First let me take a little time to THANK all those that participated.  Thanks, thanks, thanks!  And it must be said – ALL the gorgeous gals who scrapped challenge no. 30…absolutely ROCKED IT!  It was so fun to see all the different versions too…tinkering is always the FUN bit!!  There were pages with a special little photo and lots of story-telling, a large photo with just a few precious words…pages flipped, extra pics…and everything inbetween!  Versatility plus!! ;o)  Thanks so much for uploading your beautifully scrapped pages to our inspiration gallery…we loved each and every entry!

Now for our random winner…and this time, the lucky number was 23!  That means that Sheri B‘s amazing layout A Name of Honor was chosen.  (Picked with the help of random.org…ahhh ‘Miss Random’ you are a lifesaver…I could never have picked a favourite from all those wonderful entries without help.)  Sheri B’s page is a memory-keeping treasure, not to mention wonderful scrapping with the perfect choice of papers and elements for these old family photos.  And how cool to convert the template to the 8.5×11 size!  Perfect!!

Congratulations Sheri!!  You will be receiving a $25 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe in your email box (be sure to check spam folders) this morning…have fun shoppe-ing and thanks for joining in the template challenge fun!

This was our last monthly Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge on the BLOG…but, that’s not to say we won’t have more in the future!  They are far too much fun not to, hey!!  They just won’t be popping up every single month like they have been the last few years.  So with that, I just want to thank everyone who has played along over the years!!  It’s been our absolute pleasure to bring them to you!!  So many templates, so many beautiful and unique pages scrapped!!  Just remember to keep an eye out for the next one…SP is sure to give everyone plenty of notice :o)

Thanks for stopping by today!  We’ll return tomorrow for a short and sweet “bye for now” post.

Hi everyone!  It’s Kylie here…and I’ve dropped by to let everyone know that we have revised our current Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge 30 due date, in light of SP’s recent news.

The NEW DEADLINE for this challenge is SUNDAY, 27 JANUARY…that’s one week away!!  We will now announce the template challenge winner on January 31st.  For more information about the challenge guidelines and to get a look at some gorgeously-scrapped INSPIRATION from our Shabby Artists please visit the original post – HERE!

We’ve had some AMAZING entries uploaded to the Shoppe BLOG Challenges gallery so far! – Thanks heaps ladies!  And, for those thinking about participating, we truly hope you DO join us for our last template challenge, well, last one for awhile.  An EASY-AS-PIE template is always a great way to get that special page scrapped…and have a whole lotta’ fun along the way…plus everyone has a chance to win!!  (Just make sure you stop by the ORIGINAL POST and add your comment/link to complete your entry!)

Thanks all!  We’ll be back tomorrow…until then, enjoy your weekend and HAPPY SCRAPPING! :o)

First up – kris_t with Snow Much Fun!

Soooo much FUN, yes indeedy!!  How cool is this page?!  Love the movement created by the awesome design and all those big snowflakes…and of course, the action-packed and super-cute photos.  The perfect shade of icy aqua and the pops of bright red are fantastic.  And the clever title work really rounds off the FUN!!  Another amazing page from kris_t!!

Next up – Sahndra with her layout Val

In contrast to kris_t‘s brilliantly-busy multi photo-multi layered page, Sahndra has inspired us with a strikingly ‘simple’ design.  What an impact this very special page makes!  I’m loving the richly-embossed neutral paper with the bright nutcracker patterns clipped over a mass of hexagons and gorgeously outlined in white.  Delicate stamping and a few well-placed elements enhance the page perfectly.  And best of all…the sweet, sweet photo that just draws you in and makes your heart smile!

Here is – kirplnk and her Interview with Levi

Interview layouts are always FUN!  And this one is an absolute winner!!  Using a combination of different handwriting fonts, alphas and elements for each question, as well as the sweet little bookplates for every precious answer, shows awesome creativity and it’s a joy to read through – a feast for the eyes really!!!  I love the balance of this page and how it’s divided into three so perfectly.  LOVE the title – again the different fonts work perfectly together!  LOVE the cute photo – so cheeky!

And to finish off (ever-so sweetly!) - pqtn with Hello Winter

Oh my!!  How wonderful is this page?!!  The dusty & rosy pinks with the natural papers and elements showcase this cutie-patootie photograph brilliantly!  Loving that shimmering background paper – just perfect for any winter page!  The pretty ribbons, bows and snowflakes add a delicate girly touch and the swirlie stitching ties the layout together with extra sweetness.  Beautiful work!

