Digital Scrapbooking Day

... no make that WEEK! WooHoo!

Saturday is digital scrapbooking day, and My Digital Studio is celebrating for a whole week :) beginning on Nov 1st and lasting until the 8th.

So what is in store for you, you may ask...
Well, there will be all sorts of inspiration on the blog- so definitely check that out HERE.
Then there will be the free download on Saturday. Stay tuned to www.MyDigitalStudio.net for details on that one.
And then of course there will be a daily deal- there will be one download offered at 50% off each day. Woot! Here's the line-up:

• 11/1 Amped Up Ampersands Kit
• 11/2 Hello There Kit + FREE Moments Ago Stamp Brush Set
• 11/3 All Time Fave Photobook Template
• 11/4 Modern Medley Overlays Kit
• 11/5 Be Brave Pocket Cards
• 11/6 Nobody's Business Photobook Template
• 11/7 Autumn Traditions Kit
• 11/8 Afternoon Daydream Kit

 AND if you use the daily deal you can make samples to enter a challenge and win more FREE stuff. Can't argue with that :)

Flutterback soon and I'll try to keep you up-to-date on the latest details!

The Most Wonderful (MDS) Time of the Year

Do I have you singing yet :)

Well, that picture was worth a thousand words! But I'm going to add a couple of my own anyway :)

With tons of Christmas downloads on sale now is a great time to get started on your holiday cards and gifts! Get them finished up before the end of November and then you get an extra bonus- the printing will also be on sale AND you will beat the holiday rush for printing!

To me, any MDS sale is a wonderful time of the year!

Fun Fold Card

I've been saving this card for a rainy day- and what do you know it is raining today as I write this post :)

I got this incredibly cool fun fold card from my mom awhile back. As far as we know, she is the first to make cards of this type- so let's start a new trend!

Isn't that a fun opening! She dubbed it the "L-fold" since it looks like an L shape (albeit a backwards L in this case it could be a mirror image too)... and for the less obvious reason that she is a Lembcke :)

She even put together a little handout to show you how to create it. And since a picture is worth a thousand words I will just share that instead of trying to describe it myself:

Hope you enjoy this little gem! Flutterby again soon. I've got some more birthday ideas on the horizon.

Craftin' with my Kiddo

As promised in my recent post, I stamped up a bunch of images for my daughter to color. She was so happy to be helping with another craft :) She colored on these on and off for a couple of days (one day she would say they were done, but the next she would say they needed more color) and then eventually we glued them together :)

She even picked the background paper and helped me punch out the border strips. Not to shabby for an almost three year old huh? She even picked pretty good colors for fall cards. And she was pretty good with the snail tape runner! I helped her keep it level, but she got the hang of putting a little in each corner pretty fast.

What kinds of crafts do you do with your kids? She'd love me to have more ideas for our preschool hour (that would be the morning time while the baby sleeps!)

Flutter back again soon.

Happy Golden Birthday Stampin' Up!

Did you know that on October 25th Stampin' Up! is going to be 25 years old?!? Happy Birthday Stampin' Up!

And what better way to celebrate than presents :) Except in this case, the Birthday Girl is the one giving them! From now until October 28th there are 25 stamp sets for 25% off. Woo Hoo!

Now would be a great time to order if you have had your eye on any of these gems. And with Christmas right around the corner they would make great gifts for the crafter in your life. Or many of them could even be used to create beautiful Christmas cards. Your choice :)

Just click HERE to shop the sale. And remember, if you don't already have a demonstrator I, Amber Swift, would love to be the one to help you in your creative endeavors.

Flutterack tomorrow for some more great inspiration.

Daniel Tiger Bottle Labels

I learned a long time ago that every party you have with bottle beverages requires bottle labels. Otherwise at the end of the party you walk around collecting a ton of half filled bottles- more than you had of guests because they 'lost' theirs and got a new one.

And besides, they are CUTE- way more fun than the boring labels you buy the bottles with. So here is my take for Daniel Tiger party time:

I started with a square punch that I stretched to be 8" high and as wide as the paper. I filled it with some of my custom DSP from this earlier post. Then I divided it up into 2" strips and decorated them, leaving plenty of room to write a name. Aren't they fun? I can't wait to see what they look like on the water bottles!

Flutterby again soon!

Pumpkin Pie "Goodie Gear" Treats

Did you see all the awesome kits in the holiday mini catalog? I'm just loving some of the stuff in there! It is great to be able to get everything you need for a project- leaves more time for creating when you don't have to worry about the planning.

