Hi everyone! I’m taking over half of the template challenge from the wonderful Debi Boler (behive50). For this week’s challenge we are using one of Pattie’s Speedbytes - Speed Byte No 65

Terry remained faithful to the original template with a playful layout about her son

Debbie flipped the template on its side for a completely different and very fun look - especially when paired with Mindy’s Tiki Weekend kit

I took the same approach as Terry with a layout about my very serious, and talented nephew.

Let’s see what you can do with Pattie’s terrific template! Don’t forget to post your layouts in the DD “Template Challenge” gallery!

Holy Toledo! Are we really at #33? Wow… another “Just My Type” milestone, I guess! And, this one is VERY BIG! At least for me… and Melanie (britgirl)! This week is my last week posting your typography challenges… but fear not, “Just My Type” WILL carry on with Melanie at the helm! And, she is sooooooooo perfect for this… check out her gallery and see all the fonts and creative uses of typography that are just natural for her! I am thrilled beyond pieces to welcome Mel to JMT! (And, no… I’m not leaving DD… you’ll still see me around! You can’t get rid of me! hahaha)

So this week, both Melanie and I came up with your challenge. We think you’ll love it, too… although it was a bit hard. *wink*

CHALLENGE: Use TWO of your favorite alphabets from the DD store! It was funny ‘cuz both Melanie and I decided we had about THIRTY favorites! LOL So, that was the HARD part… choosing just TWO! But, we did it and so can you!

One of Melanie’s “go to” alphas is Katie’s versatile “Chunky Chipboard White” alpha. For this layout, she paired it with another of her favorites: Katie’s “Little Bits Black” . Mel uses the “Little Bits” in black, white and kraft alot and finds them a perfect addition to most any layout! The white chipboard keeps in line with the soft color palette, but the dash of black helps ground that cute (and determined!) photo! And, just look how effortlessly Mel added two more fonts to the mix for her clever subtitle and journaling! See? She’s perfect to takeover the JMT reins! *smile*

I think I’ve used Katie’s “Aged Alpha” on more layouts than any other one! It’s clean, classic and that little bit of grunge just adds to its character. I paired the brushes with another one of my favorite (and many times used!) alpha: Lynn’s “Paper Bag” alphabet! I love the texture of this alpha which is a perfect complement to the simple, sans serif font style.

Now you’ve seen a couple of favorites from Mel and me both… so, let’s see yours! Remember to post your layout in the “Just My Type” gallery at DD! Can’t wait to see some of your favorite alphas… of course, you just might entice Mel and I to add to our “thirty” favorites! *wink*

P.S. I just noticed that Lynn’s “Paper Bag” alpha is ON SALE right now in the DD store! If you don’t have it, I think you need to get it! *grin*

We are making some serious progress now as we’re on to week #7!!

Katrina made a comment that she’s trying to resist the urge to go back and rework some layouts and I’m the same way. But we need to keep moving forward to get our books done and then we’ll start a new 10 weeks to treasure with a new look and if we kept doing this all year you’d end up with at least 5 finished photobooks to show for your effort!

This week we’re using Create-a-Book Classic No. 7

And, as I was working on my Ireland pages, I realized I’m going to need more than a 20-page book to tell the story, so I doubled up this week!

details here and here

details here and here

and finishing up Jack’s book too!

details here and here!

I was trying to catch up in the gallery this morning and was blown away by all the pages and the awesome books that are coming together!

I think we’re all going to want to check out the amazing castles in Germany thanks to lesvrolyk’s pages!

The extra elements Shellb added to her pages were a perfect finishing touch!

And the beauty of New Zealand is clear in Luann’s pages!

Keep up the great work and I’ll look forward to catching up with you again next week!

Deck the halls with Downloads ga-lore
fa la la la la la la la la la!

It’s Christmas in July at DesignerDigitals and we’re celebrating it big! A new freebie will be available for 24 hours each day before it appears in the store. So be sure to check out the freebie gallery daily!

And we’re chatting and giving away Shutterfly giftcards along with some inspiration. So sign up for reminders from our calendar!

AND here’s a coupon code for 20% off storewide! Use it as many times as you’d like and share it with your friends. It is good until 7am EST Saturday, August 2nd! Just enter code: 2e4519 at check out for 20% off your ENTIRE order.
Cannot be applied to previous purchases.

Have a great week and we’ll see you here at DesignerDigitals.com!

A great page this week from nirecreations (aka Erin):

Isn’t it lovely? Gorgeous use of color, and a wonderfully simple, balanced design. I love the subtly patterned paper as the background. It does not overwhelm the photo and elements, yet fills the open space of the design with something of interest instead of plain paper.

This page is a great example of a triangle based design. Did you notice how this is reinforced by the stitching holes and the placement of the red elements?

Here’s what Kayleigh, Bonnie and Wendy were inspired to create:

Credits: layout by Kayleigh, Paraiso Azul pageset and distressed edge fotoframes (coming soon) by Anna Aspnes, Simple classics 05, Little folded ribbon bits, pinned tabs 02, negative sleeves, chunky chipboard alpha and notebook edge frames by Katie Pertiet.

Credits: layout by Bonnie, Orange Crush kit , worn strips 02 and worn strips 03 by Lynn Grieveson, Textured overlay by Anna Aspnes, hinged photo frame, stitching holes and stitching holes spring, Doodle do whimsy rubons, drop shadow actions, tailed alphabet, and hand stitched flowers by Katie Pertiet, staple its by Pattie Knox.

Credits: layout by Wendy, paper, winged heart, ribbon and glitter circles from Flitter kit (coming tomorrow) and word art from Sweet Wishes kit by Lynn Grieveson, vintage glittered frame and Loosely labelled phrase tag by Katie Pertiet.

Can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

~ Lynn