(Note: I had to dig through some of my older layouts to find the right illustrations — I’ve linked you up to my galleries for credits, but please be aware that some of the products listed may no longer be available, and many of the designs are not by me, but are from some of my favorite designers.)

9 IDEAS FOR CREATING A TITLE FOR YOUR DIGITAL SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT

1. Play on words — This is probably one of my favorite methods, for two reasons — you create a clever title AND make someone laugh if they notice it. Puns are perfect for creating clever and catchy titles. My sister scrapped the first example, a layout of my little boy, and it makes me giggle every time I see it.

Credits: Lullaby Girl and Tickled Pink Alpha by SuzyQ Scraps

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2. Book title — Book titles are fun, ’cause they can be taken at face value, or they can give layers of meaning to your layout. Now, my first example is a bit obvious, since the layout is actually about a book my son loves, and I used the title of the book for the layout. But think of the possibilities with titles like “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Little Women,” “Running with the Demon,” “Return of the King,” etc. Take a few minutes and write down a list of some of your favorite books … then keep that list handy when you’re looking for a title.

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3. Slogans — Companies don’t spend oodles of moolah on marketing for nothing — take advantage of their catchy slogans.

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4. Quotes — QT Susan did a fabulous post on using quotes on your layouts the other day — think of a way you can manipulate the quote to use part of it as your title.

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5. Song title or lyrics — Basically the same idea as using a quote … but lyrics offer the added benefit of arousing a particular emotion or memory associated with the song.

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6. Word art — A fun piece of word art, either from the kit you’re scrapping with or a separate kit or element pack, is a quick choice for a title.

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7. Onomatopoeia — Just a fancy word for describing words that sound like themselves, like vroom, woof, boing … but these fun words are great choices for titles.

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8. Cliches — Although forbidden in my English classes as a high school student, cliches were a must when tackling song-writing in my guitar classes. If artists get away with using them in song lyrics, who’s to say you can’t use them on your layout? We’re not in English class anymore, lol. Anything goes!

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9. Foreign phrases — You never know when a foreign phrase might just say it all.

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What are some ways you’ve come up with clever titles for your layouts? Link us up to a layout illustrating your suggestion … or if you use one of the methods above, I’d love to see what you create!

It’s time for another episode of Digi World Wednesday, where I bring something from the digi world to you — like introducing you to a new-to-you digital scrapbook site, or perhaps reminding you of an old favorite. Since I’m sponsoring The Digi Dares this week, I thought it’d be a good time to post about them. I’ve been enjoying their challenges for a while now, though it’s true that in the recent past I’ve participated less often due to time constraints. I hope to get more organized and streamlined soon so I can play more! (Psssttt! You still have time to play along with this week’s dare, and get a coupon from me! Check out Digi Dare #171.)

The Digi Dares host weekly challenges that “[dare] you to scrap outside the box.” If you’re looking to be stretched, these challenges are for you! Not only are their challenges inspiring, but you also have a chance to win prizes! Each challenge is sponsored by a different designer, so a total of 4 designers each month. You’ll receive a discount coupon from the sponsoring designer for the week, just for playing along that week. If your layout is randomly picked as a winner, you’ll receive (2) $10 coupons from the darer/designer. And the darer’s pick receives a $10 coupon from each of that month’s sponsors! So play along all month for your chance to possibly win a $10 coupon to my store, plus 3 more coupons from the other March sponsors.

Here are the 3 layouts I’ve completed this year because of their dares. (I wish I had more time to play along — if I did, I’d be at The Digi Dares every week!)

For Dare #163:

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For Dare #166:

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For Dare #171:

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I love how their challenges really do dare me to scrap outside my box. They stretch me and help me tell the stories that may have remained untold without their inspiration. (I even got a GSO with my Positive Change layout!) If you’re like me and have a hard time keeping track of all the fun things in digi land, you can add their site to your reader, or even sign up for their newsletter.

Check out what Ellie did for Dare #171:

What are you waiting for? Go check out this week’s dare … and be inspired every week! (And go make someone’s day lucky!)

I am super excited to be showing you this sneak peek into SuzyQ Scrap’s newest digital scrapbooking kit collab. It is so adorable!

See I told you it was adorable! Because Suzy is just as sweet and adorable as this kit she’s giving you a chance to win this kit! Leave a comment here telling what you would do if you were the Easter Bunny trying to hide your true identity. Would you be in this endeavor all alone or would you have help?

Would you like even more chances to win? Share this post on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter, then come back here and leave another comment letting us know where you shared it. (Comments must be posted by 9 pm Eastern Thursday night.) One of you will walk away with this adorable kit full of goodies!

Have fun!

This month, Suzy has selected a fantastic layout!!! It’s Rascal by valleygirl!!

She used SuzyQ’s fabulous digital scrapbooking kit Bundle of Boy.

Now for the challenge:
Scrap a layout using valleygirl’s layout as inspiration. You can be inspired by anything — the overall design, the photo placement, the colors, the title, the kit, whatever. Your layout must use 100% products by SuzyQ Scraps to qualify for the prizes. Link us up to your layout in the comments by Sunday, March 21 at 11:59 pm Eastern — be sure to tell us what inspired you. Everyone who participates (& uses Suzy’s designs) will receive a 40% off coupon! So leave us a comment with your link! We love to see what inspires you from this layout!!!

