Constantly Stamping

A Sweet MDS Tutorial

I received a nice comment from Tammy asking how I created the label for the Valentine Treat bag. So Tammy, this is for you (and anyone else who may be wondering). I tried to keep the pictures small, but you can click on them and they will enlarge if you need a closer look.

 

Of course you need to purchase and download The Sweetest Ever Valentine template. Open MDS and create a new project. Choose Multiple Output Option. Select 8-1/2x11 Portrait setting. Choose Designer Template. Select Sweetest Ever Valentine Template. This is what Page One will look like.

Step One: Delete everything off the page except the part that we will be working with.

 

 

 

 

Step Two: Move the words and frame away from the background. Group them together to make it easier to keep together. Also group together the background paper but leave it where it is.

Step Three: Duplicate the background and move it below the first box.

Step Four: Return the words and frame to the original position.

Step Five: Use the square label punch to cover the portion that you don't want to print.

Step Six: Fill the punches with the same color as the background paper (in this case, Whisper White). This helps conserve printer ink.

Step Seven: Use the square punch again to add a little extra pink CS to the sides. I used the color picker to get an exact match.

Step Eight: Change the color of the side punches to pink. I used the color picker to get an exact match. Now select everything and group it so that nothing gets messed up. You may want to fill the other portion of the page with other elements so that you don't waste your expensive matte photo paper.

That's it. How this helps!

Jumbo Birthday Medallion

Medallions have been popular in the paper crafting world for a few years now, but when I recently went to the craft store, I found that now they are really BIG. Big as in size that is. What I couldn't believe is how expensive they are if you purchase them pre-made. So as ususal I said to myself, "I can do that". So when I got an invitation to a close friends' birthday party, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to create this fun jumbo medallion. I haven't decided exactly how I will use it, maybe on her gift bag. There are a lot of possibilities.

These also fit perfectly with the birthday theme over a Stamping Celebration this week, so I thought I would enter this into the challenge as well. Would you like to make one of these too? Well, it is really simple. You will need the following tools: Computer & Color Printer, My Digital Studio software, a Big Shot Machine, the Clear Circle die (#114533), the Scallop Circle die (#113468), hot glue gun, and a scoring tool.

First, you will need to select the image(s) for the medallion center. I used the Happy Birthday from the Engraved Greeting digital download and the Dotted Circle from Enjoy Every Moment. I resized the images to fit inside a 3.75" Circle with an little extra room for cutting. Print a set of two centers (my medallion is double-sided) on white card stock. This is the image I used on the back. It's from the Punch Bunch Digital CD that I recieved during Sell-a-bration. Now center the image inside the center of the Clear Circle die. (TIP: the image will shift slightly when you die cut, so center the image perfectly from left to right, but slightly higher toward the top of the die to allow for the drag of the die cut machine.)

I used blue painters to hold everything in position while I die cut the image. You will need to cut two scallop circles from Real Red card stock. You will use the scallop circles as a base for the medallion. Now there are directions everywhere for how to create the acutal medallion, so I won't spend a lot of time on this step. Basically, I used traditional designer series paper because it is easier to work with. (Digital DSP tends to crack when fan-folded). I used the Pacific Point striped pattern from the Brights DSP collection. I cut two strips 3"x12" and scored it every 1/2" and fan-folded each section. I attached the two strips together end-to-end to form a cirlce and then flattened the center. These jumbo medallions require a lot of extra holding power, so I used a hot glue gun to attach the scallop circle to the front. After the first side cooled, I turned the medallion and added a ribbon hanger and tails with hot glue. Then I added the second scallop circle with hot glue to cover the mess and add extra stability. At this point you can use regular adhesive to attach the Happy Birthday sentiment to the center of the scallop circle.

Now all that is left is to attach it to a gift bag or present. It would also look great hanging from the ceiling, a door knob, or even turned into a necklace or pin for the birthday girl/boy.

Remember, you can purchase your Stampin' Up! supplies on my web site 24/7.

 

 

MDS Hybrid Card & Tutorial

Lately, I've been feeling really guilty about neglecting my MDS followers...so this post is all of you. This a fun little hybrid card I did using the Word Play digital download. It makes a cute card and I think it would be great on a scrapbook page. Here is a quick step-by-step tutorial on how I did it.

 

 

 

One of the great things about this particular download is that you can add it as the whole image or you can paste it in as two seperate parts. For this project I used the two seperate pieces.

 

I changed the color of one part (Go confidently) to Early Espresso and the other part (Dreams) to Pacific Point. Then I aligned the two parts together.

 

 

 

Next I placed a square punch over the word "GO". It actually took two punches that I resized into rectangles. Then I changed the rectangles to whisper white to match the background.

 

 

I typed the word "GROW" in Real Red and resized to fit perfectly over top. (The font is "An Unfortunate Event".)

 

 

Next I used a circle punch to cover the "o" and changed it to Whisper White. (I had to resize the circle so that it only covered the "o". You could also just highlight the letter "o" and change it to whisper white and leave the other letters real red.

 

 

Finally, I added the large flower from the Play Date embellishments and resized it to fit in the space. Then I added the digital bird stamp from Cheep Talk, changed it to Pacific Point and resized it to fit on top of the arrow.

