Category Archives: digital design

Posts in this category contain information, techniques, and projects incorporating MDS (My Digital Studio)

Terrific Tuesday – All is Calm DSP

Leave a reply

 

Digital Christmas Card created with All is Calm DSP and Endless Wishes stamp setSupplies: MDS software digital download (130646), MDS software disc (130647), or 30-day Free Trial of MDS (130910); All is Calm Kit (138132), Stamps – Endless Wishes stamp brush set (136559), Color Me Christmas Designer Template (132181); Punch – Get It Done Kit (129924) – Punch 1 filled with Silver Glimmer Designer Series Paper (132917)

There is so much that makes this a Terrific Tuesday! First we have new downloads for MDS and I am so excited that my favorite All is Calm Specialty Designer Series Papers are now in digital form! Whoop, whoop! Now I can print out this paper whenever I need it. Check out the new downloads and order the ones you need by clicking on the images below.

Also check out these Weekly Deals. For more information on them and to order them click on the images..

12 Days Of Christmas Swatchbook Template – Digital Download
$7.77

MDS Monday – Downtown Grunge

2 Replies

digital scrapbook page using photo frames from the Downtown Grunge Photobook Templates downloadWelcome to MDS Monday. As the November guest designer on the MDS Monday blog, I bring you this great birthday scrapbook page. The sketch is by Beth and I particularly love the frames around her photo places.

sketch for digital scrapbook page for MDS Monday challenge 90So I went on a search and found them in one of my favorite downloads, Downtown Grunge Photobook Templates (126056). I have used the wrinkled pattern of its designer series papers frequently for a distressed background on cards and scrapbook pages but had never paid any attention to the frames that come with the download. I really like the way the corners of the frames make the photos look a little distressed.

The greeting is from the Little Milestones Birthdays Greeting Card Template Set (129890). It originally said ‘Have a Monstrous 3rd Birthday.’ Thanks to the stamp cropping tool, I was able to crop off the ‘Have a Monstrous’ part.

Of course, I had to add an overlay to create interest in the background without distracting from the rest of the page so I added the swirl stripe pattern of the Decorative Overlays stamp set (129880) and changed the color to Pink Pirouette .

Now it’s your turn. Create a scrapbook page or card from this template and then go to the MDS Monday blog to link back to your blog. Click here. While you are there, check out the other samples.

MDS Monday Challenge 89

4 Replies

Digital Scrapbook Page for MDS Monday Challenge 89I am so honored to be a guest designer on the MDS Monday blog design team for November! This is my first post in that capacity.

I love these pictures of our great-granddaughters. I used the Daffodil Delight Pom-pom trim as it resembles the dandelions the one child is holding. I also colored the splatters with Daffodil Delight for the same reason.

Here is the sketch:

Sketch for the MDSM89 digital scrapbook challengeI challenge you to create a card or scrapbook page based on this sketch. These are the specifics of the challenge:

Challenge Guidelines:
Please create a new MDS project for the current challenge.
Provide a link back to MDS Monday or use the Challenge Graphic above within your post.
Link directly to your Post for this challenge, not your entire blog. (So we can find your project)
You can create a Card, Scrap Page or 3-D Object with the Sketch.

Then go post it on the MDS Monday blog here. You will also be able to see what the other design team members have done with the sketch.

 

MDS Monday – Digital Project Life

7 Replies

I am so excited and honored! I have been chosen to be the November guest designer on the MDS Monday blog. Be sure to come back next week to see my first design in my official position. This week though, I am playing along. Here is the sketch for this week.

Sketch for MDS Monday Challenge 88And here is my page.

Christmas Digital Scrapbook Page in a Project Life StyleI love these photos of our family at Christmas. Notice how the baby in the first photo is now a pre-teen in the third photo. The baby in the third photo is our older daughter’s baby.

Did you know that Stampin’ Up! and Becky Higgins have joined forces to create Project Life by Stampin’ Up!? Project Life by Stampin’ Up! combines the Project Life memory keeping system of pages with pockets to slip your photos in and preprinted cards by Stampin’ Up! in Stampin’ Up! colors and designs to also slip in the  pockets. This sketch is similar to Project Life layouts. While I used that layout, I created my own cards to use where I didn’t place photos. I added some fun embellishments like the star punches filled with Gold Glimmer paper and the strings of gold sequins. You can see the details of and order the downloads I used by clicking on the images below.

