Saturday, March 27, 2010

Patches of Patriotism

Remember the days of coloring in coloring books as a child or maybe as a grown up showing your child how to color? Relaxing, fun memories. Well, digi stamping can be very much the same. You can scale and print out the designs in your computer software program such as Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Corel Draw, InDesign or Illustrator on your inkjet printer. Let the ink set for a few minutes, then color to your hearts content. This is just one way to incorporate digital stamping into your craft projects.


Today I want to share with you some cards I made using Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff set named Patriotic Collection. It has great card kit elements for you to cut and paste, or if you have a photo editing program like Photoshop, you can incorporate layers of the stamps and add computer colorized backgrounds along with other digi stamps. I loved the quilted feel of her stamp design, so I used the Stitches set by Mels Brushes, also from Mygrafico.com to add the white stitchery to this card. I printed it out, hand colored the center using markers and blender pens, and I mounted on a deep red linen 5" x 7" card with blue and white panels embossed with the Divine Swirls cuttlebug embossing template and some gold metallic ribbon. I also embellished with the raised up star button and a couple more buttons, too! This set would be so awesome for making cards for the troops or for celebrating U.S. holidays like 4th of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day.



This Pockets of Patriotism card showcases another way to use digi stamps...print them onto colored cardstock. The pocket was printed on blue CS and shaded using an ink pad and sponge. I matted and layered the other hand colored digi stamp over an embossed dotted white background which I matted in red and placed on top of a hand stamped background using a distressed dot stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Extreme Elements set. I alternated using Pacific Point and Real Red ink. And I added the red bow with white stitching as a vibrant accent.

Lindsay & I swapped sets to show our friends and followers what you can create using one another’s designs. To check out the card creations Lindsay made with my Elegant Name Plates set, check out her blog. To see some other card samples I made using some of her designs, be sure to see yesterday’s blog post. Also, check back on Monday for a spring card version using this very same pocket stamp! With digi stamping you never run out of ink, supplies or creativity!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Working on Samples






If it isn’t enough work creating the sets, I had to get busy showing samples of how to use them. There just aren't enough hours in the day it seems. One minute I am consulting on Prom Decor, the next giving boyfriend advice, next cleaning (which I try to avoid until it is time to evict the dust bunnies), then it’s writing, designing and creating. I know you can all relate to me! Right? I am well behind on cards for friends and family too, but here are some sneak peek photos of some cards I just posted to my mygrafico albums. For all the details on what sets I used, you can check there. These range from fairly simple to more complex hybrid . I will be posting more ideas today and tomorrow in the gallery. Happy Friday!