Tag Archives: stamp it up

MDS Digital Downloads for August 7, 2012

Here are the MDS Digital Downloads for August 7, 2012.  Woo Hoo!  Some great stuff here!  Take a peek below:

131212 Pencil It In 2013 Calendar Template

131212 Pencil It In 2013 Calendar Template

131212 Pencil It In 2013 Calendar Template

Have you started thinking about holiday gifts yet? or perhaps a nice teacher gift to start off the year?  This template would make it really easy to complete some gifts in time to take advantage of the August 31% discount on professional print products from Stampin’ Up!  Just picture yourself, getting your holiday shopping & crafting done before September!

The 131212 Pencil It In 2013 Calendar Template Download includes:
* 26-page calendar designer template (12″ x 12″)
* 9-piece SVG stamp brush set
* 8 Designer Series Papers
* 30 embellishments
* 6 punches

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* A gorgeous calendar you can keep or give as a gift
* Easy to create coordinating projects with all included elements

Coordinating colors:
Blushing Bride, Glorious Green, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla

Or hey, you might also like one of last month’s calendar sets for back to school presents – check out this cute set!

Back To School Ensemble – Digital Download 130980

131228 Friendship Preserves Kit

131228 Friendship Preserves Kit

131228 Friendship Preserves Kit

This is another cute set that you can use with a gift, as a thank you card!  Or on a cute scrapbook page.

The Download includes:
* 4-piece SVG stamp brush set
* 1 punch (which is now REALLY EASY to fill with a picture in MDS2!)

There is also a framelits die that matches this shape, which would make it really easy if you were making a lot of tags for favors… just print out a page full of these stamp images in the correct size, and cut them out using the dies and your Big Shot.  Check out 129021 Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies.  So many options with the MDS Digital Downloads for August 7, 2012!!

131232 Tricky Treats Stamp Brush Set

131232 Tricky Treats Stamp Brush Set

131232 Tricky Treats Stamp Brush Set

Isn’t this an adorable set for Halloween?  I really like the idea of using My Digital Studio for Halloween stuff.  I send out a couple of cards, make a few decorations…. and I feel like at only $3.95,  I will really get my money out of the digital version of this 4-piece SVG stamp brush set rather than investing in the physical stamps!  Check out the online store and search for lots of Halloween stuff, or for more details on this cute set.

131353 Textured In Color Cardstock

131353 Textured In Color Cardstock

131353 Textured In Color Cardstock

This is one of the great ways to get more depth on your digital projects – use this digital textured cardstock!  And the new 2012-2014 In Colors are yummy.  They will only be around for 2 years in the paper & ink selections – but once you add them to your MDS program, you can use them forever!

131469 Chevron Christmas Greeting Card Template

131469 Chevron Christmas Greeting Card Template

131469 Chevron Christmas Greeting Card Template

Chevrons are BIG this year!  I am seeing them everywhere.  And this is a really cute card template, too – you add a photo of your choosing at the bottom of the card.  Gotta love the Chevron template!

131470 Snowflake Wishes Greeting Card Template

131470 Snowflake Wishes Greeting Card Template

131470 Snowflake Wishes Greeting Card Template

Hey, here’s another holiday card that I like – it’s nice because it is not too specific of a rligious message, yet still friendly and colorful!  Check out the Snowflake Wishes template or search for other holiday goodies from the Holiday Catalog in the online store.

131227 Providence Of Provinces Kit

131227 Providence Of Provinces Kit

131227 Providence Of Provinces Kit

Wow, if you have done any travel in Canada and are scrapbooking your adventures, this is a must! The Download includes:
* 27-piece SVG stamp brush set
* 13 punches
* 1-page designer template (8″ x 8″)

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Great for making your own tracker for places you’ve been or want to go; also fun for save the date announcements

So… what do you think?  Have you seen something you like from the MDS Digital Downloads for August 7, 2012?

31% off My Digital Studio items for 31 days

Get 31% off My Digital Studio items for 31 days in August!  31 of the greatest digital items! Woo Hoo!  Lots of people are nervous about turning 30, but in this case the magic number is 31!!

Check out the list below for 30 digital downloads and 1 digital content disc (hint: that’s the best bargain of all these good deals!). Just click on the item number to go to my online store.  Note: click on item names listed in blue to see examples of where I have used the set!

And remember, the professional printing services are marked down 31% during August as well!

