Volume 7, August 2010

In this issue:

Letter from Team Digital - Heidi Kuester

With the middle of summer, we are busier than ever & enjoying EVERY minute of it! Summer to my family means swimming, camping, fishing at the cabin, raspberries, late nights, and campfires. But to me it means lots of photo taking opportunities.
Some of my favorite digital scrapbook pages are of my kids in the summer sun. But nothing ruins a page worse than bad photos.

Here are some simple tips for shooting those outdoor photos.
1.) Using flash outdoors can improve your photos. In bright sunlight, using flash can lighten dark shadows on your subject's face.
2.) Know your flash's range. For many cameras, it is only about 10 feet. After that the flash does no good.
3.) Watch the light and study the effects of light in your photos. Avoid overhead sunlight (middle of the day) that casts harsh shadows across faces.
You can learn more tips, tricks, and advice in the Photography section at DSP.

Keep enjoying your summer days because before we know it, the crisp cool days of Autumn will be here.

Heidi Kuester, DSP Senior Designer

Heidi's Links:
Team Digital Bio - Personal Gallery - Designer Forum - Her Blog - Products in the Shop

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Site News and Features

New to DSP?

Posting Your First Layout
Are you thinking about posting your first layout? There's a special first layout challenge each month for you. Post your first layout to DSP this month and you may be a random winner of a free page kit!

What's Going On
If you need to know what is going on, you need the What's Happening at DSP thread or the Calendar. You can also find out what contests and challenges are due in the What's Due thread. Try out a few challenges, there are some great ones!

Welcome to DSP! We know you will love it!

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Upcoming DSP Crops and Events

There's nothing like meeting DSPers in real life to learn new things, take great pictures, and have a good laugh! Check out these upcoming gatherings in the Gathering and Support forum and post yours too!

September 25 at Adobe in San Jose, California and November 12-15 in San Antonio, Texas.

And check out Lauren’s slide show of past laptop crops she has attended! Her layouts show the fun and laughter that happens at a DSP gathering!!

Scrap the Map Laptop Crop in Minnesota!

Read about the fun we had at the Mall of America, our first stop on the Scrap the Map tour! We had a great time and hope to see you at a crop soon!

Scrap the Map tour sponsor announced: Adobe Systems!

Read the great news about Adobe sponsoring the DSP digiscrapping tour and find out how you can win Adobe software!
Follow the journey at Scrap the Map and in our DSP Forums!

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The Wall Of Honor!

The Wall of Honor has been established and a first name has been posted in that place of distinction. Someone many members at DSP know and love certainly. Congrats Kay! Keep your eye on the Wall for new names from time to time!

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Member Spotlight: Debbie a.k.a chanmansmom

One glance at Debbie's gallery packed with stunning layouts, and it is obvious where she finds her inspiration. "My daughter is my inspiration. I want to preserve Memories for her. We all really enjoy looking through our Memory books. We find it fun as a family to relive some of our awesome moments." When asked about her style, Debbie said that she would not say she as a particular style, instead she says she "scraps what I may be feeling at that time. I like trying new styles." Someone who is a "lover of life," Debbie says she enjoys and appreciates each and every day. Read more on the Spotlight Page. Looking for some inspiration? Then visit Debbie’s Gallery. Find out more about this interesting lady on the Spotlight Page and then try the Scraplift the Spotlight Challenge.

Congratulations Debbie, and thank you for sharing your talent with us as the current DSP Member Spotlight!

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Digi-Scrapper Inspiration by Mandy

A Letter to Your Younger Self

The idea of writing a letter to your younger self is quite a popular idea in the media. Have you written a letter to your younger self?

For people who believe this is a pointless exercise since you cannot really send a letter back through time or even change your past, they are perhaps missing the real point of these letters.

This is not necessarily about a recipe for success in the future, but an opportunity to reflect on where you were then and where you are now. It could help you achieve acceptance of who you are, perhaps remind you how much you have achieved or how far you have come, perhaps offer some insight into the wisdom you have gained. All of these positives are confidence boosting.

