Constantly Stamping

New Digital Downloads

Stampin' Up! had new digital downloads available for use with My Digital Studio or other digital software programs. One ofthe most exciting downloads is the new textured cardstock.

#120168 Textured Card Stock Digital Download, Price: $4.95

Your digital crafting supplies aren't complete without the Textured Card Stock digital download for my Digital Studio. With this download, you get 36 exclusive Stampin' Up! colors of textured cardstock that will add depth and dimension to any digital project.

 

#119978 My Sweet Pea Digital Kit Digital Download, 

Price: $9.95

With 48 patterns of Designer Series paper, a five-piece stamp brush set, and eight felt embellishments, the Sweet Pea digital kit for My Digital Studio give you just what you need for a huge variety of digital crafting projects.

 

  #118869 Recipes By Design Digital Kit Digital Download, Price: $9.95

Whether it is Grandma Ruth’s chocolate sheet cake, Cousin Morty’s flaming barbeque sauce, or that halibut recipe you got from the bed and breakfast on your trip to Alaska—when you keep those recipes close, you keep those memories close as well. With the Recipes by Design digital kit for My Digital Studio, preserving those memories is easy. The kit includes a designer template, an eight-piece stamp brush set, and 16 elements for you to choose from—all the ingredients you need to make a recipe book that will last for generations.

Better Late Than Never

Hey everyone! So sorry to be quiet for so long, but there is a list of reasons why I haven't been posting lately. Primarily, I had to clean up my stamping area (the dining room) for Thanksgiving company and with more company coming in a few weeks, I decided not to drag out everything again until after that.

I have been going through stamping withdrawls, so I decided to make a digital hybrid card instead. Even with all of my stamps and stamp pads packed away, I still have some card stock and designer series paper at my disposal, so I decided to make a card using Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge from last week. I had this card finished last week, but with the holidays quickly approaching, I just couldn't find the time to photograph it and post it on my blog.

This card needs a little explanation. You see, last weekend I had the opportunity to see the movie "Akeela and the Bee" and absolutely fell in love with the inspirational quote by Marianne Williamson that was read by Akeela in the movie. Well, needless to say, I don't have a stamp for this incredible quote, so I decided to design one of my own using My Digital Studio.

I personally think this movie is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time. The movie chronicles the struggles faced by an 11-year-old girl whose deepest desire is to become the National Spelling Bee champion. The actual quote by Marianne Williamson is very long (they shortened it in the movie), and when I tried to add it to a card, I discovered why. So I took a little artistic license and did the same. I am thrilled with the way this card turned out.

I used Day and Night DSP for the card itself. For the quote I used the fonts "Times New Roman" and "Inspiration", that I already had on my computer. Remember...MDS uses the TrueType fonts on your computer.

Anyway, I hope to be back stamping again soon, but for now I guess this will have to do.

MDS Certification and New Digital Downloads

 
I recently received notification from Stampin' Up! that I am now a certified My Digital Studio demonstrator. That means you can count on me to provide you with up-to-date training and information in MDS. In addition, you can rest assured that I have been using digital software for over fifteen years in my graphic design business, so I am familar with the in's and out's of creating beautiful projects with this powerful yet easy to use software.

Here are seven new digital downloads now available for purchase from Stampin' Up!

Click on images for larger view!

To receive the Preferred Price, purchase and download digital sets HERE.

 

 

118117 - Berry Christmas stamp brush set

Preferred Price: $5.95

The Berry Christmas stamp brush set works great on its own for beautiful holiday projects, but combine it with the Christmas Cocoa II digital kit and you have the perfect combination for every Christmas project.

120880 - Christmas Cocoa II digital kit

(certified MDS demonstrators receive this kit for free)

Preferred Price: $9.95

You’re sure to warm some hearts with the Christmas Cocoa II digital kit for My Digital Studio. This fun digital kit has just about everything you need—Designer Series papers and lots of Christmas ornaments, tags, labels, and borders— to make beautiful holiday projects. Even better, the Designer Series paper in this kit coordinates perfectly with the Berry Christmas stamp brush set

120881 - Write Stuff II digital kit

Preferred Price: $9.95

The trick to any project is making sure you have the right tools to do the job. With the Write Stuff digital kit, you know you’ll have what it takes to make some excellent projects with My Digital Studio! This kit comes with eight patterns of Designer Series paper and thirty-six individual “die-cut” images so you’ll have just what you need for journals, ledgers, frames, recipe, or whatever else you can think of.

120882 - Icicle digital photo card kit

Preferred Price: $3.95

There is nothing cold about the Icicle digital photo card kit. This kit has everything you need—paper, embellishments, and images— to make this elegant card. Just drop in a photo you’re ready to send out your cards!

