MDS as a Planning Tool- Part 2

You saw how I planned the Halloween card for my class, now here is the one for Thanksgiving :)

Just as before, I don't have all of the same 'pieces' in MDS so I substitute somethings in. However, it was once again based on the Tags 4 You stamp set and Bracket Label Punch. Also, the layout was inspired by Pinterest (I just love that site for creative ideas).

One of the things I love about MDS (out of the bazillion reasons I love it!!) is that downloads never retire. So this sweet fall leaf paper from years ago can still be used :) I really wanted a leaf DSP for this card- and since there isn't a current one available- I just used this one. All I had to do was open an 8.5 x 11 project in MDS, add this DSP as the background paper, and print it out. Easy peesy!

Now the final card didn't turn out exactly as I designed in MDS, but I did manage to capture the general feel of what I was going for. Flutter back again soon to see the final product!

Halloween Card

In my last post I showed you my 'planning' phase of the Halloween card from this month's class. Now here is the final result!

Didn't it turn out just so cute! The white layer with the spider web, spider, and ink splotches was printed up in MDS. Then I used the Bracket Label Punch and the Tags 4 You Stamp Set to make the greeting.

Also, see how I added a black layer to the greeting? In order to make this border I punched out two bracket label punches from the middle of the black cardstock before I assembled the card. Then, I cut these two in half diagonally and mounted them to the back of my greeting with each of the four pieces bumped out a little to form the border. Cool trick right?!?

Hope you flutter back soon to see the other cards we made for class this month.

MDS as a Planning Tool

I love MDS as a digital scrapbooking program... but really it is So Much more than just that. It also makes a very handy planning tool so that you don't "waste" any real products just to find out you don't like your design. You can do the design phase digitally and then pull out the paper and ink and make the real deal :)

Along those lines, I wanted to show you how I planned some of the fall cards for my class this month. Today we will take a look at the Halloween card. I was planning to use the Tags 4 You stamp set and Bracket Label Punch. Also, I had seen a cute card on pinterest that used the spiderweb texture folder as a background that was inspiring me. Put all that together and here is what I came up with.

I didn't have the stamp set in MDS, just the punch, so I had to improvise and use a placeholder for now :) Also, do you like the spiderweb background I found? There wasn't a stamp to use for this... but searching the web I was able to find an awesome image to use instead! That is a fantastic part about MDS- if you can't find what you are looking for in the program it is compatible with images you can find elsewhere :)

I'm going to print up the white layer with the spider and web on it to use on the actual class cards. It will be like a unique DSP layer in our projects :)

Flutterby again to see the final results!

Vacation Photobook

I'm ashamed to admit that I'm JUST STARTING my photobook from our vacation to glacier last summer. Ekk! Between all the cameras we took almost 1600 pictures!!! and it took me forever to go through them all to weed them down to only the ones I want to scrap... which is still over 300 pics so I've got quite the task ahead of me.

But now that I've gotten the 'hard' part done (yes, I do find sorting my pictures to be the hardest part) I'm finally motivated to get this baby done :) In order to help me on my way I decided to start with the World Traveler Template (converted to 12 x 12 of course) and add in elements from the new Outdoor Exploration Kit. Love that it has mountains in it :)

Here is the front cover:

 

Do you like? I recolored the mountains to match the blue tab, and the pine trees as well to be Certainly Celery. Loving how it is turning out! Can you believe that this is how the template started?

 

Looks quite different with the photo and conversion to 12 x 12 doesn't it :)



Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Flutterby again soon!

Mad for Mosaic - Take Three

I'm back with another card featuring the new mosaic stamp set. Still loving this new trend!

Isn't this color combination yummy? It is featured in a couple of the catalog samples and I just LOVED it and knew I had to make something in the colors. Woohoo for Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, and Old Olive!

I also love the little bits of bling on this card to jazz it up. It looked slightly plain before adding them, but now it looks so fancy :)

Flutterby again soon to see the new album I'm working on :)

Baptism Thank You Card

Along with the invites for Declan's baptism I also made Thank Yous to send to the friends and family that showered him with gifts on that special day. Didn't they just turn out sweet!

Couple of tricks here I can tell you about. First, in order to get the glowing look I took the cross stamp and added a white drop shadow with full opacity and a large blur. Then, I copied and pasted it in place MANY times! Each time the shadow showed up more and more and it's reach got larger on the paper. This is a fun trick you can do with all sorts of stamps.

Next, in order to make the scrolls on the cross red I colored the top most stamp. I started with the brown color and then just added in the red details while in the coloring tool.

