Beachy Grad Wishes

I know this post comes a bit late, but with my schedule lately, I haven't had much time to take photos of all my projects, format and upload. I am working on catching you up on some of my recent creations! Just wanted to share this graduation card/giftcard idea that I made for a friend who graduated recently. The concept can be used for any card & gift giving occasion.

outside view

full inside view (with gift card holder on left)

close up of gift card holder- showing gift card inside

You can size the gift card wrapper to whatever size you want to accommodate the store’s holder or you can take the gift card off the original holder and use temporary adhesive to attach it. Design note: I used up some left over scraps of patterned paper with some of my circle punches. The shells are from a retired SU set, which it still is one of my favorites. Today's challenge: Try making a card or scrapbook page using up a bunch of your old scraps!

Hazeldiddlies in Heaven Layout

Some of you may recall my post in tribute to my Aunt Floss who passed away on Father’s Day. Before going up to the funeral, I shared my blog post with my family. They loved it so much that I thought I needed to put it into a scrapbook page. I really didn’t have any large photos of my Aunt so you will have to excuse this cropped version being a bit soft focus. I used Crushed Berry, Prailine and Belgian Cardstocks from Basic Grey’s Bittersweet collection along with a a border, some hearts and a stamp image from the Bittersweet Element Stickers that coordinate with the collection. The paper used to print out the journaling is from Karen Foster Design. The flowers are from Prima.

The family had this on display at the viewing and it touched many who read it. There were over 200 of her dancing friends that grew to love her amazing spirit as much as her family. I left the layout behind, but it is forever imprinted in my heart and mind.

Today, Kylie and I saw two monarch butterflies happily dancing together on our way to the mall to run an errand. The significance? When my uncle passed away, my aunt and I would share stories about our “butterfly visits” that we would get from him. So we all have been waiting on the sign of 2 butterflies together to have that reminder that those two souls are now eternally together. So I have my smile on today having gotten my message from above. That is why I thought it very appropriate to post my layout today.

Total Fluidity

Recently I put fear aside, grabbed my trusty drawing pens and without any plans or pencil lines, I just started drawing stylized drawings and let the lines flow where they wanted to. I was pretty happy with the results, sort of a stylized tattoo feel to them. Next, I scanned them into my computer, live traced and did some clean up on them. Here are the finished results; two new sets for mygrafico, one a b&w brush set and the other a multi color version. They are both part of my Fluidity Line. See what you think! Click on the graphic to view in my shop.

Here are some examples created using the Fludity Brushes in Photoshop. It is fun to use color, texture or even patterned papers with these brushes! You can also add shadows, embossing and other cool effects. You can create your own page elements, layouts, background papers and more.

8 x 8 Digital Paper

Blog icon design image (can be reduced as an avatar)

create your own art for home decor, cardmaking or scrapbooking...

Colorize elements and use on layouts or use as decorative overlays ghosted onto photos.

These hopefully give you some ideas of what can be done with digital design sets. Can't wait to see what you can create with my sets! Be sure to post in the mygrafico ning community gallery or on my group page.

Next, I will be doing something with the sea shells I did in a totally different sketchy style! You will have to check back to see what I do with those!