Category Archives: Scrapbook page

Sweet Days of Autumn Bundle

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The Sweet Days of Autumn Designer Series Paper can not only be purchased by itself but also as a Sweet Days of Autumn Bundle which includes a coordinating sticker sheet.

photo is of the Sweet Days of Autumn Bundle with a sticker sheet

This Sweet Days of Autumn bundle is perfect for scrapbooking as it includes four double-sided sheets each of three combinations. There is one combination of the trees on one side and darling forest animals on the other. (Too bad the reverse of each pattern wasn’t a neutral pattern.) The stickers quickly add details to a scrapbook page.

One year we flew to Boston from Seattle to view the famous fall colors in New England. Unfortunately the day we flew in, there was a huge storm with lots of wind and all the red leaves blew off the trees. What a disappointment! However the low bush cranberry fields were still in glorious reds. I used the stickers on this simple page of some of the photos taken on this trip. I computer generated the ‘New England’ and my journaling.

scrapbook page using the coordinating sticker sheet to the Sweet Days of autumn dsp

However, the Sweet Days of Autumn bundle is useful for quick greeting cards. I made this card in about 5 minutes and I think you will be able to as well.

SUPPLIES USED

  • Copper Clay Cardstock [CS] (161721) 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ scored and folded at 4 1/4″
  • Basic Beige Cardstock [CS] (164511) 5 1/4″ x 4″ for inside of card
  • Sweet Days of Autumn Designer Series Paper [DSP] (166498) 5 1/4″ x 4″
  • Natural Tones Linen Thread (164071) about 36″
  • Sticker from Sweet Days of Autumn coordinating sticker sheet
  • Stampin’ Seal (152813)
  • Mini Glue Dots (103683)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Fold Copper Clay CS in half for card base.
  • Adhere the DSP to card front with Stampin’ Seal
  • Apply the label from the sticker sheet
  • Fold the linen thread into thirds and tie a bow.
  • Use a mini glue dot to adhere to bow to the card front.
  • Stamp a greeting on the Basic White cardstock if desired and adhere to inside of card.
  • For your convenience, I have a shopping cart ready with these supplies in my online store. Click here to access the shopping cart. Thank you for your business.

Family Reunion Page

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Project Life Family Reunion Page

Pocket card using Something Borrowed designer series paper and So You stamp set

I’m finally getting some scrapbooking done, Project Life by Stampin’ Up! style. This style scrapbooking can be as easy as just putting pictures into pockets on the page and choosing pocket cards to add to the page but….it can be not so easy when you have both landscape and portrait style pictures of a single event. In the event above, I did not have any pictures that could be cropped to fit into the small rectangles so I created pocket cards to go in there. The card that says ”you make me smile” and the one saying ”love” are pieces of the soon to be retired Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper (137785). I used stamps from the also retiring  So You stamp set (137165). Unfortunately both the designer series paper and the stamp set are already sold out.

The two cards saying “Family Reunion” were created with MDS. You can still get downloads through June 2 and even the MDS program itself. After that, the program and your downloads will still work. What you won’t have is print services through Stampin’ Up! and tech support from them. I discussed alternatives in this post.

The Project Life card set Everyday Adventure had only one of the 4X6 journaling  cards with the heart on it. I wanted to use that card for both of the journaling pockets so I printed one out with MDS as I had purchased the Everyday Adventure digital download. I highly recommend you purchase all the Project Life digital downloads while they are still available from Stampin’ Up!. After June 2, you will be able to get the existing Project Life by Stampin’ Up! pocket card digital downloads through Becky Higgins here.

Here are some reasons for having all the available digital downloads of Project Life cards:

  • You can print multiples of a particular card you like without having to purchase another set of cards.
  • You can add text to your digital cards before printing them out. This allows you to choose the font you want to use. This is particularly useful if you aren’t able to hand letter a variety of fonts. :o)
  • You can change the color of the card and edit some of the elements of the card.

By the way, you don’t have to have MDS to use the digital downloads. When you download them, choose ‘other applications’. They will work with any program that uses layers and .jpg and .png files. An example of such a program is Adobe Photoshop Elements. There are many more. You have just a couple more days to order digital downloads so go check out and download the ones you want but don’t have, especially Project Life downloads, here.

On the Tilt – MDSM101

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Digital birthday scrapbook page with Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper

Today I have for you a scrapbook page I created of our great-granddaughter’s 4th birthday party for the MDS Monday challenge 101. The challenge is to put the elements on an angle. You can see the sketch here.

