RECOMMITMENT TIME!

It’s that time of year when people are busy with vacations and travel, and the lack of schedule may get us completely out of our normal routines.  It’s also possible, that at mid-year, we’ve found ourselves in a mid-year scrapping slump.  Maybe the idea of creating a photobook this year has been put on the back burner for now.

For that reason, we would like July to be ‘Recommitment’ Month for the Photobook Challenge! This means that we are offering a special ‘Recommitment’ bonus to EVERYONE that posts a Photobook Challenge layout this month.  So, if you’ve lost your motivation or you’re feeling behind, now is the time to just jump right back in!  To be eligible for the ‘Recommitment Bonus’, all you have to do is post a two-page layout in the Photobook Gallery during the month of July (even if you are behind and this is only your 2nd or 3rd layouts, it’s okay! All we need is a demonstration of recommitment!)

We have a couple of surprises for the "Recommitment bonus".  The first is a set of decorative masks that I put together:  

And the 2nd part of the is this fabulous "Stars and Stripes" kit by Studio Crew member Melinda:

JUNE COLLAB WINNER:

In addition to the ‘Recommitment Bonus’, we will still be giving away the Studio Girls Collab to one random winner.  Congratulations to our June Winner: Angel Jet, who has won the July Studio Girls Collab, Impressions of Travel! It’s a great kit to scrap some of those vacation travel photos: 

JULY TEMPLATES:

To get everyone started, here are the July templates are another set of multi-photo templates.  These templates are made of lots of fun handcut shapes.  If you do not need so many photos, they can easily be adapted for fewer photos.  Use of the templates are optional. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

If you are new, be sure to check out the Photo Book 2009 Forum for more information on the PHoto Book 2009 Challenge

I’m sure many of you have plans to travel or are finding fun things to do to keep the kids busy if you’re staying home this summer. I asked the ladies of the Studio Crew how they are spending summer and how they’re planning to scrap it! They’ve got some great ideas for special events, trips and just staying close to home that I’ll be sharing in the next weeks!

Carolla is planning trips to State Parks & Natural areas. “I have a few layouts that I am working on now, one just posted and all of them seem to include Gumnut Gulley by Flergs - great for an outdoorsy layout!”

Melinda has found some kits for her familiy’s “every day adventures” this summer, including Lorie’s Lorie’s Ticket to Dragon’s End for trips to the library and reading. Her twin daughters are hanging out with their girlfriends a lot and having lots of sleepovers so she’ll have lots of photos to use with Pop Summer by Glam Fairy and Trap the Spark by MGL Scraps.

Becky’s daughter graduated from high school at the beginning of June. “It can be hard to find products that go with some of those weird high school colors! But fortunately, I found the perfect match to the maroon of my daughter’s grad gown in Birgit Kerr’s Front Porch! I love this kit and turn to it again and again, but hadn’t remembered that it had this great paper! I think of it for the orange, but I found the flowers, the dotted paper and a great string frame in it that I knew I just had to use.”

Anna has lots of big plans ahead in Australia, where it’s winter. “Well, our big adventure for the winter is going to be our trip to Queensland so I’m sure I’ll need to pull out the new Impressions Of Travel Collab. It will be so great to catch up with some of our old friends.” And she also has her eye on Hey Boy by ON Designs and Em-ka’s Colourful Island of Treasures kit for scrapping the trip.

We’ll have more on the Crew’s summer adventure’s in the Studio Spolight next week!

I know!  Just in time, right?  The Studio Girls’ Impressions of Travel has arrived just in time to scrap all those summer trips to the beach, camping, grandma’s place, or amusement parks.  This collection is another jam-packed themed kit full of various modes of transportation, great papers (including maps), and travel ephemera. We think you’re gonna love the colors…soft and muted, lots of worn textures, lots of pattern!  And two alphas!  So, whether you’re still on the road, or ready to scrap today, Impressions of Travel will be here when you get back and sit down to scrap!

AND…FYI…there’s a really fun add-on included in The Digi Files #6 over at The Daily Digi for the month of July, as Scrapbookgraphics is this month’s store sponsor…so make sure you pick that up, too!  I’m sure The Digi Files #6 will be full of lots of other amazing goodies, too (they always are–a fabulous value!)

Participating Designers: Baers Garten Designs, Berna Datema, Doris Castle, em-ka Designs, Studio Flergs, Franziska Altmann, Glam Fairy, Hillary Heidelberg, Jen Caputo, Lorie Davison, Studio Manu, Miss Vivi, Peta Boardman, Phuong Ton, Studio Arisu, Tangie Baxter, and Wendyzine Scraps.