The letter often puts into perspective issues which worried us, all those little doubt and insecurities from teenage years which over time turn out to be of far less significance than they seemed at seventeen. It reminds us that maturity and experience does indeed bring lines and wrinkles, but also gives us wisdom. Something to remember when you see your own children or grand-children battling with their teenage angst, it helps to remind you of how you were at their age. It is a reminder of hope.

I have seen some people focus on the negatives, and write that they should avoid a certain person or situation, which is itself insightful as it should warn the writer that they are still stuck on their past or blaming others for their misfortunes. If the letter helps bring closure that is wonderful, but if it is simply another opportunity to feel miserable, then the writer needs to refocus and bring in the things they are grateful or thankful for, things they still want to work on or towards. It should remind us to be true to ourselves, to be proud of our achievements and dream of the possibilities and potential that the future still holds for us.

My challenge to you is to set aside some me time and write a letter to your younger self, whether you prefer to leave out the details and hold onto one key idea or write a longer letter… whatever you choose, take the time and do it for yourself. Then create a layout, one that you can put in a visible place so that on those little rainy days in life you can remember that clouds do have silver linings.

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Featured Designer - Meryl Bartho

Can you believe we are now into August? For some reason, for me anyway, the second half of the year seems to pass even faster than the first (and that flies!)
We just celebrated our traditional DSP Christmas in July with gifts, discounts, challenges, and avatars favouring Santa hats. I always find it odd thinking of designing Christmas kits in July, but once I start I love it – Christmas kits have to be one of my favourite themes. This year I have Christmas at Home for which I have a challenge/posting bonus, buy Kit 1 and get Kit 2 free!

The first half of our year went past in a whirl of dust as we embarked on home renovations. We started planning and getting quotes in January, actual work starting in February. We thought we had all the plans in hand – a highly recommended builder and a project manager (an extravagance maybe, but the thought was that it would mean I could continue working with someone else watching the progress). The best laid plans of mice and men... the five week project is still not 100% finished more than five MONTHS later (two months of which we spent camping in our caravan in the garden), the project manager didn't last 5 minutes (picture someone who can’t get the correct answer to a column of costs using a spreadsheet with an engineer husband paying the bills! Fireworks!) As a result I have had a sorrowful year design and scrapbooking wise – far, far too few new products in the store, scarcely a layout done, few posts in any forums. However, all is not lost. Although not "finished", the dust has now settled, the house is once again quiet, and I am back!

I have lots of photos of the renovation in progress waiting to be put into layouts so I designed the At Home kits and Storyteller Actions (written specifically to make many photo layouts fast)!

One layout I have done this year with my Storyteller Value Collection is one I love! We are so fortunate to have lovely wild life spots very close. One of our favourite spots is Tala, a pretty little reserve about 45 minutes from home. A few Sundays back we took our daughter Raewyn and SIL Brendan on a rhino hunt. Although Brendan grew up in Zimbabwe, he was yet to see a rhino in the wild, so we took a day off renovations and so enjoyed the day!

Hugs to you all, have a wonderful August! See you around DSP!
Meryl Bartho
DSP Senior Designer

Note from the News Editor - Meryl has provided a wonderful desktop calendar and a newsletter freebie, so check them out below... AND you can earn free posting bonuses in this month's Featured Designer Challenge!

Meryl's Links:

Team Digital Bio - Personal Gallery - Designer Forum - Tea for Two Gallery - Heritage Gallery - Products in the Shop

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Helpful Links:

 blogger      facebook      flickr      twitter      youtube
• The Shop • New Products • Freebies • Mentoring • Questions • Site Map • Tutorials • Calendar • What's Due • Contact Us

Store News and Features

The following is a small sample of themes for this month. Check out our theme calendar for sales and fun!

**************** Themes *****************

Wiggle Your Toes Day
National Night Out
Admit You're Happy Day
National S'mores Day
Lemonade Day
Make your own luck day
Just Because Day
Eat outside day

**************** Sales *****************

August 13-15 - Featured Designer Meryl Bartho

August 21 - Tina Chambers' Designer Birthday Bash Sale

August 23 - Missed Em Monday Sale

Enjoy 20%-40% off Select Products
Missed 'Em First time around?
Grab some old, but still great, DSP products from past years at great prices.
Discount varies according to the release date of the product.

