, repeating “Oh goodNESS!” & “Tracks!” … then a little anxious ant appeared & you gave a sigh and said “Sorries!” I burst out laughing as I realized that you thought the ant was trapped on the tracks. What a cutie you are!

The words don’t have to be right next to each other … it’s okay if they’re separated by a word or two, like with “sigh and said ‘Sorries!’” and “trapped on the tracks.”

Give alliteration a try in your next layout, and then link me up — I’d love to see what you create!

Hello digital scrap fans! Today I bring you a new series … the SuzyQ Scrap-along!

A little bit of background. A couple of years ago, I fell in love with digital scrapping and scrapped prolifically. I eventually landed a couple of CT spots with 2 of my favorite designers. But then I started designing myself, and slowly but surely have scrapped less.

Without those CT requirements to keep me going, I found myself not making enough time for my scrapping my family’s stories. I’m ready to change that, though, and get back to preserving & sharing my family’s journey. Especially because with each picture I take I get more and more behind … nearly 2 years right now!

I figured the best way to motivate me to keep scrapping was to make me accountable … so I’m going to make myself accountable to you, my scrappers and fans, with this weekly blog post.

Each week I’ll post a prompt to help you scrap more and maybe even try a new technique … and I’d love for you to scrap-along with me! Please link me up to your layouts in the comments — I’d love to see what you create!

So this week, I was inspired by WAVES and I’m encouraging you to try to use waves in a layout (or multiple layouts!). I picked up these awesome “Wave on Wave” templates by Amanda Heimann to help me scrap faster. But feel free to dig into your stash to find waves you already own … or pick up Amanda’s templates to help you scrap quickly. (Scrap Orchard’s store is down while we finish up our server move … so I’ll come back and link ya up later.)

Here’s what I created — 4 layouts, in about as many hours (gotta love templates!). Nearly all my supplies came from Amanda Heimann’s kits … I’ll link you up when the Market is open again (I am SO sad that she’s closing her store — but that means a sale for you!):

Credits: “Fall Frolic” by Amanda Heimann and Jennifer Fox

Credits: “Dirt Magnet” and “Layout Builders: Wave on Wave” by Amanda Heimann; Laugh Out Loud Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps

Credits: “Itty Bitty Fishy” by Amanda Heimann and Wild Dandelion Designs; Joke’s on You Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps (retired)

Credits: “Momma’s Boy” by Amanda Heimann; Tickled Pink Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps (retired)

I really had fun with the wave layers in these templates … and I loved that there was so much space for journaling. Really helped me tell the stories I was itching to share. I hope you’ll feel inspired to scrap more layouts too, and maybe give waves a try if you haven’t already.

Join me next week for some more scrap-along fun!

By popular demand, I bring you another fun addition to the Stitch Hiccups family — stitched frames! Shop before 8/27 and pick them up for only $1.99! (By the way, Scrap Orchard is moving to a new host this weekend, so the site will be down from 12 am Saturday until late Sunday night/early Monday morning.)

Look at the lovely layouts my QTs created!

Speaking of QTs — don’t miss my CT call! Applications due 8/22. I’m looking for some talented peeps to join my team … it just might be YOU!

And the winner of this week’s new release is … #13!

Congrats, Nadia! Send me an email at suzyqscraps AT gmail DOT com so I can get you your prize!

And in other news … registration for Digiscrap*apalooza 2011 is OPEN. We’re giving away another iPad at the conference … and one of the first 50 to register will win an iPod Touch. WOOT!

I’d love to meet you! Come join us in Vegas!

In my effort to scrap more, I have fallen in love with templates all over again. Digital scrap templates are fabulous tools for scrapping quickly and beautifully. All the composition work is done for you, from where to put your photos and papers to suggestions for placements of embellishments, titles, and/or journaling. Templates are also super versatile — you can use them as is or change them to suit your needs or style. So I thought I’d share with you a few of the tricks I use. I’ll show the “before” preview of the template and the “after” preview of my layout. These are some great techniques for stretching your stash of templates and boosting your creativity.

