Good Karma Friday: Victorian (Australia) Bushfire Appeal

The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Fund was launched by Australian Premier John Brumby in partnership with the Red Cross and the Australian government. It will assist individuals and communities affected by the recent, and still continuing, devastating bushfires in Victoria, Australia.

Over 30 Australian and international digi designers have come together to create a charity kit called "Spirit of Summer" with 100% of the proceeds going directly to either the Australian Red Cross or the Salvation Army. You donate to one or both of them, send a copy of your receipt to Carolyn at Scrap-n-Tag, and she will send you a coupon code to download the mega kit. If you donate $10 or more you also get a matching quickpage album. Of course I wanted it all, so I donated over $10! ;-) You should, too!

Click the image below to go to the Scrap-n-Tag store and read more about it.



But wait! There's more!
If you also send me a copy of your donation I will send you a coupon to download my mini kit "Firestorm" created during the devastating fires that roared through San Diego in October 2007. This mini kit isn't just for those who have experienced a house fire or forest fire, it's also for layouts of a "Fire Sale," or someone you think is "Hot Stuff," a "Five Alarm Chili" meal, or even a "Firefighter" in your family! Hey ladies, how about those crazy "hot flashes?" LOL! The kit includes: 4 hot papers, 1 flaming overlay, 1 burning mat, 5 word art titles, 10 numbers, and 1 rogue flame.

Come to the $2 Groundhog Day sale at PDW

Click on the image to go to my store!

Shutterfly is giving you an 8x8 present for your Valentines

Please, please take advantage of this great deal! I made this "Year in Review" book in 2007 and was very impressed with the quality.

This offer doesn't expire until the end of next month, so you have plenty of time to get your photos together and make a free book. I made a book in 2007 and was very impressed with the quality.

Shutterfly has some pre-designed theme pages so all you have to do is plop your photos into the spaces and then type out some text. But, if you're into 'digital scrapbooking' and want to customizeyour pages, you can do that, too. They have free templates on the web site that you can use in Photoshop or your favorite photo editing software to help you make sure your custom pages fit correctly when they're printed.

The coupon includes a custom photo bookcover, too, which is always a nice touch. if your book turns out to be more than the included 20 pages, you just have to pay for the extra pages. Click on the advertisement below for a larger view.



Happy scrapping!

Homecoming 2009 - Let me tell you that I love you...

I don't know if you can see The changes that have come over me In these last few days I've been afraid That I might drift away So I've been telling old stories, singing songs That make me think about where I came from And that's the reason why I seem So far away today Oh, but let me tell you that I love you That I think about you all the time Caledonia you're calling me And now I'm going home. ~ 'Caledonia' by Dougie MacLean

The year-long festival kicks off on the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns birth, 25 January 2009, and runs until St. Andrew's Day, 30 November 2009. The events center around five main themes - Robert Burns, whisky, golf, great Scottish minds and innovations, and Scotland's culture and heritage. A few of the scheduled events are:

• January - a celebration of the songs of Robert Burns at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow
• May - a month of whisky with distillers across the country opening up their doors
• July - the biggest Clan gathering in 200 years in Edinburgh
• November - a celebration of Scottish music throughout the country

Get details, plan your trip, and more on the Homecoming 2009 web site: http://www.homecomingscotland.com

New Digital Celt designs coming in 2009

In addition to miscellaneous yet-to-be-imagined digital and hybrid products, I am definitely planning to create the following fabulous goodies!

A special Homecoming 2009 digital scrapbooking kit including a convenient matching 20 page "Semi-Premade Pages - template with a twist" album to get those memories scrapped and printed to share with your family and create a lasting legacy.

A Homecoming Heritage Add-on Pack featuring family heritage/genealogy quick pages will also be available in early 2009. Customize your album and add your family tartan and Clan badge to your pages with a Clan Pack.

Don't see yours? New Clan Packs will be added frequently...and you can always send in a special request.

A Celtic Child collaboration kit with my online designer friend Belanna, is in the planning and development stages so I'm not sure what it will contain, but you can bet it's gonna be great!

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day and a BIG $1.50 sale!

