Project Life Album Class

Please join me for an awesome Scrapbooking workshop on April 18th.  RSVP now to save your spot.

Project Life MDS Hybrid

So, I am trying an experiment, I made a page on the Project Life App, using the Project 52 Edition kit, which I imported into My Digital Studio. I wanted to be able toa dd text to the card saying the days date for example, and while I was at it, add a tiny stamps. I am going to have this page printed through the App and through the MDS printer and see which one will give me a better quality print. My concern is that when I went to add my exported picture the resolution of the image no longer looked as crisp. It looked perfect at 6x6" but I wanted the full 12x12" page. So we will see. If anyone else has tried this let me know. I love the fun of the App, but my plan had always been to pull the pages into a MDS book when I was done. Now I am having second thoughts. Sigh.

So in this image, I actually also redid my text.  I covered the old text with a punch, which I filled in with the color picker of the white of the PL52 Card.  I added the tiny heart at the bottom of the card as well, and of course the date on the top left card.

This is image pulled straight in from the app itself. It imports at 1.6MB which is low for an MDS page.  My pages seem to be more like 5-10MB per page.

Sale of the week!

Don't forget about Tursdays new sales at Stampin' Up!  Or earning free products during our awesome Salebration!

Hello You Thinlit card

So I needed to make a baby card to send to a friend, and could not wait to test out my new thin lits!  Oh so fun!

They are a tiny bit tricky to remove, so what you need to do is find a noninsanely sharp tool,  my tool was from my paper piercing mat to help Pop free a few of the spaces.  My first attempt was using a pin,  which left holes in my words.  Oops.  Learn from my mistakes!!

I'm using some retired card stock and dsp here as well as an old build a bear set, but I love it so its all good!  Gotta love stash cards!

MDS holiday card

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Project Life Happy December App

I'm working on some digital app/desktop hybrid pages using the app to quickly scrapbook an event, then I'll put it in MDS and add some stamps & embellishments.

Here is my starting place.  I used the seasonal snapshot and the happy December mobile downloads.  Love them both!!! 

Stay tuned for the modified version!

Blendabilities

I have needed a batch of thank you cards to send to some friends who bailed me out this summer, and had a blast making these simple cards.    For the first set, I used Peaceful Petals Stamp Set, and my Starburst Big Shot Dies.

The really fun part of these card was working with my new alcohol based markers.  I just bought a set of several of the Blendabilities markers, and love them!  They are simple to work with, and color wonderfully.  This card used the In Color markers for the Calypso Coral flower, and the Pistachio Pudding leaves.  The center of the Flower used the Daffodil Blendabilities  I have learned that these need to be used with the Momento Ink instead of Stazon, otherwise you have a big mess.


My second card uses the Happy Watercolor Stamp set.  I used the Coastal Cabana set, and the Old Olive Blendabilities set for the flower stamp image.    I didn't take a picture of the inside, but I stamped the thank you saying on the inside. 

Paper Pumpkin Promo Code

If you ever feel yourself saying things like this...

• "I'm not creative enough." 
• "I don't have time." 
• "I don't craft; it is too messy." 
• "I am not a crafter; I wouldn't know where to start." 

Then Paper Pumpkin might be perfect for you!  It will come to your house each month with everything you need for an awesome crafting session! And with this great promotion, it is a fantastic deal!  So got to mypaperpumpkin.com and enter HALFOFF2  to take advantage of this awesome offer.  Need more ideas?  Check out this great Pintrest Page! 

After you sign up, Check back with my to see what I have made with my kit!

Create a Project Life MDS Page Template

So far the only thing that I am at all bummed about is with my digital version of the Project Life kits is that I don't have the nifty plastic page pages as a digital template, so I decided to make one.  I went to my trusty friend Pintrest, and found some great Project Life inspiration, and created a spread.  I noticed that most plastic pages seem to take up the whole page, and my first few attempts at making a page fit didn't work because I was trying to squish them into the bleed margins of a 12x12 page.  New plan...Ignore the bleed lines.  That isn't to say I put important stuff there, but I planned on using the whole space with imagery.

So... I created a photo layout page for myself using the Add Photo Box feature, and then editing the size.  I used 4 boxes that were 3.9x5.86, but if you want no gaps, just use the 4x6.  Those went on each corner.  Then in my center colomn, I placed 4 more boxes that were 3.86x2.9.  Again, 4x3 would work.  I moved and aligned until everything was just as I wanted it. Then I selected everything and went to File>Save as Page Photo Layout, so I don't have to do this next time.  Now, when I work, I can use the Photo template again and again.  Yeah!

