Leaping Ahead to New Adventures

Leap Day is a special day. It only comes once every 4 years. What makes today special for me is that I will be leaping into new and exciting areas. The first is promoting my photography, a passion that I have kept pretty exclusive to my family. And through the encouragement of so many, I am now opening those doors and making it official specializing in on-location, natural lit portrait photography. 

Yes, this will include families, couples, friend sessions, senior portraits, children, adults, pets...you name it! I can’t wait to express my creativity through the lens. My focus will be on capturing real moments, natural emotions that portray the real people behind them. My photography mantra is “capturing images; creating memories”. I will be able to combine my photoshop & design skills to create even more unique portrait, event and vacation memories as well as bring that creativity into fun photo shoots. For a little sampling of just some of that creativity, take a peek at yesterday’s blog post or take a peek at the vintage look given to this portrait of Kylie and James with his State Championship soccer medal.

I am working on putting together a website that will house all of this creativity, for Cheri Wenger Design, Cheri Wenger Digital Designs as well as Cheri Wenger Design Photography. It is a huge endeavor, but I am up for the challenge. Updates on this project will appear on my blog, so check back to see the progress reports. Feel free to contact me at artz1@cfl.rr.com for pricing information or to book a mini session or full photo session.

Change breeds more change, as they say. And with this, I will regretfully be closing up my shop at mygrafico.com to concentrate on these new endeavors. So if you are dying to purchase any of my sets, you can still do that today, or you can contact me directly about how you can purchase those by emailing me at artz1@cfl.rr.com. 

There are so many exciting things happening right now. I will be hosting a blog giveaway for a very exciting product. Keep popping back and visiting my blog for more details on this, and as always, for inspiration on how to live life creatively!

Shop til you drop! The $1 three-day retirement sale at mygrafico.

What could be a bigger and better sale than $1.00 for an entire set 

of digital designs by Cheri Wenger?

For three days, you can get my retiring sets for just a dollar...and these are no crappy designs. We are talking some of my most popular sets are included. I am clearing out some of the oldies but goodies to make room for new, fresh designs so it is 

the perfect time to stack up on digi art & brushes. 

Be sure to spread the word and tell all your friends!

Vist this link, then click on the left hand column tab that says retiring sets to view all of the sets that are just $1. If you don't want to view all the designs, just mine, 

go to the designers pull down menu to select my name. 

It will pull up my shop including all sale and non-sale items. 

Happy Shopping!

Here is a preview of some of the sets that you can snag...

Relatively Speaking

Masculine Verses

Lovey Dovey Brushes

Woooohooo, A 2-Day Sale!

 

A brand new set in the shop plus 40% all of my products give you a big reason to shout WOOOOHOOO!

If you like the art in this banner ad, then you are sure to like several of my recent sets. 

For the digi stamp people, there is What a Hoot.

For card making, invitations, embroidery, scrapbooking, graphic & web design,

check out Owl Love U 4ever.

For printable cards to say I love you, Owlentines is a real favorite!

And for those who are sports enthusiasts or simply have a child who plays a sport, my Feeling Sporty set of versatile graphics is anything but basic. 

High quality dimensional clip art designs which can be used on so many creative items from embroidery to crafting to design...and also 40% off for the next 2 days!

Save today on digital art so you can live your life creatively!

Colors That Will Make Your Digi Garden Smile

Anticipating the latest cool front to move on out so that we can kick start spring time, I designed this set of coral, melon, yellow and brown flowers. You can use these designs individually or in groupings for graphic design, greeting cards, invitations, birth announcements, scrapbooking and crafting. These would make beautiful embroidered designs, too!

The Fresh Florals set is a combination of loose doodles combined with softly textured edges on the solid petal shapes. Coral is a hot color trend and these designs look great on a soft yellow or solid white background for a fresh, contemporary look.

If you still need to send a Valentine card, check out the email version I created using the photo card in my Owlentines Printable card and invitation set. I just personalized by adding photos in Photoshop and our family name.

Create, Save, Smile!

What do these three words have in common? New digital design releases and a 4 day, 40% sale in my digi shop at MyGrafico. I just finished three new sets featuring Owls with a Valentine/Love theme, but these adorable digi stamps and clip art designs can be used any day of the year to bring cheer.

Here is a digital card example showing how much fun you can have creating with the Owl Love U 4ever set, my personal favorite design on 2012...so far, anyways! ;D  I have always loved owls, but had never designed a set with them. I started with sketches for digi stamps that you can color and add to your card creations, but I am a girl who love color so I couldn’t resist creating some clip art designs and printable artwork, too! Here is a peek at that set. This was designed with my new color palette for 2012!

Two of the three owl sets are posted in the shop...What a Hoot Digi Stamps and Owl Love U 4ever,  and the third is a printable set of cards and invites called Owlentines that I will be releasing soon. Here is a sneak peek at it! I will also be adding a free digital Owlentine valentine printable.