Item Digital Content Retail Price 31% Off
Price
Got it! Want it!
127217 Floral District Collection Disc (best buy – look below for what it includes! $23.95 $16.53
118115 Night and Day Designer Series Paper $4.95 $3.42
129929 Candid Frames $2.95 $2.04
129921 Check This Out Page Templates $4.95 $3.42
129609 Blossom Builders Embellishments $5.95 $4.11
128999 It’s All Me Kit $9.95 $6.87
127441 Whimsical Note Journal Template $1.95 $1.35
128342 Pinwheel Daily Calendar Template $9.95 $6.87
127599 Party Animal Kit $9.95 $6.87
127600 Autumn Traditions Kit $9.95 $6.87
127620 Grateful Heart Thanksgiving Ensemble $14.95 $10.32
126027 Playful Polka Dots Kit $9.95 $6.87
130066 World Traveler Photobook Template $17.95 $12.39
131221 Storybook  Specialty Designer Series Paper $4.95 $3.42
130850 Joyful Times Kit $9.95 $6.87
124463 One Great Year Digital Kit $9.95 $6.87
127175 Limited Edition Embellishments $2.95 $2.04
129607 Walk in the Park II Kit $9.95 $6.87
129934 #HASHTHIS
Stamp Brush Set
$7.95 $5.49
129923 Book of Birthdays Swatchbook Template $12.95 $8.94
121071 Travel Journal Kit $9.95 $6.87
129924 Get it Done Kit $5.95 $4.11
129005 Sweetly  Nested Framable $4.95 $3.42
127758 Delight in the Day Photobook Template $19.95 $13.77
130862 Blast Off Ensemble $19.95 $13.77
129890 Little Milestone Birthdays Greeting Card $7.95 $5.49
128892 Designer Gift Cards $4.95 $3.42
127580 And a Happy New Year Photocard Template $1.95 $1.35
127435 Thanks Tons Greeting Card Template Set $2.95 $2.04
127587 Sending Glad Tidings Designer Tags Kit $7.95 $5.49
127762 Gratitude Framable Designer Template $1.95 $1.35

So isn’t that a terrific list?  There are 30 downloads and one disc included in the 31% off My Digital Studio items for 31 days.  These digital items can be used in My Digital Studio as well as any other digital application.

The Floral District Collection disc is indeed a great deal – well, all of the collections discs are a great deal, but this one is on sale this month so I would say it is a TERRIFIC deal!  Here’s what’s included on the disc:

Disc includes:
* 6-piece Betsy’s Blossoms Stamp Brush Set
* 11-piece Floral District Stamp Brush Set
* 25 Designer Series Papers
* 32 embellishments
* 1 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ greeting card designer template
* 24-page 8″ x 8″ photobook designer template

Features:
* A digital version of the Betsy’s Blossoms Stamp Set and Floral District Designer Series Paper plus a digital-exclusive 24-page 8″ x 8″ photobook designer template

Coordinating colors:
Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

And just so you know, when you order all of these through my online store, except for the Floral District Collection disc, you can download them to use immediately AND pay no shipping & handling!  So get busy, download some great stuff and get busy making your projects so you can submit them for printing by August 31 and in addition to getting 31% off My Digital Studio items for 31 days, you can save 31% on printing as well!

Olympic Opening ceremony – Olympic Rings in My Digital Studio

Wow, I am so excited that the Olympics have started that after watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony, I decided to make my own version of the Olympic rings in My Digital Studio!  I used a nifty trick, which I will describe below.

Olympic rings, my simple MDS version

Olympic rings, my simple MDS version

You may have figured that I made the rings using circle punch shapes, and you are correct!  However, the tricky part comes in because they are overlapping!  Here’s my Step-by-step directions:

Step A)  Make 5 circles using the circle punch, resize and align correctly on the page.  I used Pacific Point, YoYo Yellow, Basic Black, Garden Green and Real Red for my basic circle punch shapes.

Olympic rings, Step A: basic colors

Olympic rings, Step A: basic colors

Step B) I added more circle shapes in a smaller size for the center of the rings.

Olympic rings, Step B: with white centers

Olympic rings, Step B: with white centers

Step C)  Well, the previous step looks basically OK, but we know that you can see the bottom rings through the centers of the top rings… so here’s where I use a fun trick to make the Olympic rings in My Digital Studio!  First, I made a duplicate copy of the page and deleted all but the bottom two rings.  Then I exported it as a JPEG so that I would be able to use it as a picture.

