Freaky Friday

Have you signed up for the Newsletter at Digital Craft Cottage? If not, head on over and sign up! You will receive a wonderful newsletter twice a month and information on New Product Releases and much, much more.

Here is a link to the current New Products Release to give you an idea of just some of the great 'stuff' you will receive:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

November's Creative Exchange Challenges

The November Exchange kit was used to create this beautiful Brag Book page by Melinda. What a wonderful job she did too!

If you would still like to paticipate in November's Brag Book Exchange, there is still time. Get this lovely kit free, then create some brag books. At the end of November, we will exchange all the pages between those who participated. It's a great way to start an album! And with the holidays coming it's a great time saver and perfect for personal, last minute gifts.

Get November's Exchange Kit HERE. It's Free, but you must be a member, and membership is always free!!

I'm a little late....

.... which is usual for me. November 11th was Veterans Day and several people at The Cottage remembered it with some great layouts. The layout I've decided to spotlight in our Blog was created by our own Chris. This heartfelt layout is of her father who was a Proud Marine. Please let us all remember our wonderful men and women in uniform, those from the past, the present and those that will serve in the future, and thank them in your thoughts, prayers and in person, everday for continuing to keep our country the most wonderful of all.
To see more of these wonderful tributes, just click on the title above which will take you to our gallery.

Now Here's a surprise....

A Freebie from Traci

Here's a little sumpin' sumpin' our own Traci has graciously created to give to all you Blog readers. Please remember to stop by The Cottage and thank her. I really love the acrylic elements and that round 'stud' frame is just great! [lots of ideas are kickin' in!]

MINI SURVEY

I've also attached a link to a little survey that is designed to give us a little insight into some of the things you see around The Cottage, or would like to see. It is very, very short and should take less than a minute to complete. Your participation in this is greatly appreciated. [If you responded to the survey in the Freaky Friday flyer, please do not respond to this one as the questions are the same - thank you].

Click here to take our Online Survey

Freaky Friday

TGIF! And to celebrate the end of the week, we are releasing all our new products for the week on Fridays... Yeah! And... we are now introducing our New Releases at 20% off!!

That's right. All new kits will be released on Fridays and for that Friday all the New Releases are 20% off. Just click on the above image to download our Freaky Friday Catalog.

Please remember that the 20% off discount is one day only - TODAY

All images in the PDF are fully clickable for your convenience.

Take care, stay safe and we'll be seeing you around The Cottage!

Huge Halloween Sale

Everything* is 35% off in this Huge Sale.

*excluding FUNdamentals Classes with Priss

FUNdamentals - Photoshopping With Priss

Join the FUNdamentals Photoshopping with Priss at the Digital Craft Cottage.Start discovering the three main areas of the Pixel-based environment of Photoshop: Image preparation, image editing, and image correction.

Learn each tool and what it can do as you discover tips and tricks that make every photo a perfect photo.

BEGIN at the BEGINNING! Come to first part of Fall FUNdamentals Photoshopping with Priss. Greet the AdobeWorkspace, master layers, and get going with Photoshop’s tools today!

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Welcome to Part 1, FUNdamentals-Photoshopping with Priss Fall Class.
Have a seat, and get your notebooks ready to go. The first week's lessons will post on September 29th, and our first Virtual Classroom On-Line Chat will be September 30th (Tuesday) at 6:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time.

Creative Team Call

Hey, check us out! We are going to have a creative team! If you are interested be sure to read the PDF in Post #21 for instructions on how to be considered. Hurry, deadline to be considered is fast approaching!

Sketch Challenge #19 - Courtesy of Becky Fleck

WOW! Look at all these great layouts using the Template by Becky Fleck [with permission]. In everyone of the Cottages Newsletters there is a template which is provided free and the simple challenge of scrapping it. Our last newsletter came out on 08-12 and just look at some of the outstanding submissions! I'm just blown away by these as templates/sketches are one of the hardest things for me to create. I have yet to attempt this circular one by Becky Fleck.

The link to this free template is available in The Secret Room, but you must be a Digital Craft Cottage Member to download. Join today - Membership is FREE!

