Help Me Flourish Answers to your digi scrap questions
Fabulous Girl
Our featured designer shares her exclusive new kit
How To Create Anything
Bring your creativity to the surface
October's Inspiration Halloween gallery picks to inspire your scrapping
Issue 16: October 2010
OWNERS Traci Murphy Gina Miller EDITORIAL Managing Editors Traci Murphy Gina Miller Editor Joy Kuoha DESIGN Joy Kuoha STAFF WRITERS Gina Miller Traci Murphy Joy Kuoha GUEST WRITER Christine Kane
3 HELP ME FLOURISH COLUMN By Yours Truly 4 INTERVIEW WITH FEATURED Designer Loreta Labarca of Loreta Labarca Designs By Traci Murphy 7 Exclusive free download Get your “Fabulous Girl” Kit For Flourish Subscribers Only 9 FEATURED SCRAPPER By Gina Miller 11 HOW TO CREATE ANYTHING By Christine Kane 13 Gallery Picks October’s Inspiration: Halloween & Spookiness
cover layout:
“Halloween” by tsukushi credits: {Trick or Treat} by Sabrina Dupre Designs, Scratch Alpha 2 by Sabrina Dupre Designs, Shabby Pickle Designs. Photo - PhotoXpress
We welcome your feature-worthy layouts and ideas for articles. Please send your submissions and suggestions to: flourish.msa@gmail.com If you would like assistance with your subscription to Flourish, please email to: flourish.msa@gmail.com Advertising Inquiries can be sent: flourish.msa@gmail.com
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Dear Flourish, All the scrapbooking sites have such great hybrid items showcased in their galleries - how can I get started learning how to “hybrid” scrap? Eager to get started Dear Eager, Hybrid scrapbooking takes the best of digital scrapbooking’s ease and flair and combines it with traditional paper scrapbooking products. Most paper scrappers have things in their stash that they have always wanted to use, but didn’t know how or what to make with it. The list of hybrid projects is endless! Just “Google” the words “Hybrid Scrapbook” and you will find more ideas than you could ever need. Hybrid projects range from gift wrapping to calendars to flower arrangements and everything in between. Just find something in the galleries of your favorite sites and start from there. Most scrapbooking sites offer tutorials or instructions on various hybrid projects. There are even magazines at bookstores that are all about hybrid scrapping. Inspiration comes from a combination of what you are needing to make and what you have in your paper/traditional stash. The beauty of a hybrid project is you don’t really need to go out and purchase anything if you have items at home you can use. Check these links for some great ideas on hybrid projects: Hybrid Bootcamp The Daily Digi Scrapbook-Bytes Ali Edwards The Shabby Shoppe
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR...
It’s my favorite time of year... Autumn! I love the changing of the summer season to fall season, with the smell of the crisp air, the colors of the leaves and the best holidays ever! October is a month of change, and this month we are highlighting some fabulous Halloween layouts. Our featured designer has created such a great kit for our readers - the colors are bright and fun! Enjoy this darling new kit made exclusively for our “Flourish” readers. Don’t forget to use her coupon for great savings on her other fine products. Check out this month’s article about creativity. We could all use a kick-inthe-creative parts of our brains once in a while. It sure seems like the busier the season, the less creative we feel, and that might be a bit hindering with all the wonderful holidays that are coming up! I hope you find some inspiration from our gallery this month. We love to see the gallery filled with seasonal layouts! Have a great month! Joy Joy Kuoha is a graphic designer, writer, and amateur photographer. She has 5 amazing children and 3 adorable grandchildren. She is addicted to chocolate, fresh flowers,
Yours Truly
facebook, and scrabble. When she is not sitting in front of her computer, you can find her in the garden cutting roses or by the pool or at the beach soaking up the sun.
Would you like to ask our experts a question? Let us know what you want to read more about by sending us your questions, interests and ideas for future articles and features. Email us at helpmeflourish@gmail.com. Selected interests and ideas will be featured in future issues. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
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Find Loreta. . . Digi Shop
Loreta Labarca
Designer at digiscrappersbrasil
Twitter Facebook
By Traci Murphy Loreta’s style is so fresh and new that all her kits seem to have that “never go out of style” look to them. She really has a way with making her elements and papers come together in her kits. We asked Loreta a few questions about herself, and this is what she had to say...
