Hello Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!   I can feel spring in the air!  It is still cold here but there are signs.  Buds on the trees, Bees are buzzing again, and I see the sun peek out every once in a while!   But as we are still in February, I will get back to business!  February is coming to a close but the wonderful digital scrapbooking challenges for the month of February at RAKScraps are still going strong.  If you have not had a chance to participate, you still have a couple of weeks to get your layouts up in the gallery and secure your wonderful RAKS for your participation!  Ill run them down for you with links so if you see one that strikes your fancy, you can click right on over!  We would love to see your creations!

** Members Mega Kit Challenge with Connie  - Members are encouraged to try their hand at designing!!!  Check out Connies challenge for all the details and create a kit the coordinates with the February Mega Kit!  And the kits that are created by the members can be shared by all!  Below is one Member’s kit that is available!

It is still early so be sure to check The RAKScraps Challenges forum to check out what pops in.  And there will be links so that you can download them!

**  RAKScraps QuickPage Challenge with Snackpackgu - Debbi has her QuickPage Challenge running as well.  Using the RAKScraps February Mega Kit, Add on Kit, and member kits if you like, create a quickpage to share with all of the members at RAKScraps.  Quickpages are a really fast way to get your photos scrapped and our members and Creative Team really put out some beautiful Quickpages.

And dont forget about the great RAK for the QuickPage Challenge:

What a wonderful participation prize!  Thank you Snackpackgu!

If you have downloaded the February Mega Kit stop on over at the RAKScraps Mega Kit Discussion  forum to let the designers and Guest Designers know how much we appreciate the time and talent they put in to making this wonderful collection!  And if you haven’t had the chance to download your February Mega Kit head on over to the RAK Center and get yours.  It is just lovely!

**  Recipe Swap/Crop Challenge with Floppy Latte Designs - The Recip Swap Crop will end on February 28th, but there is still time for you to download the recipe templates and scrap your favorite dessert recipe!  All participants get the recipe card templates and a bonus RAK - A brush set designed by Floppy Latte Designs to help you add some special touches to your recipe cards!  There are several great recipes already entered into the challenge.  If you have a sweet tooth, you will especially like the Almond Joy Cake.  It was just toooooo delish!

** KissThisDesigns Newsletter Challenge - One of our Featured Designers - KissThisDesigns, is giving a way a sweet kit as a RAK for participation in her Newsletter challenge.  Hop over to the February Edition of the RAKScraps Newsletter and download the freebie, use it in a layout and post to this gallery and recieve the following as your RAK:

Its just a sneak peek - the full view is a surprise.

** One Month At A Time Challenge with Crosstown - As the title suggests, this month’s challenge is to Scrap a layout with a photo taken in February  - of any year.  There are a few other requirements that need to go in your layout.  This is a great challenge to get those photos off of the To Scrap List!  Check out the challenge, post your layout and claim your RAK!

Such a pretty RAK!   Thank you Patricia!

I think over this month I have covered all the challenges that are going on at RAKScraps.  But I do know that there is going to be a NEW Challenge coming in March, so you will need to stay tuned to see what is coming up!  It is going to be a fun one.

Also, I will be bringing the BLOG Challenge back in Mid March!!!  Watch the RAKScraps Blog and newsletter for all the info.  I am excited to be helping out with the BLOG challenge.  There will be tutorials, games, gallery hunts, and more! 

Well, this draws to a close another Wednesday Blog Post!  I hope you all have a a great day and make sure to stop by 3Scrapateers and ScrapWow to see all the great things that are on display for you to add to your scrapping stash!

See you next Wednesday!!!!  Happy Scrapping from all of us at RAKScraps.

Happy Wednesday everyone.  We are still getting snow in Kentucky!  Again!  I think I am turning into a SnowMan!!!!  OK, onto the good stuff!!!!!!  I hope you all have had the chance to pop over to RAKScraps to get your copy of the FREE RAKScraps February MegaKit, available now in the RAK Center for 0, yes 0 points!   It is beautiful!!!!!!!  Im posting the preview here so that you all can take a look!  You know, I don’t know of any other place that gives you such great Free digital scrapbooking kits other than RAKScraps, and the February Kit is just another example of that greatness!  A big thank you goes out to all the members of the Creative team and the Guest Designers, Wink Art Graphics and Cynthia Powell for putting together such a great kit!  Just take a look!

See what I mean!!!!  Again, twelve thumbs up to all the designers that contributed to this month’s Mega Kit!  And remember, the Add on Kit is available at ScrapWow, and for RAKStar Members in the RAK Center!