Includes:

42 backgrounds
7 transportation silhouettes
2 paper borders
3 paper frames
1 spiral notebook
2 travel word arts
2 alphas
4 worn mats
3 doodled forms of transporation
1 worn and tattered frame
4 doodled swirls
1 doodled cloud set
2 round stamps
1 two-up map frame
1 paper skyline
1 skyline template
1 trio of slide frames
1 travel memory stamp
8 word arts in both paper and stamped versions
1 airplane cut-out
1 coin
1 8.5 x 11 layered sketch template
2 12 x 12 layered sketch templates
1 airplane (with and without shadows)
1 car (with and without shadows)
1 compass frame (with and without shadows)
1 keyring frame (with and without shadows, and with a charm)
1 doodled road
4 versions of road signs
2 doodled word arts
1 clock (available in layered pieces)
1 cloud overlay
1 set of doodled clouds
1 bi-plane
1 suitcase
1 dove
1 rope frame
1 bottle
3 drawn vehicle cut-outs
1 open wooden box
1 wooden tray
1 photo mask
2 license plates
2 hot air balloons
2 circular frame
4 butterflies
1 butterfly net
1 white cloud element
2 paper clouds
1 compass dial
1 compass
1 set of journaling strips (with separate shadows)
2 tags
1 stitched ribbon set
1 button
1 fancy stamped frame
4 luggage tags
1 piece of torn paper with stamps
1 postmarked piece of paper
1 staple
1 set of stitching
1 swirled string
1 bracket tag
5 grouped word art elements (with and without shadows
1 newsprint frame (with and without shadows)
1 aqua airplane (with and without shadows)
2 postcards (1 with and without shadows)
1 vintage airplane ticket (with and without shadows)
1 paper mask
1 ric rack piece
3 quotation word arts
4 arrow word arts
1 blank arrow
1 journaling strip
1 globe map
5 pieces of vintage transportation flair
3 Scene Its pages.

Hi there!  It’s been a while since I’ve perused the gallery looking for hybrid projects, and I found a few I’d like to share!

IARA
Love how Iara used her own flair images to create 3D embellishments on her hybrid layout!

CREDITS: Baers Garten Designs’ La Paperie Templates 7-9; Baers Garten Designs’ Spring Song Flair (adhered with foam pads); Basic Grey (papers); Chatterbox (chipboard number).

EricaLA
What a great idea! Making your own unique luggage tags! Your black bag will definitely stand out against all the OTHER black bags on the carousel!

CREDITS: Baers Garten Designs’ Going Places; chipboard; Luna (font)

PATTY KOMARA
Our own Studio Crew Hybrid Queen, Patty, made this adorable card using Doris Castle’s Cherry Bomb Kit.

CREDITS: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Ribbon: Target; Glitter: Ranger; Acrylic Letter: KI Memories.

PHARMGIRL
A hybrid layout creating using Hillary Heidelberg’s Flying Solo template set #2.  Pharmgirl simply printed it out and embellished with traditional supplies.

Must get sticky sometime soon! I love hybrid projects!  Make sure you check out some more fun cards by Patty in the Hybrid gallery!

We’re just so thrilled when one of the Studio Crew members gets "promoted!"  And we’re happy to be here today showing you what fun you can have with Studio Arisu’s offerings!

ANNA FORREST

CREDITS: All Blocked 2 Template by Studio Arisu; Playtime by Studio Ziska

KATE
Templates and I usually are not a great match.  I was thrilled when I open up this template set by Arisu.  I am not a clean scrapper so it just was perfect that i could actually put TWO of her templates together and come up with a layout that I really loved making.  She made it so easy to build a base for my layout and when I added Manuela’s kit, it all just fell together so nicely
 

CREDITS: Studio Arisu’s In Threes 1; Manuela Zimmerman’s Earthy Delight

RAMONA
I taught this young man 15 years ago and now he is a daddy.  I love a great template to make a layout fast and easy.

CREDITS: Studio Arisu’s In Threes (template); She’s so Sweet by Peta Boardman; My Baby Girl WordArts By sussieM Designs

ROBIN
Studio Arisu’s Heart Action Template is one of the most fun products I’ve used in digital scrapbooking! It took me a little while to sort through photos of my dog to pick 73 of them, but once I had everything set up, the action was easy to use to get them all on my page. I love multiphoto layouts and Alice has made it so easy to do in a very creative way!

CREDITS: Studio Arisu’s Heart Action; Franziska Altmann’s Playtime

CYNTHIA
I loved using this template!! The page just came together instantly, I can see myself using it over and over again and getting different results each time.

CREDITS: In Threes 1 by Studio Arisu; Perfect Day by Bluebell Design

MELINDA
It was so fun to hit the ‘play’ button on the action panel and watch all of the photos drop into place in the template, and it really made putting this page together so much quicker and easier!

