Sweet Summer Sale-A-Bration Gift Box

I want to clear up any confusion regarding the box I created for this past week-ends blog hop.  I apologize if I led anyone to think that the template for this box was included on the SAB Digital Content CD.  The CD contains only the new items in the SAB catalog:  So Happy For You, Punch Bunch, Ice Cream Parlor DSP & Quick Accents Pack, Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon & Button Pack, Sweet Summer, Notes décor elements, Bliss.  The box template I used is an add-on for the My Digital Software program and is sold seperatly: Mini Project Boxes - Item # 120171 which sells for  $1.95 and contains 2 mini project boxes. 

In order to create this cute little box, I went through several steps.  None were time consuming at all, the entire design process came together in about 10 minutes – then all I had to do was print, cut, color and tape.

I started by selecting the multiple output option and a blank landscape 8 1/2” x 11” canvas area.  I found the Mini Project Boxes in the Designer Kits section of the Stamps area.  This box is mini box #1.  When I applied it to my project I had to rotate it right and then select mirror.  It then looked like the photo above and I was ready to “stamp” away.

The template gave me a nice idea of where to begin my design and what the end result would be like.  I used various stamps in the Sweet Summer set, placing, coloring and resizing as necessary until I had my desired result.  I rotated and resized the butterflies, bees and bird so they would fit into the tiny spaces.

When I had it all completed, I highlighted the original box template stamp and selected “remove” from the options.  This allowed me to print it out without having my cut and scoring lines printing onto my design.  At this point I printed it onto copy paper so I could check out alignment issues in the next step.

Now I needed to get that wonderful box template to print on the reverse side of my cardstock.  I added a new page to my project, again selected the Mini Project Box #1 stamp, rotated, mirrored and then selected “flip”.  I printed on the reverse side of the copy paper I used in the previous step, held it up to a light and I could see exactly where my design was going to fall when I actually printed it on cardstock.  I did have to go and make a minor adjustment to my stamps – easily accomplished by using the Arrange menu and “select all” – then my arrow keys on the keyboard to slightly move all the items at the same time.  I inserted my cardstock, and printed only the template page first.  Then reinserted my cardstock to print my designed area on the reverse side (try to remember if the right or left side of the page prints first so your alignment is correct).

You could also just print the template onto copy paper and use temporary adhesive to apply it to the back of the cardstock you printed the design area on – then cut.  I like having it right on my cardstock, it’s just a personal preference.

My last step was to create the flowers for the lid of my box.  Once again I added a new page to my project.  I went back to the page of my original design, selected the flower I had stamped on the lid and copied it (edit menu – copy).  Then back to my new page and pasted it (edit menu – paste).  I pasted three copies of this stamp, then moved them into one row and printed onto copy paper.  Using the Dotto temporary adhesive I adhered colored cardstock over the images on the copy paper, reinserted into my printer and printed this page only.  My multiple flower layers were now printed on cardstock and ready to cut and put together.

I hope I haven’t totally confused you with my instructions.  This really is a quick, easy and fun project to complete!

Stampin’ Addicts 2011 Sale-A-Bration Hop

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts Sale-a-Bration blog hop, I am the 4th stop along your journey.  There are 21 talented stampers on this tour, all are eagerly awaiting your arrival so they can share with you some of the wonderful products that you can earn for FREE during Stampin’ Up!’s Sale-a-Bration promotion.  If you started at the beginning of the tour, you have just seen the bright and cheery creations Twila created using the fun Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper & Quick Accents Pack.  If you are starting the tour with me, you can continue on to visit all participants by using the link at the end of my post.  If you get lost anywhere along the way don’t worry, you can find links to all the stops on the Stampin’ Addicts website. 

I was so excited when I saw the Digital Content CD offered in the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  What a great way to have access to all the new stamps, Designer Papers, ribbon, buttons … well … EVERYTHING!  Did you see the Décor elements chalkboard piece on page 9 of the catalog?  Guess what?  With the digital CD, you are not limited to only hanging it on a wall and using chalk.   The individual elements are available on the CD as separate stamps! 

