QT Anastsia (a.k.a. stasianary) created this fun & happy page from iCreate & iLaugh.

QT Heather (a.k.a. talktoheather) mixed iCelebrate and iCreate to get this gorgeous page.

QT Lenka (a.k.a. lenushenka) found that iCherish and iGrow were the perfect match for this page.

QT Shannon (a.k.a. shanmomto4) got superb results mixing four kits:  iDream, iGive, iRenew & iCherish!

QT Bre (a.k.a. bre11414) matched up iLaugh and iCreate which resulted in this fabulous layout!

QT Amber (a.k.a. amber565) found that the recipe for a great page was iDream, iLove, iLive, iGrow, and iRenew!

How about a freebie? I’ve made a quickpage for you from my layout. Click the preview to download!

Please share a link in the comments to any pages you’ve made that mix and match some of the Project: Love, Me kits!! If you’re missing any of these Project Love Me kits pick them up from the SuzyQ Scraps store at 20% off using code allPLM20-sQs. It’s good for 20% off any Project: Love, Me product and an additional 20% off bundles. Expires 2-29-12. Not valid for the 2012 Project: Love, Me class.

You could be a winner this week just by leaving a comment on this blog post. Every week Suzy randomly selects a winner from all the comments left to win her new release! You have 3 ways to earn entries to the drawing:

1) Leave a comment. Any comment will do…Tell Suzy about your own idea for a kit or maybe share a link to one of your recent uploads to her designer gallery at Scrap Orchard.

2) Share a link to this post with your Facebook Friends. Come back and leave another comment!

3) Tweet about the new collection and giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include the link to today’s post. Come back and leave another comment!

All comments must be left before 9:00PM Eastern time on Wednesday February 22nd. Check back on Thursday to see who won!

The challenge is simply to pick a page from QT Lenka’s gallery and scraplift it….or you can use the freebie template provided in the original post. That’s where you’ll find all the rules, and it’s also where you leave a comment with a link to your page to be entered into the random drawing to win a $10 coupon to the SuzyQ Scraps store! Comments on this post are not eligible.

Some of Lenka’s fellow QTs played along and here are some absolutely stunning scraplifts. They are linked to the gallery if you’d like to see which page they took their inspiration from!

Layout by Shannon (shanmomto4)

Layout by Sam (sam)

Layout by Mel (KScroppychick)

Layout by Kimberley (greenmother)

Layout by Kat (katarina)

I hope you’ll join in the fun & submit a page!

So whether you purchased the mini kit, it came bundled in a collection, or you received it for free, here are some ideas and inspiration to help you scrap beautiful layouts no matter how small the kit.

Go Minimal

{layout by Heather, aka talktoheather}
White space layouts are a perfect choice when you have a small selection of elements and papers.

Layer the Papers

{layout by Jaime, aka meejay}
Short on embellishments? That’s okay! Add more depth to the page using shapes “cut” from the various papers in the mini kit.

Use a Busy Background Paper

{layout by Amber, aka amber565}
Make up for fewer embellishments by utilizing patterned backgrounds.

Focus on the Photo

{layout by Lori, aka lwentkie}
Let the photo take center stage and accent it with a few embellishments.

Lots of Photos

{layout by Jaime, aka meejay}
Fill up the page with photos.

Create Clusters

{layout by Britanee, aka britaneejean}
Instead of spreading the elements out across the page, try clustering them to create a visual illusion of more.

Shrink It (i.e., Go Smaller)

{layout by Bre, aka bre11414}
Make everything smaller — then you don’t need as many embellishments.

Repetition

{layout by Amber, aka amber565}
Repeat elements and/or paper shapes — but change their size, rotate them, etc.

Add More Journaling

{layout by Kat, aka Katarina}
Fill up the “empty” space with journaling.

Combine Techniques

{layout by Bre, aka bre11414}
And of course, you can always combine two or more of the above techniques for even more options!

I’d love to see what you create with mini kits & add-ons, so link me up in the comments!

I’d love to see your creations using this technique, so link me up in the comments!

I love digital scrapbooking for so many reasons, including no mess to clean up, but that doesn’t mean it gives me more time to scrap.

In fact, if you’re trying to find time to scrapbook, you’re probably going to fail — ’cause that time isn’t just going to show up. You have to make time for scrapbooking, just like you have to make time for any other important thing in your life. If you don’t make the time for it — don’t make it a priority — other things will most definitely fill up that time.

So how do you make time to scrapbook?

Plan it into your calendar. Whether that’s daily, weekly, or monthly is up to you, your needs and desires, and your time constraints. Write it down on your calendar or in your planner just like you would an appointment — it’s an appointment with yourself, to share your stories and express your creativity. Honor that.

And then, of course, follow through. Setting time aside to scrapbook is the necessary first step, but it won’t mean a thing if you don’t actually sit down and scrapbook during that time.

Give yourself a gift this week and scrap! I know I’m going to.

A set of digital scrapbook alphas by SuzyQ Scraps. Laugh the rainbow with these colorful, versatile alphas! We’ve got Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Warm} and Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Cool}, which are part of Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {the Bundle}. Plus Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Chocolate}.