MDS Monday – Be Yourself Designer Series Paper

7 Replies

Digital Scrapbook Page using the Be Yourself Designer Series Paper and meeting MDSM87 challengeI absolutely love the colors in the Be Yourself designer series papers found in the Be Yourself May Digital Kit (133426)! I have used it often and have in this scrapbook page. This picture of our great-granddaughter jumping in the mud puddle in the alley behind her grandma’s house is so cute I just HAD to use it in a scrapbook page.

The MDS Monday Challenge 87 is to play with changing the size of the patterns of the designer series papers and to insert one photo over several photo boxes.  I often shrink a dsp pattern so more of the pattern shows in a punch but this time the pattern didn’t need to be shrunk because all I was going for was the splashes of color. To put a picture over several photo boxes, select the boxes you want by holding down the shift key and clicking on the boxes. Then group them. Finally drag your picture to the grouping and like magic, each box gets a piece of the photo!

Here is the challenge sketch:

MDSM87 Challenge SketchIf you don’t have this wonderful Be Yourself May Kit, you really need it! Click on the image below for more details about it and to order it.

MDS Monday – Herringbone Technique

9 Replies

Digital birthday card with a herringbone background using Be Yourself designer series papers

Welcome to MDS Monday. This week our challenge is to make a herringbone background using narrow rectangles. Here is the challenge sketch:

MDSM86 challenge sketch using a herringbone backgroundI filled rectangles with various patterns of designer series paper from Be Yourself May Digital Download and solid colors chosen by the color picker to match the designer series paper. The grosgrain ribbon started out as Regal Rose and I recolored it with Rich Razzleberry color. The starburst came with the Game Daby Photobook template.

The technique is shared in this video by Juanita Golson

T

To order the downloads I used, click on the links below.

MDS Monday – Reason to Preserve Memories

2 Replies

I came across this quote some time back and have wanted to do a piece of wall art to remind me of the necessity of scrapbooking. Since my parents are deceased, I have all the memorabilia from my side of the Julier family. If I don’t pass on to my children and grandchildren the memories I have, the names of the people in my stash of photos, the events the photos are taken of, and the feelings that were part of those events will die when I die.

I did the first created this lovely background for the quote using a piece of Summertime Splendor designer series paper and filled a punch with a piece of Be Yourself designer series paper.

Digital wall art using Summertime Splendor designer series paper and a quote about preserving memories

Then I got to thinking of all the vintage photos I have in my possession and thought maybe the background to the quote should be vintage-like pictures of faces that are a part of my life. So I created this as well.

Digital wall art in a vintage style

Now my quandary is which page should I send off to print. I really want only one on my stamping room wall but I like them both. So I need your help. Which one do you like best? Leave your answer in a comment below.

If you don’t have the MDS program or the digital downloads I used, click on the links below for more information and to place your order.

Third Time’s a Charm – Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies

Leave a reply

I have share two Christmas cards I created with the Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies (135855) here and here. Today I have a third card created with this die.

Handmade Christmas card created with the Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies and using the tree die

This time I cut out a separate snowflake from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper to glue to the snowflake on the card. Here are the steps for doing this:

  1. Place a square of glimmer paper that is slightly bigger than the snowflake on the cutting platform and place the Snowflake Card die on top of the square.
  2. Place the top cutting plate with the edge of the plate lining up with the middle of the snowflake and run it through the Big Shot. The cutting plate only covers the smaller end of the die. This will prevent the other part of the snowflake from being cut.
  3. There is a score line above and below the snowflake once the die has been run through the Big Shot. Move the framelit over and line up the second fold on top of the score line making sure the points of the snowflake are properly shaped.
  4. Place the top cutting plate over the middle of the snowflake again covering the bulk of the die and not covering the smaller end that you have already cut. Then run it through the Big Shot.
  5. You should now have a nicely shaped snowflake to match the snowflake on the card base. You can use this procedure to cut out the large snowflake from the Letterpress Winter stamp set (135145).

For more details about the supplies I used and to order them, click on the links below.

