In this Issue:
Owner's Corner & Club News: The New Mega Kit for March
NEW Recipe Exchange :
A Note From Carol :
Just My Article: by Tami Davis
Contests, Challenges, Games & Puzzles
New Releases:

Tip of the Month: Create Drawings from Your Photographs

Owner's corner and Club News:

March is here... will it come in like a lion and leave like a lamb? Spring is just around the corner, and our designers have been busy, busy, busy getting ready for Club Deco's March Mega kit which has a spring theme! You are going to love it! As always, the designers have done a wonderful job! Bravo everyone!

Just a few of the wonderful backgrounds and elements from the March Club kit!

Please take a moment to read this.... Deco-Pages is about creativity and friendship.... We have had to make some decisions recently about the gallery and the forum that we would like you all to be aware of. Please take a moment to read the Golden Rule - Posting Policy for Gallery and Forum . It has recently been updated and changed. We have made these changes with the good of the community as a whole in mind. Thank you so much for helping us to keep Deco-Pages a friendly and inspiring web site, where no one feels left out or ignored.... and where we can all share the love of this wonderful hobby!

Best Regards,
Deb & Diana

NEW RECIPE EXCHANGE

If you are like me you probably are always on the lookout and searching the Net for a new recipe to try on your family. Anything to encourage them to eat a healthy, nutritious and delicious food. Sometimes my family complains, "Mom, not spaghetti AGAIN" or "The same old thing all the time, why don't you cook something new." Check out the recipe challenge that Tami Davis put together a couple of months ago, December Challenge. So many people share so many delicious recipes!

Well this feature is for all of us that are looking for something different. Share your favorite recipes and each month Caroline Dehm will pick one to be featured here in the newsletter. Create a layout from a Deco-Pages kits and your layout could be chosen to be publish here along with Caroline's recipe choice. Upload your layouts to the gallery at Deco-Pages: http://board.deco-pages.com and email your recipe to Caroline Dehm. Even if you don't create a layout please send Caroline your recipe anyway -- a layout is not manditory.

There are no freebies with this feature, just the satisfaction of knowing that some family out there (maybe mine) won't be eating Cheerios for dinner tonight.

Thanks, Carol Rupley

A Note from CAROL:
AKA: True Confessions of a Chocoholic

I have been on a diet; well I have watched my weight since my early twenties and after having children my weight has crept up slowly. I call myself a big girl, I a size 14 to 16, not awful but big boned I think they call it. Of course, as I enter pre-menopause I have heard that losing weight will be more and more of a challenge. All of this is hard to take and alarming knowledge to possess. Compound that with my love of food. I have a love of chocolate that is well known among my friends, so no matter how careful I am about what I eat, no matter how meticulously I count calories I am always tripped up by one simple fact. I love chocolate!

Isn't it funny how sometimes your mind can play tricks on you? I will be very good on a diet and even lose a couple of pounds so when I am shopping I decide to buy one small piece of chocolate, a reward. Except when I get there I discover that the chocolate in the big bag is a much better deal. I lie to myself, except I truly believe that I will only have one or two a day. Usually a bag of chocolate only lasts two days in my hands, actually a little over 24 hours. Instantly after eating 7 to 10 pieces I feel bloated and remorseful, but I cannot bring myself to throwing the rest away, that would be wasteful. I can get back on track, I can control this urge. Liar!

Well, somehow miracle of miracle I accidentally lost 10 pounds. I am not really sure how I did it except I drank a lot of water at the time and I was very busy and did not eat like I usually did. Anyway, I was delighted. Of course I still have weight to lose to get down to my supermodel weight but I felt great. My clothes were fitting looser and I felt more energetic.

I volunteered to go to a health conference with my mom, one of those events where you go from booth to booth and collect free pens and pencils and they tell you about their health cause. I had my sugar tested, my gripping strength, my heart, and more. We came to one table that had a row of devices that looked like Nintendo controllers. ‘Test your body fat?' The girl behind the table asked. I had done above average on grip, was low on cholesterol and low on blood sugar so I was feeling quite self-assured. Now I know I am above average in weight but I did not expect anything except some sort of percentage. My presenter had to know my age, my height and she made me stand on a scale. Everyone else that came up to this table just told them their weight but I had to have the one person with a scale. Anyway, I was wearing a heavy sweater, boots, winter clothes and a heavy winter coat, and when I stepped on the scale, I was a full thirteen pounds heavier than I was at home after a shower. I told her I was nowhere near that weight and she took off a pound and a half – she said to be fair. Then I had to hold this Nintendo controller thing directly out in front of my body for some reason, and it gave a percent body fat number.