Now for a little stroll though RAKScraps, just to keep you all up on the going’s on! 

**Members MegaKit Challenge with Connie - Connie has posted the next challenge using the colors of the mega kit for February and its a chance for all the members to get in on designing Member kits to compliment the MegaKit.  It is always so nice to see what our members put together!  With the Mega KIt, the Add on Kit, and the Member MegaKits from the challenge, you could scrap for days and days and days and still have goodies left over!!!!

**February QuickPage Challenge with Snackpackgu - We love quick pages because they are a fantastic way to put together a layout in a matter of minutes!  And this month, using the Free RAKScraps MegaKit, Add on Kit, and even the members kits, put together a quickpage or two and post them for us to see and snag!  We love to see what other members do with the kits and share with us!

**February Rak File Challenge with teddyprayer - The February Rak File Challenge is still going on!  This months challenge is to scrap a Quickpage!  This would be a good go with to the Quickpage challenge.  A twofer!  I have yet to try a quick page, but I think I must do this months, especially with all the good quickpages that have been posted!

** There are many other challenges going on in the Forums.  If you are looking for a challenge to boost your creativity, hop on over and join in the fun!

Remember, each and every month there are new challenges, fun and games all around on the Forums!  I try to hit a few each week to keep you all updated.  There are so many to pick from that it can be a daunting task, but just jump on in, the water is fine, (maybe a bit chilly here in Kentucky, but I’m jumpin in anyway) and I hope to see you all in the challenges!  And remember, there are RAKS for all in the challenges.  It is a great way to keep up on your scrapping and get some fantastic products for your stash!

Also, remember to check out 3Scrapateers and Scrapwow for all the great products that are offered for your digital scrapbooking needs.  We look forward to seeing you on the messageboards. 

Til next Wednesday!  Happy Scrapping from RAKScraps and all the Creative Team!

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I hope today finds you all well.  The East Coast and mountain region is getting hammered again with snow, so those of you who live in that area and have to stay inside, Im right there with you!  This kind of weather makes for good scrapping (as long as the power holds!)!

This week’s post is centered around the RAKS for all section of the RAKScraps Forum.  There have been quite a few releases  of digital scrapbooking elements and mini kits this week and I wanted to let you all know about them, in case you have not had a chance to pop over to the messageboard yet!

LilyBelle has posted a beautiful collection of elements for us to download.  As Time Goes By  is such a beautiful collection!  It would work so well for heritage as well as wedding albums and pages.  Visit the RAKS for All Forum and get your downloads and let LilyBelle know how beautiful her digital Elements are!  There are three sets of elements posted at the time of this writing.  Here is a preview of the first set!  The second and third sets of elements are just as stunning!

Joni of Mooscrapworld has also left us a lovey RAK - Elegance.  Beautiful textured papers and floral elements along with some lovely metal work elements!  Thank you Joni, for sharing your wonderful kit with all of us.

Joni has another RAK - Lovestruck!  A great kit for Valentines Day!  And a large kit at that!  Wonderful papers and elements sure to compliment any photo!

Lori of Kreations by Sparky is getting us into the Valentines Day mood with her RAK - Love is in the Air!  What a great mini kit to scrap pictures of our loved ones on this sweetest of holidays!

Please stop by the RAKS for all Forum and check out these great offerings and let these talented designers know how much we appreciate them!

Make sure you are registered and logged in so that you can get all of these wonderful RAKS!  If you are not a member of RAKScraps yet, remember it is free to join and you too can recieve these wonderful RAKS!  That is the heart of RAKScraps - Random Acts of Kindness!  Its great!

And remember - please follow all guidelines listed for the RAKs.  These designers are kind enough to give them to us for free, lets repay that kindness and follow all TOU’s.  Its the right thing to do!

Challenges!

We still have a multitude of challenges going on the the Challenges section of the RAKScraps Messageboard.  Stop on over and jump into one or two.  You will be glad you did, and they all offer prizes for participation.

The Recipe Crop/Swap Challenge in the Impromptu Challenges forum is a great way to start.  I am hosting this challenge and have put up links to some really nice recipe card templates I created just for this challenge!  It runs until the end of February!  The theme this month is desserts - ’cause we all make them during Valentine’s Day!  At the end of the challenge, each partipant will recieve a file with all the recipe cards entered into the challenge and a bonus brush set for use in scrapping other recipes!  (I am making myself hungry just thinking about all the sweet treats that have shown up in the challenge already!).

If you are looking for more digital scrapbooking challenges, make sure to visit the Scrapbooking Challenges section of the messageboard!