A huge and heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all FOUR ‘winners’ – enjoy your $10 gift cards to the Shabby Shoppe!  Your emails are on their way – just be sure to check SPAM folders if you don’t see it :o)  Enjoy your Shoppe-ing ladies!

And, as always – THANKS SO MUCH to each and every one of you that posted a layout in the gallery  over the holiday break :o)  Thank you for sharing your creations with us…we enjoy and appreciate every single AMAZING upload!

Thanks for joining me today!  Casharina will be here tomorrow with a WONDER-ful product spotlight you’re gonna seriously luv!

 CLICK HERE to download the 1920 x 1080 versions

CLICK HERE to download the 1280 x 800 versions

Your download includes both winter and summer versions.  Also, the ‘Happy New Year’ and other text in the photo spots are just on my blog post examples – yours will be blank and ready to fill with your gorgeous photographs.

If you are interested in our free desktops, but have no idea how to insert your own photos – please visit our TUTORIALS page and refer to the USING THE PIECE-A-CAKE .PNG FILES TO CREATE AN ALBUM titles :o)  We offer this tutorial in both screen shot and video format, for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  And, while the tutorial is not specifically for the desktops – the concepts are very much the same…and should help out a lot!

BTW, we are currently on our BLOG VACATION and will be back on January 14th! (for more details see the below post!)  Thanks for stopping by the Shabby Shoppe blog and we will see you again VERY SOON – can’t wait!  Happy Scrapping! :o)

Hi all!  It’s Kylie here! :o)  The Shabby Shoppe team are taking a little time off to spend with family and friends throughout this holiday season…and we are ‘sending’ the BLOG on a well earned mini-break.  We will be back on JANUARY 14th…yes, back and bloggin’ before you know it!!  We’ll be returning with all your favourites, starting with a mega LOTW post…so don’t stop uploading your gorgeous layouts to the gallery.  Don’t forget, we’ll be wrapping up our PROJECT SCRAP 2012 - so make sure you pick up the December templates we shared recently (or any of the other months, for that matter) so that you can scrap through the holidays.  The Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge #30 – btw, a perfect end-of-year design! – is on right now too…so don’t miss that one!!

And of course, I’ll be back to fit in the FREE JANUARY DESKTOP somewhere before the end of the month rolls around!  Hope you’ll stop by for your free download :o)

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS :o)  We all wish you the best and most wonderful ‘end of year’ and joyous & safe start to 2013!  THANKS so much for your support in 2012 and for being a very special part of the Shabby Shoppe community!  Hugs & Kisses to all!  :o)

So how are you going with your November pages – have you scrapped them yet?  Here are my pages…following that some gorgeousness from SP and several of the sweet pages that have hit the projectSCRAP 2012 gallery recently.

I always have so much going on in November and scrapping my monthly snap-shot is always so much fun!  ahhh, the memories…

SP’s pages highlight her busy November perfectly.  Everyday pics, special times – special treats, the ups & downs…and a marvellous sunset.  Gorgeous!!

Kim’s fresh fall combination of green and gold, with her sepia-style photos, is stunning!

It’s obvious that Rosy styled her paper choices with all those wonderful family photographs in mind - amazing scrapping!

And Amber’s spread is pure autumnal splendor!  And along with the other ladies’ pages, I’m loving all the creative ‘November’ title work.  So many great ideas!

Extra-gorgeous scrapping huh?!!  I could just pour over & over the details for the longest time!  …but time now to jump into this month’s templates…YAY!!!

I think this template set might be my favourite so far this year and I can’t wait to fill them full of December FUN!!  Hope you enjoy them too! :o)

You can click on the image below…or, CLICK HERE to download your NEW templates!!

Are you new to project SCRAP? …well then, if you are not familiar with our little scrap project (if you ARE familiar with it, skip this paragraph, as always, lol)… THIS POST is a great place to learn more!  Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2012 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject!  It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything in 2012!  But, as a quick little reminder… here is the project in a nutshell:::

Be sure to post your completed December pages (and any earlier months, if you haven’t already done so) in the project SCRAP GALLERY!  As always, exciting to see how you work with these latest project SCRAP templates and all those gorgeous Shabby Shoppe products! :o)  We’ll be back next month with a December check-in (don’t wanna miss that one!) and the album covers to complete your wonderful project!! YAY!  Until then, have fun scrapping the new templates (and photographing, of course – lots of special moments to capture in December – joy!)

The lovely Amber will be joining you tomorrow with a fun holiday hybrid project you won’t wanna miss!!  Bye for now!

To download…CLICK HERE (or just click on the preview image below)!

This latest easy-as-pie template is just waiting for a great story to be told!  There is plenty of room for your precious journaling, thoughts and memories…and I think it’s ideal for this time of year.  A perfect design for a yearly re-cap, a thanksgiving gratitude page, a holiday wishlist…any story you are inspired to tell.  And if you like lots of white space on your layouts and just want to focus on your special photo rather than then the journaling, then by all means, just add a lovely paper where the template journal text is shown.  Or instead, use that same space for an extra-large photo and attach a funky tag for journaling.  Remember have fun with it & SCRAP IT YOUR WAY!! :o)

Now, let’s go over the GUIDELINES for our template challenges here at the Shoppe?!  And, then please keep on scrolling for some fantastic inspiration from our super-talented Shabby Artists…inspiration that’s sure to get you motivated to scrap a page…or two!!

The ‘deadline’ for this challenge is FEBRUARY 3rd JANUARY 27th - yes, that’s right you have 8 7 whole weeks…heaps of time to scrap a page over the holidays, and then some!! :o)  We will announce the template challenge winner on February 7th January 31st, when we share Template Challenge THIRTY-ONE.  As you probably know, we announce the winner on the same day we debut a new template challenge.  The ‘winner’ of the challenge will receive a $25 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe!  Please note that for our template challenges…we select the ‘winner’ randomly (via random.org) – so everyone has a chance to win…beginners and experienced scrappers!  It’s a great way to jump in and give digi scrapping (and templates) a try :o)

In order to be entered into the template challenge – you must post your layout in the Shabby Shoppe’s gallery (in the SHOPPE BLOG CHALLENGES gallery) and then post a comment HERE at our blog (on this post only) with a link to your layout in our gallery.  This will enter you into the challenge :o)  Please keep in mind that all layouts must contain at least 75% SP product (purchased or free).  To be eligible for the challenge – you must scrap with the easy-as-pie layered template!

We also have several fun ways for you to obtain ‘EXTRA’ entries to the challenge (please note that in order to qualify for any EXTRA entries – you must first complete a layout with our easy-as-pie template and submit that to our gallery and blog) :o)

• For an extra entry, leave a SEPARATE comment letting us know that you have one of our blinkies (available by clicking on the blinkies link in the sidebar) either on your blog or in all of your forum signatures (be sure to include a link to your blog or signature in your post).
• For an extra entry, leave a SEPARATE comment letting us know that you have facebooked or twittered about our template challenge (don’t forget to include the link in your post).
• For an extra entry, leave a SEPARATE comment letting us know that you have blogged about our template challenge (again, be sure to add your blog link to your post).

So, that means that you have the possibility of entering the challenge up to 4 times!  Just be sure each entry is a separate comment, as we will be using a random number generator to choose the winner.  Be sure to get your entries in by MIDNIGHT (eastern time) on February 3rd January 27th, and again…the winner will be announced in early February (the 7th to be exact) January 31st!

I need to add that our blog SPAM protection is rather vigilant at times.  If you do happen to add a comment and don’t see it straight away it has unfortunately been directed to our spam queue, awaiting approval.  I check this queue daily, SO DON’T WORRY, I will catch it and add it back to this post so everyone can see it, and more importantly so that you have an entry.  Apologies if this causes any confusion!

So again…here is your newest Easy-As-Pie Layered Template! <–click this to download OR click the preview image at the top of this post :o)

Your download includes:

• 12×12 Layered psd template with drop shadows (you can opt to turn them off or use your own)
• 12×12 Layered TIFF template with drop shadows

In the event this is your first time scrapping with a layered template – SP has created a quick and simple tutorial on how to use our Easy-As-Pie templates in PSE and PS.  You can find it HERE.  We’ve tried to cover the basics, but if you have any questions, please let us know and one of the Shabby Team Members will do their best to answer it.

I think it is time for some inspiration, don’t you?! lol :o)  Please remember that you can always visit the Shabby Artist Gallery for more information about each layout – we will be uploading throughout the day/night.

Here is my first take on Template 30…

…and the girls on the team created these beauties:

Thanks girls! :o) …and if I may, I’ll just throw in one more from me – with a slight twist!