Q. What would I find in your refrigerator right now? A. Hmmm... A piece of lasagna that was left of dinner! LOL Q. What is your favorite color? A. I love all colors, but I’m leaning towards the pink tones Q. What is your favorite drink? A. I love a good coffee
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Featured Designer
Q. What is the last book you read? A. I’m reading now Dear John. Q. If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be? A. Hmmm Actually I think I would be Bella Swan. LOL Q. What did you want to be when you were little? A. Oh I wanted to be many many things. LOL But one of these things was airplane pilot. Q. What is your favorite song? A. Ohhh I have a lot! Hmm let me see... one song that I absolutely love is Once When I Was Little by James Morrison. Q. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself? A. Well, my name is Loreta Labarca, I am almost 44 years, divorced and mother of Lauhra, who is 8. I was born in Santiago, Chile, but have been living in Brazil since 1971. I am a Brazilian citizen. I’m a digiscrap designer since 2004 and just love, love, love, everything involved in this art. I’m totally addicted. In 2006 I founded the roadbike Brazil and dedicate a good part of my day to the site. I also love creating layouts and spent a lot of money buying things to keep this my addiction. LOL Q. Do you have a favorite color scheme? A. I love to combine pinks, oranges and greens. :) Q. What is your favorite type of product to design? A. I absolutely love to create full kits. Featured Designer (continued)
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Q. Can you tell us about your creative process? A. The first thing I do is choose the colors. I use palettes that have at least four colors. I always start with the papers because I’ll also be able to create elements with them. The following items, like the elements, come next. Finally, I create the alpha. :) Q. How did you get into digital scrapbooking and designing? A. I discovered digiscrap when I was looking for tips on Photoshop for editing images. Whenever I did a search on Google, there appeared some website links about digiscrap. One day I decided to access one of those links and there was my dream! LOL My passion for this art was growing day by day. I was part of the community when I received the first invitation to sell my creations. I could never get away from it.
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Featured Designer (continued)
Just for the valued subscribers of
We want to express our appreciation to Loretta of Loretta Labarca Designs for sharing this fantastically fun kit, “Fabulous Girl!”
Click below to download
“Fabulous Girl” Elements Papers
Featured Designer (continued)
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Featured Designer (continued)
Featured Scrapper: Stephanie Czosnek (Stephanie)
Q. What is the one household chore you secretly enjoy doing? A. Dishes. I turn on the radio and just scrub away. I guess it is the mindless task that makes me happy, plus I am out of commission for attending to the girls since my hands are in soapy hot water! Q. What is your favorite article of clothing from your closet? A. Jeans. I love jeans. My most favorite are my Long and Leans from the Gap. Q. Do you have any other hobbies aside from scrapbooking? A. Reading. I read a lot. I love my nook and it is filled with Supply List: Tempates by Darcy Baldwin, A Mother’s Love by Kristin books. Right now I am reading Eat, Pray, Cronin Barrow & Susan Bartoli, Ledgers and Lines PP by Heather Roselli, String from Oodles of Tags 2 by Julie Billingsly, Heart Love. I also taught Stitches by Traci Reed, Stitches by Zoe Pearn, FONT: DJB Deanna myself to crochet last Script; Traveling Typewriter; Underwood year, but I did not get very far. I need to pick it up again since I get bored easily while watching TV at night with the hubby. Q. Last movie you saw in the theater was...? A. Despicable Me. It was funny. The last “grown up” film I saw was Wolfman on Valentines day with the Hubby.
Supply List: Fallin 4 You, Fallin 4 You Mixed Up Papers, Fallin 4 You mini kit, Out and About - Bikin’ by Fee Jardine - Brush It Vol 2, Border Basics: Circles, PaperClips: Circles, Paper Clips: Waves by Libby Weifenbach - Clip Me Round by Eva Kippler, FONT: American Typewriter
Q. You’re obsessed with...? (reading, shopping, eating cupcakes... lol) A. Coffee. Right now, I know that I don’t have enough for a pot tomorrow. I’ll have to pick some up on the way home. I love coffee. I drink it most of the day. I take it light with soy milk.
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Q. What type of car do you drive? A. 2006 Honda Odyssey. Red, sunroof and leather interior. Tricked out with an iPod dock as well. It is quite the mommy mobile. But I love it. Q. Color of your manicure right now.... A. Dark purple on my toes. OPI – I think it is Nevermore. I go dark in the fall & winter and light in the spring and summer. Q. When was your last ME day? What did you do? A. Ha. What about a ME hour – I get a facial every month.
Q. Shoe size? A. 8 1/2 . Before kids it was 7 ½. One big mystery of pregnancy – why does ones feet grow?!? Q. What’s on your DVR/TiVo right now? A. LOTS. The last 5 episodes of Fringe, a CSI, a Criminal Minds, a Modern Family, and a Project Runway. Oh and a few Jersey Shores. The rest is my Hubby’s – some Big Ten Top Ten shows and probably some Modern Marvels.
Get to know Stephanie! My name is Stephanie and I have been married to Andy for 9 years (we’ve been together for 14 years!). We have 2 girls – Jillian (5) and Evelyn (3.5). We also have 2 kitties – Bella and Maggie. We live in Wisconsin and are HUGE baseball fans. I think we spend all of Spring and Summer at the ball park. I work full time as a Graphic Designer/ Project Manager. I started scrapping in 2001 after a trip to Colorado. I paper scrapped at first, but glue hates me – so I found it very frustrating. Another mommy on one of the mommy boards that I was a member of showed me the light of digiscrapping. Since I use PhotoShop on a daily basis – the transition was easy and I love it. I start with a rough layout of sorts for all my pages. In a way I create a template for myself. I then pick my photos and then a kit that matches. I scrap once or twice a week and mornings seem to be the “best” time for me. I love to journal and feel that telling the story is the most important part. It takes me anywhere from an hour or more to complete a page. I love a lot of embellies on the page and finding the right patterned papers that go together is the most important part for me.