(Note: My favorite designer of all time, Amanda Heimann, is taking a break from designing and closing her store at Scrap Orchard. This blog post is a bit of a tribute to her — I’ve used her kits for every single layout. If you want to add some gorgeous kits to your stash for a steal of a deal, go shopping in her store before it’s gone!)

Using a Template “As-Is”
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a template straight-out-of-the-box, just as it is, without rotating or flipping anything. That’s exactly what I did with this Creative Block template by Britt-ish Designs that I dug out of my stash. (I also used Peanut by Amanda Heimann & Laura Banasiak, and my Wooden Nursery Alpha.)

Rotating a Template
For this technique, I generally rotate the entire image right after I open the template … either 90 degrees to the left (or right) or a complete 180 degrees. I love this technique when I need to change the orientation of the photos in the template to match my photos. This layout uses a template freebie I snagged from Heather Roselli’s blog a while back, along with For the Boys by Amanda Heimann and Wild Dandelion Designs by Meg Mullens.

Flipping a Template
Again, to do this technique I open the template and flip the entire image, either vertically or horizontally, before I start clipping anything to the layers. This template was a freebie I picked up from Lauren Grier’s blog (I think last year — I told you, I went digging thru my stash, lol). I also used Spittin’ Seeds by Amanda Heimann (and Laugh Out Loud alpha by me).

Resizing a Template
By resize, I mean resize the main aspect of the template, not the entire thing, ’cause obviously you still want the background. To do this technique, after opening the template select all the layers except the background (and any matted background papers that you want to keep the full size of the template) and then “transform” them smaller and move them to an eye-pleasing spot on the page. You’ll see what I mean in the example below. (I used a template freebie from Britt’s blog about 2 years ago, and Just Add Water by Amanda Heimann.)

Fun huh? Want to see some more cool tricks? Check out:
One Digital Scrapbook Template — Many Different Layouts by Katie the Scrapbook Lady (The Daily Digi)
10 Tips for Templates also by Katie (guest post on Ali Edwards’ blog)
Making Templates Work for You by Janet (The Daily Digi)
Top Ten Reasons to Love Templates — Part 1 by Janet (The Daily Digi)
Top Ten Reasons to Love Templates — Part 2 by Janet (The Daily Digi)
Top Ten Reasons to Love Templates — Part 3 by Janet (The Daily Digi)
4 Ways to Use One Photo on a Multiphoto Layout by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot (www.sirscrapalotdesigns.com)

Don’t miss out on my CT call (see next post) or a chance to win my new release this week (post after the next post). Have a fantastic Thursday!

Popping in with an announcement!

Almost 6 months has passed since my last call, and I’m looking to add a handful of talented & amazing peeps to my team!

August 2010 CT Call

Applications due Sunday, August 22 @ 11:59 pm Eastern

Seeking:

• Layout Artists
• Hybrid Artists
• Party Squad

Minimum Duties:

• Layout Artist
  • 1 layout EACH WEEK with a new release, due the Wednesday morning before release (minimum of 4 layouts per month)
  • Post in 4 galleries with links to product(s)
  • Be active, vocal, and helpful in the forums at SO and my private CT forum
  • 6 month commitment (Sept 1 – Feb 28)

• Hybrid Team
  • 1 hybrid project PER MONTH with a new release, due the Wednesday morning before release
  • post in 4 galleries with links to product(s)
  • 1 hybrid tutorial blog post during 6-month term
  • Be active, vocal, and helpful in the forums at SO and my private CT forum
  • 6 month commitment (Sept 1 – Feb 28)

• Party Squad
  • Planning & implementation of monthly blog parties
  • Host 1 speed scrap each month during blog party
  • 1 blog post per month — topic assigned
  • Layout lovin’ — commenting on every non-CT layout in my designer gallery
  • Active on social networking site(s) OR active blogger
  • Be active, vocal, and helpful in the forums at SO and my private CT forum
  • 6 month commitment (Sept. 1 – Feb. 28)