One thing to note is that you should try to start out with the size you want the finished product to be. If you don't, however, the new software update will allow you to group everything and resize it. Everything will resize except the word "Grow" because that is typed. But you can just highlight the word and change the size of the font...so it is not that bad.

Here's another look at the finished card. You can see that I added a more mustard brad to the center of the flower for some dimension. I created a square card base (4.25") with Pacific Point CS added a layer of Real Red CS and then layered on some Celebrations DSP. I tied on some Pear Pizzazz Stitched-poly Ribbon and a Real Red button tops everything off nicely.

I'll be seeing you again soon!

 

 

MDS Video - Aligning Objects

Stampin' Up! just released the latest version of My Digital Studio (v. 1.0.6) and it is available for free to everyone who has purchased the software. Here's are two quick videos from the home office on how to group and align objects using the new version of MDS. If you are an advanced user, you may have already figured this out, but these are great tutorials for beginner/innermediate users.

 
Find more videos like this on My Digital Studio

Find more videos like this on My Digital Studio

MDS Paper Daisy Tutorial

Last week I accidentally deleted this post. I don't have time to redo the entire thing, but I wanted to get the video posted again for those of you who have requested it. You can see the original embellishment here. You will need to go to my photo and then click "view winning entry here". Be sure to check out the other fabulous winning entries to the MDS contest.

 

My Digital Halloween Bottle Label and Two MDS Hybrid Cards

Today I have a "treat" for my MDS customers. I have two MDS Halloween hybrid cards and a video tutorial for a MDS hybrid bottle lable just in time for your Halloween festivities. I typically don't really get into Halloween too much. Probably because my parents both worked full-time and we were lucky to get the Christmas tree up (and back down) at our house...most other holidays basically went unnoticed. I do have a few fun memories of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood where we lived. Of course my candy stash mysteriously disappeared after a few weeks...probably because I ate it. (That would explain all the cavaties growing up.)

The first project I am sharing today is this fun bottle label that I created in My Digital Studio. I created a video tutorial (above) with step-by-step instructions for the label. I purchased the empty bottle at a nationwide home dec. retail store and filled it with grape flavored drink mix. In the video I promised to give the dimensions of the layers. Scroll to the end of this post for that information. I actually tried making this label in several layers, but the cardstock kept pulling up from the bottle. That's where creating everything in one simple label comes in very handy.

As a bonus, I created two super easy Halloween cards using MDS and the new Night Owl Digital Kit download. The first card, shown to the right, uses a portion of digital DSP from  the Night Owl Digital Kit download ($7.95) framed with Pumpkin Pie. I cut it out and layered it on a Basic Black CS base that was layered with another DSP from the same digital download.

 

It is difficult to see, but for the raven's eye, I colored it in with a pumpkin pie marker and added a dab of Crystal Effects to give it a more realistic effect. I wanted these cards to be super easy to make and mail, so I refrained from using any embellishments.

 

For my second card I used a portion of page #7 from the Night Owl Digital Kit and framed it with Concord Grape. This card is super simple to make. I trimmed out the pieces and layered it on another piece of digital DSP and attached it to a Basic Black card base.

 

 

Now for the dimensions on that bottle label that I promised you in the video.

Layer 1 - w 158 x h 309 - Night Owl #7

Layer 2 - w 174 x h 325 - Old Olive

Layer 3 - w 186- x h 336 - Basic Black

Layer 4 - w 228 x h 401 - Cast a Spell #4

Layer 5 - w 263 x h 436 - Basic Black

 

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!

New Video Tutorial: My Digital Studio-How to use the clipart you already have

I received a great question the other day. Rene' wrote, "...I am a teacher and have lots of clipart from various sources other than SU. Do you know if I can import them into My Digital Studio to use with that program?" Well, the answer is yes! According to the MDS user manual, "MDS accepts most major photo file formats (jpg, gif, png, bmp, psd, tif, and pct). Note: to preserve transparancy in photos, save file in PNG format from your image editor." With all that being said...what does that really mean in plain English. I decided to put together a little MDS tutorial on how to import art from other sources into MDS. Hope this helps.

Inside My Digital Studio: Layering 101

The response to my first mini-seminar for MDS was very good so today I completed another "My Digital Studio" mini-seminar. This video takes a look at layering. I have found that most new users of digital software need a better understanding in this department. I created this seminar to help those of you who need to reveiw or just plain don't understand why objects disappear when you are working with your digital software. The video is approximately 16 minutes in length. I tried to edit out some of the mundane things and focus just on the layering process. We won't actually create a project in this class, but once you master this technique, you will find that most of the projects I will share with you in the future will make more sense. Hope you like it and check back soon for more MDS seminars.

Order My Digital Studio HERE. This will send you to my website where you can click on the "Shop Now" button. MDS item # 118108. There are also new digial images and DSP available.

DID YOU KNOW?...if you already have a digital software program, you can also purchase digital downloads for use with the software you already own. As long as your software allows you to use .png files you can download and use these great digital downloads by Stampin' Up! Order you digital downloads HERE!