Supply List: Template: Kooky Cutouts collab from Fizzy Pop, Designs and Crystal Livesay at 9th & Bloom, Kit: What Do You See by One Little Bird at Oscraps. Stitches (swirl): Stitches 1 from K Studios at Catscrap, Stitches (straight): Straight Line Stitches 1 by Anna Aspnes at Designer Digitals, Date: Quirky Dates by One Little Bird at Oscraps
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I have been a member of Gina Miller’s Creative team forever. I am also a Sugar Babe at Sweet Shoppe Designs and on Crystal Livesay’s team. Stephanie’s Gallery at My Scrapbook Art Stephanie’s Facebook Page
How to Create Anything
(Even When You’re Scared, Inexperienced and Don’t Believe in Yourself) by Christine Kane Let’s say you had a baby. Congratulations! Your baby is the best human ever! You love your baby. You celebrate as it starts to crawl. You and your partner delight in this baby’s every new adventure. Then, one day, the baby stands up on her own. “Yaaaaay!” you cheer. You clap your hands. The baby smiles and laughs. You think, “Wow. She’s gonna learn how to walk. Isn’t that great?” One evening, you and your partner are on the carpet playing with your baby. Suddenly, your perfect child stands up again. She braces herself on the coffee table. Your partner grabs the movie camera. You call your parents in Idaho so they can listen to the play-by-play. Your child lurches forward. You all gasp and hold your collective breath. Then, CLUNK. She falls onto her butt on the carpet. “Awwwww,” you say. “Dang,” your partner says. “Well, I guess that’s it. This one just wasn’t cut out for walking,” your parents say from their home in Boise. “Oh well,” you say. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Bummer.” You hang up the phone. You turn off the camera. You take the baby up to bed. Tomorrow you’ll begin the search for a bigger stroller because your kid’s obviously gonna have to get through life on wheels. Get the idea?
And yet, how many of us are already acting like this with our plans for the coming year or with our own new beginnings? Your project, your dream, or your goal is your baby. If we all gave up on our kids as much as we give up on ourselves, then we’d have a race of humans with big calluses on their knees! The Best Way to Create Anything: Baby Steps Every big project or goal can be broken down into baby steps. Little lurches forward. Sometimes they’re clumsy. Sometimes they don’t even seem to make an impact. But this is how anything gets done. • Years and years of built up clutter get sorted and thrown away one drawer at a time. (Plan for 30-minutes a day in one zone of the house - not “Get rid of clutter.”) • Years and years of reckless eating and unhealthy habits get shifted one work-out at a time. (Plan a 45-minute work-out 5 days a week, and a once a month visit to an acupuncturist for a year - not “Lose 50 pounds by June.”) • A song gets written in fits and starts. Hour by hour. Moment by moment. A flash of an idea. Then an edit. (Schedule in an hour of writing time in the morning. Start with scales to warm up. Not “Write Lots of Songs.”) • A coach builds her practice one client at a time. (Schedule a daily system for authentic marketing. Not “Get 50 new clients by March.”) That’s how it works. Stinks, doesn’t it? ... Actually, no. This is the good news that no one ever tells you. When you get this concept, you’ll never be afraid of failure again. When you learn how to break a goal down into baby steps, and how to complete something fantastic using this method, then you have the key to doing anything. My Scrapbook Art Page 11
When you understand that everyone falls down and gets back up again (some of us on an hourly basis!), then you need only to trust in your strength to get back up again. The only block is your ego. Your ego wants it to be done now. Your ego wants to move through life risk-free, foolish-free, discouragement-free, mistake-free, tired-free. And the best way to trick your ego (and yourself) into letting go a little bit is to take baby steps. I’m in the middle of coaching people in my Uplevel Your Business Program & Blueprint. These entrepreneurs are the most courageous clients I can imagine having. That’s because they are taking the biggest risk of all. They are taking Baby Steps! Baby steps take courage. Baby steps are a huge risk to your ego because they are so easy. SO easy! The ego wants big deals, major accomplishments, huge weight-loss, and fast results. In other words, the ego likes adjectives, not nouns. Those adjectives guarantee that you’ll stay stuck and never try anything new. Over time you’ll get that deals, accomplishments, weight-loss, and results feel pretty good -- even without adjectives. Now, try this: Take a goal you want to accomplish by the end of this year, and ask yourself, “What one baby step could I take every day to complete this goal?” And then (and this is the big challenge) get out your calendar and schedule it in there daily for the rest of 2010. Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 11,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at http://www. christinekane.com/ .
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Inspiration:
Halloween & Spookiness
Click on graphics for credit info. Featured Layouts found in the My Scrapbook Art Gallery.
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