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In this issue
Letter from Team Digital - Robyn Gough
May, a time when the weather starts to warm up and flowers start to bloom, unless of course you are in the Southern Hemisphere. Here in Australia the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. The season’s aren’t quite as defined here in Australia as in many other parts of the world so I still find myself scrapping with spring colours despite the fact it is Autumn.
Colour tends to be what inspires me most. I will see a lovely colour combination on a piece of fabric, or some beautiful colours in outdoor surrounds or even colours in home decor or a photo of my children. Here in Australia, we have plenty of evergreens so the masses of Autumn colours in falling leaves is not something you see a lot of. Here, despite the looming cooler months, I can look out of my lounge room window and see Hibiscus growing just a few feet away.
Milestones and moments are another thing that inspire me. A mood or feeling during a special occasion or event, an atmosphere while out at a cafe or the feeling of pride when one of my children achieve something special, like riding a bike without training wheels for the first time. Moods and feelings can be a great source of inspiration, a melancholy mood can be great for grunge, and happy mood great for bright and breezy layouts. Using your moods as inspiration can be as therapeutic as it serves as a wonderful creative outlet for expressing your feelings and emotions.
One mood that is hitting me of late, is excitement as it is only a short time till the DSP Gold Coast Laptop Crop! It will be my first ever laptop crop and I look forward to getting to know some of my fellow DSP digiscrappers a little better and I have no doubt that the planned photo walk will also provide plenty of inspiration. Photography is a passion of mine, and nothing strikes me as more inspiring as doing a photo walk with fellow digiscrappers!
Everyone experiences a creative slump now and again, and knowing what helps inspire your creativity is a great advantage to keeping that mojo going. In whatever part of the world you reside, no matter what time of year it is, I encourage you to think about what inspires YOUR creativity.
Robyn Gough,
DSP Designer
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Upcoming 2009 DSP Crops and Events:
National Scrap Book Day (NSBD), Saturday, May 2, 2009 Chats, Challenges, Sales and Prizes!!
Monthly Crop – repeats first Friday of every month Troy, Ohio
Laptop Crop in Atlanta, GA (& Southeast USA) - Saturday, May 2, 2009
Laptop Crop in Surfers Paradise - Gold Coast Australia - Saturday, May 9, 2009
Laptop Crop in Auckland - New Zealand - Saturday, May 16, 2009
Please check here for those interested in any crops that may be happening in your area.
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New to DSP?
New Member Information:
Are you new to digital scrapbooking or new to DSP? Join Digital Elite Team (DET) members Sands and Mars for a New Member Chat.
The chat will be every Tuesday at 10 pm EST - You'll find all the information here.
Here is a wonderful opportunity to ask questions about DSP and digital scrapbooking. Whether it’s a question about navigating the site or how to get started, someone will be on hand to give you the answers.
Posting Your First Layout:
Are you thinking about posting your first layout? There's a special first layout challenge each months for you. Post your first layout to DSP this month and you may be a random winner for a free page kit!! You'll find all the information here
Welcome to DSP! We know you will love it!
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NKOTB (New Kids On The Block):
ARE YOU A NEW KID????
If you are new to digital scrapping, DSP has a GREAT contest for you! You can join our New Kids on the Block contest and have a great chance to learn more about scrapbooking, get some free kits, meet new friends and maybe even earn prizes. Check out the eligibility requirements for NKOTB Contest here. This is a FABULOUS contest with several rounds, each round giving you a chance to get constructive suggestions on how to improve your layouts and meet and greet throughout the DSP community.
Even if you have never posted a single layout - this is a great way to get started. You get so much support from the people here at DSP and there are so many opportunities to ask questions and get encouragement. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Sign up NOW. Sign ups end May 2nd, but you can still join the contest through May 8th, you’ll just miss out on the suggestions!
BE A NEW KID AND HAVE SOME NEW KID FUN!!
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Some Useful Links:
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New Products Club Digital Events Freebies Tutorials Mentoring Terms of Use Contact Us
Club Digital
Are you a member of the club?