120883 - Merry Moments digital photo card kit

Preferred Price: $3.95

Make the season shine with the Merry Moments digital photo card kit. This kit has everything you need—paper, phrases and ornaments—to make this merry holiday card. Just drop in a photo of your smiling faces and you’re ready to send out your Christmas cards!

 

 

118118 - Friend by Definition stamp brush set

Preferred Price: $1.95

What characteristics make a friend? Trust, love, generosity; the list goes on and on. Tell your friends that they meet all these definitions and so much more, with this Friend by Definition stamp brush!

118119 - Just Perfect Alphabet stamp brush set

(certified MDS demonstrators receive this kit for free)

Preferred Price: $9.95

Looking for the perfect alphabet for your personalized project? What can we say, this stamp brush set is Just Perfect for you!

My Digital Studio Mini-Seminar: Creating a Card in MDS

Many of you are asking "What exactly is My Digital Studio Software and how does it work?" I have prepared a mini seminar on how to create a card in MDS. The seminar is approximately 21 minutes long, so you may want to set aside some time before playing it. This is a new adventure for me and I am working out all the kinks with the software that allows me to do screen capture. The video is done in "real time" which means that you will see everything I do on the screen as I do it.

Please be patient with me as I try to navigate through the process of preparing these videos to share on my blog. This mini-seminar is absolutely free and you can watch it at any time, just like any of the other videos on my blog. The file is much too large to view on YouTube, so I have chosen a different provider. I would love to know what you think of this video. Please leave me a comment after watching and tell me if you would like to see more videos of this nature. The software is expensive and I don't want to invest tons of time and money if there is only a minor interest. If all goes well, I will be preparing additional videos with actual projects that you can create with My Digital Studio....

Hopefully, this is working now...there were a few problems but I think I have it corrected now.

My Digital Studio...a digital papercrafting solution

Catty Cruise II

Welcome to the second edition of Catty Cruise 2009. If you are on track, you should be have just arrived from visiting Lynn Weiss at L.W. Designs.
This cruise is jam-packed with lots of fabulous ideas from the current Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog by some of the best creative Stampin' Up! demonstrators around. So let's get started.

OFF THE WALL WITH DÉCOR ELEMENTS HOLIDAY MIX

My first project features the Holiday Mix Real Red Décor Elements (#117675). When I first sat down to work with this vinyl wall art, my first instinct was to try to use the entire sheet in one project. But as things progressed, I quickly found several ways that I could create with just one sheet. Now, I will admit that I almost ran to OEX and ordered at least one more set of a different color, but having only the one set of red forced me to be a little more resourceful.

To create this fun and inexpensive wall art I made a visit to a local discount store and found this wall plaque for only $2. I'll let you in on a little secret...it has some Halloween artwork on the other side...so instead of painting it, I just flipped it over and decorated the back side. Now, if I were going to give this away as a gift, I would probably take the time to paint the front, but since this one is just for me, I have decided to cover it with felt so that it doesn't clank around when I hang it on the door.

I thought it looked a little odd for it to just say "snow" so I used my new "My Digital Studio" to create a small tag to complete the thought. I added some rhinestones and used the new Mistletoe Ribbon Originals (#116792) to create a hangar and there you have it!

MORE DÉCOR ELEMENTS

After I finished the last project I was wondering what I could do with all of those fabulous left-over images from Holiday Mix Décor Elements, so I decided to make some coasters. (These pictures turned out really bright red, but in real life they are a little more subdued that this.)

I had enough pieces to make a complete set of 4 coasters using tumbled tiles from my local hardware store. I suggest you add a felt backing, felt pads, cork, or something to keep the tiles from scratching the table. This is a super fast and easy holiday gift that truly took almost no time at all. I tied everything together with some Mistletoe stitched grosgrain ribbon (#116792) and created a tag in My Digital Studio (available October 1st). I printed the tag on glossy photo paper and punched it out with the new Ornament Punch (#116794). Soooo fast and easy!

QUICK AND EASY TAGS WITH MY DIGITAL STUDIO

Here is just another quick and easy gift favor idea for your holiday gatherings. I purchased some inexpensive knit gloves, (you know the ones that are really small and look like they would fit a small child), and tied them together with some gorgeous Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Basic Black (#115615). I added an expensive floral pick and attached a tag that I created in My Digital Studio. How fun would this be to give to each guest at your holiday parties. You could even stuff some candy sticks into the top of the gloves and put one on each place setting at your dinner table.

Now don't run off because I have one more fun treat idea for the kids.

