Hello Crafting World!

EEEEK!!  Has it been a whole week since our last meeting?!

Back to school and our fall Ministry kick off event's are almost over!! (and literally kicking my butt!)

Thanks for your patience as I muddle through life making changes and simplifying my blogging process.

You are amazing!  And I hope you enjoy the next few posts with tricks and tips from my crazy craft projects!!

 Here are the name tags I made for my Young 4s ministry class.  They are going to be "fishers of men" this year.  I cannot even begin to tell you how freaking much I love MyDigitalStudio for ALL of my school/church decorations and tools.  Love love love!!  I can make my OWN theme, and coordinate ANYTHING! and then I can use the MDS files to cut with my e-cutter.  Life....is....good :)

Do you LOVE the scales on the fish??  That is a super neat (and EASY!) trick in MDS to add an "embossed" look to your stamps.  Simply add one image over another (this works GREAT for backgrounds!)  In this example, I added the dots to the fish.  Then I changed the color of the dots to the same color as a fish. (well...um...Donna, they disappear after that!)  BUT! then all you need to do is add a drop shadow to the image, and be sure to change the color of the shadow to white.  then VIOLA!  it looks 3D!!  :)  

Here is our Theme verse for September.  This Back To School Digital kit makes it SO easy!!  Everything coordinates and has a grungy back to school motif.  I am loving it this year!!

  See these SUPER cute blocks?!  I needed an element and did a google search for "blocks PNG"  this will (99% of the time) provide you with images that you can use that have transparencies in the background.  (I recommend purchasing from people as much as possible, but there are LOTS of free images on the internet) SO you can add them ON TOP of stuff and there is no white space!!  (when you see an image online and it says PNG, be sure it has the weird grey/white checkerboard background....thats how you know its transparent and a true PNG file)  also:  DO NOT VIOLATE COPYWRITES!!  

Hope this helps you navigate the world of graphics and designing simple projects with a little extra love in My Digital Studio!

~Donna

Project Life and MDS

How STINKING cute is the newest Project Life by Stampin' Up! download this month?!?!
If you think creating a digital scrapbook is hard...I'm here to tell you, it so so so is not!

 

~Seasonal Snapshot Digital Project Life Cards ~
(and this isn't even all of the images!)

I can't even function right now with the amount of holiday awesomeness in this pack!!  63 Digital Stamps....and 205 Embellishments!!  WOWZA!  and only $19.95   do you KNOW the damage you can do to some scrapbooks with this?!?!!  

Oh .. My .. Word .. 

Here is what I made...so far!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Folks!
Take your favorite pictures, add the elements, use some stamps and some text...and POOF!  Move from September to October in the blink of an eye!
Wanna know the BEST part?!  You do NOT have to cut anything out!  You do NOT have to worry about weather anything "matches."  You do NOT have to think too hard!
I am completely in love.  
And its not just for scrapbook pages.  You can print out these super adorable images, and use them on cards...subway art...banners...tags...gift bags...oh I could go on for days.
All of the digital stamp brush images can go RIGHT ON TOP of your photos!  You can change the color, the size, even crop some of the image.  The possibilities are ENDLESS!  And because its digital, it really is effortless.  If you don't like something...delete it.  No more weird scraps and piles of wasted stickers.
If you can think of ONE good reason this won't change your life...please...I'd love to hear it :)

Now...if you're a traditional scrapbooker...fear not, there are LOTS of ensembles like this for you!
This set is available in hard copy as well!
Seasonal Snapshot Photocards
Seasonal Snapshot Accessories kit

Wanna see some of these kits in action?  Head on over to SSINKSPIRATION for a peek at what our amazing design team has to show you!
~ Happy Stampin' (and Project Life'n!)

Technique Tuesday ~ Decorative Masking

Decorative Masking:  Basically going from 

THIS:

 To THIS:

For the full tutorial:  Head on over to SSINKSPIRATION!

After making the awesome background for my Halloween card, check this out!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new stamp set and its matching framelits!

Fall Fest                                             Fun Fall Framelits

 You can add super cute "glowing eyes" using bling and the spooky eyes from the jack o'lantern faces!

  And this stamp set is so versatile!!

   
Mingle All The Way

Wanna make this card?