Hurry up! Come on over and pick up some great bargains...today only!

Start your 'Year in Review' album now!

Start saving your favorite photos and join me in putting together a nifty little 'Year in Review' album project!

Don't wait until next January to start thinking about doing a year in review (YIR) album - use those photos you've been taking all year and join me in putting together my new 'Semi-PreMade Album: A Year in Review' project right now!

Not ready yet? Don't worry - with these new template sets you can begin anytime!

The 'Semi-Premade Album' YIR project is made up of 6 two-month packages created to help you capture the highlights of your year and create a fabulous 5x7 album ready for printing with your favorite photo vendor. Each set has four layered templates (.psd files) making a 2-page spread for each of two months and includes fun elements, photo frames, and textured paper shapes...all for only $2.50 per set!

But wait! Subscribe to the entire project and get a special bonus front and back cover set! And that's not all...post your finished pages in the special 'Year in Review' PDW gallery and get a special surprise treat!

Set 1 = January & February: on sale Oct 29-31!
Set 2 = March & April: available Dec. 1
Set 3 = May & June: available Jan. 1
Set 4 = July & August: available Feb. 1
Set 5 = September & October: available Mar. 1
Set 6 = November & December: available Apr. 1
Bonus = Front & Back Cover pages: on sale Oct 29-31!

The 'Semi-PreMade Album' template sets will be issued monthly and there are two ways to purchase them. (on sale Oct 29-31!)

1. Purchase the entire project at once for only $12.00 and get a monthly download link. Subscribers will get the bonus front & back cover template set free with their first download.
   Click here to subscribe to the full set.
2. Purchase each individual template set as it becomes available each month for only $2.50.
   Click here to purchase set 1 - January & February.
   Then, purchase the bonus front & back cover template set separately at any time for only $1.50.
   Click here to purchase the bonus front & back cover template set.

As you complete your pages, post them in the YIR Gallery and post a link in the YIR forum for a special treat!

Don't want to do a 'Year in Review' album?

Use these templates to create any kind of album you want - school years, clubs, scouts, baby's firsts, wedding, heritage - the sky is the limit!

And, best of all, this album is totally customizable and reusable year after year!
A truly 'green' project!

Remember, all my designs are S4O friendly!

It's Samhain...Trick or Treat!...and a sweet freebie for you!

The Celtic year begins at Samhain [pronounced sow-in]. It is divided into two seasons: the light and the dark, celebrating the light at Beltane on 1 May and the dark at Samhain on 1 November. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, since it marked the beginning of a new dark-light cycle. It is a time of death and birth, a time of change, where we leave our old life behind and pass out of the darkness into our new life. The Celts observed time as proceeding from darkness to light because they understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground.

The night of Samhain [in Irish, Oíche Shamhna and in Scots Gaelic, Oidhche Shamhna] is one of the principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, falling on 31 October - Halloween. It represents the final harvest. According to Celtic lore, Samhain is a time when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead become thinner, at times even fading away completely, allowing spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans. It is the time of the year when ancestors and other departed souls are especially honored. It is still the custom, in some areas, to set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast and to tell tales of the ancestors on that night. (Perhaps this is where 'ghost' stories came from.)

Bonfires played a large part in the festivities celebrated down through the last several centuries, and up through the present day in some rural areas. With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly re-lit their hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together. Often two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Sometimes the cattle and other livestock would be driven between the fires, as well.

When Christianization came to the Celtic people, the religious spin doctors of the day turned this ancient celebration of the changing of the seasons into a scary bedtime story of witches and goblins. This misguided belief still survives in various branches of Christianity today. The Celtic Samhain festival was converted to All Hallows' Day on 1 November by All Souls' Day on 2 November. Over time, the night of 31 October and the remnants of the festival dedicated to the dead came to be called All Hallow's Eve which was eventually shortened to Hallowe'en (Hallow's Evening) and today it's Halloween.

Some of the customs and traditions of Halloween that we celebrate today were brought here by Irish and Scottish immigrants. One Irish custom is to bake a ring into a Barnbrack Cake. Each member of the family gets a slice and great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin, and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness. Another custom popular one at parties is dunking for apples and coins: a portent for success and wealth. Even wearing costumes and masquerading as the souls of the dead came from our ancestors from the Celtic countries.

