MDS Videos: Stitched Hearts & Transparent Background

As promised, here is a couple videos illustrating the tricks I used on Monday's MDS page.

The first one I used two half-hearts (cropped hearts) merged together so I can get a deeper shadow on the outer edge of the heart.  This gives the illusion that the center of the heart is touching the card stock base, making the center stitching of the hearts look realistic.



IRL, the More Amore DSP has laser-cut hearts that one can snip and use.  But the digital DSP comes with a white background.  To work around this, I imported the DSP into a photo-editing program, cropped and used the magic wand tool, and saved as a PNG file into the embellishment area of the My Digital Studio program.


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Classic Rock

Happy birthday to my older sister!  The Bombs Away Birthday photopolymer stamp set is a perfect opportunity to poke some fun.  :)

I created a vinyl album card for her, complete an image from one of her favorite bands and some score lines for grooves.

Here's the inside sentiment.

So I have to tell you, I showed this card to my 6-year-old daughter.

     Missy: What's that?
     Me: Um, you've never seen a record?
     Missy: Oh, I know, one of those things (while she simulates the turntable scratching... *eye-roll*).

As I often do, I turned to YouTube to have a teaching moment, as well as show her a ZZ Top video.  I think of all the hours I spent in my room playing records that's she'll miss out on.  Sigh.

Stamps: Bombs Away Birthday; Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Brushed Silver; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Stylus, Coluzzle, Silhouette e-cutter, Crop-o-dile.

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MDSM19 Valentine's Day Dinner

I saw a sketch in the Spring catalog, and I just had to try to recreate it in My Digital Studio.  For this MDS Monday challenge, please try the following sketch.  You don't have to use hearts down the right side... any shape will do!

This was a fun challenge to try some work-arounds to get the same look as traditional scrapbooking.

My daughter loves to get dressed up, jewelry, purse and make-up, and go out to a fancy dinner with my husband and me.   She even goes out to anniversary dinner with us, which she calls "our anniversary".  Yes, she's the apple of our eye and spoiled rotten!  :)

I used a couple tricks here.  The first one I used two half-hearts (cropped hearts) merged together so I can get a deeper shadow on the outer edge of the heart.  This gives the illusion that the center of the heart is touching the card stock base, making the center stitching of the hearts look realistic.

IRL, the More Amore DSP has laser-cut hearts that one can snip and use.  But the DSP comes with a white background.  To work around this, I imported the DSP into a photo editing program, cropped and saved as a PNG file, and saved my edited file to the embellishment area of the My Digital Studio program.  Worked like a charm!  :)

I had fully planned on having two videos ready to go for this post, and then I got a new computer and the migration started.  It's been a crazy week with end-of-school, birthday parties, Father's day, and lay-offs at my husband's (and my former) work.  It is really upsetting when these resource actions affect those you know.  Anyway, I will get the videos up this week... I promise!

ETA: The videos are up now on this blog post.

MDS Elements: Stamps: Natural Composition Overlay 10 in Whisper White, Textured in Basic Gray; Paper: Real Red Textured, More Amore DSP; Color Palette: Pool Party, Real Red, Basic Gray; Accessories: Two Tone Ribbon, Vintage Faceted Button, Whisper White Straight Stitching, File It Fun label 7 punch, Hearts Collection 1 punch; Font: CK Chic.

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FM114 Parisian Brick Wall

Hello Everyone!  Time for another Friday Mashup challenge.  This week Tara is bringing back a technique I had forgotten all about, the brick wall technique.

Here's your Mashup Challenge:

1. Create a project using the "Sketch".
2. Create a project using the "Brick Wall Technique".
3. Or Mash it Up and create a project using the "Sketch with the Brick Wall Technique".

The Postage Due stamp set has been giving me the pig-eye for not inking it up (or even mounting it) yet.  It was as if this challenge was made for it!  A great background and a great background technique is like peas and carrots.

There I go again, flying by the seat of my pants without a sentiment - ha!

Stamps: Postage Due, Artistic Etchings; Paper: Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Fan Fair DSP; Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Black Stazon; Accessories: Linen Thread, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Sponge, Dimensionals.

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VSN Dog Days of Summer Part III

 

I have a couple more cards to share from Virtual Stamp Night this past weekend.  My daughter needed a birthday card, so we played along with the Silly Straws challenge.  Yep, I make her create her own cards these days.

And we CASED one of LuvLee's cards to celebrate her work and dedication to VSN, since she is having some medical issues right now that keeps her from stamping as much as she would like.  I CASED this card of hers, and here is my version.  Beautiful card, Lee!

You can check out my Splitcoaststampers gallery for all supplies used for the cards.  Thanks for stopping by!

MDSM18 Having Fun Like Nobody's Business

Hello Everyone, Today Tara has a card sketch and a technique for us on MDS Monday.

The technique is embossing, and Tara has a tutorial on her blog.

Well, if you've notice a trend with me, I'm doing a page layout with this sketch.  I actually thought this sketch would be fabulous for traditional stamping, but so far I have resisted.

So, speaking of embossing, you have to ask yourself if you would like to have a heat embossed or dry embossed look.  In my mind, a dry embossed look would involve the same color as the background and add a drop shadow for depth, like on Tara's blog.  But what about a heat embossed look?  It is going to have raised features as well, therefore a drop shadow, but also you could apply different colors.  So, I attempted a heat embossed look on my page with the background honeycomb image.