Let’s take a look at see what the QT’s have created using these alphas!

Amber combined Laugh the Rainbow {Warm} with Taste of Autumn {the Bundle} and Oopsie-Doodle: Borders 2 to create this fun Cowboy layout.

{layout by Amber}

Britanee used all three alpha packs plus parts of {ALE Colorfully} & {Always Remember} to create this fun page showing off her 10 favorite TV shows.

{layout by Britanee}

Jaime used Laugh the Laugh the Rainbow Alpha {Warm} and {Birthday Wishes} to create this fun, bright layout.

{Layout by Jaime}

Mel combined Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Chocolate} and {Slink Slither and Plod} for this layout.

{Layout by Mel}

I had a little fun with the all three alpha packs combined with A Life Expressed… {The Collection} to create this bright colored layout.

{Layout by Bre}

Sara created this fun wall art using the brightly colored alphas.

What have you created using these alphas? Link us up so we can leave you some love! If you don’t own them yet, you can pick up Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Warm}, Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Chocolate}, and Laugh the Rainbow Alphas {Cool} for 20% off!

Go create!

Use 100% SuzyQ Scraps products and the following recipe! Leave a link to your layout in the comments of this post no later than February 16th 2012 to be entered into the drawing.

• 1 patterned paper background
• 2 photos of things/people/places you love
• 3 pieces of accent paper
• 4 ribbons, strings, bows, ric rac, or stitching
• 5 words in a title
• 6 (or more) assorted elements

Just for stopping by today you can download a quickpage from my layout!

Ideas for using hearts:
1. Building the layout on a background paper with a heart pattern
2. Creating a heart shape with various paper pieces
3. Using a heart behind the title
4. Replacing a letter or the word love in the title with a heart
5. Scattering hearts behind photos and embellishments
6. Accenting the page with various hearts
7. Designing cards with heart digital stamps or heart embellishments

Here’s some inspiration from the QTs (and me)!

{layout by Kat, aka Katarina}

{layout by Anastasia, aka stasianary}

{layout by Britanee, aka britaneejean}

{layout by Anastasia, aka stasianary}

{layout by Suzy, aka suzyqscraps}

{layout by Anastasia, aka stasianary}

{layout by Anastasia, aka stasianary}

{layout by Lori, aka lwentkie}

{layout by Lori, aka lwentkie}

{layout by Kat, aka Katarina}

{hybrid card by Sara, aka livelys}

{hybrid card by Sara, aka livelys}

Show us your layouts using hearts by leaving a link in the comments below. Keep smiling!

Yes, I’m a font-a-holic. I must admit that fonts are among my favorite digital scrapbook supplies. They not only assist me in sharing my stories effectively, they also allow me to express my creativity. Fonts are terrific for adding emphasis to digital scrapbook layouts, as well as to specific parts of your journaling.

But with so many fonts on the market — especially free fonts — it’s easy to fall into the trap of downloading them all and then not using them simply because you can’t find the one you’re looking for. How do you combat this?

I have two tricks:
1. Self-restraint
2. Organization

Exercise self-restraint. Yes, fonts are addicting. They’re beautiful, they’re fun, they’re crazy. But you don’t need all of them. You definitely won’t use all of them. And your time might be better spent scrapbooking your stories, rather than downloading all the fonts you can find in the hopes of sharing that story. (Perhaps you’re downloading fonts to avoid telling the story …)

Before you download, pause long enough to ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I already have a similar font? (think handwriting fonts, lol)
2. Will I really use this on a scrapbook page?

If you answer no to the first question and yes to the second, then go ahead and download it. If you’re not sure, then maybe bookmark the font so you can find it later if you do come up with a reason to use it on a page. (This concept applies to freebies too — I only download the ones I know I’ll use. Just ’cause it’s free, doesn’t mean I need it eating up valuable space on my hard drive.)

Organize those fonts. Once you’ve downloaded some fonts, it’s important to organize them so you can find them when you want them. I don’t recommend dumping them all into your computer’s main font folder, where you’ll have to sift through EVERYTHING to try to find the one you want. And I only install the fonts I use all of the time — I just temporarily install the others when I need them using a nifty program, which I’ll get to in a moment.

I have a folder for scrapbooking fonts in my digi scrap supplies folder. The font folder is subdivided into folders named for the source of the font — this works for me, since I typically can remember where I downloaded a font, but not necessarily the name of the font. You could choose to organize yours differently, maybe by type of font (script, handwriting, etc.). Do what works for you — and keep it simple so you’ll keep at it as you download more fonts.

I use a free program called AMP Font Viewer to temporarily install my fonts when I need them. After opening the program, I choose the “Not installed fonts” tab, then navigate to the folder where my font is, then scroll through the fonts. When you click on a font, it shows you what it looks like in the box on the right side. After I find the one I want, I click on “Install font temporarily.” This is partly because the install button doesn’t work with Windows 7, but mostly because I don’t really want it on my system forever.

So remember — a little bit of self-restraint and some organization can go a long way in keeping your font relationships happy and thriving!