So if these cute designs aren't enough to bring a cheery smile to your face, maybe a 4-day sale on digitals at 40% off will do the trick! Check out my shop by going to the main page, finding Cheri Wenger under the designers pull down menu on the left hand side of the web page. There you can see all of my shops. If you prefer to shop by category, click the links above this, however you will have to sort through designs from other shops to find mine. Have a very creative weekend! I will be cheering Kylie on in the Disney Classic Volleyball tournament at the Wide World of Sports complex.

The Flight Continues

I really find it interesting knowing the story behind projects. Inspiration comes from many sources: our surroundings, personal experiences, favorite colors, images or designs, and even favorite products. These are but a few of the many things that can inspire a project. This card creation was designed to thank so many people who thoughtfully and generously reached out to our family during the loss of my mother-in-law, Jackie.

Mom’s favorite color was cobalt blue, but she just loved blue in general, so that is what I made it the main color used on this thank you note. I wanted to include some symbolism of her transition from her life here to a life in heaven. I believe this montage of butterflies does just that.

Supplies: (Stampin’ Up!®) Asstd. Blue Cardstock; Sizzlits Beautiful Wings Die; Thanks So Much verse; Finial Press Texture Embossing Plate; (Offray) Blue Satin ribbon; (Glue Arts) Extreme Adhesive Squares and Glue Glider™ Pro with high tac adhesive cartridge.

Butterflies also are a visual symbol for me of the life/death/after life transition since my uncle’s death in 2000. I would often get butterfly visits on my walks and have many other tales of this connection, too. Using a monochromatic color palette (different shades of the same color) creates a very elegant look that you can use in all your card designs. The cascading size of the butterflies adds movement and interest. This also serves to remind us that even though a loved one’s presence fades, the memories remain even though their flight continues.

I wanted to share another butterfly card created by fellow card designer, Diane Bove. She created these 3-D butterflies using a brush from my Stylish Butterflies set combined with patterned background.

Here is a preview of that set art which contains, editable eps, jpeg, png and abr (brush files).

The set contains 3 butterflies: one solid, one with transparent swirls to use over color or patterned backgrounds digitally and one butterfly with white swirls. If you use the photoshop brush file you can change the black to a color or patterned background. I will be creating some tutorials to show you how you can use digital brushes and png art in Photoshop. So check back to my blog for updates!

Let your creativity take flight with using a butterfly on your next card creation.

Another New Set that is Just toooo Tweet to miss!

I am super excited about all the new digi stamp sets I have in the works. They are filled with whimsical images that are perfect for Valentine’s Day, yet perfect for year round uses for other occasions, such as weddings, anniversaries, get well cheer, friendship and love!

Let me know what you think of my latest release, Ain’t Love Tweet! It includes mini birds that you can pair up, add to svg diecuts, combine on digital cards, print and layer and even print on patterned papers and layer for fun, colorful card designs and layouts. I would love to see what you create with these. My mind is certainly coming up with plenty of ideas. If I only had more hours in the day to create life would be perfect! 

Added bonus: this comes with a free set of .abr digital brushes and is on sale until Saturday! Hurry and buy it today!

A Sale that's oh so tweet!

Today I have three tweet things to share with you...the details of my 4 day sale, a new set to reveal and a hybrid birthday card for your crafting inspiration. If you have some craft or design projects to create, now is the time to stock up on some of my digital designs while they are 30% off!

This is also the perfect time to get started making those Valentine’s cards and I have just the set to get you started. It is my latest release called Big Mouth Valentines. This is just the first of a couple Valentine sets that I am working on. Let me know what you think of it!

It retails for $4, but is also on sale in my shop at MyGrafico. You can layer the art over digitally colored and patterned papers for scrapbooking, print the b&w designs out and hand color to create fun cards or valentines. The bird, monkey and lion have hearts in their mouths which can be fun to add flocking, glitter and shine to! I hope to make up some samples soon and post here on my blog.

Here is a hybrid card created using color clip art from my Cuppy Cakes build-your-own set. It is a birthday card I made for my dad. 

 I am also including this photo of the inside of it where I also used clip art to dress it up! This is a perfect set to have for making cards for just about any occasion.

New year, New Inspiration!

A touch of old, a set that’s new, and a homemade gift for the Gator Fan in you! Today I am sharing with you a traditionally crafted, holiday theme thank you card made with beautifully printed CS and diecuts paired with brown inks, a stamped and punched tag and some recycled ribbon. I love these colors...so rich. And the brown ribbon makes me want to grab a milk chocolate candy...yum! This card proves that you can grab nearby papers and embellishments to create a card without a whole lot of effort. I hope it provides some inspiration for your cardmaking endeavors! Here are some photos of the inside and outside of this card creation...

Close up view of the front of the Pine Tag Thank You Card

Another view of Pine Tag Thank You Card with tag stamped and hand colored, punched and layered on gorgeous CS with brown ink added to edges to give a warm vintage feel.