I copied a lot of the page elements from one of my favorite pages Beth has made on MDS Monday.  I just loved it, and I kept my eye out for some photos that would work with the Nobody's Business kit.  Speaking of which, this is one of the kits that is 25% off through June 15.

A little on the page subject.  This is my daughter's best friend Breanna.  They've been inseparable since preschool.   Little Missy decided she would "teach" her friend how to skate.  Basically that meant racing around the rink and telling her friend to follow.  Oh boy.  Although they don't attend the same school, they still hold each other close in their hearts.  They hug every time they meet.  To have a friendship like that again... it is just so adorable!

MDS Elements: Stamps: Nobody's Business, Lemonade Stand, Sent with Love; Paper: Nobody's Business; Color Palette: Basic Gray, Yo Yo Yellow, Rich Razzleberry; Accessories: Rich Razzleberry striped grosgrain ribbon, Flag punch.

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Stampin' Addicts New Colors Blog Hop

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts New Colors Blog Hop!  Not too long ago, we focused on the retiring colors from the Color Refresh; now we are kicking off the new colors with a hop.  Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy the yummy color tour.

If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Rhonda's blog featuring Coastal Cabana. Weren't her projects fun?  For my stop on this blog hop, I am highlighting the new In Color Crisp Cantaloupe.

For my first card, I thought I would illustrate Crisp Cantaloupe as a fabulous and yummy summer flower color.

It combines wonderfully with Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz and/or Baked Brown Sugar. 

Stamps: Field Flowers, Banner Greetings, Woodgrain BG; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizzazz, Baked Brown Sugar, Naturals White, Whisper White, Epic Day DSP; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Baked Brown Sugar; Accessories: Naturals button, Linen thread, Natural Trim, Modern Mosaic EF, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

The combination of Crisp Cantaloupe with Coastal Cabana just screams island colors.  I put together a coral reef card for a stampy friend who is a huge snorkeling fan.

The background is lightly brayered with Coastal Cabana to add some color, and the fish is called a French Grunt.  Mmmm, the colors make me think of sherbet!

Stamps: By the Tide, Itty Bitty Banners;  Paper: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Whisper White; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Black Stazon; Accessories: Linen thread, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Brayer, Aquapainter, Sponges, Bitty Banners framelits, Fancy Fan EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Changing gears a little, I held over a card we made at the annual New Catalog Kick-Off and Open House to show Crisp Cantaloupe isn't only a feminine color.  

Check out the colors in the Soho Subway suite; love the masculine look with a little bit of girly Crisp Cantaloupe accent.  This makes a great card for the guy in your life who is bold enough to wear pastel dress shirts (you know the kind of guy I'm talking about!).  For the chevron cut-outs, I stamped on the back of the patterned paper with the Oh, Hello set and trimmed.

Stamps: Label Love, Oh, Hello; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso Core'dinations, Soho Subway DSP;  Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Linen thread, Very Vintage button, Artisan Label punch, 2-1/2" Circle punch, Sanding block, Chevron EF, Big Shot.

I can't just make cards... that's not me!  :)  I had to think for a bit to come up with a 3-D that matches this color well.  I ended up with this wonderfully coordinating color combo of Crisp Cantaloupe and new Smoky Slate for this girly table ensemble. 

I've been wanting to recreate a dress centerpiece/place setting since I saw it in a bridal shop in Savannah years ago.  I even took a photo of it with a paper craft in mind.  The shop had several different dual color choices for table center and purse favors, so that's what I put together here as well.  These could be for prom, a shower, or even girls' night out.

Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate; Accessories: Hung Up cute clip, Pearl jewels, Basic Gray stitched grosgrain ribbon, 1-1/4" Circle punch, Bird builder punch, Beautifully Baroque EF, Dress Up framelits, Petite Purse die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

I've got one more project to share.  I just couldn't stop.... I hope you don't mind!  The Soho Subway paper gave me the idea to give a This and That journal page a whirl with one of my favorite pictures of my daughter in NYC.

The page isn't based strictly on Crisp Cantaloupe, but I used it as a strong accent color.  The hexagons were traced with my homemade 3/4" cardboard hexagon template, and the arrow from the Designer Typeset set was created by mounting the paper on cardboard (backing of the patterned paper packs), then stamping and cutting.  That gives it a little more heft to stand out.

Stamps: Designer Typeset; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla, Soho Subway DSP; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Epic Day This and That Journal, Petite Pennant builder punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals; Font: Candice.

Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Kim at Stitchin' N Stampin' On Paper put together with Pistachio Pudding.  She always had amazing projects; I hope she has some mint chocolate chip ice cream!  :)










The complete blog hop listing:

1) Carmen -- Baked Brown Sugar
2) Rhonda (rhondag) -- Coastal Cabana
3) Heidi (hlw966) -- Crisp Cantaloupe
4) Kim (s1itcher46) -- Pistachio Pudding
5) Yapha -- Strawberry Slush
6) Cindy (Cindy E) -- Bermuda Bay
7) Paula (scrapshappen) -- Smokey Slate
8) Sara (lilyinkpad) -- Soft Sky
9) Tanya (tanya27) -- Crushed Curry

Thanks for stopping by!