May 2009 Club Digital
Flowers rule in this months Club Digital issue. There are 2 page kits, one cute and modern and the very essence of spring and one softer and perfect for those May flower and rain photos There is a trendy plopper that's perfect for those family photos , and you will also find some really useful stamps that allow you to capture the moment . There is a set of really useful and versatile Imaginative word art and a great white washed alphabet. As usual there is a great quick click to help you with your layout designs and an exclusive font.
This months content includes:
~Spring Showers Page Kit
~Backyard Blooms Page Kit
~Family Memories Plopper
~White Washed Alpha
~Capture the Moment Stamps
~Infinite Imagination Word Art
~DSP Font - DSP Sarah B
~Tabbed Photos Quick Click
Club Digital is the hottest club in town! Get your monthly fix of the best digital scrapbook products for an incredible price! Something to suit every style and level of digital scrapper!
Club Digital includes two page kits, one plopper or overlay, a quick click template, an alphabet, some wordart, a font, and png stamps! And there's more! We now include an exclusive store saving coupon just for Club Digital customers. Not only are you saving by being a member, but you receive a coupon that increases your value savings! On top of that, you can can enter an Club Digital exclusive challenge just for members (with great prizes)!
Over $27 in value for the incredible price of only $5.99/month or even less with a longer subscription! Club Digital is just $17.97 for three months ($5.99/month), $33.00 for six months ($5.50/month), or $59.88 for a full year ($4.99/month)!
Club Digital now comes in 2 resolutions. Choose either 200ppi or 300ppi from the drop down box to select your choice of resolution.
When you purchase, you are automatically entered in to the following drawings:
Buy a 3 month subscription and go into the draw to be upgraded to a 6 month subscription
Buy a 6 month subscription and you might win an upgrade to a 12 month subscription
Buy a 12 month subscription and your name will go into the draw for a $30 coupon for the DSP store.
Welcome to the club!
Here is a selection of layouts created by the DSP designers using this months Club Digital Selection.
Click here to subscribe to Club digital today
Click here to subscribe to Club digital today
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Featured Designer - Meryl Bartho
Quite ironically, many folk become scrappers in order to “do something” with the photos they have- albums, frames boxes, in folders, on CD’s and DVD’s – yes, what inevitably follows the scrapbooking addiction? Yes, the hankering after a better camera, better photography techniques (the popularity of the Photography Forum can attest to that!) and what is the result? More and more photos!
I started scrapbooking in order to “do something” with our elder daughter, Kate’s wedding photos; I kept looking at them and kept wondering what? At a meeting one afternoon a colleague brought along the beginnings of her scrapbook. She had recently visited Australia & came across scrapbooking (which at that stage was unknown here is South Africa) – as soon as I saw it I was so excited – this was it I thought! On my return home I Googled “scrapbooking” and somehow added the word “computer “ to my search – suddenly I saw that there were people out there doing pages on their computers – no need for me to find ways of importing the expensive bits and pieces I had been looking at! I joined a group – and from there I remember Audrey (she & I started our galleries the same day!) and Margie.
From then on I didn’t rest – I HAD to find out how to do this (bear in mind that, amazing as it now sounds at that stage (end 2002) there were NO products to buy – probably fortunate, as I would doubtless have gladly swiped the plastic in return for some gorgeous scrapping goodies!) I managed to get hold of a never used Photoshop 6 & bevered away, working on any and every tutorial, asking LOT’S of questions, and the rest, as they say, is history! I do look back and think, the decision to “go for” digital scrapbooking, was, along with choosing the best  husband in the whole world was one of the best decisions I have made in my life!
From that early beginning our family has grown – we now have two sons in law and three gorgeous grandchildren – the youngest, Rebecca, is just two months old. As any mother or grandmother will tell you – this means LOT’S of photos, add in weekends way, fun days, vacations and overwhelm can quickly set in. I can never be described as a minimalist and worse I have pack-rat tendencies and find it hard to choose one “best” photo to scrap – as a result, one or even two page photos are seldom seen in my gallery – much as I love their artistry, I LOVE the feeling of reliving a happy time by looking at a page- as a result of which I have developed a large collection of many photo templates, these newest of which is my Between the Lines QuickClick, works extremely well for a timeline type of layout, but best of all, gives a great place to journal (another passion of mine!) between the lines of photos!