CREDITS: Angel’s World by Line Designs; Heart Template/Action by Arisu; CK Becky (font)

MELISSA
I love Alice’s templates! They are so easy to work with and make your own!!

CREDITS: Studio Arisu’s In Threes 1; MissVivi & Gypsy Couture’s Way Out Wild; Century Gothic, Loved by the King (fonts)

FLOR
Love Alice’s templates. This is one of my favorites! 73 photos in a page and action even put them for you in the layout… Love it!!!

CREDITS: Thelma and Louise papers, elements and alpha by Berna Datema; beige paper from Sparkly Delight by Birgit Kerr; Heart Action/Template by Studio Arisu;  Essential Stitches by Syrin; Worn Out Overlays by Happy Scrap Designs.

Make sure you check out the last post with the great coupon and freebie from Studio Arisu!

Did you know we have a new Studio Girl?  Alice Che (aka  fa11enan9e1) joined us as a Studio Crew member to help create really "flashy" banners, but she quickly displayed her creative and technical prowess by designing some amazing actions that caught Maya’s eye!  Alice will now be designing templates and other actions under the Studio Arisu logo!

Alice is the youngest member of our community, a soon-to-be sophomore at Stanford University. She stumbled across the world of digital scrapbooking back in February of 2008, and quickly became known as one of the go-to girls for cool animated banners.  She took a break when she started college, but the lure of the pixels was strong, and she couldn’t stay away!

She says that other than scrapping and designing she loves watching TV shows with her friends, listening to music and reading.  She’s just a remarkable young woman, and we hope you enjoy having her designs in the store as another fabulous option at SBG!

Let’s see what else she has to share!

Q. Do you have a "day job" besides designing?
Well… I’m a student! Does that count?

Q. Tell us about your family!
I’m at Stanford most of the time, but luckily my parents live about an hour away from Stanford, so I can go home whenever I want! My older sister is in college too so I don’t see her that often, but we keep in touch over AIM. My family doesn’t quite get scrapbooking, but they’re really supportive of my designing.

Q. What was the last book you read?
I actually just finished a really good mystery murder book by Jeffrey Deaver, The Vanished Man.

Q. What was the last movie you saw?
It depends on whether movies at home count. The last movie I saw was Princess Protection Program on Disney Channel. Haha. Yes, I still love Disney… The last movie I saw in theaters was Up. Oh my god… such a cute movie! Loved it so much. Everyone definitely needs to see it.

Q. What was the last product you grabbed from another SBG designer?
Tea Party by SussieM. There are tons of other gorgeous kits I wanted to grab, but I haven’t had time to scrap yet.

Q. If you could live or visit anywhere in the world where would it be?
Living-wise, I love the Bay Area. Best weather, ever! I always really really wanted to visit Italy.

Q. Where do you get your inspiration for designing?
I love browsing galleries, and I get a lot of inspiration from the LOs I see. Plus I’m on creative teams with a bunch of really talented girls and they are super inspiring as well.

Q. Of all the layouts you have done, which is your favorite?
I usually have a hard time picking a favorite… but I really like this one I did for the SUTUCS contest.

We can learn a lot from you and your philosophy, Alice!  Thanks for sharing!

And speaking of sharing…Alice has a couple of fun things to share with our readers!  First, she wants you all to sample her goodies, so here is a free template just for Studio Matters guests!

And if you’re in the mood to shop and pick up Alice’s cool actions and templates, then you’ll need this coupon:

Stay tuned for the second half of our Play Day…the Studio Crew’s showcase of Alice’s designs!

Please join me in welcoming our July Cover Girl, Rebecca Lavender-Roberts  (aka Bec) to Scrapbookgraphics!  Rebecca was selected to be our July Cover Girl from over 30 entries with this layout she submitted called Nature Boy.

I’m Rebecca/Bec (also known as pSyren).  I was born in England but I’ve spent most of my life in Sydney, Australia.  I’m 40, been married 6 years to Graham.  I have 2 boys who star in most of my layouts, Alex 4 and Ben 7 months. I’m a photographer with a background in computers and art.  I’ve been a Photoshop user since v4.1 but I only started scrapping January 2008. I’ve never paper scrapped but love the paper look for my layouts. I’m currently on 10 CTs but the layouts I scrap are for me, my memories and my kids. I guess you could say I’m totally addicted to scrapping!

We hope you have a great time as our Studio Temp and Cover Girl for the month of July, Bec!

1. You will not receive any download links after purchasing this product.
2. You will be emailed within 12 hours (to the email address on your account) a one-of-a-kind coupon for 100% off Studio Tangie valid until July 12th, 2009.
3. You can use this coupon for all active products in Studio Tangie including all NEW products released until July 12th, 2009.
4. ABSOLUTELY NO COUPONS can be used on this, if you use a coupon you will not be sent your Studio Tangie Access Coupon.