MDS Monday – Vintage Digital Scrapbook Page

12 Replies

Vintage Digital Scrapbook page using vintage amd eclectic overlays stamp brush sets

Yes, it is indeed Tuesday instead of Monday. I have had computer issues with getting this scrapbook page finished and uploaded so am a day behind. Sorry! This page is for the MDS Monday Challenge #84. Here was the sketch suggested we use:

Sketch for digital challenge MDSM84 featuring a vintage styleThe original wedding picture of my parents was in black and white. I decided to change the photo to a sepia tone in keeping with the vintage look. This led to using Baked Brown Sugar for the background and Very Vanilla for a mat on the picture and to color the Eclectic Overlays (129007) frame 6 stamp. And of course, I couldn’t just leave the background plain so I added the Vintage Overlays texture 1 to the background. I reduced the opacity of this overlay to 70%.

Do you like the looks of this scrapbook page? Would you like to be able to preserve vintage photos from your past and create scrapbook pages with no mess and no fuss? Then I recommend you give MDS a try. You can download a digital copy of it for only $19.95 and within minutes you can be creating beautiful pages yourself. The cool things about MDS are that 1. there is no cleanup to do when you finish working on a project, 2. you don’t have to worry about running out of supplies, 3. often, your photos are already on your computer and vintage ones like the one I used are easily scanned into your computer, 4. Once you create a series of pages, you can either print them out on your home printer or send them to Stampin’ Up!’s professional printer and get multiple copies of your pages, 5. you have me to help you get started and to give you additional ideas and tricks.

Click on the links below to order MDS and the digital downloads I used for this page.

 

MDS Monday – Computer Dog

11 Replies

Digital scrapbook page of our dachshund for MDS onday Challenge 83Happy MDS Monday! Here is the sketch for us this week:

Sketch for MDS Monday challenge 83

Our two dachshunds keep us entertained with their antics. This one, Scout, loves to sit on Ron’s lap and rest his chin on the computer touchpad. This is a not too subtle hint that Ron should be petting Scout, not using his hands for the computer. I changed the photos to a blue tone so the background colors would not detract from the focus on Scout. Behind the photos I added the Simple Stitches Circle – 1 and stretched it into an oval. I cropped just a very small part of the circle to add in the lower right corner. Since this theme is Computer Dog, i thought the Spiral Border Punch would be an appropriate way to finish off one edge of the Paw Parade Designer Series Paper – 5. If you love dogs like I do, you will want the Paw Parade Kit (138037). You can see more of the details of this kit and then order it by clicking on the images below. I have included the other downloads I used on this project as well.

Fall is in the Air – Digital For All Things

2 Replies

Digital greeting card created with For All Things stamp brush set and Color Me Fall digital designer series paperCan you feel the change in the air? Cool nights and cooler but sunny days are here in Mount Vernon. My friends in Craig, AK, are already experiencing the Fall storms with high winds and sideways rain.

This weekend we are dog sitting in Seattle for our daughter and I did not bring along any stamping supplies except for my computer. I was itching to do something creative so I turned to MDS!

The For All Things stamp brush set (138114) and the Color Me Autumn designer series paper (138115) were the perfect supplies to use to play along with a SUDSOL challenge to use fall colors. I love being able to color the images like I would in traditional stamping so I colored the acorns with Crumb Cake and Early Espresso. The leaves are colored with Crushed Curry and the bow with Old Olive. I used Cajun Craze on the watercolor splash behind the leaves. This grouping is layered on the 2012 Convention Curvy Square Punch filled with Whisper White. The punch is part of the Convention 2012 Photobook Template (130971) download. I have yet to use the download for a photobook but am frequently using the designer series papers, punches, and stamps that come with the download. The greeting comes down with the Wonderfall Kit (131218). If you don’t already have these downloads, I urge you to click on the links below for more details and to order them from my online store.

MDS Monday – Digital Dry Embossing Technique

8 Replies

Our challenge for this MDS Monday sketch was to use mostly white on white with just a pop of color. I created this scrapbook page to highlight this recent photo of our granddaughter-in-law and her three girls. They are all so lovely!