Olympic rings, Step C: bottom pair

Olympic rings, Step C: bottom pair - exported as JPEG

Step D) Now I did a couple steps to make a new center for the top black ring, so that it would look like the bottom yellow and green rings were showing through.

  • I added a photo box to the page and resized it to be the same width as the center white circles
  • I clicked on Photo Shape to turn it into a circle
  • Now I filled it with the JPEG of the bottom pair of rings
  • Zoomed in & out so that the size of the rings matches the originals
  • Went into Crop to adjust which piece of the JPEG picture I was grabbing in the ring (I added a thin black border so you could see the circle shape)
Olympic rings, Step D: center of top ring

Olympic rings, Step D: filling photo box with JPEG to form center of top ring

Step E) I added the circle photo to the original image, aligning it so that it looks like the yellow and green rings from the bottom row are showing through the center of the top black ring!

Olympic rings, Step E: putting circle photo onto center of top ring

Olympic rings, Step E: putting circle photo onto center of top ring

Step F) I did the same thing with the center circles for the blue and red rings and added them into place on the picture.

Olympic rings, my simple MDS version

Olympic rings, my simple MDS version

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?  I was pretty happy with the results, and I think this is a trick that can be used in lots of other places as well.  For example, I could make a tennis ball as a graphic to add to one of my hubby’s tennis tournament pages!

But there’s one more thing that I forgot to take into account: in the actual Olympic rings, all of the rings are INTERLOCKING!  Aargh!

Olympic rings overlapping

Olympic rings overlapping

But, no need to worry… I am pretty sure I know a way to make that work!  However, I am going to wait just a few more days until the new version of MDS 2+ is released, because one of the wonderful new features is that we can apply different colors to a stamped image… and I think I have a plan!

I had a ball doing this.  If you are also interested in having fun with this great software, get ready to order it on August 1!  And if you already have MDS Express or MDS, you can simply order the upgrade for $19.95 to get all the cool new features that are coming out.  And you can make your own version of the Olympic Rings in My Digital Studio to honor the Olympic Opening Ceremony!

MDS 2+ wait no more!

Do the Happy Dance for the August 1 release of MDS 2+, the new version of My Digital Studio!  We knew it was coming, but not until later in the year… but Stampin’ Up! has made me a happy scrapper by announcing that it will be available for download on August 1.  Watch what Sara Douglass has to tell us about some of the upcoming changes in this video from Stampin’ Up!!

With this new My Digital Studio software you’ll be able to:

  • Design in spreads
  • Create with custom canvas sizes
  • Add more than one color to a single stamp image
  • Resize vector stamp images while keeping them crisp
  • See color combination suggestions
  • And much more!

If you have not yet purchased this wonderful program, now is a great time to jump in.  And if you already have it, you can get an upgrade!

I can’t wait until August 1 to jump into MDS 2+, the new version of My Digital Software!

Sunday Journal – Journaling without any actual pictures Post #3: song lyrics

Journaling without any actual pictures Post #3: song lyrics

I have been posting in this month’s Sunday Journal scrapbook journalingSunday Journal weekly series about how to make your journaling the center of a scrapbook page when you don’t have any pictures to help tell the story.  And this week I’d like to share another page and another way of doing this: by using album or song lyrics, and in this case, the iconic album cover from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

Dark Side of the Moon journaling page

Dark Side of the Moon journaling page

This was an album that my friends and I loved during our freshman year in college – and ever since.  We would read the album cover.  Look at the pictures.  Read the words.  We would play it over and over again – really just side one – until the residents in the neighboring dorm rooms would complain!  Can’t you play something else?

It wasn’t just that it was great music, though – when you spend that much time with an album, you really get to know the words and actually think about them.  This song really rang true with me – it’s talking about how your life can just slip by day by day if you don’t actually engage yourself in your life.  And, I knew that while this probably happens to everyone to a certain extent, I didn’t want that to be my final thoughts at the end of my days.

So in making this page, I didn’t have any pictures of us sitting around in college.  And how do you show a picture of yourself reflecting on your life?

I decided to use the iconic album cover from Dark Side of the Moon, along with the actual song lyrics, as a reference point for my reflection journaling.  I used the pyramid image as the divider between the lyrics and my reflection.  And while I kept the lyrics a bit smaller and in white, I highlighted a few lines of the song in red that I refer to in my journaling – which I colored in bright yellow.  The fun thing is that I used the color picker tool in My Digital Studio to select these red and yellow colors from the rainbow on the album cover picture!

