Make sure to checkout our Thrifty Thursday specials today.  There are 118 items marked down 30% for today only!

In the new book, Scrapbooker’s Almanac, author Elizabeth Dillow has come up with numerous events throughout the year to create really meaningful layouts.  For example, we all know you could do a Valentine’s Day layout about the people you love, right?  But did you ever consider doing a layout about your physical heart?  Dillow says in the book, “Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States each year, so there’s a good chance you or a loved one may be at risk. I know in my heart of hearts that I need to exercise more and eat more sensibly to lower my own risk, but it’s easy to make excuses. So I display this layout to remind me of three very important reasons to take better care of myself.” 

Design Team member, Debi Boler commented, “Funny how the timing was for this… I’ve really been NEEDING to make my health a priority . . . Check out Debi’s fabulous take on this challenge below:

Come check out this challenge on the IdeaBooks4u blog.  We have a few more examples and you have to check out the Groundhog Day challenge as well (seriously).  Be sure to post your pages in the IdeaBooks4u Inspiration gallery at Designer Digitals.

Who knows?  Maybe THIS could be the layout that puts you on the road to better health!  Also, remember the storewide sale starts tomorrow at Designer Digitals AND IdeaBooks4u.  The same coupon code will work in both stores.  Every book is going to be 15% off.

Welcome to another “Just My Type” challenge! Thanks for playing along with me thus far… and I hope you join in again this week! And I hope it makes you smile!

CHALLENGE: (1) Using an outline font, filling it in with coordinating colors and (2) use a “comic” or fun whimsical font for your journaling.

For this layout, I used Planet Benson and filled it in with colors that coordinated with my photo and papers. PLEASE NOTE: In Photoshop Elements (and I assume Photoshop, too!) you must SIMPLIFY your text layer before filling in the color. BEWARE: Once the text is simplified, it cannot be modified! TIP: I create a duplicate layer to simplify and color in. That way, if I don’t like it, I haven’t lost my original text layer! (And, yes, I know I can use CTRL+Z, but I just create another layer!) For my journaling, I used “Peanuts”... a font created to mimic the wonderful font the late Charles Schulz used in his popular “Peanuts” comic strip. (My fave!)

So, will you join me and have some fun this week? You can use the same fonts I’ve used (Planet Benson and Peanuts) or you can find some fun ones on your own. Check out some of the font sites (dafont.com, fonts101.com, abstractfonts.com) and search for “comic”, “cartoon” or “fill-in” fonts. And, remember… many of you already have “Comic” or “Comic Sans” loaded onto your computer!

Remember to post your layout in the “Just My Type” gallery at DD! Can’t wait to see what y’all come up with this week… enjoy, have fun and smile!

As sson as I saw this layout by Heather in the gallery I saved it to my favorites and knew I wanted to use it for a Saturday Scraplift.

It is a great example of how cropping can really make a page. Notice how tightly Heather cropped the photos yet by doing so somehow added to their impact! I love the contrast of the intense saturated colors with the white background as well.

Here’s what Heather inspired:

Credits: layout by Linda, Monoblendz Avalanche 02 paper and Tissue paper alpha by Anna Aspnes, Idaho Sunset paper by Jesse Edwards (coming soon).

Credits: Layout by Sara, Sunprints No 3 kit by Katie Pertiet, Distressed toolkit No.4 by Anna Aspnes.

I’m really looking forward to seeing more layouts inspired by Heather’s striking page - and don’t forget to post in the Saturday Scraplift for us all to see! I Loved seeing these last week:

~ Lynn

This week over at the IdeaBooks4u blog, we’re taking on a challenge from Ali Edwards’ fabulous book, “Life Artist - Scrapbooking Life’s Journey.” In this challenge, Ali says, “Grab a stack of photos and a sheet of paper (or use this as a chance to begin a sketch book or book of lists). Go slowly through a stack of photos. Jot down notes of things that come to your mind as you look at each photo or group of photos. Pick one (yep, just one for now) and tell an underlying story about the photo - a story that may not be apparent on the surface, one that goes deeper than what you see at first glance. Create a layout based on that story.”  Here’s Ali’s example of this challenge:

Come check out the blog, then post your work at the IdeaBooks4u Inspiration gallery at DD.  I hope you’ll play along!