SWEET CENTERS THANKSGIVING TURKEY

Here is a fun idea for little favors for the kids (and kids at heart) at your Thanksgiving get together. I used the Sweet Treat Cups (#116802), the Sweet Centers stamp set (#116521) and my punches to create this adorable little turkey. I just filled the treat cup with some holiday mix jelly beans. If you like this little fella, be sure to check back later this week because I have another fun little sweet centers treat favor to share with you (wink).

Now, now head on over to see the stunning projects by the lovely and talented Kay Kalthoff at Stamping to Share.

Another Digital CASE

 

Here is another card that I CASEd from my friend Nancy Riley and re-created it digitally in MDS. You can see Nancy's card here. I changed the colors and made it monochromatic. One of the best things about creating a card in MDS is once you have your basic design you can come back later and use the same template to create a card/scrapbook page using different elements to achieve an entirely new look like this one below.

 

Digitally CASEing Nancy Riley

One of the best Stampin' Up! card designers I know is my friend Nancy Riley. She has a keen eye for color and she know how to pull it all together. I don't think I have ever seen Nancy do a "so-so" card...everything is top notch. That's why when I set out to CASE a card in My Digital Studio I picked one of hers. (BTW, Nancy gave me permission to use her card as a sample.) I chose this card in particular because I knew that I had most of the elements included in the basic MDS software. You can see Nancy's original card here. Here is my digital CASE of her adorable card. I think it turned out rather well. (Please forgive the photography today...one of the lights is out in my light box and it is rainy & dreary day here in Mt. Juliet.)

This card is a little more advanced than a basic beginner card only because of the nonstandard size. Other than that, it was an easy card.

Here is a second digi-card that I made that is very similar, except that I made it a standard 5.5"x4.25" card base and changed a few of the elements. (This is a JPG file exported from MDS not a photo.) I have always thought it was "funny" when someone says "a little birdie told me today was your birthday". The great thing about creating digital cards in MDS is that it is so easy to add exactly what you want to say. MDS uses the fonts that are already on your computer, so if your are a font freak like me, you are only limited by your imagination.

 

One of the things I love about MDS is that once you create your basic template, it is easy to change out backgrounds, papers, and elements to achieve a new look. Here is a card that used the original template that I reworked to achieve a more masculine look. Of course, when I do a hybrid card, I take a photo so that you can see the details. Here I printed extra of the two elements, cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.

My Digital Studio will be available for purchase on October 1st. I have years of experience with a similar software program and let me tell you, this one is much easier to use that alot of other products on the market. I am currently working toward receiving my certification on this program and will have lots of ideas to share with you using this amazing program. Now that doesn't mean that I have given up stamping...on the contrary, this is just an additional creative outlet. You will still be seeing my stamping and paper crafting projects here on my blog, but now you will see projects made using MDS as well.

Another Christmas DigiCard

I haven't gone totally digi-mad, but I am enjoying playing with my new SU software "My Digital Studio". This card was very easy. All I did was start with Designer 5.5x4.25" landscape Card 2 and then changed the background to Designer Christmas Jingle Paper 2. I also changed the scallop border to Chocolate Chip and changed the shadow to 75%. I printed it out on some premium presentation paper that is made specifically for my inkjet printer, trimmed it, and mounted on Real Red and Chocolate Chip CS.

My First Digital Hybrid Cards

I recently received my copy of "My Digital Studio" and have been playing around trying to master it. Here are two cards that I created this morning using the new SU software.

This card is fairly simple and only took a few minutes to create. I have found it is easier to start with one of the card layouts provided and then tweak or manipulate the template to turn it into an original card. Here I started with the Christmas Jingle 4.25x5 card 2 as my foundation and then changed the background papers to Christmas Jingle 3 & 4. I removed the holly berries so that I could print two and then I used the wide oval punch to punch out the center of the greeting and pop it up using dimensionals. I printed it out on 4 x 6 photo paper using the borderless photo setting. The result was very vivid color and very little paper waste. I trimmed the card front to 5.25"x4" and layered it onto a standard card base made with Chocolate Chip CS.

This second card is a little more "hybrid" than the first one. I started with the Summer Home 4.25x5.5 card 3. I changed the top background to Chocolate Chip Dotted Stripe and deleted the flower and center ribbon. Then I moved the thank you down to the lower right corner and printed it using the borderless photo setting for 4 x 6 premium photo paper. I trimmed the card front and added some Rose Red stitched grosgrain ribbon and a ribbon rosette. I finished the flower by adding a Kiwi Kiss corduroy button and mounted everything on Rose Red and Chocolate Chip CS.