August 27 - Just Because Sale - 25% off Select Downloadables

August 29-30 - Back to School Sale - School Category 15% off

Club Digital

Are you a member of the club?

Enjoy August's issue of Club Digital. This month's Club is designed in soft and elegant tones of soft blues and beige. It includes 2 beautiful kits that can be used for a multitude of themes and an equally versatile 2-photo plopper. In addition, the gold outline alphabet will add an elegant art deco style to your layouts. Don't forget the great frame stamps, useful summer word art, and as always we include a great quick click for you to use to create your own unique layout where the design work has already been done for you. This month we also have an exclusive font. This month's Club Digital content includes ~ Bella Bleu Page Kit ~ Am I Blue Page Kit ~ In the Blue Plopper ~ Gold Outline Alphabet ~ Festive Frames Stamps ~ Eternal Summer Word Art ~ DSP Dog Artist Font ~ With a Flourish Quick Click Club Digital comes in a choice of resolutions - Choose 200ppi or 300ppi version when you download.

Here is a selection of layouts created by Team Digital using this month's Club Digital products.

Club Digital is the hottest club in town! Get your monthly fix of the best digital scrapbook products for an incredible price of $5.99/month or less! 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 stamps!
As a Club member, you also receive an exclusive coupon for the DSP Shop and can enter an exclusive contest!

Over $27 in value, 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)!

Plus, Club members can WIN!
Purchase a three month subscription and you're entered to win a free upgrade to a six month subscription!
Purchase a six month subscription and you're entered to win a free upgrade to a twelve month subscription!
Purchase a twelve month subscription and you're entered to win a $30 coupon for the DSP store!

Click here to find out more about Club Digital

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It's Shop Time!

Featured Product - Scraps of the Season: Beach CD

Scraps of the Season - Beach CD only $19.95!

You choose: Downloadable (300ppi) - Downloadable (200ppi) - CD by Mail (300ppi) - CD by Mail (200ppi)

Now you have no excuse to procrastinate scrapping those summer beach vacation layouts. Included in this CD are 12 exceptional page kits each with a unique beach theme.

This CD includes:
~ Beach Babes ~ Beach Brights ~ Beach Bum ~ Beach Fiesta ~ Beach Play ~ Island Memories ~ Sandy Beach ~ Sea View ~ Shore Sighted ~ Tropical Paradise ~ Waters Edge ~ Water You Waiting For

Click Here to view the Contact Sheet for this CD

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Digital Scrapbook University

Take a class at Digital Scrapbook University! Register for these or future DSU classes! (Read the class descriptions.)

DSU 101 - Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking (FREE CLASS AVAILABLE NOW!)
Start here! This free class is an online article that walks you through digital scrapbooking step-by-step and explains all the basics from software and graphics to printing and sharing. It is always available from this page and www.digitalscrapbooking101.com!

September Classes

DSU110 – Adobe Photoshop: Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking
DSU160– Adobe Photoshop Elements: Introduction to Digital Scrapbooking
DSU195– Wacom & Creative Fun
NEW! DSU361 – Adobe Photoshop Elements: Creating Digital Elements for Advanced Users

Be sure to visit DSU for information regarding these and our other great classes!
We would love to hear your suggestions on future classes too.  Send your ideas to dsu@digitalscrapbookplace.com.
We are also looking for qualified DSU instructors! If you are interested in teaching, please contact us for more information.

DSU Dean - www.digitalscrapbooku.com

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WACOM with DSP Inside!

Bamboo Craft is designed specifically for the interests of hobbyists and crafters who benefit from Pen Input, along with the comfort of Multi-Touch for navigation. Bamboo Craft includes valuable tools for memory keeping and art projects, including DSP inside! See it in our store now!
A few of the great resources inside the Bamboo Craft:

• Software DVD (containing Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac, Corel® Painter™ Essentials 4.0, Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3)
• DVD with 26 scrapbooking lessons and a library of digital embellishments
• Offer for free 8" x 8" photo album from Shutterfly
• Offer for free online store from Café Press
• Offer for free one-year subscription to Scrapbooking & Beyond Magazine
• Offer for free online class at DSP

Be sure to watch the videos of the great touch features. You will love them! You might even find more surprises from DSP inside the box! Click to read more in the DSP Forum.