Did you know that you can drag an embellishment into a photo box?  Well, you can!  Woot Woot! Go to your Add Embellishment tab, Choose the Project Life one you want, Under >Designer Kits, and go from there.

You can also rotate them too when you place them if you need them to go the other direction.  And if you dislike the one you chose, delete it and the photo box wipes back to grey and you start over.

So go through, select your happy little embellishments and photos and finish out the page.  Easy Peasy!

I added a background paper in Gumball Green, and recolored a burlap ribbon to match and used a stamp from the School DaysII set. I added journaling in the yellow box, but removed it to take this picture for privacy reasons.

What do you think?  I'd love to see some other Project Life Templates you come up with using this method so please email me, or comment below so I can check it out!

MDS Monday Sketch Challenge

I found a new challenge blog this week and had to play along because it is an MDS challenge blog, and frankly I adore MDS if you haven't guessed.

I bought a bunch of new downloads this week, hello, no shipping & instant gratification, and had to start messing around with my new goodies.

This challenge sketch uses one of the photo layouts that is ready to go in MDS, and the biggest challenge with this layout is finding imagery that will be long and wide.  Happily I was able to dig into my not to distant past and pull out images from my trip to Hawaii with my hubby.  Bless his work for sending him out there, and my mother-in-law for babysitting so we could go together.  Best week ever!

Here is my entry.  I am using the Playground Project Life download, and you can see other pages I created using this same set here.  Summer Starfruit is really growing on me using this set!  Background paper is from the Sweet Sorbet SAB collection.

MDS Project Life by Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! started working with Becky Higgins Project Life this year and I had to try out the new My Digital Studio Playground download for Project Lifeby Stampin' Up!.  I looked at some Project Life sample scrapbook pages to get a few ideas of layouts since I am fairly new to Project Life, and discovered I was easily able to modify some photo layouts in MDS to fit the sizes of the new embellishments.  I did not find a premade template under the other designer pages when you start a new document, which is why I put my own together.  I am working on these for my sister, and love how easy they were to pull together. 

Just a quick tip, I found the Project Life items under Designer Kits>Embellishments, and under the Designer Kits in the Stamp category as well.  They did not pop up as a new heading like "Round Buttons" which I had expected.

One of my favorite parts was that I could resize the size of the stamp sets so that it could work as a title, or little header.  I also love that it coordinates with our SU colors so I can pull in other things with MDS to make it all work together and keep it fresh and fun.  More pages will be coming soon asI have barely begun to play with my new download!

Make a Masculine Birthday Card

 

It was spring break for my children's school last week, and I got to visit one of my good friends, and downline, and do some stamping with her!  It was such fun to be in her new craft room with tons of space to play, and use these great goodies from the spring catalog.  I drove from New York down to Georgia and it really felt like spring there, so warm and sunny!

I made this card as a masculine birthday card. I used Bermuda Bay, Tangerine Tango, an Basic Gray as my color palette.  I love this stamp set, Starburst Sayings (133185), and the coordinating framelit, Starburst Framelit (#132967), because lets face it, I do not want to cut out all those tiny little notches!!  I did notch out the tiny circle to match though because it looked better than using the 1" circle punch as my mat.  My large banner background was also cut out using the Banners Framelits (#132173)  Can you tell I love my magnetic die platform, and framelits??  They make it so easy to line up my images and cut everything out perfectly!  To order, visit my website before June 1st when the occasion catalog ends!  I certainly hope these guys make it into our new catalog which comes out June 2014!

Time to say Goodbye again

Every year I get a little sad when the Stampin' Up! retiring list comes out, and this year was no different.  There is a change though that is important to note.  Unlike previous years, the retiring stamps AND the accessories are only available while supplies last.  Normally the stamps are available the whole time, but not this year, so if you have a favorite on the list, make sure you get it ordered before it is gone.  I tried to order some reinkers for the in colors and found out that they were already gone.

Link to the Retiring Stamp List File

Link to the Retiring Accessories List

There were cute a few Big Shot items in here, dies, folders, and so forth, so make sure you check it out!

Project Life by Stampin' Up!

Becky Higgins is going to be partnering exclusively with Stampin' Up! to introduce an awesome line of products that are just for us as a direct sales company!  Woohoo!  I just placed my demo preorder of some of the new products and can't wait to try them out. 

I had not heard of Project Life before this, so I am really excited to learn more about this really neat new scrapbooking/memory keeping system.  It looks simple, easy, and fun.  Come back soon to see what I was able to make with my new goodies!  Customers will be able to order from me May 1st!


