Where were you when you first heard about the attack on the Twin Towers? I'm sure you remember vividly. The most unceivable thing had just happened and we were all stunned and shocked! Eleven years have gone by and the memories begin to fade. On this memorial the names of the people who died that day and in the days after are cut out of the metal surrounding these pools. You can see the waterfalls through the letters and at night the lights shine up through the names.

Today, let's take some time to remember all those ordinary people going about their ordinary day whose deaths have left a great hole in the fabric of our society. Let's take time to give thanks to all the self-less rescuers who gave their lives or are now dealing with health issues resulting from their efforts.

I used the following supplies to create this scrapbook page: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); Vintage Overlay Stamp Brush Set – texture 12 (121061). I got the photo from the 9/11 Memorial web page and used Lucinda Calligraphy and Arial fonts for the text. I was surprised how subtle the Vintage Overlay was. Maybe it is because I usually use it on cards and shrink it down more to fit.

Today is also Terrific Tuesday and we get new MDS2 downloads for our creating pleasure. Click here to see them.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog today. I am going to post daily so keep checking to see what I have for you.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@mydigitalstudio.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); Day in the Life Digital Kit (128876), Square punch from Punch Shapes (118853), Hexagon Punch (130924), Neutral Delightful Digital Tape (128874), Knots and Ties Trim (131211)

Welcome to My Digital Craft Corner this Sunday evening. As you probably know by now, we have to mini dachshunds which are our very spoiled fur-babies. They reward us not only with loving face washes but hilarious sleeping positions. Here are a few photos I have collected. We had in-floor heating in our house so Little One learned how to lay on the floor and cover herself with the pillow or dog bed. The next thing she learned was to sleep in one dog bed and cover herself with the other one making a little cave for herself. We have a blanket on the couch for them to curl up in. I love the photo where their heads are covered but their hind ends are exposed. "…you can't see us!"

I love the colors in the pattern six of Day in the Life Digital Kit. Mos often, I purchase a kit or designer template not so much for the layouts but for the designer series paper or a punch or stamp set included in the kit. I used the Neutrals Delightful Digital Tape for the background of my title and I recolored the Knots and Ties Trim to Midnight Muse to coordinate with the background card stock.

On www.mydigitalstudio.net there is a Scrap Mat Challenge which was my inspiration for my page. Here is the Scrap Map 1.

Now it is your turn to meet the challenge. Create a scrapbook page along the lines of the scrap map and then email it to me. I will share it on my blog. Then also post it on www.mydigitalstudio.net. If you need any downloads to complete your scrapbook page, just visit my online store or click on the names of the products I used.

I'm glad you came by to visit today. Do come back again very soon. I am challenging myself to post every day. Check up on me to see how I am doing.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); Wherever You Go stamp brush set (131514), square punch from Punch Shapes (118853)

Here is another of the sayings from Wherever You Go stamp brush set. I can see using this stamp with a photo collage of a student's first day of school pictures enlarged to a poster with this particular saying overlayed on the collage to give to a graduating senior from high school or pictures of various places the student went. What possibilities can you think up? Share them in a comment. Whatever the theme, using MDS2 to add this stamp brush set to a photo makes easy but beautiful wall art. Consider making a few, sending them off to our professional printer and then framing them for Christmas presents.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); background – Designer Kits/Convention 2012 – designer series paper/Convention 2012 – 7 (130971); stamps – Designer Kits/Convention 2012 – detailed frame and Creatively Yours (130163)

Welcome! Before we sold our house and packed up most of my stamp room, there was a quote hanging on my bulletin board that said the memories of a generation only last during the next generation…or something like that. To me this is a most compelling reason to scrapbook our photos and memories.

I have lots of photos that were handed down to my mother but have not even names on them. I have no idea who they are much less what was significant about their lives. My mother did a little better because she put names and dates on the photos she took. That still leaves me wondering what their lives were like. I have memories of my mother and father and have heard stories about their parents and their lives but how will my children and grandchildren know about their lives if I don't tell them? A scrapbook with meaningful journaling will give even my great-grandkids a glimpse of our family heritage long after I am but a memory myself.