As I said, I know I need to lose some weight. My tormentor / presenter looked at a few numbers on a chart and pronounced that I was just slightly overweight. I complained bitterly, you can't use these numbers, the weight is all wrong, I had lied about my age, every thing was wrong. Even though I knew that I needed to lose weight, I didn't need some stranger with a chart and a Nintendo controller to tell me that! Didn't she realize I had just lost 10 pounds and this was unfair to say I'm fat? For a split second I even considered taking off all of my clothes right there and being re-weighed. The girl behind the table sheepishly wanted to calm me down and reassure me, she obviously did not expect my reaction. She tried to reassure me by saying: “Maybe you could lose a little weight.”

I freaked, inside. “Lose a little weight!” why didn't I think of that? I have only tried to lose weight everyday for the last 25 years (I am lying about my age again). Anyway, the bounce in my step was gone, the little secret for my smile was gone, and I was plunged into depression -- did they have a booth for that? “Lose a little weight!” My triumph of weight loss had turn to tragedy, my good intention of supporting my mom at the health fair only spotlighted my biggest health problems. Guess what, the very next table was an information booth on obesity, an obvious conspiracy! Where is the chocolate when you need it, is their a booth for that?

Anyway, I hope you all have a great month, create lots of wonderful layouts and let me know when you find that chocolate booth! lol

Carol Rupley

I moved my office not too long ago. Now I sit in a room that is full of sunshine. This room has a large sliding window that I could get through just by bending over just a bit and a large sliding patio door. My desk faces outward so that I can see what is going on in the world outside, rather then facing a wall. I even bought a new desk that is open so it doesn't block my view. It's not a perfect room, but it is a good room.

It gets cold in here since there is very little insulation. I use a couple space heaters to solve that problem. It's also a small room. Not real small, just smaller then what I would want. Space heaters won't solve that problem so it will only get better when I move. I've asked my hubby if we could rent a three bedroom apartment so I can have a large office. If it was just an office or just for digital scrap-booking a smaller office would be fine. But now, I am getting into altered art and for that I need supplies. I'm not one for going half way so I NEED a lot of supplies. Hubby has agreed to a three bedroom because he doesn't like seeing the mess my office has become. When we move I will get my large office with a door. He doesn't care about the size; he just wants me to have a door. He's a funny man.

I'm learning that all men are funny. Not like us perfect women who have no oddities or quirks. My father was funny in his own way. If he didn't believe in something you could show him all kinds of proof and he would still not believe it. I used that knowledge to aggravate him most of my life. He was a pretty good sport about it except when it came to Leprechauns.

I told him that I believed in Leprechauns and that there really is a pot of gold over the rainbow that they protect. He thought that was odd and that I was just trying to get him wound up. For years I would explain to him why I believed in Leprechauns and how much proof there is showing that they do exist. After so many years he started to get a bit worried about me and didn't think it was funny anymore. When I figured that out I took it a step farther and pushed him a bit too much. I went to dads' house on St Patricks Day and told him that I have proof that Leprechauns exist. Proof that is so strong that even he wouldn't be able to doubt it anymore. His eyes got big and the tension in the room got thick. (Don't you just love messing with people?) Anyway, I told him that I had seen a Leprechaun with my own eyes. Not only that, but the little guy allowed me to bring him home just so I could show Dad that they do exist. I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled him out. I cupped him gently in my hand and whispered to him not to be afraid of my dad. By now my dad was on the verge of calling 911 to get me out of his house. I straightened out my arm and slowly opened my hand so he could meet “Jack”. Resting in my palm was a small plastic statue of a Leprechaun. Oh, you should have seen how my dad reacted! That was it, NO MORE!!! He would no longer tolerate my insane behavior. I was never allowed to bring up Leprechauns again in front of him. Even on St Patricks Day I was to keep my mouth shut or just talk about the weather. No more fun for me but it was worth it for that last major prank.