Last but not least I wanted to fill in the circles and the ring around the middle of the cross red. In order to achieve this I removed the shadow from the top most stamp. Then I added a freeform brush layer and colored in the areas I wanted red (you don't have to be perfect in this step- it is okay to cover some of the lines, just don't go outside them). Once I was done coloring I went to my layers panel and moved the freeform layer down one so that it rested under the top cross stamp (which is why the shadow needed to be removed from that one).

Hope you enjoyed today's tricks. Have a great week and flutter back again soon!

Baptism Invite

As you can tell, I did a lot of MDSing this summer for my newborn related projects. And why not? It is nice and quick, and gets the job done while looking fantastic. Here is another little gem I created to invite friends and family to Declan's baptism:

I love how we now have the option to recolor elements in MDS. For this invite I recolored the DSP in the background to match his shirt. So easy to do with the color picker, and it really helps to pull the whole layout together.

Another great thing about making invites in MDS- if you are behind schedule (like I was with this one) you don't have to rely on snail mail to get your invites out to people. You just export the project as a jpeg and attach it in an email. It's a personalized electronic invite :) I've never used e-vite, but I bet you could even upload the picture to a site like that too! And then everyone will be really impressed by you (and you don't have to tell them it only took you a couple minutes to create it- that will be our secret!).

So what are you waiting for? When you start planning your next event make sure you have fancy personalized invites too!

Flutterby again soon!

Butterfly Bundle Inspiration

Have you gotten your Butterfly bundle yet?? I love butterflies so it is the perfect combo- and who can turn down 15% off :)

Here is a little inspiration for you using the set. This card is from a swap- I'm sorry I don't know who the owner is... so if it is you let me know! It is an adorable little card featuring my favorite little creature.

I just love all the details on this card. The paper-piercing around the label really dresses it up, and the embossing on all but the bottom adds a lot of texture and pop! Also, the little doily makes it look like the butterfly is resting on a little lacy flower. So Sweet :)

Ready to get your butterfly on now too?!? Flutterback soon :)

Recipe Card (with links):
Papillon Potpourri Stamp Set
Elegant Butterfly Punch
Bundle the two above and save!!
Fancy Fan Texture Folder
Apothecary Accents Framelit
Delicate Doilies Sizzlit
Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack
Basic Pearls
Cardstock (Whisper White & Real Red)
Ink/Marker (Basic Black & Real Red)

If you don't already have a demonstrator pick me (Amber Swift) to ensure you get the preferred prices!

Mad for Mosaic - Take Two

When the new catalog came out earlier this summer, the Quatrafancy suite was definitely my favorite! I started seeing samples pop up all over using the Mosaic Madness stamp set. Here is my case of one of my favorite designs I saw floating around pinterest (sorry, I'm not sure who the original designer was since I saw a couple like this).

Isn't it fun? See the cute little button? That is one of the fun new Very Vintage Buttons which I colored Razzleberry by smashing it into the ink pad. I dabbed off some of the ink on the flatter areas while it was still wet to give it the two-tone look :)

Hope you flutterby again soon. Can't wait to show you what is up next! 

Recipe Card:
Mosaic Madness Stamp Set
Feels Good Stamp Set
Modern Mosaic Texture Folder
Mosaic Punch
Very Vintage Buttons
Baker's Twine
Cardstock (Whisper White & Daffodil Delight)
Ink (Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, & Tempting Turquoise)

Customized Stickers

Did you know that Avery makes little round printable stickers?? I didn't until I was looking for printable sticker paper the other day and found them instead.

I thought "SWEET" since I wanted something to seal envelopes with (who really wants to lick shut tons and tons of birth announcements). I was originally going to punch out stickers from a large sheet of sticker paper... but this was even easier!

I was so excited! I created this cute little monogrammed whale sticker to shut all the envelopes.

Fun right? The sheets have 6 round stickers on them and print on the 4x6 photo setting of my printer. I loved the special touch they added to the envelopes :)

Flutterby again soon. Up next- more Mosaic Love!

Recipe card: 
Sunshine and Sprinkles Ensemble

Easy Peasy Thank You Cards

I love how easy it is to make personalized cards in MDS. While I was on maternity leave I was able to design, print, and send out adorable thank you cards to everyone who sent us baby gifts. And they looked great with the birth announcements I had just sent out! And you know how I like matchy-matchy things :)

See how adorable they are for a little baby thank you?

And then here is the inside

Cute, cute and did I mention cute :) I hope all the recipients liked them as much as I did!

Flutterby soon to see what else I made to match!

Recipe Card:
Sunshine and Sprinkles Ensemble
Oh, Whale! Stamp Brush Set

P.S. I copied the wave stamp into the punches folder since it is a .svg file and was able to fill it with paper to make the waves!!

If you don't already have a demonstrator pick me (Amber Swift) to ensure you get the preferred prices!