When I saw this I knew I was going to have fun with it.  I decided to make a cute journal, complete with lined paper inside.  In addition to the Chalkboard elements, I added paper, borders and an accent from the Ice Cream Parlor set; and a few buttons for good measure.  You may have noticed that the colors of my notebook are not as bright as those in the paper pack.  By creating this with the My Digital Studio software, I was able to lower the opacity and get lighter color tones.  I can also submit this to the printer through the software program and have it professionally printed as a hard-bound journal.  How fun is that!

While I was wandering around the software program, I stumbled on a template for a box and wanted to see what I could do with it.  I decided to use the Sweet Summer set this time.  The cute border at the bottom of the box is once again from the Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accents.  When I was done with placing all my items where I wanted them, I printed it out.  The majority of the coloring was done with a blender pen, markers were used for the center of the flower blossoms and the bees.  A few strategically placed pieces of sticky tape and it turned into a beautiful little gift box! 

Here’s a closer look at the larger flower on the lid of the box.  This was printed out on scraps of colored cardstock and the individual layers cut out.  I topped it with a glimmer brad, and surrounded it with lots of bling!

 

 

For my last project I decided to play with the Bliss stamp set and make a hybrid card.  Believe it or not, I do not yet have this stamp set in my possession … all images were created using the Digital Content CD!  It is one layer printed on Very Vanilla cardstock, which I trimmed and mounted to an Early Espresso card base.  I’ve found that one of the greatest perks of using the My Digital Software program is that you aren’t limited to using a stamp in just one size.  If you look closely at this card you will see that the background is the same stamp as the main image – just scaled much smaller.  I also lowered the opacity of the back panel so I could achieve a tone-on-tone designer paper look. 

Thanks for sitting with me and letting me share my creations with you.  I hope you enjoyed these projects as much as I did making them!  Follow the arrows below to continue on the tour.  Your next stop is Sarah’s Ink Spot, where Sarah is going to share her gorgeous creations using the Sweet Summer set (yes, I have peeked already!).

    

It’s a Party!

I know I’ve been teasing you for over a week now, as to what that mega project I was involved in actually turned out to be.  Welllllll, without further ado … they are birthday invites for my grand daughters 1st birthday! 

My grand daughter has a security blanket which is a combination blanket and stuffed owl – she carries it with her everywhere.  Actually, she has several of these just in case one is forgotten somewhere, misplaced, in the wash, whatever – we do not want our little darling to be in distress!  Since Cam is so enamored with Owlie, her mom really wanted to do an owl theme for her birthday.  I didn’t have to be asked twice to be in charge of the invites, I was truly excited to have the opportunity to play with my new 2-step Owl punch.  Those that know me well, know I don’t think in “simple” mode.  I also tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist, am not happy leaving well enough alone. <sigh>  So what should have been a quick and easy 26 invitations, turned out to be quite an ordeal – but here is the finished product:

This started out as bits and pieces of several other cards I had viewed online, then off in my own direction I went.  The silliness kicked in when trying to figure out what wording we wanted on the front … I think my idea is rather self explanatory.  <grin>  I couldn’t find any current designer papers in Pretty In Pink that looked right on this card.  My neighbor let me dig through her stash of retired papers and I found a few pieces that were perfect!  I love the polka dot balloon, which is covered with crystal effects for more dimension; pink crochet thread added for the balloon string.  The party hat is a small pennant shape cut from a scalloped square punched piece.  Prior to punching and cutting, I lightly brayered Melon Mambo ink on the Square Lattice embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot – LOVE how the design turned out!

The invitation is a postcard style, this is the back.  I designed it using the Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio software.  I honestly could not believe how quickly this portion came together. 

After completing the graphics and text boxes, I selected all elements and copied/pasted this design three more times so I ended up with a total of four invitation sections per page.  I then printed it on Pink Pirouette card stock and trimmed each quarter page to fit the back of the invite.  No embellishments were added to this side.  Since all the details were typed in the MDS program, all my daughter-in-law had to do when I turned these over to her was to put them into a stamped envelope and drop into the mail.

For my public blog posting, I did edit out all the personal info … am pretty sure my son will not be thrilled with me if you all show up on his doorstep. <grin>

Quick and Easy

While playing around with Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio software, I found the most beautiful background paper images.  These can be printed out on cardstock or computer paper and turned into incredibly quick, easy and gorgeous projects.  I completed the two cards above in just a matter of minutes! 