I still believe in Leprechauns. Have I ever really seen any? Well, not until this morning. I was sitting at my desk with the sun reflecting off the snow and all that light streaming into my office. Every morning I sit and read my email to get caught up because I get way toooooo much email. This morning was no different until I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. There they were; 8 little men wearing green clothing trekking through the snow. They all had a gold coin on their shoulder carrying it to wherever Leprechauns carry their coins. I can't say they were cute since they were grown men with beards, gray hair, wrinkles, and wearing funny green outfits. I would say the only thing cute about them was their size. How can something that is only 3 inches high not be cute in some way?

I opened the door to chit chat with them for awhile. They were very business like and didn't have anything to say other then answering my questions with grunts or nasty looks. I had decided to give up when a flash of pink caught my eye. Coming from behind there was a lone Leprechaun different from the rest. He was younger, had jet black hair rather then the normal red. He was lost in his own world humming a soft tune with a look of contentment on his face. But what really set him apart were his clothes. His britches were a dark purple with lime green buttons. The shirt had various shades of yellow stripes. Every other stripe was adorned with small stars and happy faces. His hat was cocked sideways and a bit too big. I figured he would have chosen that hat no matter the size. He would have been attracted to that tie dyed cap with a feather popping out of it and would be determined to have it. Are you wondering about the pink that caught my eye? That would have been his high top miniature Converse tennis shoes. They were originally blue (I think) but he had painted them pink, made sky blue glitter swirls in them, added pink shoe laces and bells. The final thing he did was to add feathers to each side of his shoes that match the one in his hat. This dude was happy and funky. What was even better is he loved to talk. We talked for hours about so many things. Nothing I can really share here other then to tell you that the pot of gold really does exist but not one time in history has a human found it. He told me that we need to look for that pot of gold in our lives, not over some silly rainbow. (Even though it does have great colors, don't'cha think?)

What do you think could be considered a pot of gold in your life? Family, friends, health? What about smaller things like electricity, heat, and internet? Or the software you use for scrapping such as PSP, Elements, and CS2. Now those ARE definitely pots of gold.

Digital scrap-booking is in itself a pot of gold that we can leave behind for others to find. But I think people would get tired of just having gold. I want rubies, diamonds and emeralds too. So instead of leaving a pot of gold for others to find, why not leave a treasure chest?

A picture is worth a thousand words so a layout would be worth a thousand coins, better known as a pot of gold. A layout with journaling has extra flair and worth. Journaling would be like adding diamonds and other worthy gems to your LO. You would then have a treasure chest sitting on your computer.

My challenge to you this month is to make a treasure chest for someone to find. Make a layout with journaling. I want the layout to be something that you would want someone to know about you if they find your treasure chest 1500 years from now.

Here is mine: You can read the journaling by going to the newsletter challenge gallery and looking at it.

Upload your layout and get this great freebie from me.

Challenge link coming soon, check here for the March link

Until next month, may all you days be Just Wonderful!

Tami

Contests, Challenges,
Games & puzzles

MARCH PUZZLE

Thank you Tami Davis for creating the crossword puzzle this month.

This crossword doesn't have all the numbers like usual ones do.

The only numbers you see are where the first letter goes. They are also done by color so you know which way to put your answer:
Across is Pink
Down is Teal
Letters that start both Across and Down words are Green

Have fun……

Newsletter challenge Gallery

Add your layout to the newsletter challenge gallery!, Check the Gallery and Forum for the link to this new challenge!  and share your Valentine's layouts. Check out all of the layouts at Deco-Pages.

New Designer Releases

Deb Ammerman's Wildlife Wonders

This kit was designed with boys in mind. Fun wooden elements work great for zoo pages, nature walks, even a day in the park! Now don't you worry, I didn't forget the girls, check out the lovely wooded flowers too!

Link to Wildlife Wonders

See More of Deb Ammerman's Kits

Jen Hanson's Boys Rules

Boys Rule is a versatile Masculine kit, for older boys on up to Men. It's the perfect balance of papers; from grungy, dirty and stained, to sports papers to plaids, pinstripes and circles. There's 22 papers in all and all are done at 300 ppi in 12" x 12" size.