Digital scrapbook page featuring a faux dry embossing technique

This is the sketch:

MDSM82 sketch

I used a drop shadow to allow the doily to show up against the white background. I played around with overlays to see if I could get the background with a dry embossed look. By experimenting with the color of the overlay and the color, opacity, blur, and offset of the drop shadow, I was able to get a pretty good simulation of dry embossing. What do you think?

Here is what I did. I applied the Decorative Overlays stamp brush set – flourishes (129880) and changed the color to Whisper White. Then I changed the drop shadow to -40% opacity, blur 5, offset x=0, y=0 and the color to Smoky Slate. If you aren’t familiar with the drop shadow function, let me explain. Opacity is how transparent the drop shadow it, the default is -25%. Blur refers to how wide the drop shadow is. 5 is the default but you can increase the width up to full. Offset is how close to the image is. In this page, I wanted the shadow to be tight up against the image. I urge you to play around with the drop image function. It gives depth to your project. However, it can also make your elements look like they are in front of the page, not part of the page. Experimentation to see what gives you the desired effect is important.

Here’s another tip for you. I wanted to use the color picker function to recolor the satin ribbon knot to match one of the colors in the blue jacket. I first tried recoloring Whisper White ribbon but the color was too light so I went darker. I finally chose Basic Gray ribbon and got the desired depth of color.

I challenge you to create a scrapbook page or greeting card using this technique to simulate dry embossing. When you finish it, email it to me and I’ll share it on this blog.

for more detail about the supplies I used and to order them, just click on the images below.

Terrific Tuesday – World Traveler

Leave a reply

Digital frameable wall art using World Traveler Photobook TemplateThe World Traveler Photobook Template (130066) is one of the new Weekly Deals for the week of 9-9-14. Somehow, I missed the great papers and embellishments of this download when it was first introduced and had not bought it. I’m glad it is now available at 40% off. All the components of the wall art are from the kit except for the ribbon. Check out the details of this and the other Weekly Deals by clicking on the links below and then order your favorite.

MDS Monday – Why I Love MDS

18 Replies

digital scrapbook page titled I Love SunsetsCan you guess from the number of posts I do that are digital samples? I do love MDS! The main reason is that I can change my mind about a color or design of designer series paper without ruining a ton of supplies. I played around with the colors on this scrapbook page for well over an hour trying out one and then another just for the backgrounds and the lettering. Then I spend more time changing the color of the mats and changing out the dsp used in the sun. Gosh…I love playing with the colors and with MDS!

This page is for the MDS Monday challenge 81. The challenge was to create a page about something I love. I thought of my kids/grandkids/great-grandkids but how could I single out pictures of just a couple of them? Then I thought about the great ladies and the fun we have at the Stampin” Up! workshops I teach. Again, how could I choose just a few? So I settled on sunsets. I love sunsets! I could never paint a sunset as stunning as those God creates and I am content to just take pictures of them.

The sketch looks like this:

MDS Monday challenge sketch 81My pictures are stunning enough so I only used designer series paper for the sun. I used the color picker to color in the rectangles in the background. Since the pictures say it all, I omitted the journaling box.  I always want texture in my backgrounds so I added the Natural Composition Overlays (130855) – 9 . This wrinkled paper overlay is one of my favorites!

If you are like me and like to try different papers, colors and shapes when creating to find just the perfect combination but don’t like to waste supplies, then you would love working with My Digital Studio! To order your copy of the program, just click on the links below. I’m only a few keystrokes away in the form of an email when you need help or ideas.

Supplies:

MDS Monday – Project Life by Stampin’ Up! Style

9 Replies

Whoosh…what a chore it was to finish this Project Life style scrapbook page! I kept getting java error messages but with perseverance I was able to work in spite of the error messages. I finally checked for page errors and found that I had a corrupt file for one of the embellishments. I had deleted the embellishment but the layer it was in didn’t delete. I finally started all over again with a new project and stayed away from that embellishment. I had no trouble the second time.

Here is the sketch:

Project Life style sketch for MDS Monday Challenge 80And here is my page:

digital scrapbook page Project Life style for MDS Monday Challenge 80Here are the downloads I used:

Click on the images to see what the downloads include and to order them. Now it is your turn to create a page following the sketch in general. Have fun and then upload it here.