Recipe:

Stamp Sets:  Fall Fest, Mingle All The Way

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Tangelo Twist

Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Elegant Eggplant, Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey

Accessories: Dots and Stripes Decorative Masks, Rhinestones (colored with Blendabilites), Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back tomorrow for another Mingle All the Way card and ANOTHER new technique! 

~Donna

#SSInkCC13 Color Challenge!

Happy Monday!

Happy Labor Day!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today and see my entry into the color challenge on SSInkspiration!  Click on the pic to follow along!

  

EEEK!!  Do you not just LOVE these colors!!

They scream fall to me.  Fall...you know...the greatest season ever!

Time for warm sweaters, hot fires, football games, and EVERYTHING Pumpkin Spice!!

What do you think about that?!

I LOVE this new stamp set and how well it plays with an old favorite!
 
For All Things and Georgeous Grunge

I used the Rock and Roll technique on the leaves.  I first inked the image in Hello Honey, then you take the stamp and rock or roll it in the darker colors, but only around the stamp's edges.

I can't decide if I like the subtle difference in the bottom leaf, or the darker contrast in the middle ones....hmmm.  What do YOU think?  Comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for stopping by!  Interested in recreating this card?

Recipe:

Cardstock:  Rich Razzleberry, Calypso Coral, Hello Honey, Very Vanilla

Stampset:  For All Things (new in the holiday catalog!)

Accessories:  Gold Sequin Trim, Burlap Ribbon, Paper Snips, Sand Paper (to rough up the coral paper) Dimensionals

Happy Stampin!  Come back tomorrow for another fun technique!

~Donna

Retro Sketches RS#129

I have this stamp set...that I can't quite show you yet....(only ONE more day!!!

and I found this amazing sketch challenge!

So now I MUST show you what I did!!

 

I FREAKING LOVE this new set :)   It's in the upcoming Holiday catalog...Check back tomorrow for a FULL on slam of holiday stuff!

Okay:  So I used a few of our often forgotten products for this card.
White Chalk Marker...this is a MUST!!  
Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker
Window Sheets
And some new products!
Blendabilities!! (I know, SHOCKER!)
Dots& Stripes Decorative Mask

So here's what I did:

 I colored the image in with Blendabilities.  I used a sponge to make the "glow" around the candles and the dirty part of the floor.  I know its hard to see, but I also used the color lifting Blendabilities and a white gel pen to give the illusion of lights in the swag on the garland.  I can't decide if that is my favorite part...or not, because I also love the fake snow on the corners of the window...thank you Chalk marker!

or maybe its this:

The wonky sign.  AH  I can't decide!!!!
To make the brick background, I took the stripes decorative mask, and used Cherry Cobbler ink and a sponge to get the darker lines.  Thank God for the mask, the lines were super easy, evenly spaced...and STRAIGHT! :)   Then I used my trusty Chalk Marker and made the "morter lines"

Thank you so much for looking!  

See you tomorrow!!

~Donna

Life Interrupted.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

yay!

This past week has been complete chaos...I'm not going to lie.

Between cleaning out 3 different closets....preparing 2 different back to school bags....and FINALLY getting summer weather the weekend before school starts, we are spent.  And this mamma, is ready for her life back...structure, and discipline... YAY!

but look at them....

  when did my baby grow up?!  3rd Grade already?!

My Favorite girl! She gets taller by the second! 

 This just happened!!  Young 5's here we come!

Little brother is going to miss his partner in crime.  Looking forward to some one on one time with that little guy!

 

Stop taking pictures mom! 

Thanks for your grace and forgiveness this week as I have been a crafty recluse.  I promise you that I have been working hard, just not able to post for you.

Tomorrow:  Paper Pumpkin from August.....you HAVE to sign up before the end of this week!!

AND...... The Holiday Catalog goes LIVE on Thursday!!  EEEEKK!!!!

~Donna

Quick and Easy Peasy does it!

Quick and Easy Wednesday!

What is quicker than using scraps and a framelit?!

NOTHING!!  :)

How cute are these guys?!!

They were leftover from another project, and honestly, I crumbled them up accidentally and then "POOF" an inspiration hit!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these new framelits!!  I cannot wait to show them to you!

I also love the stamp set Mingle All The Way!

  This is only half of the stamped image...the rest is super cute too!!  and there are a mix of fall/winter holiday sayings in it!   Super Super Fun!

Thanks for poppin in today!  Wanna see what the rest of the SSInk Design team considers "Quick and Easy" ?!  Check it out HERE.