Digital album cover image courtesy of flaxmanrecords.com

So, can you think of a case where you could use album lyrics to support some journaling without any actual pictures?

MDS Digital Downloads for July 10, 2012

Wow, there are some great MDS digital downloads for July 10, 2012 – take a look below!

My Digital Studio digital downloads for July 10, 2012

My Digital Studio digital downloads for July 10, 2012

I am particularly excited to see a new Christmas item coming through already – remember Crazy Eddie’s Christmas in July sales slogan?  For those who send them out, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas cards!

If you’d like to see bigger pictures, or look at what is included in each item check out my online store for the latest MDS digital downloads for July 10, 2012!

Pick your favorite red for your July Birthstone, Ruby!

Let’s celebrate the July birthstone: Ruby!  Did you know that folklore says that a ruby will turn darker in the hands of its rightful owner when danger is near?  (thanks to John Lindell at eHow.com for that “gem”!).

Rubies get their red color from the element chromium, and there are many different colors and hues of red rubies… almost as many as there are red colors in the Stampin’ Up! color repertoire!  Check below to see the red colors from My Digital Studio:

July birthstone - Ruby

Hey July birthday - which red would you prefer for your ruby?

And these are only the red colors – there are a bunch of pink and orange tinted colors in the standard colors as well.

Did you know you can actually get virtually any color using my Digital Studio?  You can supply the hex value for the color or select any color from the color wheel (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors for more information about hex notation for colors!).  And my favorite trick in My Digital Studio is to use the Color Picker to match the color of an object, such as a punch or text, to another color anywhere on the same layout page!  You can see how I did that on the previous post from the Sunday Journal.

So, feel free to pick your favorite red color for your ruby, July birthday friends, because there is one more neat feature about My Digital Studio: once a color has been made available in the program, it will always be available!  So those of us who love a color combination from before Stamin’ Up’s color renovation (how about Mellow Moss and Sage Shadow?)… we will always have them in the program!  That includes all the great In Colors as well.

If you haven’t tried My Digital Studio yet, why not download the free 30 day trial of My Digital Studio Express?

So, pick your favorite red for your July Birthstone, Ruby!

 

Sunday Journal – Journaling without any actual pictures Post #2

Welcome to our ongoing discussion of Journaling without any actual pictures Sunday Journal Post # 2: Put a Tiger in Your Tank!

Last week, I started writing about how Sunday Journal scrapbook journalingto make your journaling the star of the page when you don’t have any actual pictures of the event or memory.  In that post, I showed an example of using a current day picture to supplement the journaling and evoke the image – a picture of my current lawn was added to my journaling about sitting and playing in the lawn when I was a kid.

This week, I’d like to discuss another way to supplement your journaling on your scrapbook page: finding someone else’s pictures!  There are zillions of pictures available on the internet, and the odds are that you can find an authentic picture to match what your words are saying in your journaling.  The key thing that you need to do is be sure you are not violating someone’s rights to the picture by using it.

Here are some ways to find a picture:

  • Google or yahoo search for the topic,
  • eBay for pictures of vintage items,
  • sites that sell antiques (if you’re as old as I am, LOL),
  • BigStockPhoto.com – you may need to pay $1 for a picture but you can get all sorts of images with no worry about copyright infringement!

Sometimes it is a logo or advertising slogan that brings back a flood of memories for you.  Here’s an example of a page I made, continuing the theme about Summer Days When I Was Young, where the slogan Put A Tiger in Your Tank really summed up a lot of what I remembered!

Put a Tiger in Your Tank

Put a Tiger in Your Tank

I made the page using My Digital Studio, starting with one of the plain photo template page layouts. While I didn’t have any tiger images to add to the background, I am kind of pleased at how the combination of the orange background and the layers of zig-zag stitching give a subtle evocation of tiger stripes and support the journaling.

And I like having key elements repeat in threes.  The most vivid element to me is the red & blue Esso sign (anyone else ‘member them?!) so I added the red & blue highway sign from Rt 81 (we lived in New York State so my dad drove us on that highway a LOT!).  Then for the third splash, I made the “Put a Tiger in the Tank” headline the same colors by using the color picker tool to match the Esso sign.  Cool, huh?!

Next week’s post: Using song lyrics for journaling without any actual pictures

So what do you think?  I know Tony the Tiger was from Frosted Flakes, but do you think he would like this journaling page about his cousin that I made by journaling without any actual pictures of my childhood?