Greyscale Challenge

Laura's greyscale challenge has gone over really well. Here are some of the layouts created by our members. Everyone has used the same items... [can you believe it?] and see how many different looks have been created? The talent of our members is LIMITLESS!

As if the layouts weren't enough, here are some of the QP's that have been created. And I just read in the forum that all those that participated will be sharing their QP's. How wonderful is that?

And as if all this isn't enough, look at the beautiful kit that Laura has created and is giving FREE as a bonus to all those that participated! Awesome!

A QuickPage Freebie for You

Laura has created a wonderful greyscale template as one of the challenges for this Events Week at The Cottage. She has graciously given permission to use these images any which way you choose. As part of the challenge, Lisa created this QuickPage and has made it available to all interested for FREE.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Events Week at The Cottage

We're doing it again! We're having an Events Week at The Cottage. Lots of fun and games going on this week, in addition to all the usual fun things that ALWAYS goes on at DCC.

Laura is running a 'Greyscale' Challenge. She has graciously provided a free kit in greyscale for you to re-color. Yep, that's the challenge. Recolor the items and do a layout or quick page... she is also giving out a Bonus to those that participate. This Challenge requires nothing be purchased. The only requirement is, HAVE FUN! Read about it HERE

Lisa is having another 'Quote/Word Art' Challenge. Read all about it HERE

And the Hide-A-Kit Event is already in full swing. Lisa has hidden the pieces to an entire kit throughout the Gallery. Just find them and you have a free designer kit. How much fun is that? Read about it HERE

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't been on much as I have been busy gearing up for another 'Events' week. And yes, before you ask there will be another 'Hide-a-Kit'. Marcie is going away but she will still be here long enough to find all the hidden pieces, I'm sure. And then to throw those hints out there. Laura has done a spectacular job with a special challenge. Wait to you see what she's done and best of all the template is FREE [but I'm not giving any more info out on that... It's a surprise!]

Oh yeah, and school starts Monday -- this is me doing the 'Happy Dance':

Blog Freebie

Here is the very first Blog Freebie. And you can only get it here. I've been trying to clean up the 'old hard-drive' and found a bunch of things that you might like. This is the first.

Download Here

A Special Message To Tom

Myspace Graphics


Tom, we all hope that everything went well today and you will soon have a speedy recovery.

Donna's Challenge Ends August 23rd

Donna [Digidonna] is one of our great designers at DCC. She is running a challenge that ends on August 23rd. Donna knows that each of has, in their lifetime, received at least one 'Special Gift' from someone in their lift. Her challenge is to scrap a layout with one of those special gifts and add journaling about the gift.
The challenge will be August 9 - August 23.

There will be a posting bonus for participating plus an additional bonus for using one of Donna's, such as Wish Upon a Star, Tatted Elegance or Lavender Mist.

Please post your layouts in the Designer Challenge Gallery under Donna and post a link in the appropriate forum thread [HERE] to your layout in the gallery.

Hope you all enjoy this challenge! Can't wait to see all those special gifts!

Here is a link to Donna's Shoppe

This layout was created by Donna using her gorgeous 'Tatted Elegance' digital page kit.

The journaling says - My Mom and Dad have been the greatest influence in my life. The greatest legacy that they left me was their faith. My Mom was a Sunday School teacher and my Dad alot of times could be found at home reading his Bible.

'Forever, My Love' Layout Challenge

Lisa is running a layout challenge using her latest kit, 'Forever, My Love'. The challenge is to scrap a layout of any heritage or wedding photo. Adding journaling is a nice touch but not required. This challenge runs to August 14th. The layouts above are some of the gorgeous entries so far. Let's see what YOU can do.

All participants will receive the full-sized digital kit pictured below as a posting bonus.

More Selective Color

Karen has really outdone herself with the selective color technique. I just HAD to add these and give them their own post. These two examples just blew me away. Karen was also a winner in our 'Create A Brag Book Challenge', along with Michelle,
Roxi, Donna, and Chris. Karen did a wonderful job with her Brag Book, which can be seen HERE

Tutorial - Selective Coloring

Last night, at 9:00pm [EST], Traci, our Tutorial Tuesday Teacher, had held a chat on Selective Recoloring'. My Goodness, I've always seen this but never realized how EASY it is. Even a 9 year-old can do it, as you can see from the above. And check out the wonderful job done by Toadboy, a 14 year-old!

Well, our members don't let any grass grow under their feet and the above were posted within minutes of the tutorial. I am sooo excited by this great technique [I'd attempted it before but of course, it was not the right way and took forever!].

Traci made it so much fun too! Traci holds these tutorials every Tuesday alternating times, between 9 pm [EST] and 3 pm [EST]. This particular Tutorial will repeat on August 12th at 3 pm [EST]. So join us and find out how very easy this technique is.

PS: Traci always provides a written version of her tutorials in PDF format which are available for you to download. This can be found by clicking on the title of this post.

Help Hummie's Son Win A Scholorship

Hummie, of Hummie's World has a son that is trying to win a scholarship... $20,000! This scholarship won't cover all his expenses [and this is just for 1 year], so let's get together and see if we all can help him achieve his goal.

This is from Hummie's post:

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Take a Sip of Tea & Help A Special Guy Win!

Hey, everyone!

My son worked hard on this video (and enlisted the help of his brother).

This video was made in hopes of winning a $20,000 Scholarship.

My son is attending a 5 year program to enter the ministry with a degree in Christian Outreach. He is entering is second year in the program. It is my understanding that his cost is $35,000 a year. It would mean the world to him to win this scholarship.

You can read more about the scholoarship at TeaUSA.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

View the video! Put it on your blog! Here's where you can get the code to put it on your own blog, leave comments, rate it, and whatever else.

E-mail it to your friends and ask them to pass on the e-mail!

Keep the hits coming through August 11th!

10% of the judging is on popularity based on the number of hits! You may be the one to make the difference!

Thank you! (Oh, and you know how much I love my tea!--hot, cold, flavored, sweet,--you name it!)

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Please, go to YouTube [I even registered there just for this as I was never a member before], register if you have to, view the video, rate it, leave a comment... and hope he wins the scholorship!

Thank you all and I know Hummie appreciates it too!

Create a CD Calendar as a Gift or Stocking Stuffer

If your're like me, I just love to stuff Christmas stocking with all kinds of goodies, and for friends and family that are not nearby, I can always send one of these great personalized calendars in the mail. Yes! It's not too early to start preparing for the holidays.

These are great original calendar templates that, when completed, will fit in a standard CD case and look fantastic sitting on your desk! There are sooooo many ways to personalize these an 'make them your own', that it just boggles the mind. You can create them by theme, special moments, or, as I intend to do, using heritage photos that my extremely large family will really love.

The templates for January thru June are now available for your personal use, FREE [of course] in The Secret Room [membership is required, but always FREE!]

These templates are wonderful... It's sooo easy to alter them to your own tastes too. So stop on by and get yours and please share your creations with us in the special CD Calendar Gallery [click on that link to see even more of the beautiful creations by our members!!]

New Kidz Program

Created by Kathrine

Created by Phyllis

Are you creative? Are you totally addicted to digital/hybrid scrapbooking? Have you ever created items for a digital layout or thought of doing so? Well, our New Kidz Program may be just the thing you're looking for.

It's hard to jump into designing digital scrapbooking kits. There are always the questions of... am I good enough? I don't know what is expected? Where do I sell my products? Do I start my own site? HELP! Where do I go for help? Even if you are comfortable with your designs, the on-line sites always want your resume... how long have you been designing, where have you sold your products... It's like being a teenager again and going for your first job!! The answer is: You go to Digital Craft Cottage of course! Laura and Lisa will walk you step by step thru this process AND give you the opportunity to sell your products as well. Even if you don't decide to persue designing full time, you can always participate any time you wish. It's a great hobby and can even give you a few bucks which always come in handy for supporting your scrap habit.

We have a set of guidelines for you to download and get your started. You can receive these by clicking on the TITLE of this post or clicking HERE.

The layouts shown above are the most recent designs by our members that have chosen to participate in this program. They are both beautiful kits and the first that they have attempted. Once you do your first kit, it get's easier. So if you have ever had the inclination, feel free to join us!