Elements include:
belts with buckles (done at 16" length so you can use them with or without the buckle), photo corners, rusted metal journaling plates, rectangular journaling tags, car journaling tag, a rope, rope journaling tie, a car frame, tire brad, puzzle pieces, rocket, airplane, jeep, tractors, fire engine, bicycle, baseball glove, baseball, baseball bat, basketball, football, hockey stick and puck, soccer ball and a tennis ball. What more do you need?

Link: Boys Rules

ALSO Check You Are My Sunshine

Fun, soft, lighthearted, feminine, and a bit sassy, You Are My Sunshine kit is sure to bring a bit of sunshine into all of your layouts! There's 10 beautiful, textured papers in flowers, stripes and delicate patterns. Elements include journaling tags, belts with buckles, belt with flower adornment, buttons, stapled ribbons and tied ribbons, ornate swirled elements and a variety of different floral brads, swirls and floral bouquets. You also receive an entire page of all kinds of fun word art! Special thanks to Atomic Cupcake for the use of their labelmaker! The word art also coordinates with You are my Sunshine II kit!

Link: You Are My Sunshine

See More of Jen's Kits

Retro Designs' Winter Jewels

The “winter jewels” in this kit consist of 36 silver snowflakes set with gemstones such as rubies, sapphires etc with 5 coordinating chains and 5 snowy and starry night backgrounds.

Link to Winter Jewels

. See More of Retro Designs' Kits

Rumi Georgieva's St. Patrick's Kit

Did you know that "Bein' Green" means different things?

• Green is commonly referred to as the "sexy color" by fashion magazines
• Green symbolizes go in its use in traffic signals, railway signals and ship signals
• Green is considered the traditional color of Islam, likewise because of its association with nature
• In the Middle Ages, green represented evil or demonic beings (including dragons) and sometimes love
• Green is a traditional color of the sacred science of canon law
• Green is a symbol of Ireland, which is often referred to as "the Emerald Isle"
• Green also serves as a symbol of the Esperanto language. The color is particularly associated with the green star, and is seen too on the Esperanto flag
• In ancient China, green was the symbol of East and Wood, one of the main five colors
• In the United States and other areas that use the U.S. Dollar as currency, green symbolizes money because U.S dollars are printed on green paper
• In North American stock markets, green is used to denote a rise in stock prices
• In East Asian stock markets, green is used to denote a drop in stock prices
• The emotion of envy is traditionally associated with the color green
• Green is the color of informational and directional signs in the United States and Australia
• Bein' Green — a popular song by Kermit the Frog
• In Magic: The Gathering, green is one of the five colors of magic, consisting of nature-based spells and forest creatures
• In Dante's Divine Comedy, green is the color used to symbolize hope
• In many countries, especially those in the former Soviet bloc, green is the color of the border guard
• In New Age philosophy, the color green is used to symbolically represent the fourth (Anahata) chakra
• In Japan, green indicates safety and luxury
• In stories involving King Arthur and his Knights, the color green signifies mystical or magical properties

Rumi Georgieva St.Patrick Kit

The kit includes 41 items:

12  Papers
9   Decorative Elements
4   Crosses
3   Shamrocks
3   Frames
3   St. Patrick Titles
2   Decorative Nets
1   St. Patrick Image
1   St. Patrick Hat
1   Clover
1   Quote
1   Rainbow

See More of Rumi's Kits

Marcee Fairchild's Landau

Landau is the perfect kit for almost any layout - feminine, masculine, heritage, spring. It has richly textured papers in delicate and bold patterns, as well as solids. There are a variety of versatile elements, including wooden and metal items and flowers and ribbons.

This is the featured kit for Marcee's Material Girl Challenge for February and until March 15th, you can get it at a discount of 33% OFF! See the challenge details in the forum by clicking HERE .

Check out this kit: Landau

See More of Marcee's Kits

Michaele Burkhart 's Groovy Gardening

Introducing Groovy Gardening! This kit is packed full of elements
and fun bright colors for all your scrapping needs! This kit can
be used to scrap those great flower and garden pics, Spring or
Summer memories, or even feminine photos!