One of the adorable little kits is the goodie bags. There is an orange and a red set (presumably for Halloween and Christmas- but really you could use them for anything!). I got the orange one for my daughter so we could make some Halloween goodies for her daycare friends.

And yes, I said we. She is getting old enough to help me do some crafts. YES! Especially ones like this- they are nice and easy for an almost 3 year old :)

See how much fun we had?

All I did before we started was stamp the little sayings on the already prepared white die cuts and cut the orange tape strips into two inch sections. She did the rest with me :) I think her favorite part was punching out all the shapes... then again it may have been filling the bags with candy too :) She did a great job.

Oh, and I should mention. These kits come with two sheets of sticker strips- and to make all ten bags we didn't even use one whole sheet. So yay for leftovers to craft more with!

Do you have a kiddo at home? Give one of these kits a try for a fun afternoon activity with them :)

Flutterby again soon!

Candy Corn Crafts

So I've seen these cute little 'sour cream' treat packets for years, but it just hit me that they look like little candy corn. Which couldn't be more appropriate with Halloween coming up later this month.

So I hit MDS to come up with a cute design for the paper. Loved the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp brush set for this :) Didn't they turn out cute-sie?

Here's how to make your own. First, grab my printable page HERE. Then cut it in half both directions to make four rectangles. Next, you will need some strong tape- I suggest sticky strip. That stuff is nice and strong. You are going to place the tape like this on the back side:

You don't have to be exact. Just make sure the tape goes along the entire length of one of the short sides, and then put it about halfway along the bottom and on the middle section of the top. Remove the backing from side and roll the paper into a tube. Next, pull the backing off the tape on the bottom and squish the two sides together. Fill'er up and then do the same with the top.

Last but not least, if you want the cute little folded look to the ends, run it through a crimper for a couple of turns. All your friends will be so impressed with your Halloween goodies! Don't you love it!

Flutterback soon for more Halloween fun :)

Daniel Tiger Birthday Invite

Once I finished up the customized DSP my next step was to surf the net to find some good Daniel Tiger images to use. I found some nice large jpegs of each individual character, and then also some group shots. I was so glad I was able to find some quailty pictures since the show is so new :)

Then I got to work putting together the invite. I used a picture of the 'neighborhood' for the front with some of the song lyrics. Cute right? You can see the cobblestone road that I was trying to recreate in my DSP there too :)

Then for the back I used the adorable image of the group peeking over a ledge. I placed them on a strip of DSP and ribbon as their 'ledge' and then placed an oval mat behind them which I could write the info on (ps- don't everyone show up at this day and time- they are just placeholders until I figure out when we are really scheduling this thing!). I used the 'nifty galifty' freeform tool to make an oval I could tac the RSVP info to also- isn't that a cool feature? Once the words are attached to the shape all I had to do was turn the opacity of the oval to zero and now all you see are the words. Awesomeness :)

Isn't it Grrr-rific as Daniel would say? Well, I hope my daughter likes them- but let's be honest, she just wants the cake :)

Flutterback soon for some more Daniel Tiger inspiration!

Daniel Tiger Birthday Party

I've been busy creating for my daughter's birthday party. I 'thought' this year she was going to pick Mickey Mouse... she was after all way into the clubhouse show all summer. But, there was a last minute winner :) She has recently fallen in LOVE with Daniel Tiger. And I have to admit, it is a pretty awesome show for toddlers.

So, when asked what she wanted for her birthday- Mickey or Daniel- the answer was very clear. DANIEL TIGER (combine it with lots of smiles, dancing, and cue music as she sings the song...). The only problem- there is really NO Daniel Tiger birthday supplies out there. He is just to new.

Da da-da DA- MDS to the rescue :)

I started by making some DSP that I could use for the rest of my projects. Check it out.

This one was made to match the colors of all the main characters. I just used the color picking tool on an image of the characters and added a bunch of stripes (i.e. resized square punches). I was really happy with how this turned out, as I often don't do 'random' too well.

 

This one however is my favorite! I wanted it to look like the cobblestone road that runs through town, which seems iconic of the show since it is in a lot of the shots. Isn't it sweet! I made two personalized punches for the cobblestones. Then filled them with the same colors as the paper above, made them different sizes, and turned down the opacity. It turned out SO SWEET! Love love love.