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Shop Time Inspiration

It's time to SHOP - let's get those baskets ready!

Need some motivation? Commit to Project 365. Check out the forum and gallery for loads of great inspiration. There is also a wonderful Project 365 category in the shop.

You can search for anything in the shop using the advanced search feature located at the top right of your shop page, right above the search box. For example 'green Lauren' will just display Lauren's kits that have green in them. 'Hearts Tina' will display Tina's kits with hearts. Try it!

Send anyone the perfect gift! Gift Certificates are a wonderful way to say Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, I Love You, or even Just Because!

Did you know you can get to the shop by typing shop.dsp.me in your browser URL bar? Get there 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!

Artful Activities: Creating Moments into Memories

When you first join DSP, you want to devour every little bit of information there is and it can be overwhelming. The best place to start is the What's Happening page. It's packed with useful information about challenges, contests, and chats. Check out the calendar of scheduled activities, there's never a dull moment at DSP and you're sure to find something to challenge you artistically.

Contests, Challenges, and Chats

Stay current on challenges with the What's Due thread, which will keep you up to date on all the challenges and due dates.

• Designer Exclusives - Our Designers are the best and they are really generous. If you enter one of their challenges you’re likely to receive a chat and/or posting bonus just by using their nominated kit. 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 scrappers to 'strut your stuff' and inspire us with your creations. Just choose any of the calls for layouts for the current month and you could be showcased in our Inspiration Station 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 Previous Issues

• Inspiration Station Calls for this month will include:
• Color - Peridot/Olive Green
• Event - Family Trips
• Style/Trend - Photoshopped Photos
• Club Digital - August 2010
• CD/Megakit - Scraps of Style - Beaches
• 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.
• The Grannies If you’re a Granny, a Granny In Training (GIT), or just a Wannabee, you might like to see what the 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 – The Item Of The Week is priced to sell at 99 cents! Plus create a layout using the IOTW and be in a drawing to win a free kit.

This is just a small selection of challenges at DSP, so see them all here. We also have a blinkie to place in your signature to 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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Featured Challenges

• Card Club Challenges
  The Card Club is a monthly challenge aimed at helping us remember all the important events and celebrations in our busy lives. The Card Club will plan for the month ahead and remind each other what's coming up. We can help each other be organized and pass on tips and tricks for card creation. Check out the August Card Club Challenge!
  
  
• Trendsetters Contest
  Don't miss the Trendsetters Contest to see amazing scrapbook pages and new ideas! These contestants will stretch the imagination, inspire us all with their creativity, win fun prizes, AND end up with wonderful pages for their scrapbooks!

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Desktop Calendar Plopper

August 2010

A newsletter exclusive! Specially designed ploppers for your computer desktop wallpaper. These calendars were made by Meryl Bartho.
Download the ploppers by clicking here or on the image above. (Sizes included: 1280x768, 1440x900, and 1650x1080)

Add your pictures, resize them as you please, add journaling, and save it as a jpg. Then update your desktop wallpaper background by browsing to your new image! Voilà! Your 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 the newsletter!

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Newsletter Challenge

We are always striving to make our newsletter more interesting and useful. If you have an idea, article topic, feature, even something you'd like to write, let us know! Put on your thinking caps and come up with 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.)
We can't wait to see your ideas!

Newsletter Freebie

Exclusively for our newsletter readers, Designer Meryl Bartho has created this Storyteller Plopper.
New and need help using it? Check out our tutorials for your software program to get started!

Download the 200ppi file by clicking here or download the 300ppi file by clicking here!

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Many thanks to the newsletter team: Kim, Lauren, Lynnette, Mandy, Mars, Heidi, Meryl, and Margie

If you're not a registered member of DSP, why not Join Now?!
All new members receive a FREE page kit! Feel free to pass this on to your friends!

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