All the designers at PDW have set out some tasty treats for you and they're scattered all over the store. Here's just a few previews of the treats you can find to fill up your goodie bags! Click on the picture below to get started!

Here's a wee lighthearted freebie for your Hallow'een treating...click here. And tell all your friends to come knock on my door to get their free treat, too!

Come play with us - Join the PDW Creative Team!

We're looking for scrappers of all styles and experience levels. Never been on a creative team (CT) before? Just started scrapbooking? That's OKAY with us! We want YOU to come join us! PDW has some big things coming, and as a Creative Wonder, you'll be the first to know!

Click here to visit the forum and check out the details!

Viovio! I love these guys!

I've been researching photobook printing services and sneaking up on the big guys is Viovio! What caught my eye at first was their ability to do a 5x5 minibook. After I lost a lot of my files on my EHD, I only had 6x6 versions of many of my layouts. Printing them at 5x5 was the perfect answer. Best of all, they are the most economical solution I've found!

Click the image below to check them out for yourself.



Here's what my wee booklet looks like: glossy paper cover with 15 satin finish, back-to-back pages (featuring 30 layouts). The price for the 5x5 size includes two booklets...a nice feature for gift giving!
(Note: the cover in the photo below is smaller than the open booklet
because it's a separate photo placed on top just so you could see it.)

Vote for me!

I have two summer-themed layouts in a competition at Penscrappers.com and YOU can help me win! Just click on the "Vote" button next to each of the layouts.

You can vote for as many as you want, but only once per layout (the system does remember).

So, what do I get if I get a lot of votes? There are some really cool prizes: 10 entrants win a nice new Wacom Bamboo Fun pen and tablet (neato!) and one grand-prize winner takes home a Bamboo Fun, a camera, and a printer! Not to mention bragging rights! LOL!

Thanks for looking...and voting. Please pass the word!

Clan Packs are in the house!

Here they are - just in time for this year's Highland Games season! The Clan Packs were designed as the perfect way to scrap your Clan events, a Scottish wedding, or a trip to the historic Clan lands in Scotland. Each tartan was lovingly created using the authentic thread counts and colors used by weavers in Scotland.

The first Clan Packs, available in my shop at Plain Digital Wrapper, are Clan Donald (MacDonald), Clan Gregor (MacGregor), Clan Chisholm, and Clan Campbell. Each Clan has both a personal use (S40 friendly) and a commercial use set.

The "Personal Use" Clan Packs are for personal events (such as weddings), Clan correspondence, or handouts at your local Highland Games but you CANNOT use them to produce items for sale or for web designs. If you wish to produce items for sale or use them on a website, you need to purchase the "Commercial Use" Clan Pack version. It's easy and not expensive, so please make sure you purchase the correct pack for your purposes.

Each Clan Pack includes:
1 12x12 authentic Clan tartan paper
1 silver Clan crest
1 silver Clan name word art
1 12" tartan ribbon
4 glass tartan buttons
1 tartan bow

And, in most "Personal Use" Clan Packs, there's a special bonus: a printable 4x6 Clan postcard!

Don't forget to post your completed projects and layouts in the PDW Gallery. I'd love to see what you come up with!

Come along to the Digital Scrapping Blog Carnival!

Welcome to the 22 May edition of the Digital Scrapbooking Blog Carnival! The carnival travels from blog host to blog host and this time it's camped right here for your enjoyment.

Theresa L. Twogood presents Daily Prayer Journal posted at OLIN e-Book e-Publishing, saying, "I truly hope you can use this. Diaries, journals and scrapbooking all have that small common ground for daily personal/spiritual growth."

News

Karen (aka Karooch) presents Step by Step Digital Scrapbook posted at Scraps of Mind, saying, "Step By Step Digital Scrapbook is great new website that's specifically designed for digital scrapbooking beginners. It offers lots of getting started information and videos and can even provide a hand-holding Mentoring program to take away that learning curve confusion."