Don’t you just love how sparkly the background is?  I used my favorite new Stampin’ Up! product … Gold Glow Smooch Spritz and sprayed it all over the front of the card base.  The trick to not getting it too blotchy is to keep your bottle about 12” from the area you want to spray – this resulted in a nice even mist.


PROJECT RECIPE:
My Digital Studio Software:  Summertime Splendor – Gerbera background paper
Stamps:  Vintage Vogue
Paper:  Whisper White, Dusty Durango, Daffodil Delight
Ink:  Dusty Durango
Accessories:  Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon, piercing tool, smooch spritz, scalloped oval punch

It's Party Time ... MDS Style!

It's finally time to celebrate the official rollout of Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio software.  Some of us from Stampin' Addicts have come together to throw a blog party to show you some samples of what we have been having fun with the past few weeks.  This blog party is a little different in that it will be active for the entire month of October ... you don't have to rush through all the blogs in one weekend ... please come back and revisit as often as you would like!  There is a button in my sidebar on the left side of the page that will take you to my announcement post where you will find a list of all the party participants.  Without further ado, I'd like to show you what I've been up to, and maybe, just maybe, spark your interest in the MDS program a bit more.

For my first project I decided to make a birthday card using a photo my daughter had taken.  Long story short ... my grandson is the ultimate Star Wars nut - when we were in Las Vegas a year ago my daughter saw someone dressed up as a Storm Trooper and was kindly allowed to take a photo to take home to her fav nephew.  I have always wanted to make him a Star Wars birthday card, but alas, Stampin' UP! has no Star Wars stamps.  What a breeze this was to make with MDS - took all of about 15 minutes. 

I love the ability to create oval crops of your photos and mat them perfectly!  I then located a star stamp in the software, resized to fit my needs and scattered a few in each corner - again, matting perfectly with a click of a button and adding drop shadows for depth.  Then I chose a black brad, copy and pasted to add one to the center of each star.  Gray grosgrain ribbon is in this program ... woohoo, perfect!!!  Did you notice that little staple I added to connect the ribbon pieces?  Yup, in the program also! 

 

The first photo is straight from the MDS program, which you could then have printed through their professional service if you would like.  The second photo is a "Hybrid" card I made using the same project.  I just printed it out, cut and matted onto red cardstock - added brads to all those tiny stars and added a piece of hodgepodge hardware and red brads around the sentiment.  How cool is that!!!

I am super excited about my next project, and LOVE how this turned out.  I started out playing with the software to make some "designer" cardstock of my own.  I used a script background paper in MDS, then added the damask stamp from Friends 24-7; copy and pasted, lined it all up and printed on whisper white cardstock.  Then I decided it MUST be double sided so back to work I went, this time using a soft flower background - then "stamping" a torn edges floral border on the edges and in the middle.  I turned the whisper white cardstock over and printed this design out.  So what do you think so far???


Stay with me ... the next part is what I think is the really cool part!  I took this card stock and cut out two envelopes using the Sizzix Bigz Scalloped Envelope die.  Used the remaining pieces of scrap designer paper to form the bottoms and sides to appear more "tailored".  Added a felt flower, large brown button from the Button Latte collection and a snip of celery ribbon to the front ... jumbo eyelets to the sides and Old Olive grosgrain ribbon to form the handle for this cute little purse box!   Do you see the double sided paper in action and are you loving it so far?  There's still more!


Can you see those cute little note cards peeking out of the box?  Those are 3x3 cards (they fit perfectly!!!) which were once again designed entirely with My Digital Studio to create custom designer cardstock, then printed out on whisper white cardstock.  I cut the paper into 3x6 pieces, to form the three gift cards.  All I added was a photo corner punch using leftover scraps from the original box cardstock, a felt flower and a brad.  I think these would make a really special gift!

I hope you have enjoyed my creations as much as I enjoyed designing and sharing them with you. 

Remember, this is an ongoing party and all links will remain active until November 1st.  Take your time, visit these Stampin' Addicts blogs often for more ideas on using MDS to its fullest! 