Compensation:

• New products 2 weeks in advance
• 100% access to my store
• Incentives for being published
• Bragging rights

The ideal candidates:

• have experience creating with my designs
• have previous experience promoting products
• use few templates
• are enthusiastic & friendly
• are creative & consistent
• are active at Scrap Orchard
• are committed to promoting my designs

How to Apply

Applications due Sunday, August 22 @ 11:59 pm Eastern

Please send an email to suzyqscraps AT gmail DOT com with the following information. (Incomplete and/or late applications will NOT be considered.)

• Name
• Username at Scrap Orchard
• Link to most complete gallery
• Link to TWO layouts using my designs
• Link to personal blog and/or Facebook page and/or Twitter page
• List of current CTs & their requirements, as well as other digi commitments (including but not limited to digital newsletters, blogging for other sites, teaching classes, etc.)

Please also answer the following questions in your application:

1. How long have you been scrapbooking (digitally or other) or creating hybrid projects?
2. Are you a digital designer? If so, where do you sell?
3. Have you left any CTs in the past 6 months? If so, please list the team and the reason for leaving.
4. Why do you want to be on my creative team?
5. What can you offer my team? In other words, why would you make an awesome QT?
6. Can you meet or exceed the requirements?

I’m so excited for this call! I won’t be having another one for at least 6 months, so get your application in!

Good luck to everyone who applies!

It’s another Monday, which means it’s time to kick those digital scrap layouts up a notch! This week I thought it’d be fun to look at various ways to document the beginning of a new school year. I wandered through 2 of my favorite galleries and here is some of what I found. I hope you find inspiration from them! (All images are linked so you can see credits and leave a little love!)

I love that shanmomto4 didn’t wait until kindergarten to start a tradition of scrapping about her son’s first day of school:

I love the contrast in age in the before and now pics in “The First Day” by kaledain, and the great journaling:

And how about this layout? Love how jaylensmom captured the sleepy yawn on the first day in “Wake Up … First Day of School”:

Love how becca1976 shared a bit about her feelings in her layout “School Again?”

What a fun way to document the beginning of the new year — all the school supplies! Love the pics & journaling in “School Supplies” by sigmakap95:

And I just LOVE the journaling by britaneejean in “School Sales”:

Mimi did an awesome job describing the prep work for homeschooling her kids this year in “homeschool–2010″:

And finally, I love that sharongrey8 snapped a pic of her little boy with his backpack, even though he’s homeschooled and doesn’t head off to school every morning:

I’d love to see how you’ve been scrapping your back-to-school memories! Leave me a link in the comments.

It’s that time of year … kids are going back to school (or are already in school) … and I thought it’d be fun to talk about school traditions.

What back-to-school traditions do you have?

I always enjoyed going back to school each year. My favorite part was shopping for brand new school supplies — colored pencils, erasers, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. (I still love to buy office supplies, lol!) I’d get home, grab my school schedule, and organize all my notebooks. I’d carefully arrange everything in my backpack the night before (well, sometimes sooner than that if I was really excited, lol) and set out my new school clothes. I’d always sleep terribly .. part of me super excited and part of me totally nervous about the new day and meeting all my teachers and seeing how hard my classes were going to be. This anxiety doubled when entering high school — we had an A-day/B-day schedule, so it was like having 2 first days of school.

What other school traditions do you have?

I can’t think of any specific school-related traditions when I was growing up, aside from shopping for new supplies. I don’t have any pictures of me on my first day of school, but as I’ve seen layouts scrapped about those fun (or not-so-fun) moments, I’ve decided I want to make sure to do that for my son (and any other children we may have). I’d also love to make little love notes for my kiddos and slip them in their lunch boxes.

So help me create some fun traditions to share with my family — I’d love to hear them all, from preschool on up to college!