Link: Groovy Gardening

Also check out Delightful

What a delight! Here's a lovely kit with bold colors and rich patterns! It has a variety of buttons, ribbons and extra to embellish your layouts in style! Have fun journaling on the tags, journal tabs and in the bookplates! Great kit for feminine or masculine layouts, various seasons, events and activities.

Link: Delightful

Remember to check out this month's sketch/template challenge!

See More of Michaele's Kits

Caroline Dehm 's Hearts and Flowers Paper Pack

My new Hearts and Flowers kit in shades of reds, purples and pinks is perfect for those romantic pages and versatile enough for feminine and fun layouts plus many more. Lots of neat patterned papers and plenty of hearts, flowers, beads, frames, buttons and bows to decorate your pages. It is available in store in three parts, so you can just choose one part or get them all.You will be able to create many, many layouts from this one large kit.

Link: Hearts and Flowers Paper Pack

Link: Hearts and Flowers Elements

PLUS the Add-On Link: Hearts and Flowers Add-On

See More of Caroline's Kits

Dana Conditt's Amber Autumn

Amber Autumn is the perfect compliment to your fall photos. Beautiful warm colors, fun alphas, tags, ribbons, and so much more! Even a quickpage to get you started.

Check it out: Amber Autumn

ALSO Check Out My Hand Created Deco SnowFlakes

9 Hand Created Deco Snowflakes in a varierty of formats (PNG for creating brushes in any program, as well as PS Shape format), with an extra bonus PS layer style included!

Link: 9 Hand Created Deco Snowflake Set 1

AND if you like the first set of 9 Hand Created Deco Snowflakes, you will LOVE the second set!!

Check Out 9 Hand Created Deco Snowflake Set 2 Here!

See More of Dana's Kits

Carol Rupley's Love Notes

I couldn't resist creating another soft sweet kit for Valentine's Day. With all of the love notes that certainly being written, I wanted to created some notes that look like antique wrapping paper, all ragged and ripped to use for a note. Those soft stitched hearts and other elements really just look like Valentine's Day to me. I hope you all enjoy this and let me see your layouts.

Check it out: Love Note

AND just in time for St. Patty's Day -- Leprechaun!

With St. Patty's Day just around the bend I have created a new kit featuring a fun loving leprechaun (That actually looks a lot like my grandpa). There are tons of shamrocks and lots of great patterns and more. Look for this kit in the store.

Link: Leprechauns!

See More of Carol's Kits

Mary Ridgeway's Sleeping Beauty

Inspired by fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty is a romantic and feminine kit for scrapbooking your magical memories of a special princess, a visit to a theme park, a birthday party, and so much more.

Check out Sleeping Beauty !

See More of Mary's Kits

Kutnkudlys Kreations' It's a Girl!

This kit is a take off of my Daisies For Baby Girl Kit, but it's in nothing but Purple!!! This kit would be great for babies, young girls, even young women!

In this kit you will receive:
7 12x12 papers
1 12x12 'Its A Girl' overlay
6 balloon elements
5 different bows
3 ricrac ribbons
1 ribbon with slide
11 misc elements to adorn your pages

Happy Scrapping! Link: It's a Girl!

Sooperbowl Mania

Calling all you football fans! Here is a kit just perfect for those game day photos you took during the Super Bowl! Full of fun papers and elements, lots of fun stuff to decorate those rockin' and rowdy layouts and remember all the fun you had! In this kit you get:

9 papers (12x12)
4 bottlecaps
2 helmets
2 footballs
8 chipboard jerseys
12 labels
4 pennants
2 banners

Link: Sooperbowl Mania

See More of Kutnkudlys Kreations' Kits

Tip of the MONTH: Converting Photograghs to 'Drawings' by Carol Rupley (for Photoshop CS2)

You can use your photos to create a cartoon or ‘drawn' look to your image. You can make your photo look like a cartoon by using the Cutout Filter. Just choose Filter / Artistic / Cutout.

Or you can make a photo look like a sketch by choosing the Graphic Pen Filter. Just select Filter / Sketch /Stamp.

Try out some of the other filters, you never know what type of effect you might get.

Deco-Pages Design is published monthly. If you enjoy this magazine, be sure to tell a friend!

© Copyright 2006 Deco-Pages.com . All Rights Reserved.

To Opt-Out of this newsletter, set your User CP of the forum to not receive email