The sketch suggested birthday candles but upside down so I went with that theme. I created a photo frame and then copied and pasted it 6 times, narrowing the width of four of them so all seven would fit on the page. Then I discovered I couldn’t fill them with designer paper so deleted 4 and created rectangle punches which I filled with various patterns of Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper (137077). I grouped the rectangles, photo frames, and candle flames together and then rotated the group -14 degrees. So where did I get the candle flames? They are the wing of the Extra Large-Two Step Bird Punch (122131).

I wanted to use Pear Pizzazz for the background but it was too strong a color and overpowered the rest of the layout. So I made the background Whisper White. Then I applied a 12″ square punch over the Whisper White and filled it with Pear Pizzazz and reduced the opacity to about 65% opacity. Of course, I don’t like flat backgrounds so I added the Decorative Overlays Stamp Brush Set (129880) – starburst and colored it with Daffodil Delight. I love the way it brightens the page.

I discovered something today that I have overlooked ever since the MDS2 came out. In the Resource Palette is a tab for layers. It shows all the layers you have on your project. You can click on a particular layer and it will allow you to work with that layer without bringing it to the front! How did I miss that? Think of all the time I could have saved by just clicking on a layer I wanted to adjust. Maybe the rest of you already knew that and I am just a little slow but this discovery excites me. :o)

So I challenge you to take part in this MDSM101 sketch and post it to the MDS Monday website. Let’s see what you come up with.

 

Terrific Tuesday – Candlelight Christmas

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MDSM95 challenge using Candlelight Christmas digital Designer Series PaperHey, it is Terrific Tuesday! I haven’t posted much lately as I have been really busy making Christmas presents. Our family decided this year to make as many presents by hand as possible. Therefore I have been knitting 8 hats, 4 scarves and one pair of fingerless gloves plus umpteen batches of fudge. But I did want to take time out to do this challenge on the MDS Monday blog.

The sketch for this challenge is an easy sketch that takes no time at all.

All I needed to do to highlight the two pictures of our grandkids with Santa is to choose a Christmas designer paper for the background and the strip under the photos. I love the Candlelight Christmas Designer Series Papers (129829) for the rich colors and designs. The physical Candlelight Christmas Designer Series Paper has been retired for several years but it is still available to order as a digital download. That is the beauty of using MDS for your creative needs, the supplies never retire and never run out. 🙂 You can check out all the different designs and place an order through my online store by clicking on the image below.

Don’t forget, Tuesdays are also terrific since we get new Weekly Deals. Check them out and click on the photo to be taken to my online store.
Weekly Deals for 12-23-14
Finally, I can’t believe it! Still more new items have been added to the Year End Closeout sale. There is even product from the Holiday catalog on the sale. You must check it out! Some items have already sold out. Go here now!

Happy 12-13-14 Day!

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In honor of this remarkable day, I am doing a post of 12 cards I have shared this past year, 13 little tips, and 14 stamping tools to help your creativity.

12 Cards

I couldn’t figure out how to share 12 thumbprints of cards with links to the full size without taking up a lot of space. Instead, I created this scrapbook page with MDS. I went back through my posts this year and chose a card I had posted from each month. Here is the page.

Digital scrapbook page featuring 12 cards I have shared in 2014

13 Stamping Tips

  1. Store your cardstock scraps in our 6″ x 8″ cello bags, one bag for each color. Write the color on the front with a marker and store the scraps in the same place you store the full-size cardstock. If the scrap is too big for the bag, trim it down to 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ for a card base.
  2. When tying a ribbon around a card front, place a glue dot on the card where the knot will be. Tie the first part of the knot and push it onto the glue dot. This will keep the knot tight while you tie the rest of the bow.
  3. When cutting out cardstock with finely detailed thinlits, place either waxed paper between the cardstock and the die or put about 6 layers of used dryer sheets between the cardstock and the die. This will help you get the cardstock out.
  4. When removing a cap off a Blendabilities, especially the brush end, hold the marker away from your work. This will help prevent splatters on your work. I learned this the hard way. 😛
  5. Be sure to store all markers horizontally so the ink doesn’t run to one end.
  6. Roll baker’s twine around the core of an empty ribbon spool that is no wider then 5/8″ and store in an empty embellishment container.
  7. Place a sheet of magnetic material in the lid of a stamp box and store the coordinating framelits/thinlits in with the stamp set.
  8. When you purchase a stamp set, write the name of the catalog it appears in, the date you bought it, and the purchase price on the cover. This will help if you decide to sell the set leter.
  9. Seal your wood blocks with varathane before mounting the stamp. This helps prevent the wood staining.
  10. Put a couple of glue dots on your clear mount stamps to help them stay on the blocks.
  11. When cleaning clear mount stamps, twist them on the cleaning pad instead of scrubbing them back and forth. The scrubbing back and forth breaks the static cling seal.
  12. Always stamp an image first then cut it out with a punch or die. This eliminates worrying about stamping it straight. Whenever possible stamp greetings on a separate layer and punch them out instead of directly on the card base for the same reason.
  13. When you fold a card base in half and the two sides are slightly off, just trim the edges a little.