Now that you’ve had a peek at our pages we so hope you have so much fun scrapping your own versions too!  We can’t wait to see your pages hit the gallery!

{ Don’t FORGET to link up to this post only to enter template challenge THIRTY }

Now – let’s take some time to celebrate and congratulate Template Challenge 29’s winner!!  This time the ‘lucky’ number was #13…and that means that kgrinder’s adorable double-pager Child Comparison was selected :o)  Not only was this sweet baby layout inspired by the template challenge but also Rosy’s wonderful Now & Then post - resulting in an extra cute and precious combination, don’t ya think!!  Congrats, Kara…you should have received a $25 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe in your email box (be sure to check your spam folders) this morning…HAVE FUN shoppe-ing, and thanks for joining in the challenge with us!  Also…THANK YOU to everyone who joined in all the easy-as-pie template challenge #29 fun! :o)

Thanks for checking in with us today…enjoy your new easy-as-pie template!  We’ll see you all back here with some gorgeous hybrid inspiration over the next couple of days!  See you then! :o)

…and remember, if you do happen to add a comment with a link and don’t see it straight away it has unfortunately taken a trip to our spam queue, awaiting approval.  I check this queue all the time, SO DON’T WORRY, I will catch it and add it back to this post so everyone can see it, and more importantly so that you have an entry.

CLICK HERE to download the 1920 x 1080 version

CLICK HERE to download the 1280 x 800 version

As a quick reminder – your download will be blank where my sweet pic is, of course :o)  That way – you can customize it with your own photos and messages.  And remember that you can always find our latest free desktop by clicking the FREE DESKTOPS category located on the right side of the blog!

If you are interested in our free desktops, but have no idea how to insert your own photos – please visit our TUTORIALS page and refer to the USING THE PIECE-A-CAKE .PNG FILES TO CREATE AN ALBUM titles :o)  We offer this tutorial in both screen shot and video format, for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  And, while the tutorial is not specifically for the desktops – the concepts are very much the same…and should help out a lot!

Thanks so much for stopping by today…Kim will be here tomorrow with a fun inspiration post!

Hi everyone!!  Kylie here with the November project SCRAP templates (two separate – and gorgeous – templates to create a two-page spread in your project SCRAP 2012 album!) YAY!  And can you believe we only have a couple of months to go and we’ll all have another amazing album ready for printing!!  So exciting! :o)

You can click on the image above…or, CLICK HERE to download your latest templates!!

Are you new to project SCRAP? …well then, if you are not familiar with our little scrap project (if you ARE familiar with it, skip this paragraph, as always, lol)… THIS POST is a great place to learn more!  Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2012 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject!  It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything in 2012!  But, as a quick little reminder…here is the project in a nutshell:::

Be sure to post your completed November pages (and any of the other months, if you haven’t already done so) in the project scrap GALLERY!  We LOVE to see how you work with our project SCRAP templates and all those beautiful Shabby Shoppe products! :o)  December is going to be overflowing with festivities here at Blog, so we will more than likely share both the November check-in and the December templates at the same time…so be on the look out for that!  Until then, have fun scrapping the new templates (and photographing, of course)!  Oh, and to all those celebrating today…

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!  Sweet Emily will be joining you all tomorrow with some sweet, sweet Food Friday treats!!!

Here at the Shabby Shoppe, to celebrate this fun day we would like to share TWO beautiful 2013 CALENDARS with you!

These are year-at-a-glance piece-a-cake calendar pages.  One is 11×8.5 and super bright & happy!  The other is 8.5×11 and beautiful & shabby! Both use the gorgeous Gracie collection.  We hope that one (or both) will work well in your home…they are sure to brighten up any space!  They also make awesome gifts for family and friends…especially at this time of year!! :o)

To download your FREE 2013 Calendars, simply head over to the Shabby Princess site (shabbyprincess.com) by CLICKING HERE or the image above!

Also, I’m excited to share that SP will be releasing a wonderful NEW KIT for the holidays and some other festively-fun goodies…arriving at the Shoppe in the next couple of weeks!  So stay tuned for them…and sign up for the Shoppe Newsletter (if you haven’t already) so you don’t miss out on the Holiday SALE!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today…and for being a special part of the Shabby Shoppe community!  We hope you ENJOY your DSD to the fullest! :o)  See you back here on Monday for Layout of the Week!!!