Other

Hummie presents The best links ever! - according to me posted at Katie the Scrapbook Lady, saying, "Awesome list of links to fun things!"

DreamScrapper presents Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking posted at Katie the Scrapbook Lady, saying, "Good introduction to things to know about digital scrapbooking. Lots of excellent resources are linked in this article."

Trends

Karen (aka Karooch) presents Black and White Scrapbook Layouts posted at Scraps of Mind, saying, "Black and White is a popular color scheme for scrapbook layouts. This article looks at some of the things to take into consideration when you're going for the Black and White look."

Tutorials

Hummie presents The Basics of Creating a New Layout in Photoshop posted at TaylorMade Designs.

DreamScrapper presents Color Theory 101 posted at Big Ideas - scrapbooking ideas from IdeaBooks4u, saying, "Great article on color theory that deals with the challenge of using a tetradic color scheme."

DreamScrapper presents Help from the Pros posted at Big Ideas - scrapbooking ideas from IdeaBooks4u, saying, "Tips on shooting a portrait, based on advice from Scott Kelby's book, "The Digital Photography Book.""

Nancy presents Video Tutorial - Digitally Tearing Paper posted at Red Leaf DigiScrapping, saying, "This tutorial will show you an easy way to realistically tear digital paper."

DreamScrapper presents Much ado about shadowing posted at Sailor and Lula Designs, saying, "Some nicely illustrated tips on using drop shadows appropriately. These tips (except the one using image warp) will work for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements version 5 and above."

That concludes this edition! Submit your blog article to the next edition of digital scrapbooking using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: digital scrapbooking, blog carnival.

It's Good Karma Friday - Introducing HOPE

25 awesome designers have worked very hard to put this great kit together for a great cause - Cancer Awareness. Almost each and every one of us have had someone close to us suffer with cancer - now it's time to do our bit. For a minimum donation of $10 to a cancer charity of YOUR choice you can get this huge kit for FREE! You can see more details of this awesome kit at Designs by Sassy, the hosting digiscrap shop.

Contents
1 Alpha - 140 Papers - 333 Elements - 16 Quick Pages!



Here are a few sites who allow online donations, but feel free to donate to your own favorite.

Cancer Research UK
Breast Cancer Care
Macmillan Cancer Support
American Cancer Society
Canadian Cancer Society
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
Susan G Komen Foundation
Prostate Cancer Charity UK
Prostate Cancer Foundation

When you have completed your donation, e-mail your donation receipt to the hosting store owner, Sassy, and you will be sent a coupon to pick up this fabulous kit for FREE!

Not only do you get the great kit, but you'll also have a great feeling that you're doing your bit to help find a cure. You will also have peace of mind that your money is going directly to the charity and the hosting store receives no financial gain.

A BIG thank you to all the designers who participated!
Sassy, Scrap N Tag, qtJessie, *Amanda*, The Digi Twins, Jill D Zines, Nikki Painter, Rachel Young, Brandi White, Kari Hentzelt, Catriona MacGregor, Jennilyn , Dragonslairdigi, Crafty Bloss (christineM), Danielle Corbitt, Scrapdragon, Heavenly, creativechaos, BooBoo, ScrappinMamaof5 (Becky), Red Leaf DigiScrapping, Phoenix, JeanetteBollingerDesigns, Paperboutique, Green Elephant Designs, and Sine.

But wait! There's more!
Send me a copy of your receipt and I will send you a surprise bonus gift - a special 6 page bracket book designed by me using the kit items! I'll post a preview later on.

:> namaste

It's CT Appreciation Week!

{Well, actually, it's now the middle of CT Appreciation Week!}

What's a CT? It's an acronym for Creative Team. Many digi-designers and digi-shops have one or two or twelve that help them out doing things like making sample pages with kits, creating quick pages (QPs) and mini albums, doing fun things in the forums, and posting their layouts in galleries all over the web.

This year, as a thank you gift for all they do, digi-designers all over the world banded together to create a MONSTER of a digiscrapping treasure trove of elements, papers, QPs, templates, brag books, and more! For a look at some of the previews, visit the official CT Week blog. There's even some special contests for the CTs to participate in throughout the week over at DST.