I did an internet search hoping to find that quote to no avail. However, I did find some that I would like to pass on to you:

• "Birth certificates show when you were born, death certificates show when you died, scrapbooks show that you really lived."   Author: Unknown

• "Just as pieces stitched together in a quilt warm our bodies, scrapbooks bind together memories to warm our hearts."   Author: Unknown

• "Much unhappiness results from our inability to remember the nice things that happen to us."   Author: W. N. Rieger 

• My grandmother made me a scrapbook because I was once too young to remember; I am making scrapbooks for my family because one day I may be too old to remember.    Author: Unknown

I hope you enjoy these quotes and that they encourage you to carry on with your scrapbooking and are diligent in journaling along with the pictures.

I used the Convention 2012 digital template kit to create the wall art above. While the kit was designed for demonstrators to quickly drop in pictures from convention, I love the art work! The stamps, many of the sayings, and the background papers would work wonderfully in many settings. Even the page templates would work well for other themes. Since the templates are totally customizable, you can change out the wording and put in what works for your theme and photos. To order the kit, just click on the link to be taken to my online store.

Thanks for coming to visit. Please enjoy a virtual cup of coffee or tea with me while you browse my blog.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); background – Crumb Cake; embellishmets – Basic Pearls and rhinestones (124330); stamp sets – Vintage Overlay (121061) and Wherever You Go (131514); punch – Beautiful Butterfly Shapes 1 (124412)

Welcome to Terrific Tuesday…well, here in SE Alaska it is still Tuesday! I ordered the stamp brush set Wherever You Go because I can see using it on a graduation card for my oldest granddaughter when she graduates from high school. I chose this saying from the set to make this cheery card. The stamp lends itself well to being colored with the coloring tool of MDS2. I originally had the stamp in white and couldn't figure out why it didn't appear in the coloring window. Duh…the stamp was white and the background was white. I had to have the stamp in black and then paint the words white. A beautiful thing about the coloring tool is that you can color outside the lines and it won't show. You just have to be careful to not color into another section of the stamp. If that happens, then you have to color over the mistake with the correct color. There is no erase tool in the part of the program where the coloring tool is. I can see me using this download a lot. Here is the index of the stamp brush set:

To view and order today's downloads, click here. Thanks for stopping by today to visit. Have you visited my Facebook business page? If not, I'd love for you to do that and 'like' it. Just click on the Facebook button.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

                   the sketch                              my version

Today I decided to play along the the Utah Divas International design team on their Saturday challenge. I added the flower embellishments from the Summer Happiness Digital Kit to my square punches. The bow is from the new Knots and Ties Trim which came with MDS2+. I love the graceful movement of the bow's tails. If you would like to play along too, create a card or scrapbook page following this sketch, post it on your blog, and post a link to your blog in the comments here.

Supplies used: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); Summer Happiness Digital Kit (130078); Knots and Ties Trim digital download (131211); Scallop Square and square punch from Punch Shapes (118853)

The next edition of News from My Digital Craft Corner will be published on Tuesday. If you are not already a subscriber, take time right now to subscribe. Just fill out the form in the upper right-hand corner of this blog. I am sure you will enjoy the projects I am planning for you.

Thanks for coming by to visit today. Don't forget to take the UDI challenge yourself.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910); Perfectly Penned stamp brush set (130167); Essentials Designer Series Paper – 11 (131222); Satin Ribbon digital download (121063)

Welcome to My Digital Craft Corner this Friday. One of the options with the new MDS2 is that you can recolor designer series paper to fit the color scheme of your project. I purchased the new Essentials Designer Series Paper download that was offered on Tuesday specifically to use with recoloring paper because I rarely use black.

I discovered several things while experimenting with the recoloring process.