 I love my digital studio, and I am so excited we will also have a digital component as well as the traditional!

Turn a Page Layout into a Page - MDS

I am teaching an MDS page layout class this weekend.  We will be covering how you work on different layout concepts.  We will cover Photo layouts, Designer Templates, Blank, and Scrap Maps.  I thought I'd post one example.  I love using Pintrest to get and easily store scrapbooking layouts that appeal to me.  I also adore my very wide monitor which lets me have one window on each half of my screen so I can work on MDS and see my inspiration piece at the same time.

In my latest tutorial I explained how I get from my layout on Pintrest, to a template built in MDS to a completed page.  Here is an example of one of my pages.

If you can't make it to the class, email me about the latest 12 page tutorial.  If you purchase MDS from me, I will send you the tutorial for free.

Watercolor Video Tutorial

I love doing watercolor cards, and could not wait to try out my new stamp set, squeal, since it has been a little while since I did a tutorial, I thought a video would be best to demo watercolors.  Hope this is helpful, and you enjoy it!

Check out my latest video here.

Supplies:
You need good quality water color paper, I really like the kind Stampin Up has because it does not warp when you add water. You can use a brush, but I really like aqua painters as they help me eliminate mess and accidents!  You need a great stamp set, I used Joyful Christmas  (#131805) and of course Stazon ink.  All your classic Ink pads will work with the painter, so any color is available to you!
I also used the Season of Style DSP paper Stack, Gumball Green, Soft Suede, and Cherry Cobbler. I also used Crystal Effects for the flower centers.  Also helpful to have on hand are paper towels, and a hair dryer. -Hair dryer to dry between watercolor layers, and a paper towel to blot the paper if you accidentally put down too much color, and need to lift a tiny bit.  This also works if you go outside the lines and want to fix it if you aren't cutting it out.

Have fun and Happy Stamping!

Recently Completed Scrapbook Pages

As I mentioned earlier I have finally finished putting together my 2011 scrapbook.  Here are a few of my favorite pages.  I really enjoy working off the photo layout mode, then tweaking the layouts as my pages allow.   I love that I can scale a group now in MDS2, such an improvement.

MDS Error Tips

So because of the 30% off MDS sale until November 30th, I have been working hard on my 2011 scrapbook.  I finally got it wrapped up yesterday, and went to publish.  Yikes, I got an error message I have never seen before. 

It told me the Background on two pages was Null, and two pictures were missing on another page.  I went to the specified pages, but no matter what I tried, I could not get the error to change or to go away.  Finally I decided to delete the page missing images and rebuild it since nothing was working.  The window opened asking me if I want to delete page 12.  I was working on the page that said #10 not the actual #10.

I didn't realize that that program was  counting my Front and Back pages at the beginning of the book as the first 2 pages, so all my error messages I had tried to fix had been on the wrong pages.  I was off by 2.  Smack the head. Simple mistake but I spent a ton of time trying to fix it, so if you get a similar message, save yourself some time and frustration and subtract 2!!

Thankful Thoughts

One of my favorite things in November on Social Media, and blogs I follow is the daily "Thank You Moments".  I am not as wonderful about posting them on my family blog, but I do try to get a few up there during the month, or in my journal.  I thought I'd make a Thanksgiving type card to show awesome fall colors, and so send to someone truly special.  Everyone knows that getting some thing in the mail that isn't Junk mail is so very special!

So here is is, Gently Falling, Gorgeous Grunge, and Chalk Talk! I combined those cards to do some fun two step stamping, don't worry, it doesn't need to be perfect, and used the leaf outline stamps to create my own patterned paper on some Very Vanilla card stock.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, and Pumpkin Pie, can't get more fall like than that!

I also layered my punches to create a neat new look.  I saw this on Pintrest, can't recall the card I copies, but what a great idea to turn the Modern Label punch and layer under the Wide Oval, and because I love tags so much, I made one more to add in that pop of color.

Super fun to do, and fast and easy!  Shop Online Now to order any of these materials!

Just a thought for a unique scrapbook/gift idea, take a photo each day of something you are thankful for, add your daily message, compile both into a simple scrapbook, maybe a 6x6 or smaller, and you have an awesome Christmas gift for a loved one.

25% off during the 25th anniversary week!

From Oct 22-28th only you can save on 25 awesome stamp sets. Visit my online store to place your order!

(FYI-one of my current favorites, Gorgeous Grunge is on list)

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/Humongous_List_of_Stamps_on_Sale_US.pdf