I wasn't able to participate this year, but I will be sure to next year!

Join in the freebie treasure hunt...starting tomorrow at DST!

Oh, were you waiting for this?

In the past few months it seemed that I never had time to do my own digi-scrapping and I was getting a wee bit frustrated. Then my schedule got busy with work and home responsibilities so I took a leave from selling my designs. After a while, I finally started participating a couple of challenges at Scrapbook Graphics and a couple hosted by Betsy Tuma at Plain Digital Wrapper. I finally got my 'muse' back and completed a bragbook and a few layouts! Yay!

Speaking of getting my 'muse' back...I hope you all liked my special freebies for all those "Survivor Girls" out there. I will be expanding it to a full kit that will be available soon at...

Plain Digital Wrapper!

There you go - that's my secret! LOL! My designs will be available starting on DSD - Digital Scrapbooking Day - coming up on 3 November! To celebrate this first annual 'holiday,' PDW is having a great sale starting today! Here's the ad...

Digital Scrapbooking Day Shirts

These cute shirts are available from Martini Sweeties. They come in white, brown, black, and gray. And best of all, the profits will be donated to Susan G Komen for the Cure.

What a great way to support your favorite 'sport' and a good cause. I ordered mine!

i-NSD Sale - 50% 0ff on 5 May - ONE DAY Only!

Inter-National Scrapbook Day is here!
Click on the image below to go shopping...

Don't forget to check out the Bargain Bin for our weekly .99 cent sale!
You can save big, Big, BIG!

Love DigiScrap Forum Challenges?

Do you like to win stuff for participating? I mean, lots of FREE STUFF? Sure you do! Enter the DSO Delights Ultimate Challenge Contest and win, Win, WIN!

What do you win?
The winner of the random drawing will receive a FREE 6 Month Membership in the DSO Delights Club! The membership, regularly priced at $50, includes six Monthly Mega Kits (one each month, starting with the current month) AND another Mega Kit of your choice from any of the previous months. That's SEVEN huge Mega Kits! In addition, you, and the other club members, will receive occasional coupons and bonus gifts. What a great prize!

Contest Rules
1. Complete ALL the April challenges at DSO. (you must register but it's FREE!)
2. Post your name and email HERE, once complete.
3. The 'Contest Contessa' will check all the entries and place your name in the hopper. Only one entry per person, please.

You have from now until 30 April to complete all of the challenges.
The random drawing will be held 1 May.

The Challenges
Ad Challenge
Art Journal Challenge
Book of Me Challenge
Color Challenge
Element Challenge
Font Challenge
Heritage Challenge
It's In The Numbers
Journaling Challenge
Lyric Challenge
Quote Challenge
Scrappin On My Desktop
Scripture Challenge
Shape Challenge
Sketch Challenge
Template Challenge

What are you waiting for? Go visit the Challenge Forums TODAY!

Positively Charming "Affirmations Charms" with a SALE and a FREEBIE!

Introducing my latest elements sets: Affirmations Charms.

We all need a few positive affirmations in our lives, how about on our layouts and cards? Each of the three sets has nine different engraved metal affirmation charms and one blank to add your own. The charms are 2" in diameter.

• Set 1 includes: believe, faith, happiness, joy, laugh, live, love, support, truth, and 1 blank
• Set 2 includes: accept, calm, energy, health, receive, relax, success, wealth, worth, and 1 blank
• Set 3 includes: awareness, dream, freedom, happy, honor, hope, peace, strength, trust, and 1 blank

The sets are available separately or you can save $1 and buy the combo pack of all 27 wonderful affirmations and three blanks!

Best of all, they are all on sale for 50% off for ONE WEEK only! Hurry the sale ends at midnight on Wednesday, 6 March! Get them exclusively at my shop at Digital-Scrapbooking.org.

Want a sample to try-before-you-buy? Here's a wee freebie appropriately engraved with the word FREE! Get it here.

Remember, sharing images is a form of digital piracy. Please send your friends to my blog so they can download their own copy. If you want to learn more about digital piracy and how you can help prevent it, click on the link on the left.

Slainte! {Gaelic for Cheers!}