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps for summer fun!

If you and the kids are bored now that school is out, pull out the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps for summer fun!  You can easily decorate some sugar cookies or shortbread cookies with a pressed image… fun to eat right away, or for your next backyard BBQ.  Check out this video from Stampin’ Up! to see how easy they are!

There are three different sets of Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps – each has a wooden cookie press handle and three interchangeable silicone sleeves that go on the end… and the sleeves are food safe and dishwasher safe, as well!

Each set includes two recipes, one for sugar cookies and one for shortbread.  Some customers have asked me if you can use the pre-packaged sugar cookie dough that you buy in the grocery store.  I haven’t tried it myself, but one of my fellow demos told me that you can use those if you simply mix in some additional flour to make the dough a bit stiffer – contact me if you want to know more about it!

So let’s look at the three different sets of Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps:

Set #1: Occasions Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps (127081)

These make cute summer sun cookies, as well as shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day and cute bunnies for Easter – or anytime!  Who doesn’t like bunnies (other than Farmer McGregor?!).

127081 Occasions Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

127081 Occasions Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

SET #2: sPEcial events Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps (126903)

This set has a star, a gift-wrapped present and a lace doily.  The designs are great all year around!

126903 Special Events Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

126903 Special Events Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

SET #3:Holidays Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps (125152)

Includes a heart, a snowflake, and an adorable jack-o-lantern face (didn’t you love it in the video?).

125152 Holidays Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

125152 Holidays Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

You can order the various Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps in my online store (or just click on Shop Now on the top right).  And here’s a fun thought – if you order all three of the cookie sets, your merchandise total will be $50.85 and that will entitle you to add the Reason to Smile stamp set (for paper and ink, not cookies!) to your order for only $5!  Contact me at carol@carolGpapercrafts.com if you have any questions.

 

New 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin’ Up!

Check out the five new 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin’ Up!  At first glance, they looked somewhat similar to some of our previous colors… but then I realized they all have an interesting, somewhat darker tone to them that I think will lend an interesting component to our projects.  Take a peek!

New 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin' Up!

New 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin' Up!

They are named (counter-clockwise from bottom right) Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, and Summer Starfruit.

You can get the new 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin’ Up! in a variety of ways in my online store (or click on the item numbers below):

Individually:

  • Classic Stampin’ Pad (new format!)
  • Classic Stampin Ink Refill
  • 8 1/2 x 11″ Card Stock
  • 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon

In packs with all 5 colors:

  • Card Stock & Pad Kit (126835) – 20 sheets card stock: 4 ea. in 5 In Colors; 8-1/2″ x 11″. 5 Classic Stampin’ Pads: 1 ea. in 5 In Colors. $29.95 (note this is the same price as if you purchased only the ink pads separately – the paper is essentially free!)
  • 8 1/2 x 11″ Card Stock (126838) – 8-1/2″ x 11″; 20 sheets. Acid- and lignin-free. 4 ea. of 5 In Colors.  $6.95
  • 12 x 12″ Card Stock (126836) – 20 sheets. Acid- and lignin-free. 4 each of 5 In Colors.   $9.95
  • In Color Dahlias (NEW) (127556) –
    127556 In Color Dahlias

    127556 In Color Dahlias

    Bright little wonders! Detailed petals add touches of dimension and texture. Adhere with Mini Glue Dots. 20 flowers: 4 ea. in five 2012–2014 In Colors; 3/8″.   $7.95

  • Stampin’ Write Markers (126856) – 1 each of 5 In Colors.  $14.95
  • Designer Series Paper Stacks (126910) – 40 sheets in ea. stack: 4 ea. of 2 double-sided designs in 5 colors; 12″ x 12″. Acid-free.  $21.95
  • Designer Printed Brads (122940) –
    122940 Printed 2011 In Color Designer Brads

    122940 Printed 2011 In Color Designer Brads

    40 brads, 8 of each color with little polka dots on them; 3/8″.  $7.95

And there is one last great thing with the new In Colors – the Color Coach has new pages!  I’ll talk about the Color Coach again tomorrow.

I look forward to showing some great projects using these intriguing new colors!  And, in an upcoming post I will also show the digital options for using the new colors in My Digital Studio.  (Tip: you can get the new colors by selecting Help from the top and Check for Updates – the new version will install the new colors!).

So, what do you think of the new 2012-2014 In Colors from Stampin’ Up! ?