14 Tools to Make Stamping Creativity Easier

  1. Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine (113439) – There is so much you can do with this machine. When Stampin’ Up! first started selling them, I wasn’t sure I would get much use from the Big Shot because I thought it was strictly for scrapbooking. I rarely do traditional scrapbooking. However, I soon learned of all the possibilities of the Big Shot for card making.
  2. Embossing folders – I love dry embossing and did some using a stylus and light box (but usually against a window). This was a rather tedious process. With embossing folders a quick turn through the Big Shot and you have a wonderful dry embossed card front.
  3. Dies, thinlits and framelits – Oh my goodness how much these reduce ‘fussy cutting’! And now more and more stamp sets have matching thinlits. Yay!
  4. Simply Scored (122334)- This scoring tool is great when you have to score a lot of card bases or want perfectly parallel lines.
  5. Gift Box Punch Board (135863) – What an easy way to make gift boxes from cardstock or designer series paper. You can make a variety of sizes, the largest being a 4″ cube, in a matter of minutes. No adhesive is needed. I am able to get a knitted stocking cap into the 4″ cube box.
  6. Transfer Adhesive Sheets (133722) – These sheets are especially perfect for adhering detailed die-cuts to your work. You lift up the top covering, place your die cut onto the sticky surface which is a layer of very tiny adhesive dots, Replace the cover, and rub well. Then you can peel off the die cut. The adhesive is on the back. These transfer sheets can be used repeatedly as only the adhesive dots actually used by the die cut are removed.
  7. Adhesive Remover (103684) – This eraser-like piece of rubber removes adhesive that ends up in the wrong place.
  8. Dental floss – Dental floss on a stamping table??? Yes! You have just put down a layer of cardstock using SNAIL adhesive and discover that it isn’t as straight as you thought it was. Instead of using your fingers to lift the layer, slide floss under the layer and neatly pull it down to break the adhesive seal without ruining your layers.
  9. Reinkers – Reinkers are not just for reinking your stamp pads. They can be used to die ribbons, color glimmer paper, color the Simply Pressed Clay, and are used in a variety of thechniques.
  10. Embossing Buddy (103083) – The embossing buddy is essential to keep stray grains of embossing powder at bay but can be also used to reduce stickiness when Snail adhesive sneaks over the edge of ribbons when you use SNAIL to adhere your ribbon.
  11. Heat & Stick Powder (100625) – This powder works like embossing powder but stays sticky on the surface so you can adhere glitter to a stamped image.
  12. MDS (130646) – MDS is Stampin’ Up’s digital design program. With this program, you can create cards, scrapbook pages, and 3-D items without having to haul out stamps, paper, and inks. You can email the card directly to the recipient or print it out to mail. The images and paper downloads do not retire so they are always available for your use. If you like only certain designs of a designer series paper, you can print out multiple copies of that pattern and not be having to order several packages of a dsp just to get enough of the design you like. The thing I like most about MDS is that there is not clean up when you have to stop creating. You just save your project and close down your computer. :o)
  13. Silicone Craft Sheet (127853) – This 6″ x 6″ Silicone Craft sheet is a must if you are working with hot glue but also is great when you are running SNAIL along the back of a ribbon to adhere it to your project. The SNAIL that hangs over the narrow ribbon is easily rubbed off the craft sheet. The size of the craft sheet is perfect for the limited space most stampers have on their stamping space.
  14. Stampin’ Pierce Mat (126199) – Maybe you aren’t into paper piercing on your projects but this mat is a necessity when stamping with the new photopolymer stamps. It provides the cushioning needed for good images with the photopolymer stamps that don’t have foam cushions.

There you have it! I’m sure you could add to both my tip list and my great tools list. I’d love to hear any additions you can think of. Post them in a comment below.

 

 

MDS Monday – Downtown Grunge

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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

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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

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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

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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 – Reason to Preserve Memories

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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.

MDS Monday – Vintage Digital Scrapbook Page

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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

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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.

MDS Monday – Digital Dry Embossing Technique

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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

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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

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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: