Huge savings on all your favorite digital scrapbook kits, elements, hybrid projects and templates for Black Friday here at Peppermint Creative. The ‘Make Your Own Sale’ Event is BACK! It’s one of our most popular promotions so don’t miss out. You choose the coupon, you choose the savings. The more you shop, the more you save!

Plus we didn’t forget about our Commercial Vector lovers! You guys get to Make Your Own Freebie. Just use the coupon code below to turn any $4 vector graphics pack into an instant freebie or enjoy $4 off your order.

Both sales run November 24-26th 2011 (midnight EST) so don’t miss out! ;)

Start Shoppin’!

As a digital scrapbooker, your most important tool is your computer. It holds your photos your scrap supplies, important documents, your daily calendar, all your email contacts…your life! So it’s really important that you take good care of it. Your computer will last a long time if it is properly cared for. Check out these quick tips to help keep the hardware and software of your computer from going on the fritz.

1. Keep your drinks in the kitchen and away from your computer, especially if you’re using a laptop or a netbook. All of the important inner workings of a laptop are actually located right below the keyboard, so even a little coffee spill on the keyboard can be devastating and cause irreversible damage.

2. Keep your cords to yourself. It may seems obvious but it’s worth mentioning as many of you have busy households packed with energetic children and playful pets. Do not leave your laptop power cable where it can be kicked, tripped over or stepped on as this could lead to a wide variety of problems ranging from a broken internal power jack to the computer falling off a desk and smashing to the ground.

3. Always carry in a case. When out and about with your computer, put it in a proper carrying case. Extreme temperature changes can compromise both the case and your computer so try and avoid leaving it in your car for extended periods of time on very hot or very cold days. As a general rule, your computer is safest at temperatures that are comfortable for you.

4. Let’s keep it clean. I’m not talking PG-13. I’m talking dust. It is good to blow out the fans and grills on any computer about once a month. Dust buildup prevents the air from flowing through the computer properly which can effect the computer’s ability to cool the running system.  If your computer has an air filter, this should also be cleaned or changed monthly.

5. Don’t move your computer if it is turned on. This goes for external hard drives as well. Most computers contain a hard drive that uses spinning metal platters to store data. These platters spin with enough force to create a gyroscopic effect, and if the computer is moved, the little heads that read the data can strike the platters, causing damage to the drive. Close your laptop, or power down your external drive before moving it.

6. Look for hard places. Keep your laptop on a hard surface. As tempting as it can be to set your laptop on your bed, laptop computers should always sit on a hard surface. Allowing a laptop to sink into your sheets can block the air vents and cause overheating. Soft surfaces like blankets, pillows and sheets will also cause your computer to pick up more dust and lint than it normally would.

7. Shut ‘er down. Always shut down your computer properly, whenever possible. This is one of the best ways to prevent data corruption, and windows issues.

8. Patience my friend. If the computer freezes, don’t freak out. Be patient, give it a good 30 seconds to think before taking any drastic measures.

9. Re-start your computer at least once a week. If you have a desktop computer that is almost always on, it can be good for the system to re-start periodically. This also goes for laptops that are kept in standby.

10. Uninstall programs that you no longer use – If a program has been sitting for months on your computer without any attention, just get rid of it. You can almost always reinstall it again if you need it.

11. Put down that Windex! There are special solutions available for cleaning the monitor and keyboard. These cleaning sprays can help to clean the computer properly but only do so when the computer is OFF!

12. Back it up Baby. Back up your data. Seriously. Just do it. I’ve personally had my computer (cough PC) crash several times in the last few years and both times I had to have someone recover my data from my hard drive because I was not fully backed up. I get more emails from people about their computer’s crashing than anything else so PLEASE back up your important data. You can back up your data by copying it to an external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and USB flash drives or upload it to an online storage service.

It’s almost Turkey time and I just couldn’t resist adapting my ’52 Things I Love About You’ Deck of Cards Album for Thanksgiving! You guys LOVED the original version so I’ve beefed it up BIG TIME to include lots more options and extras.

I just love this project. It’s super cute and very simple to put together. I’ve put together all the inserts in these great gender neutral fall colors and the text is fully editable so you can add in your own things and you can also change the wording of the title page if you want to something like 52 Reasons I’m Thankful For You or 52 Reasons We’re Thankful For You if it’s from multiple people.

In addition to the basic numbered pages, I’ve also included awesome photo inserts. You can add in family photos, your favorite shots, stock photos or even your Instagrams. You can alternate between the text inserts and the photo inserts or just add one or the other. And then it occurred to me that this would be a great project for the kids to make for mom, dad or the grandparents so I’ve also included blank lined inserts so you can print them all out (I’ve included them as a pre-numbered, print-ready PDF document), cut them all up and let the kids fill them in by hand and assemble the album themselves.

Here’s how to put it together.

YOU WILL NEED:
1 deck of cards
2 binder rings or ribbon
hole punch or Crop-A-Dile
glue or tape runner
52 Things Deck of Cards: Thankful Edition
OPTIONAL: eyelets and rhinestone

HOW TO DO IT:
Start with a deck of cards. I picked up a set of two at the dollar store for $1.25.

TIP: If you’re using a brand new deck of cards, run them through your hands and shuffle them up a bunch of time to get them a little worn in.

Punch two holes in one card and then use that card as a template for where to place the rest of your holes. To do this, use a bulldog clip to hold the cards in place a bunch at a time (depending how many cards your punch will go through) and place the card with the holes in it already on top. Use a Crop-A-Dile or hole punch to punch holes in all the cards a bunch at a time. NOTE: Be sure to place your holes BELOW the card numbers so you don’t take them all out. My punches sat in the suit symbols.

Arrange the cards to your taste. You can place them in numerical order or just at random. You want to have all the cards facing up (as NOT shown) because the front cover will cover the front card completely so this way when you flip over the cover the inside will show the pattern of the back of the card.

Thread the binder ring through the holes. You can find binder rings at your local office supply store. They come in various sizes. These are from Staples.

Then I filled out all the inserts and arranged them on a new 8.5×11″ document. I printed them out on Canon Matte Photo Paper, cut them up and start adhering them to the cards. I tried both wet and dry glue (tape runner). The tape runner was MUCH easier but I liked how the wet glue sort of bent the cards a little making them seem more worn. So my happy compromise was tape runner down the edges and a CONSERVATIVE line of wet glue down the centre. Too much wet glue will show through your prints even if you use a standard matte photo paper.

And that’s really all there is to it! I decided to embellish the cover with a rhinestone just to give it some bling. Then I used my Crop-A-Dile to secure some eyelets to the cover. You can get fancy and tie some ribbons around the binder rings if you like.

Option A: Type in your own list of ‘things’

Option B: Mix it up with some fun photo inserts

Option C: Print out the blank numbered cards and let the kids fill them in by hand. Or better yet, make two albums and give one to your hubby and fill them out for each other and exchange!

You can find the insert files here.

Enjoy!! xo

What Do You Love?

photography by Miss Mint

Love photography? Love challenges? Love winning free stuff!? Join our on-going Click-a-Pic Challenges to sharpen your shooting skills and win some loot! Sarah’s come up with a really fun challenge for us this round and I think you are really going to love this one. Find 9 photos of the things you love most, whatever that may be and upload them into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker and out will pop this nifty little collage featuring YOUR photos! Of course you can also make your own collage in Photoshop or your photo-editing software of choice. You can use photos that are part of your archive or you can shoot 9 new photos….whatever inspires you!

photography by Sarah Harbuck

Post your mosaic by Tuesday November 15th (midnight EST) in the gallery and in the challenge thread to be eligible to win a $5 gift card to the store.

Tears are gathering in the corners of my eyes. I try to hold back the laughter but I just can’t. I honestly don’t know how I managed to stumble upon this website this morning.

I guess one click leads to another…and another until you find yourself in the most awkward of online places.

Speaking of awkward, this website is just too funny not to share.

Allow me to introduce you to www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

If you need a morning chuckle view the Awkward Family Photo Hall of Fame

Oh dear..

I’m dying. SERIOUSLY. lol

Pet lovers don’t miss Awkward Family Pet Photos.

Got the scrapping blues?

Looking for a little inspiration?

Have you checked out the Design Team Gallery lately?

No?

Well then, you’re missing out sister!

Here are some recent stunning pages and projects from the team you may have missed:

October 31 | mj.johnston

Devlin’s Pumpkin | Trisha Burton
  

Pumpkin Carving | Candy Risher

Happy Halloween | mj.johnston
  

Tally’s Pumpkin | Trisha Burton

Trick or Treat | Trisha Burton
  

Favorite Things | Candy Risher

Moment Captured | Trisha Burton
  

Fave Shows | KirstieGai

My Faves | Megan Whitney

Autumn Beauty | Natasha Akers

Thankful | Kirstie Ibrahim

Amazing, right? These ladies never cease to impress!
I hope you find some inspiration in these pages and projects for your own crafty masterpiece!

Happy Scrapping. ;)