Thank you all for stopping by and checking out the RAKScraps Blog!  Now just pop on over to RAKScraps and have a nice little visit! 

See you Next Wednesday with more news and info from RAKScraps!  Have a great day!!!!!!!

Hello again, it’s Wednesday and time for a review of the New February RAKScraps Digital Scrapbooking Newsletter.  If you haven’t had a chance to check it out I’m going to go over the highlights.  There are some great Challenges this month, a tutorial on Warping text to go around photos and elements and some great RAKS from our Designer Sponsors!  So, without further delay, let’s get to it!

Challenges:

Before I give you a quick run down on the challenges, let me say that I love challenges.  It gives me a chance to jump out of the box and look at things from different angles.  It helps to bring a bit of freshness into my scrapping, and it can do the same for you too.  It is a fun way to get in on the action and get some great RAKS from the hosts of the challenges!  I have to tell you that Bunchie’s RAK prize for the posting challenge last month was AWESOME!  Thank you Bunchie!

Now, on to the good Stuff!

This month brings us Valentines Day and yes, you guessed it, we have some challenges with the theme of Love, Love, Love.   Heather (SparklyDuck75)  has a great challenge, Love, Love, Love,for us, using lyrics and scripture to get us started.  “Two for the Road” by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse has wonderful passages that will inspire you!  And the lovely scriptures that are posted are also very inspiring and beautiful.  As always, the prize for participating in the challenge is lovely as well!  Just take a look!

Thank you Angela for such a lovely Prize!  There are several entries into this challenge, and it is very interesting to see everyone’s interpretation.  Check out the thread in the forum to view the lovely layouts.

Quote Challenge with Heather

Heather is one busy lady!   She is also hosting the Quote Challenge and it is filled with CHOCOLATE!  There goes my diet!  Well, virtual Chocolate anyway!  AND to assist us in this challenge, Heather and Joanne have put together some really “sweet” word art for us to download.    Check out the Quote Gallery to see the fantastic layouts!  (I’ll not count any calories doing this challenge! )

Look at this “Sweet” WordArt for the Quote Challenge

Fantastic Job Joanne and Heather, and thank you!

February Avatar Challenge with Enableem

Continuing with the theme of Love, Enableem has posted her challenge for dressing up your Avatar for February.  Its all about the things we love!  Dress up your avatar in what you love best and post in the forum for all of us to check out your new “clothes”! 

Posting Challenge with Bunchie

Jump into the posting challenge with Bunchie!  This challenge is a great way to stay or be more active in our fun community!  Just drop a post in the forum with your post count and post away!  Hit the Games area of the forum!  It is a great way to get to know each other and have loads of fun!  Im a great fan of Bernadette1’s impromptu challenges (Challenge #10) with guessing what is in each picture  (this one has got me totally stumped!).   Besides having a lot of fun trying to guess what the pictures are, I learn a little something each day!  And it is a great way to build that post count without even realizing it!    And lets remember the Gallery as well.  Even though those posts do not count in our totals, the Gallery is a big part of RAKScraps!  We all get to show off our work and if you are anything like me, love to see that someone has commented on a layout that you have posted! 

There are many other challenges this month at RAKScraps, with prizes to be had by all!  Check out the Digital Scrapbooking Challenges Forum on the Messageboard and jump on in!  Its fun, and its a great way to give your creativity a giant boost!

Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials

Text and Journaling are a very important part of any layout.  Whether it be one word or an entire story, text and journaling help to make our layouts more memorable!  And what better way to jazz up text in a layout than to bend and warp it around a photograph or element.  Check out the Featured Tutorial in this months Newsletter on Warping Text.  The tutorial explores the Warp Text tool in PSE and how it can be used to bend and shape text around photographs!  Give it a try in your next layout!

 Again, if you have not had the opportunity to check out the latest Newsletter, click on over!  It is packed with information on the happenings at RAKScraps!

 Reminders:

The January Mega Add on Kit is available at ScrapWow.com and also available to RAKStar members in the RakCenter!

The January QuickPages Exchange is also still available!  These are fabulous quick pages created by our members from the January Mega Kit and Add on Kit.  A fast way to finish a layout!  Be sure to grab yours before the 14th!

The February Mega Kit will be released on February 15th!!!!  It is, as always, sure to be a fantastic kit.  Make sure that you are registered so that you will be able to download the wonderful offerings! I personally can’t wait!  I know it will be just as wonderful as the January MegaKit! 

As always, I will see you next Wednesday with more updates on RAKScraps!  And you  just might see me before then if I find something new for you….Im always on the lookout!