• Designer series paper will not recolor when added directly as a background, you have to add it as a page layer. There is a little check box when you click on the background button in the Resource pallete.
• If you use the 'add as a page layer' option, you can't enlarge the box without getting a warning about possible pixilation but by choosing to add a photo box from the design center, you can drag your designer series paper into the photo box and resize at will.
• Then you can choose the 'recolor' button in the lower right hand corner of the design center. Now the resulting color will not be exactly what you hoped for since you have color already in the paper. The recolor doesn't completely bleach out the existing color and it will recolor in shades of monotone.

Here are the results I got when I recolored the Essentials designer series paper – 11.

(The zigzags in the last photo are actually the same color as in the dsp in the card but due to the smaller size of the photo, the color shows as mostly black.) I have come to the conclusion that adding the dsp to a photobox gives you the most flexibility and when the pattern is mostly dark like this one, change it to the negative and you will get a better light color. Also, you have to experiment with changing the color and not expect an exact match.

I hope this post is helpful and I encourage you to play around with this feature. Thanks for visiting.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
Sue

In yesterday's post, I showed you this stamp brush set from the Lovely Little Labels Kit but said that my muse had left the house.

My muse returned on the flight between Seattle and Denver. What a great way to spend 2 1/2 hours captivity…playing with MDS2! It must have been the 30,000 ft altitude because the muse came up with this quirky anniversary card for my husband.

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910), Lovely Little Labels Kit (131231), Love Letter Designer Series Paper patterns 3, 4, and 8 (124102), Calendar Basics Digital Kit (118120), Tasteful Trim Shape 2 punch (123997), Tasteful Trim Shape 3 (123998)

In case you can't make sense of the saying, it says "since (cents) you hold the key to my heart, I love you."  Ron got a chuckle out of the card. I was sitting on the plane in the row behind him and I passed my computer up for him to see it.

Have you given MDS2 and digital card-making and scrapbooking a try yet? It has several advantages over traditional stamping:

• Once you have purchased the software, the downloads are relatively inexpensive and do not ever retire.
• There is no getting supplies out and cleaning up the mess afterwards.
• Space for crafting and storing stamps, papers, embellishments, and punches is no larger than your computer's footprint so you can create in a small area.
• If your computer is portable, you can create on vacation, in a plane, out camping without hauling along supplies.
• With MDS2, stamp sets are resizable both smaller and bigger to fit your creative purposes.
• Printing at home can be done but sending your creations out by email to Stampin' Up!'s professional printer is easy and you get professional binding for calendars and photobooks. AND until Sept. 14, printing of photobooks, scrapbook pages, cards, and tags is 31% off. There are 31 digital downloads that also are 31% off. Click here to see the list and place your order.

To give MDS2 a Free 30-day trial click here and begin the adventure. I am available by email 24/7 to help you along the way. I look forward to sharing this great adventure in creativity with you.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com

Supplies: MDS2+ (130646), MDS2 (130644), MDS2 upgrade (130650), or 30-day FREE trial of MDS2 (130910), Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper (124111). Lots of Tags Shape 3 digital punch (124441), Fancy Fan stamp brush set (127348)

Welcome to My Digital Craft Corner this Monday morning. Tomorrow Ron and I will celebrate 48 years of our married journey together I created this card with MDS2 and will print it out to create a hybrid card for him. The journey has had its good times and times of trouble but through it all has been our love and respect for each other. That, along with a strong trust in God, is what makes the journey a joy.

I chose the tall ship image to give the sense of our journey. It is on the Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper -1. I filled the Lots of Labels – 3 punch with the dsp. Then I shrank the design on the paper and repositioned it so the ship fit. The base of the card is Crumb Cake card stock. I added a square punch stretched to make a rectangle and color-filled it with one of the colors in the dsp using the color picker. To add dimension to the rectangle, I added the Fancy Fan stamp, colored it the same color as the background, and added a black drop-shadow of 100% blur and 25% opacity.

Thanks for coming by today to visit. Tomorrow is Terrific Tuesday so be sure to check back to see what downloads catch my fancy.

Until next time…blessings,
Sue
sue@soggystamper.com