Hi there! Happy Friday! Dare I say, Happy Photoshop Friday? Yeah. :)

I have several great announcements to make, here goes:

• We have welcomed a brand-new member of our staff! She's no stranger here, and has been part of our community since its very beginning. Laurie Pecotte will be joining us, working on customer service, scrapping incredible hybrid and digital projects (uhh, did you SEE that caramel apple kit? WOW!), and you'll see her posts here on the blog and in forums and galleries. Please join me in welcoming Laurie to her new post!
• We have had another special person working for us for a few months, who'll be taking on some different responsibilities as well. Kristen Creech has been working in customer service (many of you have probably conversed with her when you've created tickets), and will now be leading the Creative Team (among other things, including being our financial wizard)! Congratulations Kristen!
• And speaking of Creative Team! We've added TWO new members, and we'd like to welcome them! Here's our creative team for 2009-2010:
  • Shannon Bogan
  • Chris DeWald
  • Linda Roos
  • Renee Morris-Dezember
  • Vikki Luta
  • Lisa VanderVeen
  • Rachael Sheedy
  You'll see their posts in the gallery, and featured here on the home page as well. And we're also preparing a SURPRISE from them that I think you'll really love! More on the CT surprise coming soon!
• In addition, while the Type+Writer 2 class is our final official class of 2009, don't worry! There is one more little trick up my Photoshop sleeve. ;) Get set for another FREE class coming in November, ok? More details on that later.

And let's now talk about some of our new features as of this week!

• Hybrid Gallery and Hybrid Thursday: We have a gallery to feature YOUR hybrid projects! And on top of that, EACH WEEK on Thursdays, Laurie will be selecting one random project from the hybrid gallery posts for that week to receive a $5.00 gift certificate to JessicaSprague.com. Because we love hybrid, and we love you.
• Weekly Digital Challenge: Did you know we've got a weekly challenge on the General message board? That's right! Each Friday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, a new challenge is posted. You've got a week to complete your project and post it in the Challenge gallery. And starting next Friday, one random project posted during the week will win a $5.00 gift certificate to JessicaSprague.com. Free stuff just for scrapping? Heck yes!
• And lastly, but certainly not least, we have implemented One Buck Wednesdays, where for 24 hours, a sampling of digi goodness from the shop is placed on sale for (you guessed it) a BUCK. One smacker. Kind of impossible to resist, no?

I sincerely hope you love all our changes, to the community, to our support team, and to the shop. Thank you for all you do to make this such a cool place. You are awesome!