Earlier this month we challenged you to scrap what makes you happy.  Here’s a lovely example from Ellie:

Need more details?  Check out the original post for what to include in your layout.  There’s even a hybrid twist in this one, so the possibilities are endless!

Remember, if you participate, we’ll send you a 25% off coupon for Suzy’s store, and one lucky winner will receive a $10 coupon to her store!

We look forward to seeing your creations.  Happy scrapping everyone!

Here’s the layout I created for the dare:

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What are you waiting for? Head on over to The Digi Dares to check out this week’s challenge by Barb. And be sure to stay tuned next Wednesday for some more info about The Digi Dares.

Since I released 3 new products this week, I decided to have 3 winners!

Winner of Serendipity … #15! Congrats Pam!

Winner of Lucky You Alpha … #37! Congrats Leeann H!

Winner of Hybrid Birthday Goodie Box … #5! Congrats Erin!

Pam, Leeann, and Erin — please send me an email at suzyqscraps AT gmail DOT com to claim your prize.

Thanks again for being fans and leaving comments on my blog. Keep your eyes peeled for next week’s sneak peek — it’s a super duper cute collab, and I’ll be giving one away to one of you!

Now I know I usually announce the lucky peeps that have won this weeks new release(s) but unfortunately you’re going to have to wait just a lil’ bit loger today as our wonderful SuzyQ is not very well So someone will be back on here asap to let you know who the lucky fans are.

So until next time – happy scrapping!

I first learned about this technique in a photo challenge at SSD a long time ago, but I found this video by Bonnie Creevy that explains how to do it very nicely. (Note: If you use Elements, you will find the Unsharp Mask by following this path: Enhance>Unsharp Mask. The settings are the same.)

How to Defog Your Photos

Feel free to adjust the settings to your liking. As Bonnie says in the video, the settings she provides are the most typical settings. But you can adjust them, especially when you’re trying to sharpen up a blurry picture.

And an additional tip from me. I defog as a final step after I’ve completed my entire layout — just so that I don’t question whether or not I already defogged and do it again. So once I’ve done all my shadows and everything, I defog my pictures, save the file, and then save a web-friendly version so I can post my layouts in galleries. (I do all of my photo editing once I’ve started a layout — like cropping and adjusting levels on my pictures — which leaves my originals intact.)

Hope you find this tutorial helpful!

P.S. Tips & Tricks have been officially moved to Thursdays, switching places with the Sneak Peek posts. You still have time to entire the drawings to win one of my new releases this week — check Tuesday’s post.

Mel took the time to answer some of my questions:

1. Your screen name? KSCroppyChick
2. Are you married/have children/pets? I have been married to Tod for almost 14 years, we have 3 kids; 10 yo Quentin, 7 yo Tyler, and 4 yo Teanna. We also have a shih tzu named Nitro
3. Where is home for you? A small town outside of Wichita, Kansas; now, though thanks to my husband’s job; there have been several little Kansas towns that have been home in the last 14 years.
4. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Depends on my mood, activity, or cravings, usually chocolate, gummy bears, pretzels, or dill pickle sunflower seeds when scrapping!
5. Beverage of choice? Diet Pepsi with Vanilla, Diet, Dr. Pepper, or Iced Tea usually, sometimes I am boring and go for water!!
6. PC or Mac? PC, I want to be a Mac Girl, but compromise means I am a PC Girl!
7. How long have you been digi-scrapping? I started digi scrapping about 5 years ago. After keeping scrapbooks all my life, and loving playing with paper; I swore that I wouldn’t go digi, I resisted it for a while, but here I am.
8. How did you get in to digi-scrapping? I was on the design team of a paper scrapping site, and during an event at the site, we had a digi challenge. I created my first layout then. I wasn’t very  impressed and didn’t do another layout for months. About a year later, my mother in law asked me to create a gift album for her mom, I decided that with the time constraints I had, it would make more sense to do it digitally. 5 years later, I do more digital layouts than paper layouts.
9. What is your favorite Suzy Q Scraps kit? I can’t really say that I have a favorite kit; if I had to pick, I would say that it would be the Journey 365 because of the versatility. Of the themed kits, I would probably say Roughin’ It since my family spends many summer hours at the lake!
10. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)? When I am not scrapping (either digitally or paper), I enjoy cooking and baking, reading, photography, camping, hanging out with friends, spending time with my family. Most of the activities still have some scrapping thoughts attached since I am always taking pictures!
11. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? Stopping and going to bed at night! I scrap throughout the day when time and kids allow, but in the evening I scrap while Tod watches TV and I don’t usually want to stop, I tend to stay up WAY too late!!
12. What are your favorite movies/TV shows? I am not a huge TV and movie watcher, but my can’t miss TV includes True Blood and American Idol. My favorite movies are mostly older than me; Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, and Grease are among my favorites. I also enjoy a good chick flick, or 80’s flick when the movie mood strikes!
13. What is something unique about you? Honestly I can’t think of anything, how sad is that? I was raised hanging out on my grandparent’s dairy farm and at their bait shop and fish ponds. Girly girl that I am, I can clean a fish and milk a cow with the best of them!

Here are some of Mel’s layouts.  Aren’t they amazing?  Click each image to see layout credits.

In honor of Mel’s awesome layouts, Suzy has created a free template inspired by her So Sweet layout.  Click the image or link below to download!

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE FREEBIE

The possibilities are endless with this template, as shown by the QT’s!

Have fun with your new template everyone, and thank you for the inspiration, Mel!