Both of the papers above are loaded up to my site at full size (12x12 paper at 300 dpi) so feel free to grab a copy. Enjoy! and leave a comment to let me know what you are making with it- I would love to hear about your projects :)

Flutterby again soon to see some of the awesome projects I made using them!

Pop & Place Tags Booklet

Stampin' Up! is really stepping up this year when it comes to kits and bundles available! Check out this newest addition: The Pop & Place booklet:

It is filled with die-cut shapes that are perfect for dressing up all your Christmas needs. Just add it to one of their cute boxes or bags for a quick gift idea. Or get creative and use them to make adorable Christmas cards- just add some cardstock of your choice.

Not only are these tags adorable- but there is a stamp set made just to match them. Isn't that awesome! You can get a bundle with the tag set and the stamps... or you can even get a kit with the tag set, stamps, and a small ink spot and clear block. Whatever your needs, there is a bundle for that!

HERE is the full product page with all the bundle choices available. Enjoy!

An Oldie but a Goodie

For the last card from my September card class I used a stamp set from my childhood. I know it is long retired, but I just love it! The little kiddies make me smile every time:

This card also features the Tags 4 You stamp set- that is a great versatile set to have!

Cards like this one are great for if you like to color. Or, if your kids like to color you could stamp up a bunch of the middles and let them go at it with the crayons! Then help them assemble the cards and, Wa-La! they've got a great gift to give to Grandma :) Hmmm.... since my kids' Grandma is probably reading this I suppose I should take my own advice now too ;) I'll let you know how that turns out.

Flutterback soon!

MDS Library? There's an app for that!

Say what?!? Did you hear about it yet? Stampin' Up! released an ipad app for the MDS library of downloads. Woo Hoo!

Here is what the home screen of the app looks like:

You can see that you have all the same browsing options as the Stampin' Up! website. Get your tuesday fix by looking at the "Newest Downloads" section, or find that punch you want by going into "Downloads by Type" and then "Punches". Or browse by event type- they've got them all ;)

It even syncs right up to the website so that it stays updated as things change. Yes!

Oh, and did I mention... When you go in to look at specific download you can add it to your collection or mark it as a wishlist item? That's right- it will keep track of all that for you :) See

So, all you ipad users, download the app today and start updating your library :) It's the greatest new way to browse the content (aside from right in MDS of course!)

Flutterby again soon :)

Oh My Gosh! LOVE the new MDS Print Options!!

Have you seen them yet? In the latest update to MDS they included two new print options for 5x7 (or 7x5) postcards. Can you hear me squealing in delight!!!

Aren't they just fabulous?!?! The scalloped edge gives the project just a little something extra

and the Artisian cut is to die for! Bet you know what my Christmas cards are going to look like this year :)

To create a project with these new cuts just start with a 5x7 (or 7x5) postcard, and in the page bleed options pick the scalloped or artisian edge. It will show you what the project will be cropped down to (although remember, page bleeds are approximate, so always design outside them a little- at least for your background paper).

Change your mind partway through the design? No big deal- just flip on over to the other page bleed option. Then, when you go to place your print order select the cut you want and - boom baby- cute, adorable postcards will be on their way!

What will be your first creation with these new options?

Thanksgiving Card

Once again, here is what my final 'paper' version of the card I planned in MDS turned out like. It isn't a complete replica... but MDS did allow me to get the main idea down and I was able to alter it a little from there:

The picture makes the middle look pretty black- but in person it is a really pretty dark brown (the Early Espresso).

I used the Woodgrain Embossing Folder to make the nice looking background. The DSP is printed up from MDS (LOVE that stuff never retires there!). And then of couse this card is featuring the Bracket Label Punch and Tags 4 You stamp set.

Hope you enjoyed! Flutterby again soon!

Everyday Occasions Card Kit

If you love Simply Sent kits, wait until you see the new kit Stampin' Up! has to offer!

Introducing the Everyday Occasions card kit! There is enough awesome supplies in this kit to make 20 card. And it comes with everything you could need- paper, envelopes, stamps, ink, and even a clear block. WooHoo what a deal!

Best part is, it is only $29.95. That is only about $1.50 a card... WAY less than what you would pay at the store. And once you have blessed all of your friends and relations with the cards you will still have the stamps and ink left to continue creating with :)

Here is a glance at the 'suggested' layouts for all 20 cards... although you could always stray off the beaten path if you so choose :)

Flutterby again soon