This is the inside view of the Pine Tag Thank You card with Christmas theme. All of the craftiness doesn't have to end on the outside of the card. You can used your papers and borders to compliment and enhance the inside, too!

This year in Digital Design, I started off with a set geared towards a different market: embroiderers, quilters and those who love stitchery and sewing. Quilting Patterns 1 has a variety of patterns that will add beauty and style to your crafting projects. It is available for purchase at MyGrafico. com in my shop.

And my last bit of inspiration for the day is to share this handcrafted gift I made for friends of our family who are big Florida Gator Fans. They suggested I start making these to sell. What do you think?

View 1

View 2

Has an easel back so can be put on table display!

View 3

Shown hanging as artwork on a wall

I hope this kick starts your crafting for the New Year. Happy New Year! May the year ahead be filed with many blessings and hours of fruitful crafting! Remember to always live life creatively!

If you haven't checked out mygrafico.com, make it a point to do so this year. You can click here so they know I referred you! To visit my shop, you can locate me in the pull down menu in the left column under designers. Be sure to check out all the fabulous talent there!

What do Christmas, a reindeer, surfing & a mermaid have in common?

The answer is my Holideer Surfer digi stamp! Here are a few creations made using printed and handcolored images of this beachy themed Christmas digital stamp...

An oversized card

(handcolored with markers and blender pen/layored on embossed CS)

A cheery standard greeting card

(handcolored with markers/color blocking with patterned paper substituted

and a decorative border strip added to uneven fold)

A fun gift certificate/special note or gift card holder

(I used metallic gel pens on this one!)

Want to know one huge plus of working with digital stamps?

You can have it at exactly the right size needed...all you have to do is scale it and print it, then combine it with a custom verse you set up on your computer. Now that brings holiday cheer to crafting!

A Mod Style for Christmas

Wanna bring some mod style to your Christmas projects? Check out this fun and unconventional set I designed featuring holly, a vine, some mod, swirly ornaments in untraditional colors. The clip art designs from this Mod Trimmings set are so fun and funky. And they are sure to get noticed! Just check out some of the inspirations, below, for making digital or hybrid cards & invites in a snap!

Get started on your Christmas cards and party invites...so easy when you can jumpstart the process using elements from this clip art set from Cheri Wenger Digital Designs sold exclusively at MyGrafico.com.

For more details, view these photos in my Christmas Card Picasa Web album gallery.

Make the holidays a bit merrier with this AMAZING giveaway!

At Mygrafico's party blog, there is a fabulous giveaway every month, however, this prize package will make some lucky winner have the merriest holiday of them all! That can be you, and here is all you need to do... Go to this link, post links to the giveaway on your facebook & blog promoting the giveaway and be sure to tell them in your comment that Cheri Wenger sent you! ;) If you haven't already liked MyGrafico on Facebook, you can earn an extra entry by doing so. Good Luck!  Here is a sneak peek at what you can win...

• A NEW Silhouette Cameo machine
• Adhesive Vinyl Rolls package
• Tim Holtz Core’Dinations & Melody Ross Soul Food Collection 12″ x 12″ Paper Pads
• 3 SVG Cutting Templates from Mygrafico.com
• SCAL3 Sure Cuts A Lot Software from Craft Edge

A winner will be randomly drawn on December 31st, 2011 and announce on New Year’s Day!

Ready to do some digi shopping this Christmas? Start by clicking this link. To view all the products in my shop, just go to the designer's pull down menu on the left and select Cheri Wenger and let the shopping begin! Needing some holiday sets? Here is a sneak peek at a few of them...

Christmas Clip Art makes Holiday Card Creating a Snap!

For years I have spent endless hours stamping lovely Christmas cards to send our friends and family. Even when I get an early start to the process, it seems that I am lucky to get them in the mail the week before Christmas. My husband always asks why we don't just do like everyone else and get photo cards made and “be done with it,”  but it is hard for him to understand the dreaded workings of a creative mind. Not to mention the thrill of accomplishing something beautiful that you can take ownership of! Well, this year, I may just have found my compromise...designing our own photo card. With two fun,  new Christmas sets of clip art, I have already designed a couple potential cards. And to fill my stamping void, I may save that for making some amazing handcrafted gifts. See what you think of these ideas. I am also including a couple that are non-photo cards.

These are ideas crafted using clip art from my 
Simply Christmas Set!

Here are some samples created from The More the Merrier set:

And some inspiration from my latest set, Mod Trimmings!

(I am working on some hybrid samples, combining digital & traditional 

cardmaking techniques, so be sure to check back for more ideas inspired by this set!)

Hope you have gotten your daily dose of inspiration to get those Christmas projects under way.

Right now, I have 40% off on all my digital designs, from Nov. 16 - midnight on the 19th. Gobble up these sets to make your holiday card creations easier than ever!