Brandy Murry from ScrapGirls has created an elegant "Quickpage" that coordinates perfectly with the card freebie from last week. It has a wonderful touch of spring in it and could be perfect for all the Mother's Day pictures you took today. Enjoy and please remember that all freebies are for personal use only!
Don't forget that your square page layouts can be easily uploaded and printed at Shutterfly!
Download SGfreebie_BMU_NaturalBeauty_EasyPage
Brandy Murry from ScrapGirls has some wonderful everyday inspiration for us!
"I posted this layout about my daily life here in Holland and the things I love about it.
It was always a life's dream to live in Europe, surrounded by all the old world beauty and I am so thankful to have the chance to live out that dream. There are many things I love about being able to experience life here, as it is so different from my life living in the United States. I have come to appreciate both. But like everything in life there are pros and cons to it all. It's funny because if I ask for ketchup on my fries (frits), I am immediately asked: “Are you American?” Isn't it funny to be tagged American for ketchup? I want to say..”Yes I'm American..can I have my Ketchup now?”, but my Mama raised me better than that, so I just smile and say “yes”. I know they find me interesting as any of us would with a Dutch person living in a place like Macon, Georgia or Texarkana, Texas."
Brandy Murry from ScrapGirls has created an elegant "thank you" card for all of us to download for free. We hope you enjoy creating a special card with the graphic. The card is set up in perfect size to be printed at Shutterfly.
Enjoy and please remember that all freebies are for personal use only.
Download SGfreebie_BMU_NaturalBeauty_Card
We are excited to welcome Brandy Murry to the Celebrations Blog. Brandy comes to us from ScrapGirls, where she is a digital designer. The next few days we will get to know about her life, her design and we will enjoy some great treats that she has created for us!
Tell us about yourself.
"I am a southern girl from South Georgia living in Holland. Working for ScrapGirls is perfect for me since I can do it from anywhere in the world. This is a very beautiful country, but I have to get back to my home turf a couple of times a year to see my family and beg Mama to cook for me. (I don’t have to beg too much, she takes pity on me)
I am also a reality TV junkie and an avid reader. I hope to never be without a book or my Kindle. One of these days I told myself I was going to do a scrapbook on all the Reality TV shows I watch. As I lay down at night I dream about what my Survivor page would look like."
Tell us about your digi-scrap background.
"I have been digi scrapping since 2005. I was a big paper scrapper and for my birthday my sister gave me a scrapbook software program for my computer. I though wow….this is really cool and no mess! I was instantly in love."
Here are some layouts created by Brandy. Enjoy!
Amanda McGee from Scrapgirls gives us some "techno talk!" Enjoy.
What is your favorite piece of technology and why?
"It's difficult to choose my favorite piece of technology. It's impossible, it's like choosing a favorite child. They are all my favorites, each unique and special, and needed in their own special way. So if I have to pick, I'll just pick technology itself, and how it's enhanced my creativity and ability to work at home. I am very fond of my camera and how it enables me to capture special moments in our lives. I love my wacom tablet, and how it helps me create whimsical illustrations. I love the Adobe software for the design capabilities. I can't do any of that without my laptop computer, which allows me to bring it with me whether it's to the room where my kids are playing or to my studio office for some quiet concentration."
Share a bit about your photography background.
"I do not consider myself a photographer. I'm a picture taker and a mommarazzi. However, I have been taking photographs since my I got my first Barbie pink 110 camera. I've upgraded since third grade, going through several 35mm cameras and digital cameras over the years, including an early version of the Sony Mavica that stored the images on floppies. That was a nuisance! Photography bliss happened to me when I bought my first DSLR in 2008 and have enjoyed the challenge of learning how to get out of auto mode. I would say my style of photography is "taking lots of pictures," mostly candids with a few home staged photo shoots in between. Some of my favorite shots are those of my children where I've used a fixed 50mm lens with the aperature setting wide open, and making use of the natural light of the north facing windows in our house."
What digital software do you use?
"I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS5. In Illustrator, my favorite tool is the paintbrush pen. I love to adjust the pressure sensitivity when I use my wacom tablet to draw over my scanned pencil sketches. In Photoshop, my favorite technique is layering textured papers with the blending modes options. You can create so many different looks by simply changing those blending modes. I use multiply, linear burn, overlay and soft light the most often."
Check out this hybrid scrapbooking inspiration by Amanda McGee from Scrapgirls . She is so artist and her work is nothing but top of class!
"I love making hybrid items that can be used as Home Decor. Being influenced by digital scrapbooking, I like making "word art" for my house. This past fall I layered some background papers with letters, printed them out and put them in some spray painted black frames. It made for a fun festive autumn accent on the sofa table."
"Last summer, I made my son a set of alphabet flash to help him get ready for Kindergarten. They were really easy to make, I simply printed the alphas from my "New School Collection," laminated them, hole punched the corner and put them on a ring binder. He had fun tracing the letters with a dry erase pen. Here's a fun layout that I made showing him using those cards."
"I've also created this fun lunchbox money tin and teacher tote box with my School Time Collection."
Amanda McGee from Scrapgirls shares some touching digital scrapbook layouts that expresses some everday inspiration.
"I am working on a scrapbook for my daughter that celebrates the year she turned ten, I'm calling it "10 in '10." It seemed as though this past year I saw her grow so much and start changing from a young girl into a pre-teen. I wanted to celebrate the fun everyday simple moments that might not really seem monumental now, but looking back I'm sure she will love to see the little things combined to make her who she is. I'm so proud of the smart, creative and pretty young lady that she has become."
"I also am really fond of this layout of my handsome son Max, an everyday moment where I caught a great smile and his bright blue eyes."
Amanda Sok designer at ScrapGirls shares some techno talk with us.
What is your favorite piece of technology?
"I'm throwing it up between my computer and my camera. My camera takes the photos, but my computer allows me to do fun things with them."
Tell us about your photography background.
"My photography background is non existent! I just love taking photos of any and everything. My husband laughs at the random things I take photos of. Food, messes around the house, something silly the kids left laying around, anything really"
What is your software preference?
"I use PhotoShop. Don't really have a favorite technique, although I encourage people not to feel threatened. Try new things, theres always the history tab. You can't mess up! :)"
Check out these "Bright Ideas for Photo Books" at Shutterfly.
Amanda Sok designer at ScrapGirls shares some everyday inspiration with us!
"I love “everyday” pictures. Pictures of things that may otherwise seem mundane - because its the small pieces of life that come together as a whole to make something special. These photos were taken on a day my daughter was feeling particularly photogenic. No long story behind them, just sweet photos."