What then is important to me on a scrapbook page?
I like LOT’S of photos – I really like to tell the WHOLE story! Sometimes, I do a one photo page and then a multi to accompany it
I like journaling – it always amazes me to see a page, in the description is the whole story, on the actual page – a title and maybe, but seldom, a date……. Humm?? Is this, carefully & lovingly made page going to end up like the photos in the box with nobody understanding why you scrapped that favourite photo? – find lovely ways to include the story!
- I also like a date – right now, yes its soooo easy to put a date to a page, in NO time at all it will be hard enough to get the year let alone the day and the month! Again we want it to look good – I have a number of date elements to make it easy to date elegantly!
- And for no good reason, I love a page which uses an alpha – usually quicker to type a title, but titles incorporating a well chosen alpha just seem to pop!
- This month I challenge you to try some multi-photo layouts, you know you have folders full of photos which would fit the bill – birthday parties, vacations, Christmas – I’d love to see them!
Meryl’s Links
Click here for her Team Digital Bio
Click Here for her Personal Gallery
Click Here for her Forum
Click here for her Designer Gallery
Click here for all Meryl's stuff in the store.
Earn prizes and have fun with the Featured Designer Challenge!
(Be sure to check the bottom of the newsletter for a special freebie from Meryl to our newsletter readers!)
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Member Spotlight: Caraffle
DSP Member Spotlight for May is Chris a.k.a caraffle.
Distinctive is the word that comes to mind when you see the layouts in gallery of this months DSP Member Spotlight: Chris
Her user name is caraffle, her real name is Chris, but many DSP members affectionately call her Raffie.
Chris describes her scrapping style as “functional” and explains that she scraps “to get events into the family books regardless of style. Most people say they can tell a LO is mine before they open a thumbnail. I use many extractions, OOB (Out Of Bounds) and lots of blending.”
She says her children and family are her inspiration, but that she is constantly trying to improve her techniques, a source of inspiration in its own right.
Chris describes herself as a very traditional woman, wife and mother. “I decided to stay home and give up my career as it would not have allowed me to be as involved with my children as I had wanted to be. I have been married to a wonderful man for 17 years and am beginning a new career as a new photographer. To explain who I am I must first mention my favorite title, MOM. Yes, three teenage daughter don't always make my heart sing but most of the time I burst with pride and admiration for my girls.”
Congratulations Chris. Thank you for being our member spotlight. Be inspired by Chris’s Gallery and read more about her HERE and take part in the Scraplift the Spotlight challenge for May.
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It's Shop Time!
My Memories Suite:
My Memories Suite is a premium digital scrapbook application that allows users to make beautiful scrapbooks that can be enhanced by music, narration, video, and the Internet. Create digital albums in minutes using one of many designer templates, or design your own pages using page kits (click here for a tutorial). Share your albums as beautiful hardbound books, print individual pages, watch them on a DVD, or view them on the computer as an interactive CD. You can even share them on an iPod or turn your pages into printed greeting cards that can be mailed directly to family and friends. The robust features of the software provide the graphic tools to make beautiful digital photobooks, while at the same time keeping all your memories—your pictures, videos, and music—preserved in one place.
It is the ideal tool for the beginning scrapbooker who wants to get started and create some awesome albums AND the sophisticated scrapper who wants to create something a little different and very special. And to help you get started we have some awesome coupons for you!!
May MMS Promotion (GREAT GIFT for MOM!!)
Coupon Code: F0399(2)DLMMSgnGB
My Memories Suite - Buy the Software Get 2 MMS Page Kits Free!
Coupon must be used at the time of purchase and is valid on MMS Version Page Kits only.
Expires May 31, 2009
Shop Time Inspiration
It’s time to SHOP… let’s get those baskets at the ready.
“If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom”. ~Audra Foveo
The most hard-hearted of souls cannot help but be touched by the sight, or fragrance, of a flower. They warm a soul after a long, cold winter, they delight the senses and hold sadness at bay. May brings with it the scent of flowers and the love of mothers - both of which can be indulged in the DSP store. Hunt down the word mother and see what a delightful variety of products can be found, or flower or spring.