Drifting Along On A Dream

Download Links

Three of our Fabulous Designers have once again created a gorgeous kit for ya'll. And yes, it's FREE. Muriel, Kathy and Chris have used very soft blues, greens, beige and white with some great metal styles to create 'Drifting Along On A Dream'. The papers are gorgeous and the elements just outstanding.

These Designer Exchange Kits are used to create co-ordinated Brag Book pages and quick pages which our members exchange. All you have to do is participate by creating just 1 BB or QP and you get all the member creations for FREE... Good deal huh?

Here are some of the QP's already submitted...



By 'Chris'


By 'Prissequito'


By 'scrappersgu'


by 'msbrad'

It is hoped that by making this kit available FREE, that you will participate in the Exchanges, although it is not a requirement.

Happy Scrappin'

Remember, the link above is to the downloads in The Secret Room and you will only be directed there if you are a Member... and Membership is FREE!

Sketch Template Layouts

WOW! I am so impressed! The latest sketch template has only been available since Tuesday [07-29] and already the gallery is filling up. It is a beautiful sketch [see post of yesterday], by Becky Fleck of Page Maps. There are just sooo many delightful interpretations on this sketch that I wanted to share this one that really caught my eye.

One of our member's, 'EstherF' submitted this layout and in my comments, I mentioned the nostalgic feel I got from it. It just brought everything back to me from my childhood. A boy playing with a stick in a dirt road... nothing else required. No batteries. Period.

I also mentioned that I thought it would look great in a sepia tone... to which Es promptly responded.

They are BOTH beautiful layout! Each for different reasons. As I told Es, I just remember my youth, when things were simple and all that was required was a child, a stick, and some dirt. Amazing how some things just stay with you forever. This layout just called to me and I had to share. Sometimem when I think about how different things are today from when I was a child, I'll think of this layout and know that somethings will never change and childhood innocence should be cherished as it passes too quickly.

Es's credits:
Photo by DD. Papers and embellishments from the July Gift a Day Lazy Days of Summer. Song lyrics: Words by Charles Tobias and music by Hans Carste...Nat King Cole. Font: Book Antiqua. Photo stroke Dale Lewin Mangue.

Free Sketch Templates

Did you know that you can get a new FREE sketch template every two weeks? Well you can! Our newsletter comes out every 2 weeks and there is always a sketch template available for you to download... absolutely FREE! Those are the best kind aren't they? If you missed them in the newsletters, you can always download them from The Secret Room. The link above will take you directly to The Secret Room if you are a member. If you're not a member, just sign up for membership, which is also completely FREE! In The Secret Room you can find all the templates that have been available in the past.

Template by Becky Fleck of Map Pages - used with permission.

Welcome to Digital Craft Cottage's Blog

Hi! and welcome to the very first post for Digital Craft Cottage' Blog!

Our main goal is to help you learn to digiscrap. We have lots and lots of tutorials and helpful hints to get you started. Even the seasoned digi-scrapper can learn more, too. We have Live Tuesday Lesson Chats. We cover photo editing, retouching, how to make projects and lessons on using photo editing programs mostly Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

We also combine digital design creations with paper crafting projects, we are going to show you how to use digital scrapbook kits to make cards, gift ideas, tags, boxes, albums, brag books, scrapbook pages and more!

We have games and challenges and contests with prizes and lots of fun. We also have monthly exchanges. To participate in our exchanges, you will receive the huge mega monthly kit FREE. Make Quick pages, Brag Book pages and exchange them with the members. We have a recipe exchange monthly, join in, have fun and get a lot of great recipes ready to print and use as gifts for yourself, family and friends. We also exchange monthly gift ideas where we make different items like boxes, cards, tissue holders, candy wrappers and much more.

We have a Gift a Day program. Log in each day and download a part of the kit, by the end of each month, you will have a whole and very unique scrapbooking kit.

And if you've ever thought of designing scrapbook kits yourself, we have a wonderful Designer Program that will let you create and sell them in our Shoppe. So don't be shy, come on in.
And if that's not enough, we have a wonderful Shoppe just filled with beautiful digital scrapbooking kits at fantastic prices.

So come on in, join us for fun, chatting, freebies and lots of great ideas!

Join us here on on our site Digital Craft Cottage