DMDezigns/Dawnmarie: My Digital Studio - The Birdseye Overview
HowManyCats?!/Comeka: Digitize Your Sketch Library with MDS
Yapha: Turning Templates into Treasures
Willysgirl/Sarah: MDS Xmas and Extras
Hollylogic/Holly: MDS as a Design Tool (or How Not to Slice Up All Your Brushed Gold)
Lyssa: Playing with Stamps You Don't Own
Lilysinkpad/Sara: Simply Scrappin' Kits Go Digi
JulieA/Julie: Wanna Little Music with Your Slideshow?
lovetostampandscrap/Cheryl: Creating a Calendar to Beat All Calendars
Melina Stamps!/Melina: Man-Scrapping with MDS
BroncoMom/Joyce: Build Your Own DSP
Britiney: Clever Album Covers - A Piece of (Cup)Cake
S1itcher46/Kim: Hybridizing and Cataloging Collections
Kelli: Side-by-Side Test: Is it Actual or Is It MDS?
Scrapbookmama/Ellie: Keeping the Spotlight on Your (Adorable!) Subjects

You're Invited ... to a My Digital Studio blog party!

We're trying something a little new and different for this upcoming event.  Starting at noon EST on Saturday, October 3, Stampin’ Addicts will be hosting a Blog Party that will be done carnival style.  I will be posting links to ALL of the party participants creations in this post.  Each blog will also have a sidebar button that will link you to the entry with the master list of blogs, which should make it easy for you to find your way back.  All links will remain in place and active until November 1st, so you can visit and revisit at your leisure! 

This party will be showcasing many fun, exciting and different ideas on how to use the My Digital Studio software.  Don't think just digital scrapbooking ... this software is so much more, limited only to the extent of your imagination!  We all have had so much fun getting ready for this event and can't wait to show you how incredible My Digital Studio really is.

This is the party you won't want to miss (no special attire is necessary!!!).  Be sure to join us this weekend as we celebrate the launch of Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio!

Here's a list of all the blogs participating in this party.  Enjoy!

1. DMDezigns/Dawnmarie: My Digital Studio - The Birdseye Overview
2. HowManyCats?!/Comeka: Digitize Your Sketch Library with MDS
3. Yapha: Turning Templates into Treasures
4. Willysgirl/Sarah: MDS Xmas and Extras
5. Hollylogic/Holly: MDS as a Design Tool (or How Not to Slice Up All Your Brushed Gold)
6. Lyssa: Playing with Stamps You Don't Own
7. Lilysinkpad/Sara: Simply Scrappin' Kits Go Digi
8. JulieA/Julie: Wanna Little Music with Your Slideshow?
9. lovetostampandscrap/Cheryl: Creating a Calendar to Beat All Calendars
10. Melina Stamps!/Melina: Man-Scrapping with MDS
11. BroncoMom/Joyce: Build Your Own DSP
12. Britiney: Clever Album Covers - A Piece of (Cup)Cake
13. S1itcher46/Kim: Hybridizing and Cataloging Collections
14. Kelli: Side-by-Side Test: Is it Actual or Is It MDS?
15. Scrapbookmama/Ellie: Keeping the Spotlight on Your (Adorable!) Subjects

I'm Back ... and playing with my MDS software!

Due to a serious creativity slump, my tiny little blog has been feeling very neglected.  I'm sure there aren't many people who check my blog on a regular basis anyway, but I still hate posting just anything - it has to be perfect ... at least in my goofy mind!  So today I finally took some time to create something I felt was actually "blog-worthy". 

I saw a card similar to this in one of the many craft magazines I read, loved the concept and layout and thought it would be fun to see if I could CASE it using SU's new My Digital Studio software.  I'm amazed at how quick and easy projects are to complete, as well as the ability to perfect them without all that paper waste and frustration I put myself through.  I think I have fallen completely in love with this program (surprise, surprise)!!!   

Card Recipe (all items from the MDS software):
Stamps:  Cheep Talk, Season of Cheer
Colors:  Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Paper:  Real Red, Very Vanilla, Christmas Jingle
Punches:  Modern Label Punch 
Embellishments:  Christmas Jingle Borders, Christmas Jingle Elements, straight stitching, buttons, brads