Did you know you can do a search for any colour you want, my particular quest was for something with lavender since it seemed to be such a good colour for mother’s day and it's so easy to find just the right products when you do a colour search
Have you checked out the theme gallery lately, you’ll find lots more kits plus some awesome word art, ploppers, alphas and wow – loads more ideas. Here’s the theme for Spring, and one for Mother’s day.
We have some great gift ideas for Mom! Wearable Purse or Bracelet!
Gift Certificates Send them the perfect gift!! Gift Certificates are a wonderful way to say - Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, I Love You, Happy Mother's Day, or even Just Because!
Did You Know...
...you can get to the store by typing shop.dsp.me in your browser URL bar? Get to the store even faster!
Do you love the product you just purchased and want to tell others? Please consider doing a review ... pass the good word along! We love to hear from you.
Happy shopping
Scraps of Fun - Flowers CD
Flower Power rules with this CD which features 12 kits all with a floral theme, from funky and freestyle to elegant and heritage styled there will be sure to be the perfect kits for your photos in this CD.
This CD includes:
~ Blooming Beautiful
~ Bright Flowers
~ Bright Spring
~ Candy Blossoms
~ Dusk Meadow
~ Felt Flowers
~ Floral Coral
~ Floral Finery
~ Garden of Friends
~ Hawaiian Dreamin'
~ Spring Aburst
~ Tropical Blooms
Scraps of the Fun - Flowers CD - Shippable - Scraps of the Fun - Flowers CD - Downloadable
Scraps of the Fun - Flowers CD_300 - Shippable - Scraps of the Fun - Flowers CD_300 - Downloadable
Here is just a peek at some of the kits you get on the Scraps of the Fun - Flowers CD.
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Inspiration for New and Advanced Digital Scrappers!
Digi-Scrapper Inspiration by Mandy
Hanging Around – the story of a wall hanging
I was going to write about May being a month of meaning: What your mother or being a mother means to you, how scrapbooking has changed your perceptions and what it means to you… but then I looked up at my wall hanging now proudly on display and had to write about that instead.
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How many of you have looked at those gorgeous Jacquard Wall Hangings in the store and thought maybe?
At the end of last year, after moving furniture around a bit, a wall space just begging for something special emerged. I decided to bravely bite the bullet and placed my order. I was totally unprepared for what followed next.
I realized I had very limited time to get the layout done if I wanted to receive it in time to give it to my family as a Christmas gift. I found three photos I could use (not the best, but with similar backgrounds and taken by ourselves). Then the panic set in.
Firstly, like many of you, I mostly do 12 x 12 layouts, and suddenly found myself battling to layout a 26 x 34 orientation page. I found myself feeling like a fish out of water. I really wanted something that would be special, something that would show my children just how very much we love them, and something that reflected a bit of me too.
Secondly, what kit to choose? I must have spent hours pouring through the shop gallery, saving thumbnails – printing the ones I thought might work and comparing them to my lounge.
Next, what style - I tried paper style, graphic style, I tried different layouts with the three kits I had chosen as the best options.
Then I remembered that sometimes what you seen on your monitor looks different when you print it out, and even a layout designed for 8 x 8 looks different when printed out at 12 x 12. Size shifts perspective a bit… so much to my family’s amusement I print out the layouts tiled on small letter size pages and then cut and taped all the pieces together to get a feel for 26 x 34. Despite the hassle (and large-scale consumption of tape) it does give you a good feel for what the wall hanging will look like, although a woven wall hanging will be more muted in terms of color, with certain shades dominating.
Constantly aware of time ticking away, I tweaked my layout as much as I could and then taking a big breath I sent my layout through and then the waiting began. On Christmas Eve the package arrived – I could not have timed it better. The most perfect gift for my family. My lounge has a stunning new focal point; but it is more than a thing of beauty, more than a conversation piece, it is something I treasure – even though I now realize I chose a photo taken of my daughter when she had mumps!
Mandys Tips:
- Plan well in advance particularly if you wish to receive it by a special date.
- Look at 8x10 layouts in the galleries for inspiration.
- Print out little thumbnails of the Store Kit Previews and compare how they look and their mood it in that room.
- Do a PAPER TEST - Print out the layout – to get close to the actual size – print tiled, so a piece is printed on each normal sized page, these can then be stuck together. If you battle to do this in your graphics program, you can copy and paste into Excel, and print – Excel will divide it up into tiled pages for you. It might not always be totally to the inch, but will give you an good idea of how it will look big.
- Be aware that with weaving the colors will be a little different to the original.
Digi-Scrapper Inspiration by Meg
Stretching Skills with Sketches
Just as an artist draws his ideas in a notebook before committing them to canvas, a novelist outlines his story, and a director storyboards his movie plans; we scrapbookers can use sketches to plan and arrange our layouts. Sketches are the "skeleton" of a page, suggestions of overall design, and are meant to be individualized. Looking at one allows you to balance your design composition before worrying about papers, elements, or photo effects.
DSP has several galleries devoted solely to layout sketches. These are a great way to jump start your creativity and help you plan your next page. DSP Moderator Abby Adamowski runs a monthly sketch challenge, and the resulting layouts in the gallery are great examples as to how you can make a sketch your own. I've used her May sketch as an example here.
For my first example, I stuck very closely to the sketch, the only exception being the lack of title. I really wanted to use the word art with my journaling and a title right on top of it would have unbalanced my page. The photo grouping with nearby flower elements were perfect for my Easter photos. But remember, a sketch is only a suggestion! Had I been creating a page about my son riding his bike, I would have used more "boyish" elements in place of those flowers. The use of elements in those corners, balancing and framing the photo grouping, is the important design idea at work.
From there, I wanted to truly make the sketch my own, changing it around a bit to closer fit the style of my other pages. You can definitely still see the sketch's design influences on this page, (and I've even put the sideways title back in) yet it has a completely different look. By moving the title and ribbon/line element away from the journaling and tucking them in with the photo grouping, I could give them more "weight" by layering several items (a border stamp, the title, and line of gems). Using the sketch's circle as a place to put my journaling, my photos work as a group without requiring any of them to be the main focus. The stamped circle frame still provides the sketch's floral corner elements around the grouping, completing the flow and balance of the design.
Be sure to join Abby on May's Sketch Challenge, and see how you can make this sketch work for you! And if you want to stretch your sketch skills even further, check out webfrau's monthly Two Page Sketch Challenge!
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Artful Activities: Creating Moments into Memories
When you first join DSP you want to devour every little bit of information there is and it seems a bit overwhelming at first but the absolutely best place to visit first off is the 'What's Happening' page, it's packed with useful information to help you choose to participate in a designer run challenge or contest or make a date to be at one of our awesome chat session. To find out the daily and weekly fun at DSP check out the calendar of activities, there's never a dull moment at DSP and you're sure to find something to your taste to challenge you artistically
Coming Events:
Keep watching for other upcoming events in May...
May 2nd - Final Date for New Kids on the Block Signup - Sign Up here.
Contests, Challenges and Chats
- Designer Exclusives: Our Designers are the best there are and they are really generous, if you enter one of their challenges you’re more than likely to receive a chat and/or posting bonus just by using their nominated kit for the challenge. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain – like more stash for less bucks with these great challenges.
- Inspiration Station (IS News)
This is a call to all dedicated DSP scrappers to ‘strut your stuff’ and inspire us with your creations. Just choose any or all of the calls for layouts the current month and you could be showcased in our Newsletter or Blog. We have a few rules so check them out and then join in the fun. Check out the current edition of Inspiration Station News or here for Previous Issues
- Calls for May will include:
- Color - Purple Lavender or Blue
- Event - April Showers Bring May Flowers
- Relationship - Mother
- Style / Trend - Beads
- Club Digi - ... May 09
- CD - Scraps of Fun - Flowers
- Project 365 - a project for how YOU scrap. Check out our Project 365 chats and the Project 365 store category.
- Scrapolution – It’s a DSP evolution, a scrapping revolution, and our New Year’s resolution:
It's a SCRAPOLUTION!!
It’s all about YOU, our members, our friends, making scrapping goals and Team Digital supporting, guiding, encouraging, joining, and cheering you on every step of the way. Check out the current themes and prompts.
- Scrap with the DET – Digital Elite Team and DET Alumni
Our past and current Elite group of scrappers have some great challenges going at the moment and you’re sure to get well chosen CC should you need it – learn from the best
- Elite Challenges - be sure to check out the challenges run by our DET Alumni and DET.
- Freebie Challenge and Odds N Ends run by Mars is a great chance to use Freebies or kits you already have in your stash.
- The Grannies If you’re a Granny or a Granny In Training (GIT) or just a Wannabee, you might like to see what other Grannies are up to, what challenges they have going. There is never a dull moment when you join this happy band of digi scrappers.
- IOTW - Item of the week – Abby
The Item Of The Week is a priced to sell and generally cost only a few cents so create a LO using only the IOTW and be in the draw to win a free kit.
- SNL - Saturday Night Live - MarsOlson & Debbers
This is where anyone can create their own digital scrapbook kits to share with other SNL’ers, from elements and papers to word art.
- Featured Designer Challenge - Scrap with products by the Featured Designer and get posting bonuses and random draws for gift certificates.
- This is just a small selection of popular challenges that DSP currently has running but be sure to check all of them out here. And we have a special blinkie to place in your signature to always remind you where to find the best scrapbooking challenges on the web. Check the end of the first post in the What's Happening thread for the blinkie code.
Happy Scrapping!
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DSU Information
I know that summer doesn't officially start until the end of June but here in Texas summer is definitely here! My boys love being able to go outside and play in the water and in our new sand table! Summer brings many activities and if you are like me there will be loads of pictures taken of these fun times! Do you need to find a way to create lasting memories of your summer with your family? You are in the right place! DSU offers fabulous classes from beginner to advanced to help you with your digital scrapping goals. There is still time to register for our May classes! Late registration will run from May 1st - May 5th and will incur a $10 late fee.
Here is a line up of the classes that we will be offering in June. For further information about these classes, please visit our classes page.
DSU130– Corel Paint Shop Pro: Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking
DSU160– Adobe Photoshop Elements: Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking
DSU190 – Layout Design(2 week class)
DSU211/311 – Adobe Photoshop: Creating Digital Elements for Beginners and Advanced Users (self-paced)
DSU221 – Adobe Photoshop: Montage (Pre-requisites: DSU 110/160 or similar experience)
DSU361– Adobe Photoshop Elements: Creating Digital Elements for Advanced Users (Pre-requisite- DSU 261)
We would love to hear your suggestions on future classes! Send your suggestions and comments to me at dsu@digitalscrapbookplace.com.
Amber
Dean of DSU
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Desktop Calendar Plopper
A newsletter exclusive! Specially designed ploppers for your computer desktop. This month's offering is by Meryl Bartho. Download the plopper here! (Sizes: 1680x1050, 1024x768 and 800x600 are included.)
And just like any of our ploppers, put your photos on a layer underneath the desktop plopper. Angle and size them as you please, add journaling, and save it as a jpg. Then update your desktop wallpaper background by browsing to your new image! Voilą! Favorite photos matched with this month's calendar to help keep you up-to-date all month! Look for a new one each month in our newsletter!
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Newsletter Challenge
We are always striving to make our newsletter more interesting and useful. If you have an idea, let us know about it! If it's an article idea, a feature, even something you'd like to write, shout it out to us. So, put your thinking caps on and come up with some new features, article ideas, or something fun you'd like to see in our monthly newsletter. Then email it to comments@dsplace.com. (Please type "Newsletter IDEA" in the subject line of your email.) We can't wait to see your ideas!
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Newsletter Freebie
Exclusively for our newsletter readers, DSP Designer, Meryl Bartho has created this gorgeous Jungle Plopper. Grab it here! Size: 200ppi or 300ppi
Thanks so much Meryl!
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Many thanks to the newsletter Team:
Kim, Meg, Mandy, Erica, Amber K, Lauren, Meryl, Robyn, Lynnette
If you're not a registered member of our site why not Join Now!
All new members receive a free gift. Feel free to pass this on to your friends!
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